Alex A

I was looking to get a hold of Bill, must be several months ago. Stephen managed to get a hold of him, will pm the details i have. Was a pity at the time, he had a real nice Sukenaga wak on his site that i was after, but took so long i ended up with another. Anyways, see pm

Been asked about Nakago-ana dimensions, so will add here. 28mm x 7mm at widest point. Obviously, looking at the tsuba, it appears to have been mounted on more than one sword. Open to reasonable offers.

Aye, famous swords do tend to come with more traceable history and provenance. Looks a good read that, thanks.

Have to ask. Regarding gold inlay "nick names". Any way to authenticate?

That's a nice sword. Eisho dated Sukesada nakago always have that look about them, you could have guessed it without seeing the mei and just seeing the nakago. No one likes to see "probably" in a write-up, well i dont. "Sukesada" is top of the mei charts for scribble and its what most will have to accept as owners.

For a quick listing im going to do a direct link to the sales thread when i bought it. Thomas i don't think will mind, his pictures were very good. This one has been through the hands of a few Koto tsuba collectors, every Koto collection should have one! Lately, i have been interested in tsuba with tree designs such as Bushu etc, so i have a different focus on what i collect. Hence the sale. £249, that includes shipping. (From memory, under what i have in it) Original listing here.

Glad you are giving it the time it deserves Lewis and happy its gone to a good home. Cheers

Now sold, thanks

On hold, thanks

Had an enquiry asking for different pics to Aoi. Usually would go out in the back yard in the light but since moving im now overlooked so dont want look like a nutter in the back yard. Mostly taken under the lights of my 90s style kitchen, hope these suffice a bit better, not really good at sword photography.

Sold, thanks

On hold pending payment. cheers

Short, a possibility it was made from a longer sword. crossed my mind. Maybe the picture but thats the vibe i am getting.

Some of us are into bikes here too, Mick, me included, there is a discussion in the members area below somewhere. As for the general antique dealers and the online gun sites that have them. Its rare i use the term junk, probably got sick of seeing swords with vastly altered weird nakago and Chinese wall hangers with prices like 2k on them. Who knows though, maybe a diamond in the rough on one of those sites one day, but i for one are less than willing to sift through it. On the whole, stupid prices aimed at people that have not done their homework.

That is sad to read, thanks for the heads up.

As far as i know, Aoi still ship to UK through OCS Also, UPS ship antique swords, asked them the other day. That was out of the UK to the US, my enquiry.

Hi Mick, what you after? (shameless plug)I am selling a signed katana with Tokubetsu Hozen papers, nice koshirae and shirasaya, for £4k, nicely polished in Japan. I definitely doubt any dealer in the UK will have such a deal. If interested check the sales page below. I am in the NW and your welcome to come see it if your interested. All though obviously, depends what you are looking for?. Also, you need to be very wary when buying in the UK, ask someone with knowledge before you buy. Personally, prefer importing from Japan than buying in UK. I got tired of sifting through swords without papers, overpriced, unpolished or crappy polish, gimei etc. Not saying all are like that, just the vast majority i have come across. There just isn't a broad range to choose from regarding smiths, always comes across as a "take what you can get" market. The best deals you will get from private sellers. Maybe worth putting an advert in the wanted section here or ask The Token society about private sales there. Will say some dont like the hassles that come with importing, which is fair enough. Also, sure others wont be as negative as me. Ps, your not the only guy in the UK to have suffered buyers remorse, your in good company.

Thanks Alex, i do remember being a bit confused over the number of invoices, seemed a bit weird at the time. Cheers

Thanks Mariusz, Just been looking over it again, and agree. In hand, has a presence, you know it was meant for business. As Calabrese pointed out and as just noticed under the light, it is better than i described it. I tend to be modest with descriptions, its a nice tanto. May sound ridiculous, but didnt buy it to study it and have not spent much time with it, simply wanted a Yoroi-doshi of its form. Will have stick with the ruler for kasane, 8mm A few random pics from the 75 Mariusz took, all on a file. Thanks

Moto-habe = 2cm. These blades were meant for punching through armour, i guess they didn't need to be wide, so slender is common. As for the kasane measurement. Will try and find my callipers later, not so accurate doing it with a ruler. Reckon its a bit thicker than the measurement i gave earlier, we will see. Also, when i get time i will add a few of the higher res images off the file.

No worries, lets just say my patience is wearing thin, with selling stuff in general. For anyone wanting a Koto armour piercing tanto, with interesting hamon and at a reasonable price, this is worth considering. I dont like to see stuff go but you cant hang onto it forever, always other priorities. PS, the file is massive with loads of pics, it sends ok via watsapp, for anyone interested. Cheers

Some pics

PLEASE READ ALL DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY. I need to say this from the start. I am looking for experienced potential buyers that know what they want and don't kick tyres, so to speak. I'm too busy with work and renovations to get involved with potential sales that lead nowhere. We are limited to shippers in the UK and i reckon im in the last chance saloon with OCS, due to folks seeming keen and asking for shipping quotes then the sale going nowhere. The thing is with OCS, everything is email as a private seller getting a quote, so basically i am wasting their time as well as mine, so please be sure you want the blade. I have quite a few swords i want to sell as i head towards retirement so i want good relations with the shippers. On a plus note, UPS has also agreed to ship swords, which came as bit of a surprise. Ideally, i want a UK sale but i am willing to see what i can do with folks abroad. As for the blade. To explain the blade the best way i can think of, i will explain why i bought it. Its been many years since i trawled websites in search of Yoroi-doshi (armour piercer). They are not as rare as hens teeth but you do come across them from time to time. I saw many labelled as "Yoroi-doshi" that to me at the time thought, really?. They just looked like your average tanto but had a slightly thicker kasane. I had always been after an example that really did look like it was meant for piercing armour, as this one does. Straightish, long, thick with hardened edge both sides. A bit tired now but the kasane still measures 8mm. The nagasa is 27cm and the full length of the entire blade is 35.5cm. It is 2cm wide at the habaki. It is signed "Fuyuhiro saku". To be honest, the real interest was the blade, i was about 10% interested in the mei. It wasn't an expensive blade, so i wasn't really interested in pursuing papers and any additional costs. Its Koto, Mariusz, the previous owner thought maybe it might be 3rd or 4th in the late Muromachi, if genuine?. I received the blade and thought the mei looked neater than it did in the pictures. I spent half an hour looking into it and from memory noticed there were some more obscure "Fuyuhiro", which at the point, thought this could be a rabbit hole and i cant be assed with spending much more time on it, (being honest). The mei may be genuine and it may not be, always assume gimei. The fact is, its Koto and its a genuine antique armour piercer that has seen much history, this was made for one purpose only, battle. Its a nice example of Soshu style with double edge temper Hitatsura hamon with an appearence of tobiyaki that still hangs to the hamon. The polish is old Sashikomi and should not be messed with, should be left as is. The hamon is nioi, dont expect to see elaborate activity, whilst appealing hamon to both sides, i would not describe it as fine art. If your into perfection, this is not the tanto for you. Its in old polish and has a few marks, some under the habaki and one near the pointed end. Must have had a few rust spots at one pont, though now cleaned up. Maybe could be improved with some uchiko but to be honest ive never been bothered as to me its something and nothing for a tanto in its old polish, i just oil it and leave it alone. Tanto comes with shirasaya and silver foil habaki. The shirasaya has marks on it due to people in the past attaching cellotape to the wood, i do wish folks would not do this. The plan was to eventually light sand it, as i have done with others to remove similar marks. I have pictures that Mariusz has taken when he owned it, a file of high res that im sure he wont mind me passing on to any potential buyer. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CONTACT ME IF 1) YOU HAVE NOT ARRANGED FUNDING 2) YOU ARE UNAWARE OF COSTS FROM PAYPAL AND BANK TRANSFERS, THESE ARE YOURS TO COVER. 3) YOU ARE UNAWARE OF THE FEES INVOLVED IN IMPORTING ANTIQUES TO YOUR COUNTRY 4) YOU NEED PERMISSION FROM YOUR SPOUSE OR PARTNER OR ANYONE ELSE WITH YOUR FINANCES AND FINAL SAY. 5) YOUR NOT YET KNOWLEDGABLE ENOUGH TO MAKE SOUND DECISIONS BY YOURSELF 6) YOUR OVERLY IMPULSIVE. Price is £SOLD and that includes shipping. I doubt you will find better at that price, so not taking offers at this stage as think the price is more than fair.

Ps, Tokubetsu Hozon, not Hozen as i misspelt

House renovations being expensive these days, I'm going to drop the price for a last time, this is way under what i wanted for this nice package, now £3999. Will throw in free shipping for UK. Probably will regret it, it would have looked really nice on the shelves i don't have yet and wont for many months!!. Its kind of a building site at the moment, so i have other priorities. Again, Shirasaya and sword bag included. along with Aoi oshigata. Cheers