bencld63

Hello all. I have been following what has been said with interest and apreciate greatly all of the replies. Please see some more pictures of the habaki, tsuka and a top shot of the nakago. As can be seen, it has had a number of polishes and is probably "not in the best state of preservation" as stated. I had no real expectations of this wakazashi being a mainline TADAYOSHI but I acquired it for less than the price of a polish, a shira saya and it comes with the old koshirae and it has some nice work in it and I like the blade. I will be keeping it, enjoying it and learning from it so I consider it to be an ok buy. Thank you. Chris D. PS. One of my customers has a sword bought back from the war by her husband and after my inquiry she is interested in passing it on. I am hoping that will eventuate soon so I will keep you posted.

Hi all. Acquired this wakazashi a little while ago in full polish in a shira saya and a koshirae with a tsunagi. It is signed tachi mei HIZEN NO KUNI FUJI WARA TADA HIRO. I don't think it is the mainline TADAYOSHI's but a nice blade none the less. What do you think ? Chris D Correction HIZEN NO KUNI JU FUJI WARA TADA HIRO. Apologies. Chris D

John and Ludolf, thank you for your interest. I did a search on Hamano Naoyuki tsuba and there are some very nice pieces. I don't think my tsuba would fall into the same catagory !

Hello all. My name is Chris and I reside in Victoria, Australia. I have had a chequered career in IT, mainframe analyst/programmer and recently military war gaming and simulation for the Australian Army. I have been admiring nihonto since the early eighties and have had a few nice blades come and go. I have now settled back to my old home town and have taken over my family taxi business and now find my interest in nihonto re kindled. I have looked around a bit on this forum and am quite impressed with what I see in the knowledge, interest and willingness to help from the many members worldwide. Thank you. Chris L.

Hello all. I am new to this forum and I have enjoyed looking around at the wealth of information. I have been an on and off collector for a few years since I was shown a very nice blade as a youngster. I would like to be a little more "on" as a collector and hope to expand on my knowledge through this forum and other means. I have this tsuba and was wondering if anyone may be able to shed a little light on the signature. Thank you in advance. Chris L