DirkO

Sorry Stephen, from your "once more" I gather you've given this explanation more than a few times I did however search this forum and it didn't give me any hits on "hagarami". In the books I had, it also spoke of an "oblique" crack, however I didn't fully understand what it meant untill your very descriptive pic from Joly's book. (don't have that book yet) So a well meant "thank you" to you Stephen (and off course also to the rest of you who so willingly answered my rather basic question)

Hi, I've come across this term here and there and they always describe it as being a variant of an hagire, but is there someone who can explain me more clearly (pref with pic !) exactly what kind of kizu a hagarami is. And is it a fatal flaw ? All my books simply describe it in words and I can't picture it, I'm afraid....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Clay-Temper-Razor-S ... 0123510449 Sorry, I couldn't resist Love the sageo-tying though

Yep I'd pre-order 3 as well :-) (for a free dedication on mine off course )

Brian's idea is the most diplomatic way to go about :-) I'd take his advice if I were you.

Not claiming to be an expert- but I would play it in the open. Simply ask him to take a total pic of the blade in which you can see the flaw. Tell him some friends of yours saw the blade at the show and they couldn't find any flaw. (you can also mention the high-res pics) It could be an honest mistake, it could be that he's simply testing the water, or it could be that he's trying to con you. Anyway, confronting him will shed light on his intentions.

There's a bit about it on Dr Steiners site : TOEN SHA ORIGAMI This organization was founded and operated by Murakami Kosuke sensei, a student of Hon'ami Koson, and once a member of the NBTHK Juyo Shinsa. The organization issued several levels of papers which are quite highly regarded. When Murakami sensei passed away some years ago the group disbanded. (Information courtesy of Arnold Frenzel).

And still, this was a really solid tsuba, the owner in question would have to be really reckless with his kozuka, to get those scratches :-s

I agree that the mei doesn't match any of these fine osigata. But it doesn't seem to have kesho yasuri markings either. Any ideas anyone which way to go ?

Merci beaucoup Jacques !!! I'll eagerly await the oshigata.

Hmmm so it is the shodai ? The suguha looks very well indeed. I can't wait to get it in hand and at least oil it properly (he doesn't know how to care for it, so that's one of the things I need to do, teach him how to care for it and how to handle it)

Hi, A friend of mine inherited this blade from his uncle. He told me it was signed "yoshimishi", but after some research I think "Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi" is more correct (please correct me if I'm wrong). Now I've looked up some info about this name, but all the smiths I found had another mei, or their hamon was far away from being something that I would describe as suguha or possibly sudare-ba. Now he knows even less than I know about swords, so these pictures are all I can go by untill I arrange a visit. I also asked hem about any flaws in the blade, and after referring to Dr Steiner's site, he told me that the "battle scar" as he described it, is probably a hagire (I asked him for a picture, but he was unable to photograph it - I'm still hoping he's wrong off course). He also couldn't find any trace of yasurime (and I couldn't either, seeing the pics) Now there are 5 Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi in my Hawleys, and untill now, none of them seem to fit the bill. Did I go wrong with the translation because the mekugiana pierced one of the characters (different province ?) ? Any info would be appreciated. I'll probably arrange a visit in the next few weeks, but it would like to know what exact details I should pay attention to when looking at it. I'm still only just a novice ... so any info would really be appreciated. I don't have a Fujishiro's yet, so I was unable to look it up there for reference.

This is the reply i got from the seller : Hello, I hope you can read my bad english. NBTHS(Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Shisakai) was a sword group of Honami Nagatsune. NBTHS was a large-scale meeting for the study. But NBTHS stops activity now. Because the meeting was dissolved by financial failure. The serial numbers of Kanteisho are different branch office. Thank you, Mitsuhiro.

:-) Wonderfull work indeed. But still : this seller sells a lot of swords, most of them with legit NBTHK papers. Where did these papers suddenly come from ? Who issued them ? Seeing they were issued decades ago and there's 8 years between the two issue dates, it's not a shortlived organisation that issued them... I find it hard to believe that they would be totally bogus. fwic2803 sometimes has some nice items and usually doesn't hide any mistakes. I've sent him a mail to ask for an explanation about these papers.

i stand corrected ...

If they should have gradations as I suspect, then this would be logical - no ? I mean there are less blades of a higher quotation, so the number would be lower.

My guess would be Hojo-clan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dj%C5%8D_clan A nice site about family-mons : http://www.geocities.com/kazenaga23/crests.htm

Hi, I came across 2 auctions which have NBTHS papers : http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Sword-Echi ... 0284814049 http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Sword-Mura ... 0285161692 Now it's described as Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Shinsakai papers. It's the first time I've seen them, and I can't seem to find a great deal info about them. The 2nd auction is described as having Very Beautifull NBTHS papers, so I'm guessing there's a gradation in them. Does anyone know more about these papers ?

Hmmm that one also has the kiku mon engraved. That's a dead giveaway for "our" Kanemichi. Where did you find that pic ?

Akasaka usually has a distinct layered contruction, can you see that in the steel ? Here's a pic of an Akasaka tsuba I'm selling on Ebay at the moment, does the mimi look similar ? Karigane zuyo is one of their common designs.

Just a wild stab in the dark here : maybe the hole was made to keep the fuchi in place on a saya where it didn't fit 100% ? in a similar way that a mekugi-ana works ? That way the fuchi would still be able to be removed afterwards... Like I said, just a wild guess

Brian, once the craving starts, it never gets filled You should know that ! :D

Hmmm, maybe you could consider buying a "flawed" blade, with ware, kitae kizu, hagire,... For most of us, this is a real drawback, especially when we're talking about fatal flaws, but it just might be what you're looking for. You would still be able to appreciate and study the hamon, hada, ... but at a much lower cost. Just my idea ...

At the top of the page, there's a button called "Suggested Reading" Maybe that's a good place for you to start

Hehehe, don't go over to the dark side, Guido. The only problem is, once you live there, you won't be able to sell anything on Ebay, as no one believes a Chinese nihontodealer :lol: :lol: :lol: