Jussi Ekholm

What Grey said above, that is an amazing book.

Uwe Amazing thread!

Thank you for the meeting report and pictures Uwe.

As we are not supposed to really comment on sales, would it be possible to post an image or 2 of this tsuba along with the measurements for discussion after the sales Marius? This is of course if the new owner will also agree on it too. I had that thought immidiately when seeing this rare piece, like you said this is really a conversation starter.

I second what Geraint said earlier. I don't think it is Hitachi Masayuki either, those 2 famous ones are the only ones I have reference mei as I don't have too many books on newer swords. But there are plenty of Masayuki. Looks like a nice sword to my eye. Regardless of the mei.

Very nice collections & displays. Here is my collection 1 tachi & 1 tsuba. I keep it in the bag on normal days but took it out for a pic. I always keep my Japanese swords stored in bags and keep replicas of European & Japanese swords for displaying.

As I am of the younger generation of collectors I know some things that might get young folks into swords but the difficult part is getting these interested ones into collecting & appreciation. I am not sure how well Tōken Ranbu is known in the western world? But it is a game where basically famous swords are shown as young men. I have heard that this is quite popular among the young girls/women in Japan. http://www.dmm.com/netgame_s/tohken/I believe there was just an anime adaptation of this game. In the anime front there is pretty much a new series that has swords & samurai every new season. For the fall 2016 I think most popular "sword anime" was Drifters. Personally I didn't like it too much. Story synopsis can be read at https://myanimelist.net/anime/31339/DriftersBut in short main trio is Shimazu Toyohisa, Oda Nobunaga and Nasu no Yoichi. Then on the western front there is the new AAA game from Ubisoft that can get pretty popular on release in February. For Honor is in closed beta and I watched the top Twitch streamers getting first touches on it in front of pretty big viewer numbers. Game is Samurai vs. Knight vs. Viking. https://www.ubisoft.com/en-US/game/for-honor/ I have to share Peters thoughts of sword collecting being fun being one of the key aspects. For me collecting should be fun and unfortunately as my own taste has gotten more refined most of the actual collecting will be done far in the future. I most likely will jump in on a screaming deal but at the moment it is impossible to get the stuff I really want... Because buying a authentic sword is a very big decision for most then new buyers often want to ask help in order to get a good deal and not get burned on it. I think that it is a great thing that people are asking advice but at the same time I think we arrive to the fact that Peter pointed out earlier, the decisions are not necessarily that personal anymore. Are you buying what you really like or are you buying a sword that the community thinks is good?

Welcome to the forum Rayhan. I was happy to read your post. I'll just write a short reply as I am at work. I think the opposite that there are lots of mentors who are willing to share their knowledge but not too many young/new collectors to use that help. Many European countries have their own Japanese sword societies with knowledgeable members. I think most of them would welcome members with open arms if a new interested collector would walk in the door. And then we of course have the NBTHK here in Europe, you can learn so much at the NBTHK meetings. For example here in Finland a new enthusiast could get into our meeting in a heartbeat but those are really hard to come by. We've tried to do some public presentations and small lectures but it is difficult to create interest if there is no desire for swords. I always think sword collectors & martial artists as the most potential group for future collectors but don't know if that is true...

Looks to me that the sword is attributed to later generation Aizu Kanesada.

I agree with the above posters. Koshirae Taikan by Markus Sesko is a great book I strongly suggest getting it. Uchigatana koshirae is also another amazing book.

Unfortunately not too many young sword collectors are wanting to collect authentic Japanese swords. I guess money is somewhat an issue but I think people often just don't have enough interest. I've been on various sword forums most of my life and very few people make the jump from Chinese made production swords to Authentic Japanese swords. I've been trying to "recruit" people a bit for some years but I've kinda given up on that. If someone has genuine interest they will start figuring things out on their own and contact people. You can't force it. The first step to collecting is quite big at the moment, too big for many to take. I think collecting swords is bit crazy hobby in modern world and it takes special kind of crazy to collect Japanese swords...

I would be very cautious with a sword with 守家 Moriie signature. At first I would think this as Muromachi period wakizashi with gimei 守家 signature.

Search for netaba-awase. Warriors knew how to sharpen & fine tune their swords back in the day.

I would like to get 1 limited edition.

Just received my copy today. Unfortunately it has to wait to next year until I can really get into it but of course I had to take a sneak peek. I can share the opinion that was posted above, this is spectacular work and the full set will be an amazing series to have.

What is your price range and do you have some specific preferences? I think there are multiple swords of this school listed by various dealers in Japan. I unfortunately don't have a blade for you but I should be able to maybe link few.

At first I was thinking it could be Hironobu 廣信. *EDIT* Now after bit more looking I might lean towards Shigenobu 重信

I think this will be much more on the field of Darcy & other high end dealers / collectors but I'll take a stab on amateur level. I'd think there is lots of speculation on the price. The sword is in very good condition and I think there could be a chance for this to go for Jūyō (and for the asking price I am sure the dealer suggests that too). Morimitsu being a very famous and important smith and this work of his being in so good condition. You can see there are Morimitsu in various condition with different papers, and this being a work in such good condition and worksmanship I would think it could have potential. Of course I am just basing this opinion by just looking at pictures online of various swords but to my eye this looks to be better condition & craftsmanship than many Tokubetsu examples that are for sale. Of course someone with Jūyō books (and hands on experience) could look into quality & condition to Morimitsu wakizashi that have passed and draw more conclusions if this would have a chance to pass when compared to those that have passed. Here is one for comparison that is dated to same year: http://katananokura.jp/SHOP/1512-W03.html I also second Currans thoughts about the one at Aoi. I think it's very good quality vs. price but it is unfortunately way out of my league. Here is one Hozon which has similar horimono: http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2013/1310_2001syousai.htm Sometimes you see some quite puzzling asking prices, I don't have nearly enough knowledge to understand all of them. And of course you can always ask as much as you like. At these high asking prices you really have to know what you are buying and why + add a good idea of market value to that.

The most important thing is that this will help your learning. As you type them and search them, little by little you'll start remembering them. For those who asked about radicals, I use this very handy website for tricky translations. It has the multiradical + free draw options: http://kanji.sljfaq.org/mr.html Same thing with Jisho: http://jisho.org/(don't know why but I've just been mostly using the first site even though both have similar options) At least for me excellent websites like these two eliminate the need for radical spreasheets etc. They are so quick and easy to use.

Hopefully we can get some pictures when the sword returns to home. Another big + to Paul from here too (even though I haven't used his services).

It will be a good set, can't wait for my copy. Also in my opinion JSS/US Newsletter gives more than enough content for your membership fee. There are always great articles and the special numbers like the last one on ko-Kinkō fittings are great reading.

I'm on phone so I can't check it that well but the numeral date is just messed up at their English page. Their Japanese page has correct date 1789 寛政元年八月日 They even say Kansei in English description but have taken numeral year from Kanen by mistake.

Nice to see you again Carlo.

NBTHK Token Bijutsu 664 - Article by Naruki Issei (I hope I got his name correctly) - Comparison of satetsu from various parts of country and the results in homemade steel (that is about the loose translation). 10 examples were made and the result explained and studied. My Japanese is not good enough to read it and give an explanation of it. But I believe it explains how different starting material results in some features being different. For examples some test examples were darker in color, some produced chikei, kinsuji could easily be seen on some etc. Very interesting stuff but unfortunately too advanced for me.

I'd guess 江州住 Gōshū-jū and on the other side possibly, 宗 mune (which could also be start for Sōten).