seanyx11

Yes, I've got my work cut out for me with all of these books I've ordered. I've already gotten The Samurai Sword by John M. Yumoto, Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords: A collector's guide by Nobuo Nakahara, and The Japanese Sword by Kanzan Sato, so I've been reading those some over the last day or so. I haven't found any sword groups in Atlanta area yet, but I've met a couple people that I'm hoping to learn from and see some collections up close. That's pretty cool that Markus offers a course about Nihonto, I'll have to look into that for sure. Yup, I'm sure it will end up becoming extremely expensive and its already put a nice dent in my wallet already just from one mumei wakizashi, a down payment on the Kinmichi wakizashi, and some books and various proper maintenance supplies Luckily, I've cooled down a bit on my car hobby addiction since I've had a car being built for 5 years now...of course, its almost finished right in the middle of wanting to buy more swords. First world problems I guess

Nice. I've already delved into Yumoto's book since I got it from Amazon yesterday...it has some great stuff, so it'll be nice to have somewhat of an expansion on it with Bott's book I'm ordering.

Thanks Barry This is the kind of beginner books I'm talking about...lots of great info, but very cheap as well to get me started. I'll definitely pick this one up since its so cheap right now for sure. Thanks again for the heads up on this great bargain for a beginner book. Don't get me wrong here guys, I'm not cheap about everything, I just want to avoid spending more than I have to on these research books so I can put more into what I'm researching Good Advice Stephen I was waiting for someone to be like, "slow down there speed racer" lol. I'm in the process of ordering Nagayama's, Kapp & Yoshihara and Botts' right now, so I'll just read what I've got ordered a couple of times. Then, once I feel comfortable with the information in these books down the road, I'll check out the Token Bijutsu volumes and Nihon Toko Jiten ( Thanks O-Yumi (?) I'm grabbing this one right now, since a few have suggested it and its pretty cheap.

Hi Grey Thanks for the recommendations, I was just looking at your website actually. I will get the Art of the Japanese Sword instead of the Craft one then. I'm glad you mentioned it as I was planning on getting both at some point. Actually, Arnold F (seattle1) suggested the Nihon Toko Jiten by Fujishiro and I saw you had it on your site, but I was trying to avoid expensive books for now and concentrate on some cheaper beginner books to start off with. Either way, I'll end up with a copy of it at some point though, and I'll definitely keep your website in mind for finding it.

Thanks Jeremiah I actually already have the Nagayama book on my list to buy next, so that's a definite. I'll also check out the genealogies and schools book as well. I should be good to go for a while on books after I get all of these lol Thank you Ian Yes, this is going to the first group soon also. I would love to be able to start reading mei myself, if for no other reason than not having to bug everyone every time I need a translation.

Honestly, I don't like to read books very much. I prefer to learn through talking with people, seeing things with my own eyes, and more hands on learning. However, that's not always possible. Since I've been on here, I've met a guy who also lives in GA, who has offered to have me over to his house to show me some of his collection. This is the first person I've met that lives close enough to do something like this within reason. I also went to the Atlanta bladeshow a few weeks ago and took a tsukamaki class, where I learned some cool things and met a guy who does restoration work. I go to gun shows whenever they are in the Atlanta area as well, but since I'm new to all of this, I haven't been to any since I started getting into swords. So yes, I agree that books are not the only medium for learning about Nihonto, but during the interim between meeting people, seeing other's collections, and going to gun/blade shows, I can be learning from this forum, other internet sources and of course, books. My quest for learning from books wasn't an exclusion from all other forms of learning so much as a supplement to them. So, I'm definitely trying to take advantage of all the various resources at my disposal to soak up as much as possible. Thanks for the suggestions

Thanks for the recommendations Franco It looks like I'm on the right track here. Once I pick up the Yamanaka newsletters and Token Bijutsu in English, along with the Nagayama and Kapp & Yoshihara books, I should be pretty set for a while. I'll check out the Allan H. Pressley articles as well, hopefully I can find them fairly easily.

Awesome. I will have to seriously consider picking up that token bijutsu set for such a good price. I'll also put the Yamanaka newsletter at the top of my list as well. Thanks Gabriel I almost bought the Nagayama book yesterday because it seemed to be recommended by so many, but I thought I'd wait to get some more confirmation. I'll put both it and the Kapp & Yoshihara book on my list to buy as soon as possible.

Thanks Ray I'll definitely add those to my wish list of books for the future. Those are a bit more expensive than I was wanting to spend in the beginning, but the suggestions are very much appreciated. Do you have any specific recommendations from the Markus Sesko books? Edit: Those Token Bijutsu compilations separated into Koto and Shinto, seem like they would be an outstanding wealth of knowledge. Not to mention, a bit hard to find. I may have to bite the bullet and pick those up while they're available. Do these come up for sale often? Edit again: Nevermind, they were already sold anyway lol figures.

So, I've recently been bitten by the bug and jumped head first into the Nihonto pool. My Melancholic Temperament makes me want to learn every detail I can about these beautiful pieces of history and art. Luckily, I've had some help by a gentleman named Arnold F. (seattle1), who also lives in GA, with a wealth of knowledge and recommendations for all things Nihonto. In my quest for knowledge, I've been looking at every possible medium I can get my hands on. So far, I've found a few common suggestions from Arnold, bushido.com, and right here on NMB. The problem is that there are so many beginner (and intermediate as well) books to choose from, and I can only read/study so many books at once. Plus, all of these books add up and end up being fairly pricey, so I'm not wanting to buy them all at once. This is where you guys come in. I need some help with narrowing the list down to some essentials for a beginner like myself, fto start with in my early Nihonto collecting career proper. The list in the FAQ section, here on NMB, is divided into beginner and intermediate, but even the beginner section is quite extensive, so any help with which ones to get first would help tremendously. I've already found and ordered a few from the list, as well as from recommendations from Arnold F. and Bushido.com. Let me know what you guys suggest for my next couple of books from the list or something that may not be on the list as well. Here is what I have ordered so far: The Samurai Sword by John M. Yumoto The Japanese Sword by Kanzan Sato Facts & Fundamentals of Japanese Swords: A Collector's Guide by Nobuo Nakahara A Primer of Japanese Sword-Blades by B.W. Robinson I've also found these books on Amazon from the list as well, so they can be ordered easily: The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Kokan Nagayama Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords by Markus Sesko Samurai: The Weapons & Spirit of the Japanese Warrior by Clive Sinclaire Cutting Edge: Japanese Swords in the British Museum by Victor Harris The Art of the Japanese Sword: The Craft of Swordmaking and its Appreciation by Kapp & Yoshihara The Craft of the Japanese Sword by Kapp & Yoshihara The Arts of the Japanese Sword by B.W. Robinson The Japanese Sword: The Soul of the Samurai by Gregory Irvine

If only they served Caucasians at the In and Out Burger, then the Dude would be set

Wow. I guess this happens often enough for you guys to catch it that quick Good eye fellas.

Sounds like a good story to me Who's to say its not true? If someone disagrees with you, then ask them if they were alive when the sword was used

Thank you Robert Yes, it seems I've been blessed to have found Danny and Nihontocraft.com. I have nothing but great things to say about him and the way he does business so far, its been a pleasure to work with him finding this beautiful Kinmichi. I couldn't agree more with the "Buy the seller" adage, especially when dealing in such expensive antiques that open up the doorway for swindlers and liars. Its good to have a trusted source that loves and believes in what he is selling, a rare trait these days indeed.

Hey man I saw your name in a thread recently and I thought that was you from SBG. I think I saw Verity over here as well, which I'm sure you know. Good to see (read?) some friendly faces over here. Yes, the black hole that is sword/nihonto collecting

Thanks and well said. I couldn't agree more with you about the historical significance and traditions of the Japanese sword. This is ultimately why I decided to finally get a "real deal" Japanese sword. I look forward to learning more about all of the fine details of each era, school, mei, as well as the myriad of other nuances involved in nihonto collecting. I assume you mean I need to add my name in the signature at the bottom? So, basically if you have anything in your signature, it should at least have your name...makes sense. Though I wouldn't have thought it was required. I shall add my moniker sir Thank you. Yes, there are a few doing very good work IMO, giving guys like me another option other than Chinese production on one end and Nihonto on the complete opposite end. Not to say that all Chinese production swords are bad, quite the opposite in some cases, or that all Nihonto are perfectly made masterpieces either.

Yes, US smith custom swords seem to be pretty popular right now, though I don't have much to compare to as I just started collecting. I've definitely enjoyed my custom swords so far and they've been a nice stepping stone to my nihonto collecting. Thanks I think its a good start for sure. Thank you Its nice to hear that you guys also like my choice, especially since I'm so new to all of this. Of course, the most important thing is that I'M happy with my choice, but its always nice to hear more experienced and knowledgeable guys like yourself agree with the choice as well.

You are correct good eye. Yes, he has been extremely patient and did everything he could to work out a deal between myself and the owner of the sword. Don't get me wrong, I've been scanning ebay nihonto for several weeks as well, but I just happened to find this one that I fell in love with and was in my price range (sort of). I almost bought a couple from ebay several times, but I'm always weary of items that claim to be "authentic" this or that. After going to Danny's site and reading all of the info he wrote about each sword and his background, I thought, "well, he's either selling the real deal and very knowledgeable, or he's one hell of a good liar." I obviously decided that the former was true, and pulled the trigger to contact him. Once I spoke with him in a few emails, I had no doubts he was an honest, trustworthy and extremely knowledgeable guy. I would definitely recommend him to anyone and I will gladly buy another sword from him in the future (providing everything goes smoothly with this one, of course). It's already become an addiction, so too late to call it a hobby at this point While I agree that you can get a much nicer blade for cheaper from Chinese smiths, I don't necessarily agree that Chinese top-end swords beat American smiths in almost every aspect. I've got a Rick Barrett katana that is being custom mounted as we speak and its an absolutely beautiful blade. I have not seen anything from a Chinese company that comes close to this level of craftsmanship, including but not limited to, Hanwei/bugei, Ronin, munetoshi, Huawei, dragon king, dynasty forge, citadel, etc. The hamon is a beautiful choji, the shinogi is crisp and straight, the flats are smooth as glass, and the geometric yokote is extremely well done. I have a Huawei sword being made at the moment (yes, I commissioned it over a month ago, before I started looking for nihonto) that is one of the best looking blades for the money I've seen. The level of polish they can achieve (literal and figurative) for just $500 is amazing. However, they usually don't have much distal taper at all, and are not particularly well balanced either. I just like the way they look, so I bought one . The problem, is that once you get to the point of spending over $1500 on Chinese production swords, where the quality of the blades are somewhat close to custom made American blades, the koshirae are not even close to the quality and fit that a custom sword will be. Comparing a $1000 Chinese sword to a $6000 modern custom sword by an American smith like Rick Barrett, it gets even more lopsided, in my opinion. I'm not sure what swords you are looking at, but I've got a comparison in mind: Hanwei Tori series katana (which I actually own an XL and XL light), will run around $1000 depending on where you get it. I've got a friend that sells custom swords, who I bought my James Raw custom and wakizashi nihonto from. He has a Rick Barrett fully custom mounted sword on sale right now for $5500, and its not even close in terms of level of polish, hamon detail, fit & finish, and geometry. There are plenty of pictures of Hanwei Tori swords online to compare. Here's a link to the Rick Barrett sword I'm talking about: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7Ws_1m1h-WsYVlkZW5haGxHSzg I've seen some of Anthony DiChristofano's work, and I agree, its absolutely stunning work, but I also believe that Rick Barrett and Howard Clark are right up there in terms of craftsmanship and attention to detail. Obviously, I'm new to all of this, so I may be missing something that more knowledgeable folks may see, but I still have eyes (pretty discernable ones at that) and I think they are all extremely talented bladesmiths, deserving of equal consideration IMHO. Thank you for the compliment It's good to be reaffirmed that I've made a good choice on my first proper nihonto. I hope you don't take the above disagreement personally, its just my opinion, and a beginner's inexperienced opinion at that Thank you. I definitely lucked out with this one I think. I'm glad I came across Danny's Nihontocraft.com, since it really helped in my decision-making process. Yes, as I stated above, it went from small hobby to full-blown addiction pretty quickly

Thank you sir I think it will be a great first (or at least the first NBTHK papered) nihonto for my collection. And yes, wouldn't having 20/20 hindsight be wonderful lol...when I first started looking into buying a sword, I was wanting to spend about $300-$400 tops. I ended up spending $850, which, at the time, seemed like a lot of money for a sword. Spending $5k on a sword wasn't even a thought for me at the time. Until I bought a few and found out what I liked and realized I should save to get a real nihonto, it hadn't crossed my mind to spend so much on a sword. Either way, the swords I bought were perfectly fine for beginner swords to play around with, cut some tatami, and learn what I liked and what you can get for a specific amount of money. I bought swords from $240 to $2000, with many Chinese production, one nihonto wakizashi, and one custom modern made katana. So, I was able to get a good feeling for varying levels of polish and craftsmanship on 3 different types of Japanese (or Chinese made Japanese style) swords, Chinese production, custom modern made, and nihonto.

Hello all, I just recently started collecting Japanese swords (well, Chinese made swords in Japanese style) in March. I've always loved the way Japanese swords looked and have always wanted a "real" one. The Japanese culture has always fascinated me and the historical significance and almost supernatural aura the katana exudes is just something I've always loved. I kind of gave up on the idea once I realized how expensive a "real" one was and then recently started looking for them since I've finally gotten to a place in my life where I'm financially able to indulge in such an extravagance. Just like any other hobby, I tend to jump in head first and go overboard pretty quickly. That being said, I'm very meticulous with my research and willingness to learn everything and anything I can on said hobby or topic. Once I get a taste of what I want though, and its all over, I'm hooked. Anyway, the first sword I bought was a Ronin Elite that ended up being very nice for what it is, not to mention it cuts like a knife through hot butter. I bought a couple cheaper hanwei and dragon king blades as well, then a Hanwei Tori xl light and tori xl (the tori xl was used and such a good deal, I could not pass it up). Then, came another Ronin elite and a used Ronin hammer forged. So, needless to say, I was rolling right along buying 8 swords in about a month and a half. I then came across a few custom made swords that were professionally mounted, so I got a pretty nice James Raw blade with bamboo themed fittings in rokusho patina. At the moment, I have a very nice Rick Barrett custom katana being mounted with some custom fittings. To make a long story short (too late, I know) I ended up finding a nice little wakizashi nihonto with plain antique iron tsuba, fuchi kashira, and modern tsuka and saya made for it and I just absolutely loved the way it looked. It wasn't too expensive, so it was a good place to start my collection IMO. It is signed kunehisa, which I have no idea if that's good or bad, but its definitely an old tired blade that has seen many polishes, but it still looks pretty damn good considering. I never saw myself owning a nihonto at first, because I just saw these as weapons first and pieces of art second. I wanted to be able to use them to cut with if I got a wild hair, and that's just not going to happen with something so expensive (for me anyway). Once I saw this wakizashi nihonto though, I decided that being able to cut with it wasn't all that important since it looked so damn amazing So, now I've got a taste for the beauty and elegance that these amazing pieces of art have and I start looking for my first proper registered, papered nihonto. I am still learning what all of the Japanese terms for each type of hada, and nakago shape, and what school or era its from, but I do know what I like and what I think looks healthy with proper geometry. Having said that, I found an Edo Jidai circa 1660, mishina school, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon wakizashi signed Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi, that is extremely healthy with a beautiful bold hamon in a nice polish. I've put a down payment on it and it will be mine in just a couple months when its paid off. I'm very excited about it and I hope to learn as much as I can from all you guys (and girls) so I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions...don't give me too hard of a time So without further adieu...here are a few pics of the Kinmichi wakizashi. Please let me know what you guys think, good or bad