Grey Doffin

The openings are too large to be helped. The sword will never be worth what a proper polish would cost so best to leave it as is. Grey

Hi Andrea, It looks like someone has cleaned the upper section of the tang. If so please make sure he or she does no more, as this has seriously damaged the sword. Grey

Here they are. Grey

Hi Matt, The edition I have has nothing like Mitsuyo or Mitsuhiro on those pages. Can you tell us a little more about the smiths so we know who we're looking for? Grey

Hi Matt, There are at least 2 editions of this book, with different oshigata on the same page numbers. Do you know which edition you want? If you're getting the page #s from my index let me know the source code: NS or NX. Grey

The reason I was thinking this is put together from available parts is because I like the tsuka much more than the blade. It doesn't seem likely that the tsuka, with passable menuki and nicely done wrap, would have been made for such a low end blade. Seems more likely that the tsuka fit the nakago (possibly after a bit of file work on the edges of the nakago) and was put there to make the kit salable to Meiji or later western tourists. Just a thought. Grey

I would recommend against using Never Dull. It will remove superficial corrosion but it also will alter the apearance of the steel. I have seen Koto blades made to resemble Showa-to by the use of Never Dull. Grey

Hi Michael, I think the blade is later than Late Edo, Meiji maybe or even as late as Showa (basing this mostly on the sloppy nakago). If I'm right in this, then the tsuka likely is older and your tanto is put together out of pieces, not an original set. Again, if I'm right in this, then I wouldn't spend any more money on it. But others may have a better idea. Grey

Thanks Brian; that's correct. I initially volunteered to ship some books in the US; I unvolunteered to do the job once all the extra was piled on top. I think the 50 unsold copies will be a problem; it could be years before they sell out and I'm not sure a distributor will want to wait that long to see them disappear. One possible solution is to give them an ISBN # and list them on Amazon. Maybe we need to look for a company that will store, ship, and list on Amazon. Grey

Hi guys, I've given thought to being the US book dealer to make this happen. I've experience selling and shipping books, and my website would work well for listing the unsold copies. Also, you all might think I'm trustworthy. However, the task seems huge. For everyone who places an order, emails with totals for books, postage, & insurance will have to be sent. Some countries don't allow insurance on priority post (U.K. for example) and orderers there might want private insurance arranged. I can see multiple emails being necessary on some orders. Payments will come in by a variety of methods: paypal, bank wire transfer, checks, whatever. Does someone paying with paypal pay 4% more than someone paying with a check? Meticulous records will have to be kept. 150 copies of the book will weigh at least 600 pounds (250 Kg or so). Getting the books to the US distributer won't be cheap. Packing and shipping 100 copies, with paperwork for oversea customers, also is a bunch of work. And then we have the 50 unsold copies. I know from my website experience that finding more than 5 customers for a book, no matter how good and/or reasonably priced, isn't easy. How can we expect to sell 50 copies after everyone remotely interested has already picked up a copy for himself and extras for friends or to sell? Not trying to kill the project; I've already put in for 2 copies and I want this to work. But I think we need to think this through before we jump. I hope someone proves me wrong but at the moment I can't see anyone competent to do the job being willing to volunteer to be the US based distributer. I think we need a business close to the printer who will store the books, take orders, and ship. BTW, I'm traveling for the next 3 days and will have only occasional computer access. Grey

Fujiwara Shigetsugu ? Grey

Hamish, Those who post the pictures on ebay have bought the book. The author has been compensated; all is well. Grey

Hi C. Lewis, It isn't necessary for anyone here to bid against you; ebay watchers will take care of that. Also, no sense running the supposed value any higher than necessary. Don't want the seller to attract more interest with higher prices. Once you have won the auction point out to ebay that the pictures and description have been stolen. They should cancel the sale and shut the fraudster down (once it costs them money maybe they'll take notice). Grey

I stand corrected. The mei still looks cast to me. Grey

Hi Chris, In the bottom picture the seki gane doesn't seem to be wrapped inside the ana. If the seki gane are soft metal and not just paint there should be a difference in how tightly a magnet sticks: tight to the tsuba but not to the seki gane. Can you try this experiment? Grey

The photo of a real Tanaka tsuba (tsuba7.jpg) posted by Higo-san above reinforces the point I made about the tsuba in question. In that photo the seki gane, while they do appear to be more ornamental than practical, are made of copper and wrap from one side, through the nakago hitsu ana, to the other side. The seki gane on the OP tsuba are nothing more than gold paint or wash over the iron on both sides of the tsuba, and they don't wrap through the ana. I can think of no reason why a tsuba-shi would do this. This and the mei that looks obviously to be cast leave me with no explanation other than cast tsuba. Grey

If those were real seki gane they would show on the inside of the nakago hitsu ana; they don't. I don't think there is any chance this isn't a cast fake; sorry. Grey

I also received a 2nd chance offer (on another sword) today. Like you I wasn't the runner up bidder. Turns out ebay didn't send the offer; some jerk trying to infect my computer or steal my money was behind it. If the 2nd chance offer contains an email address for the seller (mine did), then it's probably a thief. Do nothing with the 2nd chance offer until you see it in your "My ebay buying" messages. If it isn't in the messages, delete it. Grey

Please don't do this for all the reasons given already; it would be a terrible mistake. The koshirae are fine the way they are and giving them matching kojiri won't make them a daisho. It will, however, seriously devalue both sets (might just as well set your money on fire). This is a very, very, bad idea. Grey

Hi Vaughn, Here is a link to a care and etiquette site that will tell you what you need to know. http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm Grey

Solid silver habaki cost less than silver foil habaki; the value is in the labor. Your habaki is silver. Grey

Hi Vaughn, If by remarried you mean welded on, no; no need to worry about that. The tip (kissaki) doesn't look messed with either. Grey

The problem just disappeared. What this is, I'm convinced: ebay has people working for them whose job it is to make search work well. They get it to a point where it works fine but they have to keep changing it to justify their existence. Grey

But I've been using these exact searches for years with no trouble until last night. Stupid ebay. Grey

Hi guys, I have a few searches saved on my computer for ebay, mainly searching for Japanese Sword with many words and dealers to exclude. Starting last night I've been getting the following message whenever I try to search: "Unfortunately, we only have room for around 100 characters, so we had to shorten your search." And they show me nothing. Ebay claims they know nothing. Anyone else having the same trouble or know what's up? Thanks, Grey