Herman the German

Hello, thanks very much for the suggestions and the link! It's nice reading a bit of information in German as well. Although my English does the trick for most things, reading complicated stuff is still easier for me in German. [Edit] Been back to Liverpool Militaria today for a little chat and I will get to see some more blades on Saturday. Facts and "Fundamentals of Japanese Swords" arrived today as well *wohoo* looks like I can start diving in

Hello people, Thanks again for your advice and opinions. I would be worried if my view of swords wouldn't change after time. It would mean that I'm not learning anything. Just came out of Bill's shop. What a great fellow he is and I was lucky enough to meet other people there as well. I propably learned more in an hour than by reading the last couple of weeks.

Hello, thanks very much for the replies so far! It's quite interesting how the approaches differ. It's not only the craftmanship what appeals to me, it is just as much the history behind a blade. I rather buy an average blade which appeals to me and possibly has seen some action, than a top notch blade which was throughout it's long history more of a show off item. But by all eagerness to buy, I don't want to search for a black cat in a dark room. So I will see where the book takes me, and I migh molest you with a few more questions then

Hi folks, I only started reading more about Nihontos and feeling already a bit drowned in all the information which makes me wonder: where do I start? But instead of asking for direct advice, I would very much appreciate, if you would kindly share with me where and how you started to gather information. I started up having a look on different swords I liked and found that I've got a -considering the stage of my knowledge propably rather "shallow" affinity for Bizen blades of the Muromachi era. But I might just wait till Mr. Postman brings me the facts and fundamentals of Japanese swords before I go any further.

Hello to all, I'm Fabian, born and raised in the bavarian alps but living in lovely Liverpool since 2011. A few weeks ago I rediscovered my childhood fascination with Japanese swords and would like to gain enough knowledge about the subject to eventually buy a sword. So being quite overwhelmed with the information, and impressed with the knowledge of the members here, I better get started, there is lots to read