Grey Doffin

In this case I doubt there is any reason other than to hide faults. If you buy the blade you'll have to work on a scheme to hide the hori-mono; it is ugly. Grey

The one on the left is definitely Namban and quite nice. The middle tsuba doesn't do much for me whatever it is. On the right is a Jakushi and possibly the best of the lot. But what do I know? Grey

I agree; the blade looks to be of quality. If the bamboo peg (mekugi) is missing replace it immediately;swords without their mekugi get very easily broken. Whittle a chopstick to fit. Grey

And do yourself another favor and don't have koshirae made for your sword. This almost never makes sense financially; for what you would have to pay you can buy a traditionally mounted Samurai sword. When the time comes to sell (and it always does) you'll be lucky to get half what you put into it back. Grey

I once sent just a tsuka to David and when it came back it was too tight to fit all the way on the nakago. Since I am a furniture maker with the proper tools and experience I was able to adjust the inside of the tsuka to fit. It helped also that this was a gunto tsuka and I wouldn't be messing with something important. I think if you send only the tsuka that you're taking a chance on trouble down the road. Wonder if 3D printing technology has progressed to the point where you can have an exact replica of your nakago made and you could sent it along with the tsuka. Grey

Hi Curtis, I don't think those are hammer strikes on the nakago; looks like bad corrosion to me. The patina of the nakago looks wrong and the yasurime have been messed with. Hard to see much with the hamon but some of the closeup makes it look like heavy kesho rather than actual hamon. And the kissaki may have been reshaped after suffering a break. Be careful. Grey

I have a book titled Etchu no Toko To Akebane To which I believe is the catalog from the show referenced above (correct me if I'm mistaken). Great blades; real nice book. Grey

Hi Nathan, You will not find any experienced collector who has experience with this San Francisco Sword Society because anyone with experience knows enough to stay as far from them as possible. They don't have proper training and the little bit of their site I just read is nothing but hooey. Do yourself and your sword a big favor; stay away. Grey

Hi Sean, Mostly what others have said and... Do not let the martial arts polishers near your sword; their partial polish can do serious damage and they should be ashamed of themselves for offering it. All you can do to preserve the sword is to place an extremely fine coat of machine oil on the polished portion (not the nakago). Nothing to do for the scabbard except to keep it clean and dry. Here is a link to a care & etiquette site: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm Someday someone who knows what he's doing and who isn't trying to buy the sword for a song will have to look at it before you'll know what you have. Until then it is fine with the oil and there's no need to rush. Grey

Hi Jean, I have heard much of this also. Juyo Token Nado Zufu # 1 is .5 cm thick; # 26 is 6.7 cm thick. Of course some of this must have to do with the novelty of the concept back when the NBTHK started to issue Juyo papers: fewer collectors would submit to a 1st session than would to a much later session. And there must be blades that passed in the 80s and 90s that are just as special as those that passed the early shinsas, but early Juyo papers seem to carry more weight than later papers. I haven't heard of a book with the # passing each year, unless the printed index of Juyo Token Nado Zufu is meant (wouldn't take much of a book to contain 55 numbers). Collect the blade, not the paper. Grey

I believe there is a recommended book list on FAQ. Grey

Hi John, No offense meant so please don't take any. If you don't know what tired means, you need to be buying books, not swords. The more study you put in before you purchase, the happier you will be with what you buy. Minimal study: you're setting yourself up for a very expensive education. Grey

Hi Jordy, I'm pretty sure this has been covered before. Try a search for tired or shintetsu. I don't call a blade tired until areas of core steel (shintetsu) start to appear. This is usually evidenced by darker, grainless areas and areas of coarse grain. Grey

Hi Curt, 1st do some homework. Get some books (either buy them or ask your library to get them on inter-library loan), read and reread them, and study. And think about attending the sword shows in the US. Sure they aren't next door to Kansas City but the experience and education you can get is invaluable. Learn about Nihonto before buying Nihonto; the more you know before your purchase the more pleased with it you'll be. And spend time reading here on NMB (start with FAQ above). So much great information to be found on these forums. And when you can ask informed questions there'll be no shortage of people willing to help. Grey

Thank you guys. Chris, I think you may be mixing a couple numbers. In your 1st post you said 3 sun ... but in your 2nd you have 2 sun, 3 bu ... The Kanji on the box leads with a 3 and I don't recognize the character that I think is 2 and then I see 5. It does say 3 sun, 2 bu, 5 rin, right? Grey

Hi guys, I would appreciate the Romanji and translation of the box inscription. I know the top says Katchushi Tsuba on the right but the left of the top and all of the inside are beyond my abilities. The tsuba most likely will be for sale some day. Thank you, Grey

Thank you Antti, There are so many good to great books on tsuba; to name a few: Tsuba Kanshoki. The later edition has both Japanese and English. Tsuba Shusei The Art Appreciation of Japanese Sword Fittings The Kurokawa Institute book on tsuba Ito's 3 books on the masters of Higo Sasano's silver book Gai So Shi by Robert haynes And so many more. Not to plug my site but if you scroll through the fittings books there you'll get a good idea what's available. Grey

Hi Matt, This looks to me like Hama mono, made in late 19th/early 20th century to sell to western tourists. The tsuka may be bone but possibly real ivory. Wonder what's with the rectangular recess around the nakago inside the tsuka. Grey

Hi Ben, Many Namban of this style had gold overlay on areas of the surface. Yours looks too haphazard to be gold so I'm guessing gold paint. Paint never would have been original to the tsuba; added later to make the piece easier to sell on ebay. If it is paint, you can try a paint remover. 1st place a tiny dot of remover on an inconspicuous spot to see if the paint lifts and to make sure that you aren't changing the patina of the iron. If all is well go ahead and carefully remove the rest. Clean the tsuba well with warm water and a soft brush after you're done. Ditto what others have been saying about buying books, studying, and then buying quality. Your Heianjo is nice enough; the others are meh and you will get little joy in them as you learn more. Grey

Hi Ben, #1 might be gold paint (leaning strongly that way), # 3 is definitely gold paint and if you removed it the tsuba would be much nicer, and the last tsuba is definitely a cast repro. Grey

Brian, Glad to send it to you but I can't attach it to a PM. Send me an email and I'll reply. Grey grey@japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com

Hi guys, I have found an index for the single volume Shinshinto taikan. I will gladly scan and email to Axel (do I have your email?) but if there is someplace here where I can post it let me know where. Grey

Hi Rob, I think You're asking about the strong taper of your sword's edge just above the machi. Some early tachi have this feature, called fumbari, usually described in English as standing with your legs apart. There is another meaning of fumbari but I won't go into that now. Another explanation for the taper is that polisher/s have left this portion of the edge alone so as not to erase the ha machi. I've heard this called polisher's fumbari. Given the likely age of your sword I think this 2nd explanation fits. The blade has been polished a lot but the polishers have taken it easy on the ha machi. Is that what you were asking about? Grey

Hi Axel, It would be a great learning experience for you if you were to make the index yourself. At the end of the project you would know a lot more of the Kanji in sword signatures and you'd have looked closely at a lot of very good blades. Grey

Hi Chris, Yes, of course there could be a gimei of Osafune Nagamitsu signed katana mei (there can be at least 1 of anything) but in this case I think the other explanation for the mei is more likely. But you could be right; you're more experienced at this than I am. Grey