Windy

One identical to your photo sold at auction in Cambridge yesterday. It made £400 plus fees...so about £500. I'll dig out a pic later.

I have made my first purchase, a couple of months ago......a nice Akihisa from 1941. Should get round to putting some pictures up.

Cheers guys, great learning!

Just as a learning point, is it the thickness of the habaki that screams wrong?

Indeed...the seppa worries me a fair bit! No other photos that add anything to the story.

Hi chaps. Seen this blade recently, very little info on it. Described as a 22" WWII katana. I like the Tsuba, not sure re the aluminium looking seppa? Any thoughts?

The book arrived this morning, all the way from Minnesota. Really well packaged, so happy to report that, despite the miles, no damage at all. Broken in properly, as per Greys advice on his site. What a cracking book, really pleased and well worth the money. Cheers Grey!

So.....did you win it Ben?

Grey's on the case....order placed

I suspect I'll be giving Mr Doffin a shout.

Cheers guys. Well at least, if I recall correctly, there's no import duty on books? So it's just the US postage to consider. I wonder why you can't get a new copy in the uk?

That's the one Grey. Can't seem to find it in the UK.....unless I'm being a dullard?!

Given the interest that surrounds the field, you'd think the publicist would consider a reprint?

How come the Dawson book is so hard to come by? Was it a very limited run? I'd love to get a copy, but they all seem to be in the US and over £100!

My first blade is dated December 1941 in type 3 mounts. It's by Yamagami Akihisa. It has the dark lacquered saya. I believe Akihisa was a fairly well thought of Smith, and won a Special Honour Seat. My blade is in war polish, so not too sure what 'lies within it'.

Many thanks guys. Have bought some choji from one of the links....had only seen it on eBay before, which I try to avoid.

Sorry to possibly be dragging up an old chestnut, and by no means want to kick off an argument. However, having done a number of searches on here and other sources on the net, I'm still somewhat none the wiser.....in particular with regards to products available here in the UK. So....without further a do, I'll get to the point.... I recently invested in a very interesting sword by Akihisa, dated Dec 1941. The previous custodian very kindly cleaned and oiled it prior to my collection. I'm aware he used some pukka choji oil from Japan. I don't have any cleaning/care products as yet, apart from new micro-fibre cloths. So, should I go to the trouble of sourcing traditional Japanese products from afar, or can I rely on more readily available products here in the UK? Will welcome any advice. Thanks

Fascinating stuff Bruce, and such a great source of info for a beginner like me. You guys are quite lucky out your way, these NCOs are fetching big numbers here in the U.K. I saw another one in an auction last week, it made £480 ($599)!!! Keep up,the good work Matt

I looked at a nice 32 Ko in an auction at the weekend. It went for £265. Was looking to get it, but at this money I decided to save towards a more traditional piece.

Well, the auction was this morning......the NCO went for £417 inc the buyers premium. At this price, I didn't get involved. Throughout a lot of searches on the internet, I found one NCO that looked very very close to this, particularly the shape of the saya retention catch, the quality of the fit between the catch mechanism and the hilt, the fuchi stamps, and the 'fresh from the factory' saya. This other NCO was a modern reproduction, and clearly marketed as a repro. Whilst quite a few folks beleived it's authenticity, the doubt raised by others, re the indented/punched detail inside the tsuka coupled with the above points, left me with cold feet! Either way, many thanks for your input guys, all greatly received. My search continues. I also have another book winging its way from Amazon.

Thanks to all for the words of encouragement. All the points will be taken into consideration. Hopefully I'll have an authentic example in my possession in the not too distant future.....so I'll have a solid base to work from. Cheers all Matt

Well, following on from my other (and first time) post, for which I'm greatful for all the replies, I've attempted to cast my net wider. On doing so it seems that there is very little in the way of available examples of swords in the UK, particularly from reputable sources. I'm not altogether keen on eBay. You guys over the pond, unsurprising given the nature of this theatre of war I suppose, have the spoils. This has led me to consider that perhaps I should invest a little more in my first sword, and get a slightly better example, such as an officers variant. There appears to be a few more of these, particularly at dealers. So authenticity is more reliable. I do have one book on the basics of 'The samurai sword', and I plan to add to this with one of the new releases on Amazon. I'm thinking this will set me up a little better, and give me a firmer base to be starting on? As a 'humble British bobby' I'll never have loads of cash to splash on a huge collection, but slow and steady wins the race?! What say you guys? Matt

The top sword in the picture has the exact shape retention clasp as the example I've been viewing, which is ever so slightly different in shape as most others. The pattern of dots in the picture posted by Stegel is also very similar?

Thanks to everyone that had contributed, all good learning points for the uninitiated. It's been fascinating taking in all the points raised. For those that have asked, the NCO in question isn't mine, its in an upcoming auction. So I'm not in a position to remove the tsuka to view the nakago. I'm of the opinion it has been removed at some point, as there is a little play between the tsuka and the nakago. I took another look at it this afternoon, to investigate some of the outstanding issues. The serial number, there is grime within the indentations of the numbers, maybe the lighting has subdued this? The dots within the diamonds on the tsuka, well I have to say they aren't clearly indented or raised. They are indented around the outside and raised within the centre.....like a kind of 'W' shape if you viewed in a basic cross section. I suppose if you had to call it, they are indented if the alternative is very positively raised? I'm not too sure now guys, even though this example of an NCO was described as not great, I was hoping that I might be able to take my first step on the collectors ladder (If the money was sensible). My wait might now go on some time, as there seems to be very little out there.....certainly in the UK. Feeling a tad deflated.

Oh dear......this is a bit of a mine field it seems.