Jean

Hi Rob, captain Brian and his crew (Stephen, Guido) welcome you on board :D :D :D (I am sure they won't disagree as Stephen has already done the welcome part)) If you hesitate between the Kanemoto and the Kanekage, please don't go directly to the Kanemoto for the following reasons ; - Suguta typical for late Muromachi (probably post 1550) - Typical Kanemoto lineage style (sanbonsugi showing) kodai generation as stated - and above all : ubu Nakago Free advise : Don't buy any Muromachi shortened sword (there are always exception but not for Kodai generations). So many swords were forged during this period that suriage blades are not high rated

Gina, mama mia :D :D :D

IMHO, a foursome is better. 2 daisho of course

Someone very scared or taking himself for a man-at-war

Except for buyers

This picture especially shows what it seems to be rust pits. Anyway, Congratulations for your pictures

Very interesting thread and not out of topic for it is a big issue for Nihontophiles. Question : How come some websites as Tetsugendo, Aoi Art wish to be paid by wire transfer, give their bank account details on their websites and have not been hacked????

You just forgot to say it was an inside Job :D :D :D and no hacking was done

Do not worry, we only eat the legs Not bad with garlic

The revenge of the Frog : Episode III The Force is with us :D :D

Hi Piers, One has to take into account that by following this policy, There is a big risk to be in a graveyard before starting collecting/buying...

Use a tripod or a column, if possible privilege a very small aperture (11/16), do not use your automatic camera function but put it rather on manual. That was what I used to do with my old camera. It must be possible with SLR Digital camera

Hi Stephen, Congratulation for your French

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Japanese-Samurai-Swo ... dZViewItem I have some difficulties to understand : Could someone enlighten me?? The son begots the father?? Too much pizza tonight and

Believe me, Piers, I had 4 katanas on a 5 stand katanakake, Four slots were used and I put my Kanetomo tanto on the bottom lot. It has been there for 2 months and my wife did not notice it Best thing to do, if she notices it, is to say that you have trade it for other items (bit and odds)

Thanks for sharing Piers

Would'nt it be simpler to invite them politely to take a refresher course on the shores of the Aegean sea ...

Fully agreed Guido. Milt, explain how you can be conned (as Eager Beaver I could be interested )

Hi Piers, I am not sure it fits in but here is a link to one of the most famous sue bizen Munemitsu : http://www.sho-shin.com/sue2.htm

When talking about "the french", please, my masterless samurai aka Ronin, put a Kapital "F" :lol: :lol:

Hi Piers, Even if a sword is mumei, if the work is characteristic of a Province/school/Lineage of smith, it is not a problem to have a Hozon kanteisho (providing the sword is worth it of course). Depending on the blade quality and the school (interesting ones as Enju, Naoe shizu ..) you can even get a Juyo paper with only an attribution to a school. Some smith lineage in Seki or Osafune had some unmistakable trade marks/characteristics (Kanefusa, Osafune Tadamitsu, Sukesada, Ichimonji ...) which leads directly to a kantei. This kantei is generally granted to a lineage smith (kodai generation), it is almost impossible to pinpoint the kantei to a special generation if the sword is mumei/suriage unless showing outstanding characteristics specific to a smith (Magoroku Kanemoto.. .) Your yari must be showing the unmistakable trademarks of Osafune Munemitsu lineage thus the kantei . Even if the blade is signed, taking into account the number of smiths in a lineage it is almost impossible to pinpoint the work to a specific smith and if done, you shall have often the "Den" associated (it looks like, it shows the characteristics, but ...)

Thanks John, that is what I thought but was too lazy to google it

What is Ichijo school, Dr Ong? Sorry but my bibles have stocked away as I shall be moving within 4 months and I have 25 yearq to pack :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry I forgot to answer Jacques who still believes that everything is in the book the following link written by a former NBTHK Chairman : http://www.nihonto.us/shizu_saburo_kaneuji.htm You will notice Jacques, that the shinogi ji is straight grain (Masame) and the conclusion of Dr Homma Junji that the blade would have been attributed to Kanenaga were it not for its hamon ... Sic Transit Gloria Mundi....

Hi Darcy, I have tried it on 3 different laptops: IBM, Assus, HP and pictures are all very dark. I had to remove my spectacles and peep at pictures from less than 10 inch away. I did not try "save as" and then open it under "Window Photo Editor" and click on "brightness". Is this the solution? What I cannot understand is why in the precedent kantei I had a perfect picture and not in this one (very dark) Yes, you are right from the above picture it looks much more like "cantering itame" than masame Thanks again I have learn something