Ted Tenold

A bolder hada, i.e. an extreme such as ayasugi hada, can interfere with the shape of a pattern such as say, a chojiba pattern, obscurring it because of martensitic interactions along the varied strata. So at some level the hada and hamon have to accomodate and support each other. The Nihonto Koza Shinshinto edition notes this fact on page 213 in the following comment in the section covering "Processes for Jihada and Hamon"; When one thinks of some of the later patterns that Mishina/Yoshimichi school smiths made such as Sudareba, Suikiku, etc., it's evident that a finely latticed hada supports clarity of the pattern better than larger (or combined) patterns which would become obscured by heat treating interactions in larger patterned hada. Hada creates the activities we enjoy and supports the basic patterns, but misguided, ill-conceived or unskillfully assembled, will only created a confused and unbalanced piece. Kiyomaro's works are a classic example of skillful development and competence. His works combined masame and mokume and at the point at which he effectively placed the yakiba promotes an interface of activities in the mokume and masame juncture that provides depth, clarity, and form. I once had a Gassan Sadakatsu daito with suguha. The hada was classic hallmark Gassan Ayasugi, but the combined steels in the construction were both finely forged (and the pattern very faint) and of very similar composition so the the suguha wasn't too disrupted and "wild" as it might have been with vastly differing composition layers that would promote more strings of hotsure and sunagashi in the habuchi. I found it to be of luminary competence to create such a piece true to the roots of Gassan, without overstating them at the same time. The construction creates the canvas (hada) that must be compatible with the image (yakiba) drawn.

Also adding on to Chris's statment regarding shinshinto being harder; the hardness of the steel can be a product of origins and manufacture as well. Imported steel used by Japanese smiths had different working properties than indigineous material, and could include elements that could create hardness beyond just carbon content.

It doesn't work that way Jamie. The end product relies on the initial raw material. In the process of refining, the billet is re-heated. Every cycle results in a small loss of carbon. @Ruben; muji hada is often called that because of older terminology carried forward to contemporary nomenclature. The polishing process in the Shinshinto period didn't refine the surface in a way that allowed what we otherwise can see today due to advances in the process. However, it is still very very fine and a result of more folding of the steel billet. Simply stated, it's part tradition, and part necessity. Making the hada so fine allows the smith to create hamon with denser or more concentrated habuchi, smaller and/or more vibrant defined patterns such as chojiba or juka chogi, and promote a more consistant propogation of nie and nioi based activities throughout the blade. Courser hada would result in the same patterns following larger strata of the hada, and diffusion of the habuchi. But it's a balancing act because if the steel is overworked, the hardenability is compromised and the creation of martensite becomes difficult. The smith must choose material that will work down in carbon to the acceptable concentration needed to promote the desired yakiba.

If the cutting edge is 24 inches (or 61.1 cm as the seller also lists) and the nakago is 6 inches, then the *overall* length is indeed thirty inches. So you might want to clarify your questions with him. The specs seem to speak for themselves though. The images show a nakago that would be proportionate to the length for the period and school.

Yes, as a matter of fact we do know what it is. It's not our task to confirm illusions of grandeur, nor help teach those who do not wish to learn. Best of Luck.

George, The information about Coldy Bimore has been documented for a very long time, as well as many other Occupation Forces personnel that were documented as having received certain famous swords. Albert Yamanaka documented them in his news letters many years ago. Those veterans have been sought out by collectors since that time so that avenue has long since been walked, but your first logical step would be to start there as well. Military personnel records can be searched by US Citizens under the Freedom of Information Act, but a huge number of service records were lost due to a fire in the archives warehouse back in the early 1970's. To get SGT. Bimore's record, you'd need his service number and a generous helping of luck that his record was not one of those lost. Best of luck in your pursuit.

John, If you look adjacent to the area of patina loss, you'll see a patch of green colored growth. The areas of patina losses lead me to believe that this green corrosion (for lack of a better term) was present on those regions and show the results of someone attempting to clean it off. I've seen this before on shakudo and it cannot be removed and corrected on any rudementary level. Without proper treatment and correction (which will include repatination), the growth will continue. Many shakudo pieces have the ability to "heal" with a natural repatination on their own, but it doesn't meany there won't be scars remaining of indifferent depth of color or borders between regions that clearly show. Therefore a comprehensive professional treatment is the only real choice to restore the piece.

You guys.... Montana: Come for the Fly Fishing, stay for the Swords. :lol: Or, Montana; a drinking state with a fishing problem. There are a few folks here that enjoy Nihonto, but yes, they are literally few and far between. David McDonald lives in Montana, but unfortunately on the exact opposite side of the State from me. This equates to about 8 hours drive. There are some others scattered about as well in places such as Great Falls, Kalispell and Polsen. I've attempted to start a study group here, but Montana is a very big place (4th largest state in the US), and this creates travel problems. The gentleman in Colstrip has been involved with Nihonto for some time and I've seen his auctions before. Having never met him to my knowledge or transacted business with him, I can only say that his healthy quantity of impeccable feedback demonstrates something of his character and practices. I doubt he'd have any issue with answering questions based on this. He does comment that this piece is "massively thick" which is a trait I'd expect more of mumei Shinshinto than Gendaito. The kissaki also has an extended chu look to it which would also point me to Shinshinto. However the yasuri look more showa"ish" to me. I can see how the piece could make one vacillate between eras. Oh, and Bob...the "parole" thing is just a cover story. My security credentials prevent me from explaining further, :lol: but my "double" did inform me that he'd met you at the SFTK. :D

Happy Holidays to all from the "Inaka" Daimyo of Montana Province! :D And a very special holiday shout out of wished to Brian, Jean, and John for keeping the wheels turning!

Adrenaline pumping??? Oh brother... I don't like Simon Cowell, but I stand in full agreement with his decision. I didn't even bother to watch the video past the point of the cucumbers being tied to the assistant's head. It's only entertaining until someone gets hurt. The only thing more foolish than performing this kind of thing is volunteering to be a target. Years ago there was a demo like this at the Long Beach International Karate Tournament by some "master" who put a cucumber on a volunteer's throat to demonstrate his control with the sword . This "master" was not blind folded. He succeeded in cutting not only the cucumber, but also the nicked the voluteer's carotid artery. The voluteer stood up after the cut not knowing he'd been injured and a stream of blood shot from his neck across the stage. He passed out immediately and officials scrambled to his aid. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital and fortunately survived. The master left pretty quickly and I never heard anything more about him. I have pretty strong feeling about this kind of bull****, and this board is not the place for it in my not so humble opinion. The sword is a weapon of lethality first and foremost, and I doubt the producers of BGT would allow someone to stand up on stage and shoot cigarettes from a guys mouth with a gun. So why would there be any exception to allow this sword demonstration??? Easy: Sensationalization and Ratings. Telling people at home and the audience not to do it??? They probably didn't even want to until they were told they shouldn't. How many ways can a demo like this go wrong?? Well done Simon.. Shame on you BGT producers! This thread and the link should be deleted for lack of dignity.

Hi Brian, Works for me know too. Yoku deki mashita!

Poor little stingray...

Whoops.... I updated them and then forgot to unlock them. Now they are all open. Thanks John.

Hi All, Another shameless commercial plug from Ted; I recently listed three Kakejiku (wall hung scrolls) on Ted's Bid Board. These scrolls are being sold on behalf of the American Branch of the NBTHK. 100% of the proceeds of sale will be forwarded to the NBTHK/AB to fund future Branch exhibitions, functions, publications, etc.. All were provided to the American Branch by the former Director of Research for the NBTHK, Mr. Michihiro Tanobe, with his permission to disburse them in a manner beneficial to the membership. Our special thanks to Markus Sesko of the NBTHK European Branch for his translations and information on the Artists. http://www.legacyswords.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=8 These are all by prominant Edo period artists and would make great display with swords, pottery, bonsai, etc.. Thank you for having a look at them!

Justin, The sword's quality is the first measure of potential return on investment. A Wakizashi attributed to a highly ranked smith will garner more than one attributed to a lower one. Fundamentally, the piece itself determines value. The papers only affirm the maker, but the blade demonstrates the quality. Papers, no matter who issues them, don't always add value. As an example; if your mumei Waki receives base level papers (from any organization) to Shodai Tadayoshi, it will add more to the value than receiving papers to Bungo Takada. The market determines the value for any particular piece, and by that example, a Shodai Tadayoshi would be a speculatively better result than Bungo Takada. Conversely, a mumei Shodai Tadayoshi won't hold a candle to the value of a signed work by him. In the extreme example, an Ubu, one hole, zaimei Norishige tanto in phenominal condition with only Hozon papers will command a price exponentially higher to the vast majority of other Hozon swords. This kind of thing happens occasionally. An owner only wants to verify the mei and work at the base level and isn't so concerned about the resale value because at the end of the day, the piece determines the price. The papers are for the next guy. That next guy might favor one organization over another and place greater merit on their assessments. But at the end of the day, if the sword is nice and high quality, the piece should speak for itself and the papers serve as a supporting element rather than "the sizzle that sells the steak".

Hi John, I've seen this type of manufacture before, and owned a couple sets. The gold always struck me as having good color and they exhibited kinsabe. This makes sense to me as the gold would work onto the form better if it retained maximum ductility. They also all had very good details and even some accented details carved on the surface. My guess is that they weren't really low quality pieces (they are gold after all) rather than more cost efficient way for someone to have gold menuki. I would absolutely encourage leaving the filler. I saw a nice set of shishi menuki made this way that had the material removed. Sadly, this resulted in one that had been crushed irrepairably. I've never pursued finding out what school may have made works like these, but they display skill in the ability to make positive forms that rendered such nice form and detail.

Okay, I stopped by the P.O. on my way home from the dentist. This apparently does *not* affect international shipments outbound from the U.S., only incoming shipments. I was told that this new policy was to take effect on November 18th, and should be temporary. Businesses (under the aforemetioned guidlines) are still allowed to ship, however if the shipment is to be transported on a passenger craft, the captain ultimately holds the final word of approval for the shipment. The details are still a bit vague, but this is the latest info I could obtain. I'm not sure why Japan is pre-emptively refusing shipments if the U.S. policy does not take effect until November 18th. My guess is that it likely has more to do with Japan Air Lines which is the outbound transporter for Japanese originated EMS packages. They're very hypersensative and started the trouble with shipping swords by EMS two years ago that continues today, thus requiring alternative carriers or sea mail.

Sorry but it looks like neither to me. There's quite a few discrepancies in the mei. The "kuni" is especially suspicious in form, but others lack in form and confidence as well. Is it a papered piece?

Hi Rich, The statment the P.O. Manager read to me wasn't clear on this part, but I'd hazard a guess at this point that outbound private/personal shipments are inclusive in the policy if they are international.

Hi John, Some of the details included not allowing packages that are transitory or transferred between international origins and destination as well. Again more on this as I find out.

Good Morning All, This morning I spoke with my local US Post Office Manager. There is a statement that she received this morning that details this concern. It seems that the issue regards *all* international personal/private shipments and not shipments from established businesses as long as that business has been established more than 30 days and provides the necessary documents, with the exception that all shipments from Yemen and Somalia are refused. There were some other details, and I am following up on this matter during the day. I will post more here as I find out. Certainly this doesn't help matters with private international sales, and it still makes things quite difficult between businesses and individuals on other levels. A situation of concern would be returning goods to a business from a private individual even if going to the same originating business address. As a private individual, they would not qualify to ship the item back and would have to ship by an acceptable method. More to follow as it develops, I'm sure.

I also just now received fresh confirmation of this from a colleague who is now in Japan. The US is indeed putting on these restrictions. Looks like things just got a bit more complicated ....and expensive.

There is no official statement regarding a change in policy from the USPS on their site. There is however a notation on the JP Post site. http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/inform ... ry_en.html This may be a modification of policy for JP Post only and unrelated to US policy. Fed Ex is still a viable (yet expensive) alternative to Sea Mail. Given the Yen/Dollar exchange rate lately, Sea Mail looks better and better all the time. :| A limited option to look into would be Yamato Transport aka "Kuroneko (Black Cat)". They won't ship swords, art, antiques, or precious metals, but would still be good for items like books. I think we'll have to wait a bit and see what happens over the next few days.

"Judging a book by it's cover" comes to mind on this subject. :lol: While I will agree that the sayagaki of an authority adds merit and a measure of enjoyment to the sword it contains, I will also add that sayagaki by authorities is also subject to scrutiny like everything else, due mostly to the fact that the sayagaki likely describes an important piece. Old sayagaki from Meiji also can describe works that might actually be judged differently in today's world based on cumulative contemporary study. These days, a sayagaki (especially if old) is only one part of what a collector needs to vet the piece. The other will be papers that confirm it. In the case of an unpapered sword, I would agree that odd or unofficial sayagaki might intially raise an eyebrow and cast some bias against a blade before it's even examined. However sayagaki could make reference to a sword that is officially judged with supporting documentation, and in that case it's really just a matter of finding someone with the requisite skill to brush the information appropriately. Therein, lies the problem. Outside Japan, one might find good caligraphers, but can they also brush the information in a style that will not look like a golf ball on a tennis court? It's not just the writting, nor is it a matter of good caligraphy. It's a matter of something that is stylistically compatible that illustrates the information with dignity and grace. Tanobe san's sayagaki are appreciated not only for his experience as a sword scholar, but also for the accuracy, beauty, and consistancy of his brush. Those that can read it (or have it translated) also appreciate the manner in which he presents the information with poetic tone. As far as sending the saya over seperately, I'd be surprised if an authority would be willing to assign their name to the information requested without having the blade in hand. Otherwise how are they to know that the sword it belongs to is really what they are attributing it to be? The subject of sayagaki is a little contentious because it is generally thought of as an official method. The reality is that there have always been qualified, unofficial, and/or spurious forms of it. Official respected authorities obviously add a great deal of merit to a piece. However from an ownership position, sayagaki really is just identification of what's inside via artistic expression. So in that regard, I also agree that sayagaki by "just anyone" will detract from the piece by installing a bad first impression. Sorry Curran, I know I didn't get you any closer to an answer. I just wanted to throw my two cents in to the subject.

Kotoken Kajihara died quite a few years ago (2001 maybe?). The last time I saw him was at a small sword show in Santa Barbara California back in 1998(?). He did a small shinsa there and was picking up swords for polish. As far as I know, he passed away shortly thereafter.