DaveT

Collecting swords and armour as a hobby should always be rewarding for the collector. Hobbies should be fun and learning more about the subject only builds and strengthens our understanding of the subject. As a community, we have this forum as a basis to meet, network and gather information freely. None of this would be achievable without those who have studied the subjects in detail. For those that do contribute towards the learning of others, I sincerely thank you for your time and investment in us. I'm still very much a complete novice on the subject of Nihonto, I drop in here to glean information when I can and this is the only forum that I now visit. Thank you to Brian and the moderator team.

3k will get you a good kabuto. I sold this set for under £2k last week. Join this Katchu sales group as all items are vetted before being approved by the admin. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SellSamuraiArmourSwordsRegalia/

This a really nice high-quality reproduction menpo. Silk odoshi, yak hair Hige. Absolutely nothing to be disappointed about. This standard is no longer maintained by today's manufactures. Some clues to why it's not very old. 1. The mask is not coated with urushi. 2. Inside the mask, you can see a number of exposed rivets where the features/hardware have been added. As you can imagine this would be unsuitable for a mask that was designed to be worn. Original masks have these covered over in kokuso and sabi, then urushi. 3. The odoshi is machine made, and not laced correctly with the absence of plugs under the kedate sections of the sugake. 4. The fukurin on the tare is not made from kokuso, it has two exposed pins anchoring in place on the lower lame, this is a common feature for reproductions.

I didn't take many photos. However, today was pretty much a landmark event for UK shokunin. At our table, you could meet with the UK's leading restorers, like a one-stop shop from Shira-saya making, to tsukamaki to Saya-nuri to Sword Polishing and that katchu stuff. The knowledge base was also there from dear Ian Bottomley to Ian Chapman to name a few. We also offered space for UK collectors to sell their items to the public. So this was very much a community day for us all. A lot of items sold today as you can see from the photo's.

I'll be there, a few of us have taken over the old Northern Token table.

I've seen the book appear on Ebay a few times now.

Uwe G, super photographs, thank you for sharing these.

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I got rather excited about seeing this until some feedback came my way which suggested it would be a disappointment. It's not the whole BM collection either, rather a travelling showcase, therefore limited. If you are in Germany then I guess its worth the drop-in visit but compared to the outstanding Samurai Art Museum why visit BM? Peter Janssen is building his collections on an ongoing basis, so there's always a reason the re-visit the museum to see new additions. So for BM, I'm going to skip and save my money.

I think you should contact Mike Hickman Smith in the UK. His Saya-Nuri is of very high quality, also he can do all kinds of old-style urushi effects. He only uses 100% real urushi.

I have a couple of swords that could go in.

Paypal is evil, but at times very useful. As to F&F it's the only way I will accept payment when using Paypal for antiques. The first reason is that I save 8%, which I then don't add to the buyers total. The second reason is that the buyers has no protection, yes I really said that. I cover all items I sell with my business insurance if there is an issue I sort it out as my reputation is on the line. Now with buyers protection, PayPal allows the buyer to receive the goods and then file a claim against the seller. This has happened to two of my friends who are dealers in Japan, one lost a complete set of armour the other was deducted costs for damage in transit before he could even make a claim with his shipper. So buyers protection is also open to abuse from the other end.

I'd say Showa period due to the shape of the zane.

There are around five factories that produce reproduction armour these days. Most of the parts are formed in China. Some factories have their armour assembled in China, others export the parts and assemble them in Japan. I only know this because I work closely with two factories on changing and improving their range to be more authentic. Most moulds and models have not changed much from the 70's. The better versions are earlier reproductions from the 40's. Spotting these has been covered on many threads and forums should one wish to investigate further. If you want a good pointer for the Kabuto featured above it would be the shikoro. The fukurin is folded brass that's anchored with a rivet. Reall armours would have the edge folded in an l shape and then the ridge/fukurin would be sculpted in kokuso urushi. Mask, the odayori-ore-kugi posts are just bent wire. Odoshi is cotton, not silk, the odoshi-no-ana are not plugged. The width of the odoshi is very wide. There is no urushi on either, no ground layers with cracking etc.

Used reproduction like this sell on Yahoo Auctions for $800 complete armour. Company: Marutake Akira Kurosawa Films RAN (June, 1985) KAGEMUSHA (April, 1980) Other Films 1992 Oda Nobunaga 1995 Heike Monogatari TV - NHK Taiga Dramas 1979 Kusa Moyuru - Minamoto Yoritomo 1987 Dokuganryu Masamune 1988 Takeda Shingen 1991 Taiheiki - Ashikaga Takauji 1992 Nobunaga - King of Zipangu 1993 Hono-Tatsu - Fujiwara family 1995 Tokugawa Yoshimune 1996 Hideyoshi 1997 Mouri Motonari 1999 Genryoku Ryoran - Oishi Kuranosuke 2000 AOI Tokugawa 3 generations 2002 Maeda Toshiie 2005 Minamoto Yoshitsune 2006 Koumyo Ga Tsuji 2007 Furin Kazan 2008 Atsuhime 2009 Tenchijin - Naoe Kanetsugu Overseas Movie 2004 Japan Memoirs of a Secret Empire 2009 Old Dogs 2010 Inception

Peter has one in the museum.

Sabiji-urushi nuri. Sabi nuri is something else.

why is this post in the katchu section?

looks great

Very fair Ian and a sensible step, NMB should be free of politics and fights, nor should it be used as a springboard to divert traffic to other boards. The only agenda any member here should have is to share knowledge on the subject and help others with their collecting questions.

Eric is right. Ian is right. A community divided by power, ego's and personality disorders. Pity.

Armour should be all about the fun of collections and learning. I fail to see why shinsa is educational when the papers are not really much more than a written observation. As the above paper relates its a suji Kabuto, but the experts on the day have not even identified the school. Learning about an item is easy, you just post photos to this board or any of the social media stations as everyone in our community frequents them and information is tendered freely. My fear is that shinsa can be used to increase the value of items and that this detracts from its goal. We know for sure that if an armour is published, appears in a museum or has a high ranking paper that the worth is increased. With shinsa being unregulated, and it is, a self-appointed panel of self-proclaimed experts should hold little water in authenticating a piece, yet as a society, it can parade itself as an official body. Who deems this panel experts other than their fellows? The society is a club.

Luc, I have some concerns with regard to Shinsa, would you be happy to answer my questions as they point towards a Conflict of Interest for Board Members. As I said its just my own concern, so this would be an ideal opportunity for me to voice it in public?

380 members.... I have over 3,000 on Social media and all the information I provide is free. So I think the numbers speak volumes.

That was a quick reply Luc, yet you seemed to have danced over the fact about the shinsa. Currently, I am still a member of the Japanese Armour Society, I was very upset to learn that Almeric had this outburst, shouting at a dealer that has been in Japan for 30 years and telling him that he cannot be associated with me professionally or as a friend. He did this at an official event, in the actual shinsa building, attacking a member and alienating a member. My source is a witness to this, he also informed me that you had a meeting about me after the Hataya auction, what to do with me should I turn up to the shinsa, which as being a member I had every right. unlike where I was deemed not to be in good standing by you and denied access to the Grand Tour. Again I was a paid member of the society, yet was singled out for no reason other than you dislike me personally. This type of conduct is outrageous and is a form of persecution. The constant attacks against me are becoming tiresome. I think people should be aware of how your crew operates. You use a society to hide behind and use it as your own vehicle to personally attack anyone that you cannot control.