w.y.chan

Richard's photos are excellent and one would expect a lot of trial and error to succeed to shoot something like what we usually see in books and I could not blame him if actual technique are kept, as someone said it is indeed an artform. This may not look as nice. It is just a frame grab from a video footage I was grading for a potential nihonto trailer. As lighting goes this is completely the opposite with plenty of ambient lights being overpowered by a very strong light behind me, this method reveals the jigane but not the hamon. I've included a pyrotechnic while exploring a possibility of adding special effect http://m1.i.pbase.com/o9/86/459686/1/163336331.pKxuB1Eo.ScreenShot20160530at09.49.04.png Wah

You are right

You can try exclude ambient light to prevent the reflective surface of the blade bouncing light back so shoot in dark room. Place lighting so it comes in at an angle on the blade to capture the blade details so you be better off using several lights that covers left, right, top and bottom. There are other techniques that involve flags to block stray lights. You can experiment starting with a small blade. You don't even need a super expensive dSLR or expensive lens, the lighting is the key. Wah

One of the better looking mumei blade I have, most likely signiture removed is a Shinshinto Soshu den. I need to look at it again Wah

This is the second Kiyomaro to appear at Aoi in the past few months http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-yamaura-kiyomaro Signature removed to pass of as Shizu Wah

I believe this film might have been started out as a crowd funding project with a target of 2 million yen but recieved over twice the amount. Here is another trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgAL_8WCdiw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsBCgK5QyWg Wah

A very fine oshigata. Well done Paul. Wah

I would advise against uchiko use on a polish blade. Recommend alcohol and microfibre. The only safe "uchiko" I would use are the ones from Fujishiro which I believe are powedered horn. Real uchiko are stones no matter how fine will still harm the polish. Wah

Not sure I can really add anything useful on Koyama school. I only handle one Munetsugu at the BM and it had some of the finest most beautiful hada and only visible up close in good light. Objectively looking at it from a distant it did not stood out immediately. Also if it is in older polish it might be interpreted as muji hada but modern polish are able to reveal the hada much better. The Ji-nie are also very fine and sparkles when catches the light at certain angle. I notice these same characteristics on a Manji Masatsugu blade that took after Koyama Munetsugu which I had a lot of time studying. After looking at the Masatsugu jigane I felt slightly less impress looking at the jigane of most other swords. Wah

When it comes to appraisal papers for gendaito and shinsakuto I consider it less important than for older blades, certainly would not influence my purchasing decision. Maybe times have changed because of fakes going around but still for those who collects swords from the last 100 years we can pretty much tell if the work is genuine to the smith because of documented record that are recent. The level of paper alone should not decide on the market value. Prices varies from smith to smith rather than between eras or paper level. Wah

Hollywood also did its bit Wah

I waited for this to go reserve before posting but in case it has not been mentioned before http://www.tokka.biz/sword/sadakazu2.html Wah

A Kiyomaro is box office material that would grace even the best museums. Surprise no bidders. Wah

Have a hunch this sword might not end up in a Western collection. The Kiyomaro Aoi bought in Sotherby in 1986 I believe was featured in this book sword 8. Tsuruta san paid US $417,400 http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b741-kiyomaro-sano-museum# Wah

That why I collect high grade shinsakutos. You can buy masterpeices on the secondary market almost the same quality made by today's best smiths and not pay anything near that price tag. I heard rumours that some Kiyomaro certified as genuine was actually fakes by Tsukamoto Okimasa he made after the war, even why he was passed over for Ningen Kokuho. Not sure if that is true but it makes an interesting rumour I believe the Kiyomaro bought by Aoi use to belong to Walter Compton collection. I have an oshigata somewhere. Wah

Hi Arnold, A high quality private order tanto by Toshihide I would imagine would have a reserve of at least Y600,000. As well as being a fine swordsmith Toshihide was very active in the PR business of sword. While there is great source of pride attach to the aura surrounding the battleship Mikasa it is also a sound business opportunity to have one of the finest smith of the time put his name on it. Its historcal significant cannot be denied especially if you are more into the history side of things. Wah

Toshihide/Hideaki was the representitive smith of the pre and early Showa period. From the book of the Horii family I get the impression Toshihde was a very busy smith and would spend much of his time making high quality swords for many eminent people. I would imagine he would leave much of the Mikasa blades to his students while he puts his energy on higher grade personal orders. I recall Chris B might have mention about Mikasa blade and high degree of student involvement but I cant locate were might have posted. Wah

I thought the price of Y1.4million was ambitious and very unlike Aoi Art and believe that to be an error. I'm glad it appears to be confirmed. The Mikasa tantos with a few exception were mass produced and do not hold up to Toshihide's general work. They may even be made by his students. I also notice recently Aoi listed 2 different Gassan Sadakatsu as one and it was never corrected on their site when sold. I wonder which one the buyer actually recieved? Wah

Much depend on the price but I would choose a high end good condition mumei over poor condition signed pieces. One of the best blade I have once owned was mumei early Shinto, the signature was removed long ago so it can be passed off as a Sadamune but the blade was a masterpiece. Wah

With regard to Fujishiro and gendaito although no official ranking was issued because the smiths were still alive when he wrote Toko Jiten he did mention a number of gendai smiths of note that he considered exceptional:- Sakurai Masatsugu Gassan Sadakatsu Horii Toshihide Kasama Shigetsugu Kurihara Akihide Watanabe Kanenaga Miyaguchi Toshihiro Takahashi Sadatsugu Miyairi Akihira Gassan Sadamitsu Shibata Ka Wah

I'm sure this guy will have plenty to say about this Wah

If an Sadakatsu tanto with ayasugi like this one goes for $10k, how much would his katana of the same calibre be worth? Wah

The wartime popularity list which tend to favour smith's seniority and connection. Representative of the smith's general ability to produce great work for me is more useful, that said I havent seen enough but those who has such as Chris B tend to be pretty reliable. Wah

The "British Museum" in London and the "Royal Armouries" in Leeds appears to have a very sound structure of looking after Japanese swords. When the same question popped up about 10 years ago I mentioned the possibility of sword societies being able to accept and use donated collection for educational purpose. Wah

The 9th Hokke Saburo Nobufusa also attempted making sword from meteorite http://www.flickriver.com/photos/hokkesaburo/