loui

That is very nice! Well, done on the restoration. Looking more and more like we need a firearms section. I am going to look at a some Japanese firearms next week - keeping fingers x'd. Louis

Very nice, thank you for the detailed write up. I know this is the Nihonto board but a section for firearms might be handy to keep things organized. Regards, Louis

It was a mozo (imitation) blade he received (see pic). Obviously for good reasons. But that's not what it is all about. Handling a katana in public in Japan is different from doing so in the rest of the world; no matter what kind or quality it is. To most Japanese people every katana is like a loaded gun. It has to be treated with utmost respect and it's better to stay away from it. This attitude might also explain the reaction of the Japanese ambassador described by Mr.Skebo. - BTW, the ceremony started according to protocol. reinhard You could be right Reinhard, there were probably a few other reasons as well. Regards, Louis

We take handling swords for granted mainly because most of us have learned what is proper and what isn't. The fact that a westerner handled a sword improperly and didn't follow any type of "protocol" isn't at all surprising to me. I made a presentation a couple of years ago at a gallery here to a large group of people - including the Japanese ambassador to Canada - he knew absolutely nothing about swords and he wouldn't even attempt to hold them, almost like a guy trying to not hold a baby. One might think he was just distancing himself from the sword due to its past and wanted to avoid controversy but I think he just didn't know anything about handling a sword - surprising? Nope. Louis

Winning the hearts and minds.

A polisher can minimize or close up a muneware and other problems, but every situation is different. Regards Louis

Wow, very interesting, anything on the handle? I bought a sword that came from a Canadian POW held in Japan during the war, he took it from an officer when the war ended. The fella that got it from him in 1950 said that when he took the sword out of the saya it smelled like "guts", and took him many cleanings to get rid of that smell. What is the story behind your sword? Any pics of the blood?

Jean, I may have to prove your theory wrong:) I'll know for sure when the polish is done - sometime. Dated 1860.

Ah sorry - here is the other picture of the date - thanks for the help! Louis

Hi Guys, I'm stuck on this tanto and need some help. For the date I have "Man-en ni nen ni gatsu kitu jitsu" "1860 +2 one lucky day in february"? The signature is throwing me off, the first character looks like "Kawa..michi.masayoshi" These fricking characters are small and my eyes are killing me. Any ideas? Thanks! Louis

I've never had a problem shipping to france, but my shipper always tells me to have the phone number on the package, not sure if you did or not. Too bad - I hate shipping hassles. Try again! Good info above as well.

Definitely a display piece! No touching that. Make up a cool story though.

I LOVE THAT SWORD! Very nice Uwe!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Hi Dwayne, I am not in Calgary, but if you are ever in Ottawa be sure to look me up for a coffee/beer. Regards, Louis

I've filled mekugi ana with copper and lead, very little if any alteration to the surrounding yasurimei would have to be done in either case. To me, and this is speculation as well, it looks like something was removed from that side, looks like the edge of the groove is pushed in slightly from tapping out a signature perhaps, the curved markings in the nakago are also a little "different". And, on the other hand the yasurimei look pretty poorly carried out. All this doesn't mean good or bad, just that it's good for speculation on the NMB:) It's very interesting that either a smith or someone removing or adding filemarks made/left one side different from the other. Very good eye for spotting that one! Regards, Louis

Thanks very much John, I appreciate that. I love working on yari, very technical and can be very beautiful if you get the right one. Regards, Louis

I saw this restored yari on another forum and wondered if lacquering was perhaps originally done as a shortcut to finishing the blade, thinking that a coat of lacquer would be a lot quicker to apply than finish polishing the hi and/or kerakubi. With your above comment, I guess not. As a polisher, do you think it is quicker to lacquer than polish, regardless of cost? Depends on what it is - every blade is different, lacquer work does take time as does polishing a carving. There are no solid answers for that question. Louis

Hi Guys, when I polished this a few years ago I had restored it to the original fashion as you can see here: http://www.japaneseswordcollector.com/nao/nao1.html There were no openings in the hi or on the neck. I've polished many blades that have had lacquered grooves and quite a few had no openings or flaws under the lacquer, some others have had some problem areas but nothing that isn't seen on non lacquered grooves. Between the fashion at the time, the smiths tastes and preferences, the customers request, and maybe the "used car salesman" tactics of the sword dealer, there are many reasons but in the end it boils down to taste whether one likes lacquer or not. It should be noted that to prepare the groove and then lacquer it would be about the same as polishing it completely cost wise, so unless there was something to cover up no cost would be saved by lacquering in my opinion. Regards, Louis

Looks like someone has acid treated it, hard to say what it would really look like after a polish. Hard to say from the pictures though. Regards, Louis

Thank you for the information, it is close to what I am looking for - although not exactly. I will keep looking. Regards, Louis

Hi There, I am trying to find much a sword would have cost in the late 1500's/early 1600's. Does anyone have a ledger or receipt from a sword sale during that period? Thanks very much. Louis

Very nice story Henry, good to know, and something to pass on. Louis

I have seen some "nice" carvings on showato, I think they could have been used to as they were intended as well - as symbolic in nature. Louis

Well said Joe, people often explain my questions better than I do, there was nothing sinister or covert intended by the deletion of ones own thread - it was more of a housekeeping issue for me, but I can see what Brian means about retaining information. The whole standing behind ones post and all that is self evident for me. I know the Mods do a heck of a job and I don't envy them for having to constantly sift through posts all day long, thanks for your tireless efforts. A note about the Shan post, you all are right, I don't know the history behind it or the politics behind the scenes and quite frankly they don't interest me, I just happened along that final post and it seemed a little "abrupt" if you will. I generally just look for interesting threads as I don't have much time the the day for checking boards. So from now on I'll stay out of the politics and mind my own, but I will say that there is an ignore function on here I think - maybe people should use that more often. And the whole thing about the porn was a little over the top:) And yes Brian I have asked for a thread to be deleted and thank you very much for that. Regards, Louis