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kunitaro

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Everything posted by kunitaro

  1. Dear Hans, One more important thing, i want you to see and compare is "FUNBARI" the taper shape like Eiffel or Tokyo Tower. you can see from the photo of whole blade. All of Ubu (original) sword has Funbari at bottom of the blade(near nakago), so, you can see if it is Ubu or o-Suriage without taking Tsuka out. And There is Funbari at nakago as well ( see the photo of Nakago). And !!! There is Funbari at Monouchi as well !!! compare photos. shape of Monouchi, mine and yours. those three Funbari shape is one important dynamics of Japanese sword and makes 100 times more stronger and functional. When you know about it, and exam carefully, it is not so difficult to SEE, But it is very very very difficult to MAKE it. When all those shape are balanced, the sword looks super impressive, not only looks, it is most functional and effective. when sword is polished many time, the blade edge side get skinner, you shape ha side of nakago, to remain Hamachi, when you polished Mune saide, also, you shape mune side of nakago, then you loose Funbari of blade and nakago, Nomouchi as well,,, so, you can see how tired the blade is, checking by Funbari as well, less Funbari, less function, less Value as well. hope my answer will open door for you. best,
  2. kunitaro

    A mistake

    Dear Sir, I am new on NMB. Dozo Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu. just small comment from 2nd Photo. very nice clear photo of Kissaki. When i see the Kissaki, Yokote line should be from the point of line of Boshi/Kissaki (round line) and Starting monouchi (straight line) to Mitugashira at Shinogi line. as you see carefully, Yokote line is moved, maybe 1 or 2 mm down, so, Kissaki looks bigger.... and as we know the process of Shiage(final) Polishing, Yokote line and polishing Boshi ( Narume ) is the last stage after Jizuya and Hazuya on Monouchi, so, Yokote line stays clear. But, this blade. The Hadori (Hazuya stone) has done AFTER Yokote line. so, Yokote line stoped at White Ha parts. This work has done by Japanese. not immature mistake, they know what they are doing. wonder why ??? so, when i see that kind small question mark, Always Consideration of the point, in this case, we must make sure, there is Live Hamon all way through cutting edge. sometime, Nioi-gire ( missing parts of Hamon ) or sometime No-hamon. I can not see and judge from the Photo. Please don't feel offended. to checking item from eBay needs extra attention, i think. and Attaching pic of Normal Polished Kissaki to compare. by polishing, Ha looks white. Ji is black on Monouchi, and Ha is dark and Ji is white on Boshi. and you see the Nie (dot) at Nioi-kuchi. Best regards.
  3. Dear Hans, And Sanmai construction. It is great Invention in Kitchin knife industry in Japan. This is also came from knowledge of Japanese sword making. They use high carbon steel in middle, and normally, they use stainless steel on side. so, the cutting edge is hard high carbon steel and body is stainless or softer steel. maybe you can google "Japanese Kitchen knife" However, it is not Japanese sword is constructed. Best
  4. Dear Hans san, Industrial Steel tools are also Yakiire and Yakinamashi. which is quenching. but, it is for whole material. not cray tempering for Hamon. Same as Hunting Knives. And Polishing. as they said that Hand Polish. but, maybe doing with hand, but, as you see the surface,Polishing stone round Disk with motor, side way of grinder. you can find maybe Youtube, search "Japanese knfie polish" I am saying it, because, the way of polishing is very special and need high skill. so, it is not fit with mas production product, and remain or control Haniku, need high skill. This parts, Copy can never be done, till now. Old time,,,, before Edo period, Almost same as now till before Ha-doti (make Ha white) They were using only different kind of stone for ha, there was no White parts, only showing Hamon and Nioi-kuchi parts, It is called "Sashikomi-togi," It is popular today, but, Modern Sahshikomi is a bit different from formar time, I have seen very old collection (Kokuho and Juyo-bijutsuhin) with Old Master polish, very rare, but, there is some old master polish is preserved. After Meiji period, there was a lot of new technique has been developed, to showing Activities of the blade better, Best
  5. My sword is not done as art sword polish, The stage of Polishing is Nagura stone, before Uchigumori, at this stage, Jitetsu looks white, and Ha looks black. temper line is called Nioi-kuchi, you can not see it on that Photo from straight angle, but, if you see the blade through Light (like examing sword), you can see. to showing those activity, after Basic ploish, They use finger stone, Shiage Togi, Jizuya stone. and put powder of Carbon something with oil to make the Jitetsu darker, and after, they use Ha-zuya stone, to make the Ha parts white, These work shows more Activity on Ji and Ha. it is called Kesho-Togi ( make up polish) This is started around Meiji Period, when the sword is not for use anymore, So, Normal (?) sword polish you see today is for Art polish to see them. this takes a lot of time and work, which you don't need for using it. so, my sword which you see. is using condition, after 20years, when this blade get tired, i can give good art polish for retirement of this blade. i will be able to enjoy all activity on my blade. i don't know so much about chinese blade. is the T10 tool steel Stainless Steel ? if its so, then there is no Hamon, only etching. make it looks like. if its pure carbon steel, then possible Oil tempered, because, there is no Nie. however, oil tempering is also, need skill. so, i think that also etching. but the point is that the blade has No-haniku, the surface of the blade is flat. or funny shape. When you see the Sugata, it has no Funbari, I think the balance is not right, and Kissaki shape and Yokote line. so, it is looks like Nihonto, but for cutting, it function different... you need sharp cutting edge cutting soft target, but you can not cut hard target with it. Yes, If you have art polish, you can see very small scratches, so, normal art polish is not for Using. It is for looking. and the price difference of the sword between Art sword and fighting sword is that cost of polishing and Koshirae. the cost of the blade itself is not much different. hope i am answering ok. Best regards,
  6. Dear Chris san, mmm, i have no back ground of my sword technique,,,i am not going talk about my family back ground though. and I am not belong to any Dojo or school. My main interest is Old Master pieces. my parents force me to start Judo when i was 7, and i stared Kendo at 9. when i was teenager, living in Fukuoka city in 70'. Kajiwara Kotoken was living near my house, He is a master sword polisher, so, i was visiting him. to see the sword polishing, then i could try sword cutting at his garden, i liked it, so i was doing it with his son. then i bought a sword for cutting.... i am not sure What kind of Ryu,, I blieve that He is Kotoken 2nd, His father was Teaching sword fight to JP army. he was famous sword man in Japan. I remember that mr.Kajiwara was using Real Shinto master piece, Omi Daijo Tadayoshi Katana ( i think that was Juyo blade) for popular demonstration or TV show. He cut 30-40 makiwaras with it, and no scratch on blade.... after this, Kunimasa Matsuba is my teacher, He is Aikido 7 dan, Kendo 5 dan, Koryu-kenjutsu, i think he leaned Jiki-Shinkage-ryu. behind his house in Miyazaki, is large Bamboo hill. He is cutting so much amount of bamboo with his own made sword. a lot of sword masters are visiting him, and cutting together, leaning from each other. I think that he is almost only one who is a master Budo and sword smith. and my second teacher is Isao Machi. he is much younger than me, and a bit commercial now... He is a professional Antique sword polisher. very good polisher. and in Iai field, he was well known since he was young from Eishin-ryu,He was(is) kind of genius. now, he has 7 chidren ! ( late 30') ! so he has to work hard. however, His skill and accuracy is highest level in Japan. BTW, Last week, We were talking about organizing a Tameshigiri workshop in Europe. with good swords. Best regards,
  7. Good morning Everybody. This subject become active !! My sword : Katana is made in 2002 by Kunimasa Matsuba. It is made from 100% Tamahagane. He use tamahagane mixed with his own made steel or old iron for Art or contest sword to make beautiful old looking Jitetsu. but, for using, It better to use 100% tamahagane, so, Jitetsu become kind of boring Itame-nashiji hada, but, quality is stable, the blade will stay strong for longer time. (and it is not art sword polish, only Shita-ji togi + a bit, so you can not really see the hada anyway) The blade is Shinogi-zukuri (ofcause), Ko-fuse Kitae and carefully hummered Shinogi (shinogi-ji is Itame-hada if you give art polish ), because, i think it is stronger than Masame-hada-shinogi like Mino-den or Shinto. Nagasa : 72cm, Sori : 2.0cm, Motohaba : 3.2cm, Moto-Kasane : 0.8cm, Sakihaba : 2.0cm, Saki-Kasane : 0.45cm. Sugata is basicly Koshi-zori with a bit Saki-zori (for quick draw). so, it became looks like "Oei-Bizen" style. I am mostly cutting bamboo or harder target. and for practice, made it very thick Ha-niku, almost "Hamaguri-ba". so Hira-ji shape is like Kamakura period tachi shape. the blade is stronger and i can have High wide Gunome-midare hamon. it makes the blade last longer as well...i think. as you see the size of the blade, my sword is wide thick Moto, and slim and thin Saki. so, the center of weight is very close to tsuka(hand), it makes draw, swing easier and faster for me. and create very sharp strong Tsuki. The Edge, About 10cm from Hamachi is Ubu-ba (un-sharpened) and cutting edge is not really sharp. I can put my finger on cutting edge and slice from mid till monouchi, my finger doesn't cut. if you push hard. ofcause, it cut, but, not sharp as normal art sword polish or kitchen knife. Nakago is regular, maybe a bit shorter. When i hold Tsuka, my both hands are touching each other, so, i don't need long Tsuka. from this reason, mine is Higo Koshirae style. Position of Mekugi-Ana is perfectly center of my right hand palm. and have Steel Mekugi. Cutting with thick hamaguri-ba blade need accurate swing. needs perfect ha-suji, meaning is Te no Uchi is important. if you swing perfect Ha-Suji, you can feel very special cutting though. That is THE Japanese SWORD CUTTING ! it is completely different cutting from the cutting with thinner flat surfaced sharp knife. I used my sword for Tameshigiri seminar for a few years, cut more than 5000 Bamboo, used loughly by more than 300 different level of people. but, it is still fine, it will be ok for next 10-20 years. Priolity of Functional Japanese sword is Hamon and Haniku (or Niku-oki). It makes Japanese sword very unique and special. That is why Japanese sword polisher is different from Kitchen knife polisher. as everybody knows that Polishing stone for Sword is rounded surface, for Kitchen knife must have Flat surface, Because, Hira-ji of Japanese sword is not flat. The skill of the polisher is how to preserve that Hira-niku. Tired blade is meaning that Less-Ha-niku which is less functional. is meaning less value.... I think that good tool is important for leaning. if you know you have a right tool, and you cut well, you have right skill. it is very important that you trust your weapon. Ha-biki (less sharp) is not for safety for users, is for more functional reason and for less risk of damaging the blade. i hope you understand my immature Japanese English explanation. _(..)_ What do you think ? Best regards,
  8. Dear Hans and Ken, I am new here. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu. In Japan, we can have only Traditionally made Nihonto by law. we can not make or import mono-steel blade, Even we can not import machine made(mono-steel oil tempered) blade from ww2. so, everybody use real Nihonto, Most of them are using modern smith's blade for Tameshigiri in Japan. In fact, there is a lot of Gimei. Osuriage mumei, or Ubu-mumei Shinshinto swords are made by modern smith.... ( most of them were not done on purpose by smith, it has done by dealers and collectors put them into Antique market ) or some people use ww2 sword (hand forged water tempered blade), but it is only 65cm, However, The point of using real katana for cutting practice is Ha-Niku, not really sharpness of the edge. the combination of Sori(curve) and Ha-niku makes Japanese sword to cut through the target. Clean cutting Tatamiomote, bamboo, even leaves or steel pipe, with good shaped (good sugata and haniku) sword. from those reasons, A good sword and good Shitaji-togi(basic polish) is important for leaning real movement. Only HIGHLY SKILLED PERSON could use super sharpen blade like sashimi knife for demonstration. When we exam Old Master pieces, we can see those beautiful Sugata, and Perfect Ha-Niku which preserved by Generation of Master polishers. Best regards,
  9. Dear Christophe, I am new here. "Yoroshiku..." To make "Ki-Habaki (wooden habaki) is an option. from Ho-wood (Magnoria), same material as Shirasaya and Tsunagi. If you are living in Japan. shirasaya maker could make one. they can make Tsunagi with habaki separate or in one pice. if you are handy, you can make it by yourself as well. Best
  10. Thank you jean san, Now I made my signature. going to explore NMB forum ! Best
  11. Dear Rick, OK. then it is very nice to meet you here !! THX NMB ! Best kunitaro
  12. Dear David, Thank you. This forum is quite active ! Yes, i am already enjoying going around different chapters. Dear Rick, Nice to meet you. are you in Holland ? have we met each other before ? Best kunitaro
  13. Dear Lorenzo, Thx for quick reply. nice to meet you. Morita san, Yes, dejimaya desu. now i am more busy with researching, publication. less dealing items. kunitaro
  14. Dear Gentlemen, My name is Kunitaro, Japanese, living in The Netherlands. my favorite is Old Tanto, i was obsessed with studying them and obsessed trying NBTHK shinsa to confirm my study. in the past, i discovered 2 mumei tantos (attributed Sekishu-Naotsuna and Kashu-Sanekage), 1 shumei Hirazukuri-wakizashi (Mihara-Masaie 1st), 1 osuriage mumei Katana (attributed Yoshioka-Ichimonji) and 1 Signed Tanto Sa, passed Juyo-Shinsa. i think that the shape (sugata) of the sword from Heian, Kamakura period is something above human been can achieve. now,i am interested in studying Shinshinto sword. They are completely different object, however, we can enjoy its perfection and there is a lot of evidence with history which still we can find. i also enjoy studying Iron Sukashi Tsuba. i think that the Study of Iron Sukashi Tsuba is less than sword(blade) study. we still can find old katana tsuba in group of late wakizashi tsubas. i am looking forward to meet many sword lover from all over the world to share the Samurai spirits. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu. Best regards Kunitaro
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