Gilles

Dear Curran, The point is that I don't even know if what I have is a kind of microdear cloth :? I bought that cloth in a reputable sword shop in Tokyo but I had only few explanations except that it was safe to use and the results were surprising. Not even a word if I have to wash it before the first use. Moreover, I was in a hurry to take my plane so I was not looking for full explanations

Dear All If a full translation is too much, a summary will help me a lot

Gentlemen, More difficult now. Can you translate the whole text? It is stated that is it a cloth to clean Japanese sword. It can be used to clean lenses. Do I have to wash it first ? Can you help me on this one too? I will appreciate a lot.

Hello; The good part of it is that you have the Ebay buyer protection. You have to go on Ebay to the resolution center and answer to the questions. If the item was not strictly as described thus Ebay will give you a full refund. It takes quite a long time but you will get your money back and the seller will be in troubles towards Ebay. I had this experience a while ago, a "wise" seller sold me a yari with a fatal flaw that he hid all along the sale and the surprise was for me when I received it. he never answered to settle this problem. He is still on Ebay with a very low feedback rating which is a warning by itself.

Dear Jacques, That is possible. I will try to do that the coming week-end.

Yes, I'm Gilles :D Here are some pictures. Feel free to tell me about your thought.

Thank you so much Markus for your answer. That gô is a real conundrum for me. Jacques, yes, I got it just before Christmas and I must say that this is an impressive naginata. The blade seems to have a koto shape. May be it was a copy of a blade from that time.

Can somebody tell me if at least I am right ?

Dear all, I bought a nice Naginata lately and here is it's Mei. I can read BUSHU JU RYUSHINSHI TAIRA SUKENORI SAKU. Am I right ? Do you know this swordsmith who seems to have worked at the very end of the EDO era and at the beginning of MEIJI ? Is somebody able to give me details about that smith and its school ? On the JSSUS site it can be found at #2579. Thank you for your help

Dear Markus, Yes, I did contact Lulu. They told me that the mistake was their own and they are sending me a copy of the Koto book in English. Let us wait and see. Thank you Markus for your concern. Regards,

ARGHHHH !!!!!!! Got the books today, the shin-shinto was in English as ordered but the koto was in German AS NOT ORDERED.

Too bad, I ordered mine yesterday

Congratulations Paul

Dear Justin, I have this one, bought a while ago (2002). It is now in a frame. I have no need anymore for this nice sashimono as I am more focused on swords. In case of interest please PM me. Regards, Scan sashimono.pdf

I must say that Ed is a top seller according to my standards. No surprise, very good communication and realist prices.

Asked this guy for a lowered price on one of his non sold items (I asked to make the buy still through Ebay), never replied but put my country out of his other sales

Thank you very much M.Moriyama. Your help was decisive. 於野州今市造 (Oite Ya-shu Imaichi tsukuru) - made at Imaichi in Shimotsuke province (I cannot understand the additional "於野" before these characters......???). The two characters before 於野 were exactly the same. The man who signed was hampered by a gap in the steel and could not write those characters properly. So, he wrote them again below. Domo arigato gozaimasu

Thank you both of you for this precision. There seem to be another date on that same yari (picture #7), is that right ? Can Mr Moriyama, Kunitaro or Morita help me on this mei ?

Thank you very much David, Anyone can help on that difficult translation ?

Dear all, I need some help on that one. I got a signed fukuro yari and what I grasped is that it is signed FUJIWARA MASATSUGU and the date is XX 4 NEN. You have here five rows of kanji. I am quite sure that it is a shin shinto yari. Can you help me on that MEI ? I will appreciate a lot. PS : please note that picture named 5 and picture named 6 are on the same row.

Markus, I can't wait to see them available. You are such a very prolific author..... :D

Dear Markus, I will order one copy this week-end. Thank you for your very prolific work.

Thank you very much Paul, it helps. Is somebody able to give me details about that swordsmith ??????

Gentlemen, I am looking for any info about the shinshinto swordsmith rioshinshi SUKENORI. The only mei I have spotted on the web is Bushu Ju Rioshinshi Sukenori which can be found on the Index of Japanese Sword Literature made by Grey Doffin (ref 2579). It states that this mei is visible on the shin-shinto Taikan by IImura (the two volume edition). - Is someone able to scan me that signature ? - Can somebody give me some details about that smith ? Thank you for your active help. PS : I have no available mei to show you. :?

First time I see such a shape. But I've noticed that the imagination of the Japanese swordsmiths, especially concerning yari is without limit. :D