katanako

Hi Bob, Thanks for the enticing offer! But one Masatada is enough for me. I used to have a secret stash and I thought I was clever...keeping $$$$ hidden. But my wife knew all about it. One day, I went crawling to her, saying that I needed a sword fix...and she said, "Why are you crawling to me? You have $$$$ in your gun box in the garage!!! Sheesh...use that!!!" Oh yes...I remember the pics from that web site. Alfred Tan, right? I was salivating over that one, then it was sold. You won't have any problems unloading your Masatada and I hope you find it a nice home. HENRY

The swords are partially drawn because my buddy and I placed them on his bed, and I only wanted to show the habaki and tsuka. Here is the mei. Thank you. HENRY

A friend of mine and I collect some really nice gendaitos. He has 2 of the nicest Minatogawa Jinja (Shrine) swords in existence. One looks like it was made, presented, and kept in a closet and never saw the light of day! Two of them have the Kikusui emblem on the habaki; mine is in civilian mounts and doesn't have the emblem on the habaki. However, all 3 have the Kikusui mon on the tang. The makers were Masataka, Masanaga (Masakiyo), and Masanao. Two years ago, we went to Kobe together and visited the Minatogawa Shrine and bought talismen which we affixed to our swords. I just can't remember the last time I've seen one of these for sale. They are rare in perfect/mint condition. HENRY

Thanks fellows! The seller has always been honest with me. I don't think he is using a schill. He sells everything he offers, but ocassionally, he gets these 1 history bidders. $2700 is about right for this Mantetsu. I got one in a shirasaya, just gorgeous, but shirasayas are too boring for me. KATANAKO

There is a great Mantestsu sword on ebay from Showa22. "Japanese WWll Army officer's sword in mountings, "Koa Isshin Mantetsu" * The seller always has interesting offerings. I bought a few pieces from him and he is absolutely honest. Alas. I don't like the one bid history guy bidding up the price, so I am sitting this one out. I have a hunch it will be relisted for non-payment. My question: Is the mei chalked? And do people with no intention of buying the sword get a thrill out of jacking up prices and screwing up the bid process for both buyer and seller? I used to see warnings by sellers saying that they won't sell to people with less than 10 successful bids...did ebay change their policy so that sellers can no longer discriminate? HENRY

I just returned from Japan. An acquaintence started collecting tassels because he could not collect swords over there (too much hassle). For the past ten years, he would go out to flea markets and pick these up. Many people have no idea what they are because they are unfamiliar with swords and tassels. some people used them as decorations or decorative ties for wrapping. The most popular are the general tassels because they are so colorful. After the war, all the sword shops went out of business, and these items were plentiful and cheap. You can sometimes find these at flea markets because the Baby Boomers there have no idea what they are. You can pick them up for around $10. My acquaintence gave me a general's tassel as a gift. It sure looks nice on my NCO sword! KATANAKO PS I see that the moderator on this site did not appreciate my sense of humor about my "froggie" katana stand!

I live in Southern California and always attend the annual Northern California Sword Show up near San Francisco. I am not a big time collector; just have a few nice gendaitos and that's it. Thanks everyone for your imput. HENRY

The general's tassel cost $1500 back in the early 1990s, and the colonel's tassel was around $500. I can't remember the last time I saw a general's tassel at a show or on ebay. HENRY

Thank you fellows for the information! I was lucky to acquire these pieces. I bought the tassels separately in the past 20 years at shows. You just don't see them around anymore. HENRY

Thanks Adam and George. Also appreciated the tip about not pulling out the blades halfway! Here are more pics on the Nagayuki. No stamp nor other markings on the tang except for the two kanji characters. The kanji is in the typically "chippy" style of a Showa made blade. I could not find a Nagayuki in Hawley's book during the Showa era. He must have been a very minor swordsmith. I sure would like to know anything about him. So the 3 blades don't look acid etched? What I meant was, someone accentuated the hamon...like a gal using eyeliner on her eyes. A collector said they looked acid etched. Perhaps he was wrong? Thank you very much! HENRY

Here are 3 pics. I have two Emura made blades, and one Nagayuki gendaito. No stamps on any. It was very difficult to get the right lighting to show the hamon. I am wondering now if the hamon was accentuated postwar. Thank you fellows for any comments! HENRY

I have a couple of nice guntos, hand forged with no arsenal stamps on them. They have a beautiful hamon, but they are either entire acid etched or acid accentuated. Was this done to enhance its appearance? I'm puzzled. HENRY

I bought a nice Minatogawa Jinja blade in shirasaya, but I wanted it in a traditional black lacquered saya with gold fittings. I sent it to Fred Lohman, along with the metal saya fittings which I bought here and there. Damn! Fred Lohman is indeed a miracle worker! My sword came back, looking like it came right out of Minatogawa Jinja. Absolutely MINT!!!!! I vouch for Fred Lohman! He has polished 6 blades I sent to him (Samurai and guntos) and I have never been disappointed. I would never send him a Gassan Sadakatsu to be polished (it would be sent to Japan). However, if you have a garden variety Samurai blade or gunto blade, send it to Fred. Reasonable prices and great service. KATANAKO

Thank you all for your kind comments! This message board has saved me $$$$ in costly mistakes I would have committed!!! HENRY S.

Thank you Chris for your helpful comments! I posted another question with a photo of a damaged habaki suppossedly due to a tight shirasaya. HENRY S.

I ordered a katana from Japan. Before the person could ship it, I received a message saying that the habaki needs to be repaired. He claims that the shirasaya became too tight (probably due to lack of humidity in storage) and caused the silver foil to peel away from habaki. In looking at the damage, it appears to me that the damage occured (supposedly) when he tried to insert the blade into the shirasaya, since the foil is pushed upwards (toward you). If the damage occured while he was trying to pull it out, I would expect the silver foil to tear and not have ragged, scrunched pushed in edges. I experimented with a piece of aluminum foil. He promised to make me a new habaki, but if the shirasaya is still tight, it doesn't make sense to put a new habaki on it. It would make sense to split the shirasaya and scrape off a few mm of wood to compensate. There is no sayagaki on the shirasaya. Have any of you experienced such a thing? Just curious. I appreciate everyone's comments! Thank you very much. HENRY S.

I am frustrated. I keep my swords in a gun safe with a pack of dessicants to absorb moisture. Then a collector said that it would keep the rust away, but suck the moisture out of the shirasaya and make them really tight! I did notice that a couple of my swords in shirasaya took some effort to pull out. Another collector suggested a BULLFROG (BRAND NAME) RUST BLOCK SHIELD (for guns). It doesn't work like a dessicant; rather, it puts something in the enclosed area to prevent rust from happening (some sort of chemical action). I'd like to know if any of you have any suggestions. Someone said that if I want the shirasaya to get back to normal, I should store it in an enclosed area with a cup of water to rehydrate itself, but polish and coat the blade with a protective oil when I put it back. I saw one shirasaya that was lacquered, and this was at a pawn shop. I had never seen a lacquered shirasaya and a collector said you should never lacquer it. Why? Thank you.

Thank you all for your comments! I always get an educationhere!

Shine a black light on it to see if there are any synthetic in it. There are mint specimens out there. Look at this. A general and major's mint tassels unissued with the wrappers still on them!

I came across a huge, and I mean HUGE Shinshinto katana, supposedly forged by Hiroyama Shige Zaemon Fujiwara Yoshinaga Saku, circa 1860 on the online auction. He was a student of Gassan Sadayoshi. Seller is reputable. Cutting edge is slight over 33." I'm a novice collector and still learning. The asking price is hefty, almost the cost of an average Gassan Sadakatsu or a 2010 Toyota Corolla. My question to you: As I have never seen such a sword auctioned, I'd like to know if this is an oversized "novelty" by a garden variety smith, or worthy of further consideration (crawling to my wife). I just have this thing for big blades. I need serious counseling!

OK Jean, I got around to taking a couple of pics of my weird Monster Wak. From your discussions, it has been obviously been honed down. If you have any more comments, please post them! Thank you all for the enlightenment! KATANAKO

Thanks Eric and Franco! You guys are right on!!! Thanks for the education. KATANAKO

Hi, I really enjoy reading your comments about my Monster Wak. It is obviously a handforged blade, but I am wondering if it is a modern Gendaito made in the 1900s as a novelty for some sumo wrestler...or a legit Nagamaki which was modified? Thye hamon does narrow down from the kissaki. Thank you! KATANAKO

Thank you Eric! You have confirmed that my Monster Wak is gimei. Still, it is very interesting. I really appreciate everyone's imput!!! Thanks again to all of you! KATANAKO

I have a super sized "Monster" wakazashi and I would like to know exactly what it is. It has the kissaki and boshi of a katana, but it has a thick and wide blade! I will attempt to attach some pics here. The mei is signed OZAKI GENGOEMON FUJIWARA SUKETAKA, and in my 1981 Hawley book, it is under SUK525, circa 1790. It could be a gemei. The blade is 27 inches. Is it a Nagamaki? Perhaps a Nagamaki fashioned into a wak? I can't imagine a warrior using it for sword fighting. This blade was made for chopping/butchering, perhaps by a foot warrior chopping down a horseman in combat, or ??? How rare is this type of blade? It has a nice habaki and is in shirasaya. Would this blade originally have had a regular tsuka, or would it have been mounted on a pole like a Naginata? I've never run across something like this. Thank you very much. KATANAKO