J Reid

I am still in awe at your find, Chris. What a steal!

Yep thats a very attractive package. If I had that much to blow, I wouldn't think twice about buying it. EDIT: Well it would be one of many on a long list of purchases.

Kyler, In response to your question: I would say that you can find "unworthy" blades in all areas ie. dealers, ebay, shows, private sales, etc. However, I would not recommend ebay as the first place to look for a beginner.. If you are ever unsure, I would suggest you post pictures and details here, and we will give you an honest opinion (we would want to keep collectable/worthy blades out of the dojo). Spend the next year studying, and saving.. By the end of the year, you should know which blades should be used and which shouldn't.

Kurt, Since you are a newer member here you may not be aware that after MANY long and heated debates, we finally have legit "proof" ( in the NMB articles) in regards to the star stamps meaning .. For your records: http://www.militaria.co.za/articles/RJT_Info.pdf

Wakizashi with an edo period "flavour" , no Tsuba, or embellishments of any worth/ functionality.. hmm.. A merchant? That would be my guess.

Kyler, The link you provided is to a sword with hozon papers. It is worthy of preservation and should not be used for anything other than display (looking @ only). Be aware that if you decide to use a nihonto for anything other than looking at, it must be considered "unworthy". If you study really hard, and do your homework, you will eventually learn which blades are okay to use for sport. My 2 cents! Nice to meet you!

Hard to say whether he got burned or not.. based on those pictures.. I can see that the boshi is healthy, but the hada displays poor workmanship IMO.. (slag welds and whatnot).. I think he may have gotten burned as this sword will more than likely never receive higher papers. Rick doesn't seem to know very much about Japanese swords.

Gabriel, Yes sorry this was a response to your question about the odd paper.. With Newer NTHK origami, only low scoring swords (60-69pts) receive a shinteisho (white paper with an oshigata). New Kanteisho get brown paper with a high res photo of the nakago and yushu papers have a high res photo of the whole blade! P.s. Nice detective work.. I always enjoy reading your posts.

I was under the impression that shinteisho were white papers with an oshigata rubbing whereas kanteisho or higher are brown paper with a high res photo.

in order to get the koto, shinto, and shinshinto-shi you need to go through markus directly. Lulu does not carry the koto volume.

Yes it was definitely an interesting experience. Luckily I was still able to push the sale through (via email and paypal) as there was still a winning bidder. It seemed that the auction was still listed under my sales, yet it's listing was removed from the watchers list. An email was also sent by ebay to myself urging me to not go through with the sale as it was considered "high risk" (he had only 2 feedback) and then they deleted his ebay account..? I took a huge leap of faith when I shipped due to the fact he was willing to provide insurance references and SSN and paid promptly. It turned out to be one of the best transactions I've had and I made a large a profit.

Sometimes ebay removes or ends auctions that exceed sellers monthly sales limits. I had a sword that hit 7k once and this is what happened to me.

http://www.sho-shin.com/tosan2.htm <--- Glenn, (for you to compare to your sword) I'm excited for you.. This is quite a find.. Def worth taking more pictures and posting here for us to look at.

Thank you morita san. Much appreciated.

Bump! Pleaseee help me fill in the blanks.

Hi all, Went antiquing this morning and stumbled upon some interesting stuff! Picked this vase up.. Seems to be made of steel and then lacquered. I've attempted translation, but have come to a bit of a dead end.. this is where I'm at so far. ?- ?-貞-Sada?/現代-today? 寛}-kansei (1789) 政 十}Ju-ichi(12) 一 ?- ?- 之-ichi-first year -january 月-Gatsu Hellpppp meeeee.

Wow. What a joke! I am with you Brian! I know for a fact that I would never pay $93 bucks in customs fees to have those shipped from the states to canada. I would pay the $34 and have the menuki within a week. The idea makes sense (display "additional customs fees" up front before payment and lower dispute rates).. However most people don't ALWAYS pay import fees (even high ticket items) and as such this shouldn't be a mandatory option for auctions that have this "feature". There should be a choice.

Unrealistically- A Go Yoshihiro in leather handachi koshirae. Realistically- a Reisen Sadamori tachi.

"The problem for me, I am very familiar with swords, I collect swords - Juyo token (I have 3 swords) - Tokubetsu Juyo Token (I have 5 swords)" BALLLLAAA

Nakahara seems to also think that if the shinogi terminates before the tip- the blade is a questionable example of shobu-zukuri. At this point, I'd like to think it's safe to say both are shobu-zukuri. However, in my opinion, if the line of the shinogi terminates before the tip, it's not following the "intended" design. EDIT: just noticed Jacques posted the same page.

$1200-$2000? Depending... What is the nagasa? Gimei swords are valued on the quality of the blade, polish, age, and condition.. Signatures can be removed, and koshirae replaced by shirasaya.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10327&p=87169&hilit=shobu#p87169 - pg7 Top post by Chris..

Seems to be signed katana mei.. Hizen smiths usually signed tachi mei. Nice find, regardless. Edit: There were multiple generations of hizen tadahiro (7?). However I am personally not aware of any that would have ever signed katana mei. I would assume this is gimei. It is a nice sword though and probably worth whatever you paid for it.

Jean, We agree then that if shinogi does not touch tip, it is "technically" not shobu-zukuri.. If the NBTHK considers a similar blade shape, without shinogi touching tip, shobu-zukuri - is this then an "exception to the rule"? Would the blade in this thread be considered shobu-zukuri, in your opinion?