jeremy

First of all, do you have an instructor to teach you how to swing the sword properly, and most of all, safely? If you don't have an instructor, you should seek one out. $4000 is a lot of money to fork out on a sword that you just want to swing around for fun. Also, length is another factor that comes into play when choosing a sword. This sword is 69.5cm which would probably be better suited to someone who is about 5 foot 2 to 5 foot 5 tall, for most mainstream iaido schools. I don't know how tall you are or your build, but i am 6 foot 2 and use a 80cm blade and study Toyama Ryu/ Nakamura-ha. Personally speaking, I would have saved thousands of $$$ if I had waited to listen to my senseis advice on picking out a suitable sword. It is at the end of the day, your money, you can do whatever you please with it, but as a study piece, this sword may not have much to offer, and if you want it as a practise sword, please re-read my above comments. Kind regards, Jeremy hagop

For those of you who are interested, I just got confirmation back from Rich Stein about silver habaki. Solid silver habaki were used, but were mainly used in the Shinto and Shinshinto eras. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks for the clarification Keith on the hardness of the two metals, I was only going on the Moh's hardness scale which has both gold and silver at about 2.5-3. Ive also posted this question on other sword forums, to broaden my chance of receiving a clear answer. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks for the reply Keith. If solid piece gold habaki were used, I dont see how silver would of been considered inappropriate for habaki, as both gold and silver have the same hardness. Maybe it was just unaffordable back in the day....??? I await other responses.... Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Were solid one piece silver habaki used during the koto/shinto eras on swords that would see actual use? Ive tried looking for solid silver one piece antique habaki, not silver foiled, with no luck. Can anyone help? Kind regards, Jeremy hagop

I always had trouble using FedEx and DHL when trying to ship swords to the U.S. I have found only TNT and Australia Post seem to accept such items. Australia Post has a limit on the lengths they ship though, the package can not exceed 41 inches in length which is a hassle if trying to ship longer items. TNT will only ship swords overseas if it is being sent to a business address, and not a residential address. Just my experience. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi John, Thanks for the reply. Is that pronounced "chimeshou" and " hi chimeshou" ? And would you say " chimeshou kizu" and "hi chimeshou kizu"? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

What are the words for "fatal flaw" and "non-fatal flaw" in Japanese? Ive tried searching google, but can not seem to find it. Any help would be great. Kind regards, Jeremy hagop

Hi Kristian, Looks like a nice blade for iai. What are the other specs of the blade such as mihaba(width), kasane (thickness) etc? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

What period of Japanese history was it when the law changed in regards to the length of the katana? And what was the maximum permitted length in the period and reason behind it? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi Stephen, I understand where Jean and Grey are coming from. Its fine. As you said though, im only after something genuine that a Samurai would have carried back in the day, and I definitely will not be spending any money on polishing a blade in that condition anyway, especially without papers. I just wanted to know if the sword I was looking at buying was worth the money and if it is genuinely from the 17th century. I emailed the seller and asked him to give me a list of all the flaws the blade has, and also asked the seller if i can get a refund if I am unhappy with the purchase. I am awaiting his reply email for now. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread. I will contact the seller and ask him if i can get a full refund of my money if I am not happy with this purchase, if I do indeed go ahead and buy it. He seems to have some other nicer, but more pricier wakizashi on his website, that I may save up for. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Does the blade appear to be genuinely from the shinto period and what do you guys think of the mei? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks for your help guys. The description of the blade is below: Whole length 74.5cm.Blade length 54cm.Motohaba 3.1cm. Sakihaba 1.9cm.Sori 4 bu.Motokasane 0.9cm. Hamon (Temper) Gunome-choji Kitae Tight Koitame.One forging mark observed. Era Manji(1658-1660)era Fitting Solid Wakizashi Koshirae.Kozuka missing.Good tight binding. Well made quality of Fuchi and Kashira,Menuki. Signature Fujiwara no Sadayuki Description There is small chip on Monouchi.This blade been used in some reason and must be polished by professionaly long time ago.Someone cleaned up well after ww2 period sometime and good clean condition but not fully polished by Japanese Togishi. I will give the seller a call, if I get positive answers from more people on this forum. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

I am thinking about purchasing this wakizashi, so I am asking the more experienced members of this forum what their opinion is of this blade. Any opinions of the mei, the condition of the blade, the price etc is what Im asking mainly. I am aware that it is no national treasure, but if it is worth the cash ($840USD), then I may seriously consider buying it. If anyone here can also give me questions that i can ask the seller, that would be of help also. Thanks in advance. http://www.genuine-antique-swords.com/s ... dayuki.htm Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. I just purchased a de-humidifier for my room which keeps the room at a set RH of 60% which in my experience is a safe humidity level for both the sword and I! Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi guys, Hope all you people are doing well. I haven't posted here for a long time, so its good to be back! What I wanted to ask is what is the best way to protect tsuka from humidity? The sword I use for iaido has nicely made Japanese honoki tsuka and have found that it expands when there is excess moisture in the air, which allows the nakago to rattle a little inside the tsuka core. When the humidity drops I have noticed it shrinks back and the rattle disappears. But the problem is that when i have to train when the tsuka is rattling. I know i can wait until it dries out, but because the humidity here is so often high, I cant always wait until it dries out. So, whats the best way to keep away moisture from swords? I have built a wooden box for it, and place it under my bed along with dehumidifiers inside, but it seems that they dont work too well. Anything else out there? Thanks in advance, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks guys. I feel better knowing others have had good experiences with Lody. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi guys, I am thinking about buying a sword from Token Sugita from the Netherlands, and wanted to know if anyone on this forum has dealt with them before, and how they find their service and products? Are they a reputable sword dealer? Any information about them would be appreciated. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks guys. Jeremy Hagop

Hi guys, I just sold and sent a katana from Australia to a guy in the States. He lives in Georgia State, and my sword is now held in Los Angeles customs. What would the reasons be that the customs have held the sword for about 4 days now? Are swords restricted in CA? I labeled the sword as "ornamental sword' on the customs sheet. Is there anything I should be worried about? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi fellas, Have been busy with work lately, reason for my belated response. The reason I asked about Teruie is because I was considering buying a blade made by this swordsmith from Aoi Art but couldnt get the funds for this sword that I was expecting! But thanks to everyone who made the effort to reply to my post. As always, its been most appreciated. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi guys, Would anyone have any information regarding the swordsmith whos real name is Yoshioka Hiroshi from Saitama prefecture, born in the 1920's? His swordsmith *art* name is Teruie. I just want to find out who he studied under and general information regarding this swordsmith. Thanks, Jeremy Hagop

Hi John, Thank you for your kind reply. I just wanted to know because of the koshizori and the overall sugata of the blade made me question whether or not it would be possible to mount it in katana koshirae. But it seems to be OK from what you have said. Thanks heaps. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

So, it would be possible to mount this tachi in buke zukuri katana koshirae given the shape and style of the blade? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop