Loco Al

Oh, come on Johnny. How could anyone possibly find Tcat's post so offensive? Except that, of course, there is perhaps a certain ring of truth to it. If what Davis said about Prince William is true, then that only helps to confirm what a daft lot the British Monarchy has bred. Why would it have been cowardly to have said nothing about Tcat's relatively innocuous post? Perhaps it would have been "cowardly" of Prince Harry to have not bared his ass for someones cellphone camera at that party in Las Vegas in 2012. Alan

This is a very interesting thread and there have been some very good points made, particularly in jlawson's first reply which would almost prompt a separate topic. Mr. Tsuruta seems to be lamenting the devaluation of swords in Japan (partly due to a weak Yen) and the fact that some of the better swords are leaving Japan for foreign lands, perhaps acquired by rich people who will have no better appreciation for them than as trophies or expensive trinkets (such as jewelry). "From now on, many Nihonto will be mixed with jewelry and exported to oversea" Turning to Ron Watson's post quoted above: I found this to be somewhat depressing, especially if it is true. Most younger people with growing families, unless they are fortunately rich, won't have the time or the funds (the wherewithal) to invest in better nihonto. Mortgaged to the hilt for their larger than necessary houses, and still making payments on their SUV's, it will be a long time before they can ever contemplate buying a Juyo Japanese sword. If they ever even had the notion to collect such art. As others have said, the better swords will always be in demand and there will be a turnaround in the sword market one day. If you are close to retirement though, and will shortly need the money, then perhaps now would be a good time to sell. Alan

A little photoshop, and here the boshi is better revealed: Perhaps the originals were just poor photos, not intended to deceive? Alan

RED LIGHT, now. All gone. I received an email from Diane at Arawaza today that the book was no longer in stock, so I asked her to cancel my order. Sorry guys, if I got your hopes up for nothing. Alan

Okay, I just submitted another order for this book to Arawaza. As a test. Yes, I am crazy. Their website did not say that it was out of stock, but that has yet to be proven. Perhaps their website does not update stock in real time. If this book is indeed still in stock and it is shipped to me, I will let you know. If some of you guys ignored my recommendation to buy from them, and if it is still indeed in stock, then that is your problem. The price was $105 CDN plus about $20 for shipping (within Canada). That works out to about $117 USD. I am sure that they would charge just a bit more for shipping to the U.S. If I do receive this second book, and if it is perchance their last copy, then I will be prepared to sell it for the exorbitant sum of $600 (shipping anywhere in the world included) to one lucky buyer. Just kidding! I will be prepared to send it to someone who agrees to buy it at my cost plus shipping to their destination. Please wait before you attempt to submit an order to them. Once I have confirmation that my book is being shipped, I will let you know if the light is green. Alan

This thread seems to have died, predictably. I'd like to resurrect it by posting a few photos of one of my favourite swords. I only have three swords, and they are all favourites. Echizen Sadatsugu [attachment=2]IMG_3669.JPG[/attachment] [attachment=1]3D7A4040z.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]3D7A4047.jpg[/attachment] Alan

Ostentatious? Never! And why would this not appeal to every nihonto fanatic? No need to apologize in advance for showing off this work. That took courage. Tokubetsu Juyo and a regal koshirae. Thank you for sharing it. Alan

Just for fun. Is this utsuri? Alan

O.K., just one more bug photo which I took this weekend with the EF100mm Macro. I couldn't resist. This little guy was no bigger than my thumbnail. Congratulations on you new lens purchase Hoanh. It appears you have already put it to good use, judging by the new photos in your thread in the Nihonto section (Question on terminologies). Those are surprisingly good photos. Alan

Wow, tremendous!!! Alan

These shots were taken with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro and a full frame (5D Mk3) Canon camera. The images form the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro are every bit as good except that it is much cheaper without the image stabilization feature. Alan

I agree with Ken. The EFS 10 - 20 is a wide angle lens. Too wide for what you want to accomplish. If you want a great sharp lens that you can also take close-up detail photos with, then I would recommend the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro. It can also be used for portrait photography, or as a general 100mm lens for super sharp photos. If you want to photograph the whole sword with it you just back up a bit. Presumably you will be using a tripod, so you wont need to buy it's more expensive brother that has image stabilization. You can get a brand new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro on Amazon for about $550 after rebate. Probably much less for a used one. It's a true macro lens, so you can take photos like this one as well: Alan

Don't forget that before 1972 there was no Tokubetsu Juyo award, only Juyo from 1971 and earlier. Therefore, I would hope that prior to 1972 they did not award Juyo distinction arbitrarily. Alan

This is an announcement for the benefit of any new members who may be seeking a new copy of The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Kokan Nagayama. This book is extremely hard to find for a reasonable price. I understand that it is out of print. There are some selling used books for ridiculous and predatory prices (when you do a search on the internet). I bought a brand new copy from Arawaza in Canada in February. I had first inquired of Satcho.com at that time, and was informed that they had only one copy left as it was now out of print. I suspect it is now gone. I looked on the Arawaza website today, and it would appear that it is still available. It doesn't say how many copies are left (it might only be one, for all I know). Their price is $105 Canadian. http://www.arawaza.com/the_connoisseurs ... words.html I am not affiliated with this business. I just want to give someone else a chance to get a new copy of this book at a reasonable price, before they are all gone. BTW, their customer service was excellent. Diane responded courteously to my anxious emails. Please, if you already have a copy of this book, permit someone else who is desperate to acquire a copy have first crack at it. Alan

Totally agree with you that these big auction houses have one of the best rackets going (even if it is legal). Most of the big art auction houses in Canada do charge a hefty buyer's and seller's premium, as far as I know. Take Heffel Auction House for example: They host a major live auction of fine Canadian art twice a year. The seller pays 10% for lots over $7500, 15% for lots $2500 to $7500, and 25% for lots under $2500. The buyer pays 25% commission on lots up to $2500, and 18% on lots over $2500. Bonhams is even worse: Buyer's premium of 25% on the first $85,000 US of the hammer price. It certainly is greedy, but that is the nature of the business and you are under no obligation to buy. The problem is that this artificially elevates the going price on some items, especially on rarer items that some fool with too much money is prepared to bid up to ridiculous levels (then add the premium to that), such that they may be priced out of the future market (for most realistic and sane buyers). The only way to resell an item like this in the future would be to again consign it to the auction house. Alan

What I see are possibly sunagashi and kinsuji lines intersecting a slanting choji. The last picture is probably just a more prominent kinsuji line rather than a flaw. I would guess that this overall effect is deliberate and not a mistake. Someone with more experience may be along shortly to better educate both of us. Alan

Hello Dr. Dot, Curious about these fork and knife kosuka cutlery, I did some googling. Came up with this http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21702/lot/79/, and then this http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/ ... ID=4661128 Then, I came up with this: http://www.trocadero.com/stores/galerie ... 08142.html, presumably where you purchased your items. Man, kosuka must have been as common as toothpicks (for them to have been made available for the construction of "novelty silver" as Malcolm calls it). No price mentioned, but why would you worry that you wasted your money? Were you just speculating, or did you buy them because you liked them? Couldn't have been that expensive. I would only buy stuff like this on a whim because I liked it, not as a potential investment. Otherwise, I would have researched it before buying. I am under no illusion that the swords I have already bought were a good investment. I bought them because I fancied them. I edited the post and deleted the silly bit at the end. One too many Mohitos last night, perhaps. By referencing the items at the past Bonhams and Christies auctions, I was attempting to show that there is a demand for such items. However, these were more complete sets (rather than just a single pair of knife and fork). The more expensive set at Bonhams, probably more desirable because of the quality of the hallmarked silverware and the completeness of the set. At any rate, I wouldn't say you made a mistake unless you bought this pair purely as a speculative investment. If you bought them for their curiosity value, and presumably they didn't cost all that much, then you should just enjoy them. Alan

I have to disagree. I don't think this was hammer blows. I suspect that it was done more recently with a grinding wheel on a power tool (like an angle grinder, or a round grinding stone chucked in a drill, or a burr) in an effort to remove something that was engraved on the sword or to deface it. See arrows on photo. It's a low resolution photo, but I think that you can clearly see the grinding marks. Alan

I think that this is the most valuable, and reassuring, piece of information offered so far. That you might be able to ask for "Special Services", so that your package will receive special attention en-route to the aircraft. You certainly wouldn't want to chuck your sword (no matter how well packed, or locked) into the maelstrom of regular checked baggage, where who knows what will happen to it in the bowels of the airport, and trust that it will be waiting for you at the other end. Especially if it is a piece worth $10,000 or more! Regarding the locking of bags: I thought that the airlines frowned upon this, but I did some checking. According to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), you are allowed to lock your bag. However, they do say: Checked baggage undergoes separate screening, and may be searched as part of the screening process. They go on to say: Screening officers are not allowed to break a lock. They will generally work with the airline to find you so you can witness the search. If unable to locate you, an airline representative may decide to break the lock to allow screening to proceed. If you choose this route, then I think that you might be asking for trouble. I think that it would be far more prudent to seek out the "Special Services" option as mentioned by Ron Watson, unless it's a relatively cheap sword that is not worth the hassle. Alan

The title of this thread reminds me of a rather forgettable 2006 blockbuster movie. For the benefit of the French speaking board members: Regarding the related thread (Buying a sword abroad), I feel partly responsible for getting Adrian and Alex into a bit of hot water since I did ask whether anyone had the experience of flying out of Japan with a sword. Although I did say that perhaps the question deserved to be in a separate thread, perhaps I did assist in derailing that thread. Anyway, I don't think that the scenario that Alex proposed in the opening of this thread is necessarily all that far fetched. I could envision all kinds of problems (especially with inexperienced staff) if one were to declare the contents of a packaged sword when checking in for a flight. Perhaps it would be different if flying out of Japan, since they might have encountered this situation more often and would be more likely to understand the importance of an antique nihonto. Just guessing. I would think that you would want to tell them what it is, otherwise one might risk it being pulled aside when it goes though an X-ray check. Alan

That was the same fear I had whilst waiting for my sword to clear customs (coming from the U.S. to Canada). I had visions of the customs officers brandishing the naked sword and then scratching it up carelessly. Fortunately it was shipped by FedEx and there was an overkill of documentation in an envelope addressed to customs on the outside of the package. There was also no attempt to deceive customs as to the true value of the sword. It was declared at full value. Perhaps that is important also, so as not to arouse suspicion. Has anyone ever brought a sword with them on a flight to or from Japan? Perhaps this question belongs in a separate thread. Say you were planning a trip to Japan anyway, and decided to bring your sword along to submit for shinsa in Tokyo. Would that be too difficult, or would it be better to ship it separately by FedEx. I presume it would have to be checked in as baggage or cargo. Then, wouldn't you be worried that it might be lost or misdirected by the baggage handlers? Not the most trustworthy group of people, I fear. Just curious if anyone has any experience with this. Alan

I disagree. If anything, the camera sometimes picks up more than you can see with the naked eye. Especially with a macro lens and proper lighting. Alan

There's an idea! I would like to formally request the administrators to allow me to change my username to: Werewolf Of course I will still sign my posts with Alan. Moonfully, Alan

I apologize in advance, but I can't resist. The Werewolf's Nihonto Club! Alan

The venerable Go! I would hope that in the case of this sword, that the records available to the attributors would have enabled them to make the claim that this sword belonged to the Nabeshima Daimyo without any doubt. Hopefully it was not based on hearsay. But this sword does not care who it belonged to, only to whom will it belong to next. Alan