Katsujinken

Gyaku menuki are a very common choice among kenjutsuka, and every Japanese shop (like Tozando) or production sword manufacturer (like Evolution or MAS) know exactly what one needs when this is mentioned.

The Motohara blades are the best production swords on the market right now, in my opinion. Jason, the owner, trains in Toyama Ryu and is a great guy. And Ken, I appreciate that you want people to be safe, but literally every time a thread like this comes up you jump in to tell the person to talk to their sensei, don’t use shinken, etc. Respectfully, sometimes your tone comes off as patronizing because you appear to assume that 1) the person isn’t studying a style in which shinken are actually required; and 2) the person isn’t experienced or smart enough to have already considered your points to begin with. Your heart is in the right place, and I know you are an experienced martial artist, but after a dozen of these threads I hope you’ll consider this feedback. There are lots of other experienced martial artists out there, too, and sometimes they might want advice on blades and not whether or not it’s appropriate for them to buy one.

I was sincerely hoping to go back this year, but given that the show is all about people from all over the US traveling to SF, and given how COVID cases are still growing alarmingly in many states (especially those who are “reopening” prematurely), I will have to sit out and hope for a better 2021.

Yep, Ken + Markus have the right recipe in my opinion. Was explaining this to some kohai in my dojo a few weeks ago. It’s a confusing issue for laypeople!

That’s a fine piece of history in surprisingly good condition. Take good care of it so that it can last another 600 years. :-)

Here’s another “gimei” Nobuie that’s currently in my collection if you want to compare: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29799-definitely-not-the-nobuie-but-what-do-you-think/?view=findpost&p=303252 I think it’s most likely later Myochin.

Honma Junji says Enbun (~1356), and I'm certainly not going to argue with him! 直江志津

The garish polish on that blade was created to mislead – a caricature of Soshu, chikei, etc. – and the sayagaki is surely a forgery or shirasaya swap.

This was a fun one.

Those eBay mats cost about the same as what you could get from Nihonzashi, which would be a better choice because 1) you’d be supporting a local small business, and 2) you can get actual tatami omote or mugen dachi and not this mystery crap from eBay. :-P

Jean is correct! In Japan, everyone using a shinken is using a traditionally made sword (supposedly...). Swords intended for iai and tameshigiri are often made with lower grade tamahagane or lack a fancy polish, etc., because they are bound to take some abuse. Here are some examples: https://www.e-sword.jp/category/iai/ ¥350,000 is going to be the starting point for a decent shinsakuto not intended as an art sword. That may or may not include koshirae or the koshirae may or may not be suitable for iai. You'll definitely want to do your research and get an experienced practitioner who is familiar with nihonto to help you, when and if the time comes.

“Acceptable” depends on the price, the attribution... and you.

Ken is right, the prices from resellers like Nihonzashi are ridiculous, but unless you are prepared to buy a shipping container (yes literally), fill it with tatami omote, and pay for all of the shipping and logistics, and store the container and thousands of mats once it arrives, you will pay upwards of $8 per mat after shipping. My sword organization was able to do what I described above by pooling resources. That got the price per mat down to around $4... which is still infinitely more expensive than what it costs to cut in Japan ($0!). It’s tough practicing an art that includes tameshigiri in America... even tougher in a big city. :-/ And by the way, I have only seen either mugendachi or tatami omote for sale. If you’re looking to insert green bamboo you’ll literally have to “roll your own.” Good luck.

Contact Nihonzashi down in Florida. They may be able to help you out if you haven’t tried already.

Connoisseur’s got a reprint not too long ago and is readily available for the cover price from Amazon (hurray).

Must have: The Connoisseurs Book of Japanese Swords https://www.amazon.com/dp/4770020716/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2nivEbGVRQ5FB

Bingo bango bongo case closed. The mei and nakago look very young. Kamakura is totally out of the realm of possibility here.

They scream Masayoshi to me. Almost identical to a waki tsuba I bought from Grey a few years ago that came from the Haynes collection. I immediately gave it to someone as a gift so I have no photos, but perhaps if Grey sees this he can add one. Ito Sadashichi Masayoshi worked in the Kanda neighborhood of Edo and died circa 1800.

6- uchiko should NEVER be used Fixed that one for you.

Yep, this one’s done for.

NBTHK shinsa only takes place in Japan.

The shop is in Machida, about an hour outside of central Tokyo by train.

Mike Yamasaki of Tetsugendo is a top dealer and widely respected.

I meant top left, sorry (I was on mobile). So the right one looks too warm to my eyes. The best thing to do is to use a white balance card to color correct in post. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G3NW5M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XLjPDb0TYWD3Q

The temperature and tones of the top one look more accurate to me. The bottom one seems too warm.