Gilles

Thank you dear Kunitaro, So if I understand well this yari was made to be mounted as a kago yari ? Best regards,

Oups, O.K. Patrick, thank you for those explanations.

Thank you for your switf answer gentlemen, Dear Georges, it helps, Dear Markus, thank you very much for your translation. No dragon horimono visible, the blade is very slender with a nagasa of 10.5 cm and a total length of 36.5 cm. Not really the blade you will use to slay a dragon. Please have a look of that blade and its mei. can you translate the first two kanji ? The other beeing KANASHIGE SAKU. Best regards,

Hello gentlemen, I just acquired a little sankaku yari which was found on a old shirasaya. The cap of that shirasaya is quite uncommon. Several kanji are written. I can read the signature of that yari but that is all. Can you tell me what is the meaning of the bigger kanji and of the smaller kanji too which are located on the reverse of that saya? Last but not least, is someone able to tell me why this saya cap is shaped like this ? Thank you so much for your actice help. PS : the yari is signed KANESHIGE SAKU

Gentlemen, Thank you for your explanations. Dear Uwe : I am not an expert but I am quite positive that the kuwagata dai was added not a long time ago. the good point is that it is made of shakudo. I will post detailed pictures this week end. Dear Ian : Thank you for all those details. I will check to see if this helmet is signed. This helmet is quite heavy due to all those pikes. If you want I can send picture of the inside. Best regards,

Dear all, I acquired lately a kabuto from another collector for decoration purpose (I know nothing about those nice things beeing more a sword guy). He told me that it was refurbished some years ago and a shikoro dating from the 19 th century was reconnected to the bowl which was older. Thus , I asked to you, knowledgeable people what do you think about this kabuto ? Please have a look to the pictures below. Thank you for your opinion. PS : sorry for the dust visible on the pictures

Hello Thierry, What a nice collection. Thank you for showing.

Dear George, I fully agree with you, sashi-komi tells you all. I asked quite the same question to a Japanese dealer three years ago in Tokyo. He smiled at me and told me that hadori/kesho was better to sale swords. If I remind me well, the excellent book "facts and fundamentals of Japanese swords" by Nobuo Nakahara, explane this. He said that a kesho polish has the advantage to bring out the jihada but has the disavantage to be able to hide all the blade's faults (page 85)........ As an eternal sword student, I definitely prefer a sashi-komi polish. :D

Strange indeed, I have also seen some of these items on the french market with different estimations / prices.......

Like Dirk and Brian, I would love to have more infos on that very interesting topic. If somebody can put some light on those two "forgotten" polisher families....

Dear Veli, I will say MITSU and perhaps KUNI.

Dear veli, I must say that I can't see a thing on the picture. There is a shade that hide nearly everything. Have you another picture ? Regards,

Gentlemen, I have planned to go to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec this summer. Is there some nice museums or antiques shop related to Japanese swords around ? I've heard that there is such museums in Toronto and may be in Montreal ? Can you tell me more about that ? Is there some place that I absolutely have to go ? All the best.

Dear Matt, This is quite incredible. It seems to be a wakizashi. Do we have here the daisho that this proud samurai wore at an advanced age ? Is it signed by a swordsmith ? Do you own that blade ? A good thing will be to join them again........ but I start to dream here Thank you for this input. the percentage of chance to find such a sword was quite low.

Thank you very much George, How come I missed that I've spotted this swordsmith in the Markus books "Index of Japanese swordsmith". I have the same data that is to say 1661/1673 Kanbun era.

Super idea Markus :D

Dear all, I am acquired a nice yari and I've stumbled upon three kanji on the signature. Can you help me ? I will appreciate a lot.

I agree with Paul, Dick and Brian. The treasure here are the people and their willingness to share their knowledge. That is the best find I made on this forum (along with several swords that I really enjoy)

Thank you for your reply Jimi-san, any other opinions gentlemen ?

Gentlemen, Have you see that sale on Ebay ? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-hangin ... true&rt=nc item number : 321134806231 Was it really made by Hon-ami ? The tanto depicted seems to be well known as it seems to have a name, do you know that one ? Is this scroll supposed to be scarce ? Thank you for your answers.

One set for me. :D

Dear All, I would love to get one of those Japanese "sliding hooks" for scrolls made from bamboo as shown on the Rakuten site. Can somebody with direct access with Japan can buy me one ? Of course, all the expenses will be on me. PS : I don't even consider of making one by myself as I am not gifted for such manual work.

Dear Dirk, A rather strange story. I saw it for sale in Japan few years ago and wanted to buy it. When I asked the seller, he told me it was already sold to a fellow countryman without more details. About two years ago, one of my friend went to my house and offered it for sale. He was the men who bought it in Japan and was just living next to me. This time I bought it on the spot. Don't worry, in case I sell it, you will be the first to know. :D Best regards,

Here are some more details.

Gentlemen, I saw lately an interesting topic related to tessen in the TRANSLATION ASSISTANCE folder written by Piers and just want to add some pictures about two tessen which were supposed to be made by sworsdmiths. I let you guess who are those swordsmiths Hope you like it.