Jean

Interesting item. I had this experience a few years ago with an Eikyo Bizen Kozori Yoshimitsu wakizashi papered by Fujishiro. When it arrived from Japon, I noticed that the Koshirae was not the original one. I had to have it adjusted, rewrap the tsuka and to my surprise the Yokote was assymetric and this was due to a bad polish. In Japon, you have a lot of polishers with different skill from low/medium to top. One of the most difficult thing in polishing is to obtain symetry and crisped lines (Shinogi, yokote ..) and believe me (I have a friend who is a chujo polisher) not every layman can become polisher. I shall never try, I am too clumsy:oops:

Just about packing sword (it's gone to be hard because of my English) I once had a wak polished and the polisher send it back to me in this way : He has cut a blank/board a bit longer and larger than the wak The polish blade was wrapped in fine paper (what we call call silk paper in French). The blade was first fixed to the board by screw Going through the Mekugi ana, (the screw body was smaller then the mekugi ana but the head, larger) Then the blade was strapped on the board, impossible for it to move from the board. The package tube was then filled with the usual chips ...

Between Oei (1394) and Ko-ji (1555) there are 6 generations of Uda Kunihisa, which one to chose?

Happy birthday Jock, Difficult to say a lot of things from the picture except : Very nice sword The Nakago as an odd colour, pale grey instead of deep blakrust, perhaps due to flashbulb Its shape is showing something like high shinogi so it could be Yamato influenced though I don't see a lot of masame on the pictures (perhaps a bit above the monouchi) Enju (mentionned by Darcy) could be right as the Jigane is quite close even if it is very hard to see the shira-keru Though Hiromura (the foundator of Enju) was coming from Yamashiro Rai, he had before a training in yamato Shikkake (though his father being Senjuin) That is were the Oshigata is very usefull because I cannot see from the pictures if there are ko ashi or not Yes, this is a piece which should go to shinsa

Interesting Article which is neither complete nor conclusive In fact if we learn from this article that roughly 16/100 of the 47 ronin were wearing a daisho with a similar signature (Norinaga, Kunisuke, Norimitsu ..), We lack data from this descrption if they were the same smiths, all these smiths names are very famous and were used for generations, but : - We do not know from the description if the mei were shoshin or not - We do not know if blades were forged by the same generation smith So I'll be cautious about the statement. If I remember one of the sword was offered by the Lord and the other one has to be bought by the samourai. Not an easy task to get another sword by the same smith futhermore if this one was very famous (too expensive for the common samurai.) True daisho (referring to blades) are seldom found and when submitted to shinsa are on the same kanteisho, I remember Darcy solding one a few years ago. Most time, you will find false daisho, meaning swords forge by the same smith but at a different stage and not meant to match the first one). Daisho koshirae are more frequent than daisho blades

hi Dieter, After seeing the Oxford news on TV, you should take a wader

Hi Bill, Just a small correction, you can directly apply from Hozon to Juyo without going through TH process. To apply for Juyo, you must be a NBTHK member.

Poor world : Quo Vadis :lol: :lol: :lol:

Having neverssen a Paul Chen in my short life, but at it seems thera NMB members familiar with is work, I have a question : Does he often forge sanbonsugi hamon?

Looks Mino to me. From the pictures and the togari which seem to be very regular, it looks like some kind of sanbonsugi hamon

I agree with Brian and Markus, very stange nakago yasurime well spotted by Brian. The blade hamon (quite difficult to see) seemd nioi deki, many blades were nie deki during shinto. But, I dislike the Fukura, the yokote is almost invisibleon one side (perhaps the picture) but the shinogi at the kissaki level seems straight which is strange ..... Machine drilled Mekugi ana ... Nakago colour is not right ............

Daniel, Congratulation for getting a KoMihara as first sword, that is a top school!! For NMB members interested, a tip: when buying a Hozon papered sword from Aoi Art and wanting to know the quality (TH level or not), ask Tsuruta san to go see Tanobe sensei for a sayagaki - the cost must be about 75000 yen. It is worth it for if Tanobe san accepts to put a sayagaki, it will give you not only an added value but it will confort you in your buy. About six month ago, there was an Hozon Naoe Shizu blade on Aoi Art site for 1,4MY and which was discounted to 1,3 MY. A friend of mine was looking for buying a sword and was wondering what to buy on Aoi Art site, I told himm that this sword was a deal (Mukansa polish), it has a an old shirasaya with an impressive sayagaki. He went into negociation with Tsuruta san but kept on asking question, worried. After few emails, I told him to see if Tsuruta san could bring the sword in a new shirasaya to Tanobe san and have a sayagaki. First time (and probably last one) I saw this : it came back with a sayagaki : the comment on the blade are no less then 36 kanji by two columns (72 in total), even on juyo I have not seen such comments. This sword was certainly a deal but difficult to see from the pictures.

Christian, My only wish is to survive till mid-August :D :D

Agreed with Koichi, it looks like a fake. I enjoy particularly the "wavy" shinogi

Hi Stephan, It is very difficult to trace Precedent Nihonto owners. Except for some Hairloom coming from Daimyo family, even origin of most Juyo are impossible to trace. People want to sell/consign their Nihonto blades through commercial shops but seldom give their wherabouts. IMHO, If you are selling an heirloom or something which has been cherished for centuries in your family, I do not think you would like to advise it or get it public.

Thanks Rich for your efforts to make Nihonto known worldwide. France is wishing you prompt recovery

Koichi my friend, Thanks to you I have understood Luminous and tremendous example (I love doughnuts :D :D ), that is exactly what teaching is all about : give very simple example/explanation. BTW, I did not have too much time yesterday but I hope everytthing is OK and that you did not suffer too much from the earthquake -

I love the : "BOHI OF THE KISSAKI TYPE" Next time, in the next description I am expecting : "MEKUGI ANA OF THE HAMON HATARAKI TYPE" :lol: :lol:

Brian, It shows that on a very narrow field of interest (huge for us, I must confess), the NMB has an international success and this is due to you Brian/Rich and all active members. I raise my hat to all of you mates!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks a lot forthe info, especially for Ken. In fact, I need furher simple explanation, I have got a thickhead (I am not that bright :lol: :lol: ) Humidity makes the wood swells : am I right in this assumption? Considering the Tsuka : If it swells it should swell both ways outward the tsuka and inward the tsuka, so it should tighten on the nakago .... UNLESS THE TSUKA WAS MADE UNDER A MAXIMUM HUMIDITY .... Am I still mistaking???? In fact, my only conclusion is to have, if possible, the same level of humidity throughout the year. Generally, Shirasaya are quite airtight - Do anyone in the board (tricky question from a warped mornin brain) has any idea of the best % of humidity taking into account wood/steel?????

Hi Jeremy, It is a very interesting topic. I have never experienced this problem living in Paris, but I would like NM members opinion : - Humidity/Dampness makes wood swell, I remember that wooden barrels were filled with water till wood will swell and the barrels watertight - Dryness ===> wood shrinks Too much humidity : difficulty to withdraw the tsuka beware of rust Too dry : be carefuul because the blade is loose in the tsuka. I would advise a dampness regulator machine (I dont know if it exists) Here in Paris, we have (generally) a very dry atmosphere in our flats, it has adnatages and drawbacks : - Advantages : I never oil my blades - Drawbacks : I have to put some bowls of water because of my 19th century mahogany furniture which has a tendancy to crack ....

Hi to All, I love Milt Humor, I love Brian wiseness, I love Rich when he becomes serious and gives freely away his knowledge (even if I had to push him once or twice to get an answer and get a piece or even a lecture on fittings - Thanks mate), I won't talk about Darcy whose knowledge and kindness are acknowledged by all NMB Members (I hope). I have not mentioned our Japanese resident friends and Koichi who does not leave anything to others .. From time to time I like to go wild, it is a pleasure with Milt, I am 55 and life is too short to be taken seriously. I confess I can go off topic (mind you, not always) but I can be serious and matter of fact and share my ignorance (Damn it, I did it again :lol: :lol: ). The only thing I am sure and by which I stand is : - NO INFLATED EGO - LENIENCY - COURTESY : you shall never see me criticizing another one opinion, discussing it perhaps even if I am upset from time to time. - MODESTY : we are not at University, so we are not split in different levels, unless I am mistaking nobody in NMB has a Dan/degree in Nihonto (though no doubt some of you deserve - I am not including myself). and HUMOR :lol: :lol: :lol: I am part of NMB and out of it as I am free to leave (remember Darcy leaving some boards) but if I am a member, it is because of NMB members diversity and richness of opinion.

From France : Bienvenue Bill, I hope NMB will meet your expectation (in fact I am sure)

Milt, You are right, futhermore goose tong is even more meaty - splendid :lol: :lol:

Waynes, Unfortunately, NBTHK kanteisho are less precise than NTHK ones, they seldom give the generation or an era (nanki)