Jean

You see you can do it when you want, Ed :D :D BTW, I'd like to know which translator on line you used, the French is perfect

Ed, As you are fluent in many languages could you give the translation in French :D :D

Astounding object. Here is the link http://www.samuraishokai.jp/equipment/ts015.html

I totally agree with Koichi san, perhaps Muromachi

Mark, Brian is right, this one looks good. Make a direct offer to Tsuruta san, saying that you can't afford paying more than 3,5 K$. Taking into account the number of discounted swords this morning, you can take a chance

Kevin, Did you get your money back?

Nothing against gimei as long as the price paid for the blade reflects its quality and not the mei.

Ted, If it is PM, it went probably through but was not opened

Mark, The blade seems polished and the saya is interesting though there is a missing - Kurikata seems made of wood, it would cost a lot if you have it to be made. Kozuka is missing. Description is astonishing : Nagasa indicates a katana. It is listed in the wakizashi section and the description hilarious : Chu-jo saku is not a bad rating. Fittings are probably common or Tsuruta san would have them pictured. I have seen a lot worse. Ask Tsuruta san if it is a tanto/wak/katana and try to discuss the price. Perhaps Tsuruta san shall grant you a small discount

I am using Black Pearl, everything is OK for me

John, Here it is . Sorry, it is in French :

Ian, Thanks a lot for the information. At first, I was wondering what Glaive were you talking about, considering that in my mind there was the association with the Roman sword (2 edges , short and straight). In fact, there is a distinction in French between Glaive and Glaive d'armes, glaive d'armes being referring to a pole arm used during Middle Age and which appeared at the end of the 13th century. For members interested subject, there is a short description of it in Wikipedia : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vouge_(arme)

Axes have been for ages, in all civilizations since prehistory, a favourite weapon when it comes to a mêlée : From the dwarves mentioned in the "Lord of the Rings" or "Eragon" :D , to the French "francisque" and the North American "tomahawk".

How right you are Barry, I hesitated a lot at the beginning not wanting to give nightmares to some members

Thanks Pete for the explanation, that is the kind of post which makes NMB unique.

In a mêlée, War hammer, axes are much more efficient and easier to wield than swords

Agreed with Mark, it could be a hagire running through the hiraji but I have never seen such things

It seems that Dr Stein is feeling the same way : http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/glossary.htm A diagram is not all, see my question to Guido : does 2=4

Interesting Guido, How would you define Handachi then? A Koshirae with an element of a tachi? Could you post some pictures of the examples mentionned in the Tokyo National Museum "Sword Mountings" (東京国立博物館 - 刀装篇) (unless forbidden by copyright)? Now referring to this koshirae, does the kabuto-gane alone justify the term Handachi (forget about the saya), in the same way if the saya had a saya-jiri as the kabuto-gane mentionned above, would it be qualified as a handachi? In a handachi, can we talk about kabuto-gane and saya-jiri or kashira/kojiri?

John, Yes, IMHO, they are Tachi mounting.

Very good idea and if possible the translation in English.

Difficult to say, even if we were to see the laquer sword, but they were fashionable in Shinshinto

How would you name this sword, nagasa=37cm, ubu signed by Kunitoshi, late Kamakura

Guido, 2=4?

John, IMHO, I think it was a handachi modified for wear as a military tachi. Seldom do we find real tachi koshirae for this kind of sword, too rich to be brought to war. In fact, I have never seen a common tachi mounting, only elaborate ones http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/wakizashi/ ... shirae.jpg Even this one is elaborated (not mentionning Efu, Itomaki no tachi much more refined) In fact, my first katana was in handachi mounting and when you said : I would prefer it to have an aoi-gata tsuba, I was thinking to myself John is reading my mind