Gilles

That is quite a funny coincidence. I already saw such a blade not a long time ago. In may I was in Japan and I went to Kuraya Hashimoto shop in Kyoto. He had such a blade for sale which was also mounted in tanto fittings. He told me it was a yari and that the nakago was cut down..... I never saw such a blade before......

Indeed, it seems to be a real fake tsuba. But that is just my personal opinion.

On one Japanese book of my book collection this type of naginata is called "satsuma naginata". this type of naginata are quite scarce and usually command high prices.

M. Reid is ready to do some politics in France. I only see a 12 hours difference which is comprehensible due to the time zone. Moreover, he never talked about other customers waiting in line and sorry for that, I can't be "glued to my computer" because I have to work to get some money back home. last but not least, with that way of dealing M.Reid can be paid simultaneously by two different customer for the item he is selling ????? That is simply not a way to due some business. Here is the extract of our exchanges of messages Sent Yesterday, 06:41 AM Dear Josh, I have enough details now. Let us go for this deal. My shipping address is : ____________________________. O.K. for Paypal by gift. Sent Yesterday, 07:48 AM Okay sounds good, Gilles. Please send payment to: ___________ .. $32 for priority shipping to France. Total $282USD sent PayPal via gift. I'll try to post the tsuba Saturday or Monday -latest. Thanks a lot! Sent Yesterday, 07:49 AM Sorry I said $30 shipping, didn't I? $30 will be just fine! Sent Yesterday, 06:46 PM Gilles, I hate to be the bringer of bad news.. but another buyer came through with payment a little sooner than you. The tsuba is now sold. Thanks for your interest. I will not push this topic farther. People have been warned and the facts talk for themselves.

Dear Chris, I agree, this kind of thing is not rare but if it happens here between us collectors on the NMB that is quite concerning.

I've just had an issue with J REID who was selling a tsuba on the NMB under the tittle Iron Tsuba Signed: "ikken" With Kao and I need to report that to you with Brian support. As I was the first to answer, we started to exchange by the NMB messenger. I asked questions and he answered to them. We found an agreement yesterday night and he gave me all the details to pay him with paypal including the sending fees. Today I came back to work and saw that he sent me the following message "Gilles, I hate to be the bringer of bad news.. but another buyer came through with payment a little sooner than you. The tsuba is now sold. Thanks for your interest". I want to point out that this man is not reliable ! That it is simply not a way to do some business with follow collectors of the NMB. I have been here since august 2006 and it is the first time that this kind of things happened to me. Before that, all the sellers with whom I made some deals here were honest ! He sold that tsuba to a third person because that one paid faster than me ????? We are just not in the same time zone !!!!!! Last but not least, that is a blatant sign of disrespect to me and I have the feeling that I don't deserve that. I hope that my bad experience will be useful for all of you.

Hello, Can you give us the nagasa (length of the blade) and the length of the tang in centimeters ?

Super nice !!!!!!

What a loss !!!!

Gentlemen, I had a koto sword with a fake nijū-habaki. It looked like a two pieces habaki but it was made of one solid piece. I remind me that it seemed to be tooled. But the general appearance was really good. Unfortunately I have no picture available. I wonder why it was made that way, may be it was less expensive than a two piece habaki ?????

Dear Nick, Very nice koshirae. This shin-shinto blade seems to be made by ARIKOTO.

Dear Paul, Two books, A4, hardcover or a limited edition

It does't look like Japanese kanji to my humble opinion.

Dear Thierry, You've got a PM.

Same for me Peter. Amazon asked $79 for shipping to France. Thus, I give up.

Got a hanpo lost between Great Britain and France during three months. Actually, it was lost in France. The french transporter did not care at all about this issue and did not show any sign to be willing to pay despite their regulation. They lost this parcel and they were to blame. And with no warning, after three months in limbo, the parcel was sent back to the sender in Great Britain...

For a test shot it's a very beautiful one. Congratulations.

Dear Markus, I am in for a printed copy.

Dear Rob, For what I know, long yari were used mostly by samurai. The longer, the better..... Omi yari were usually made for samurai use. According to what I have gathered over the years, this was not the case for naginata. like you said, long naginata were used by the sohei. Acording to hearsay, yari blade with a diamond shaped cross section were designed for horseback use...... But I am not sure that all those assertions are true. The only thing that I am convinced is that over the centuries most the very well known swordsmith have made yari and naginata. But you are right, too little is known about those blades. Hope it helps.

It seems to me that this naginata is a real one polished by another "professional polisher" .

Dear Collectors and friends. Don't forget to participate in order to support Brian and its wonderful site.

Three "units" sent.

Can somone with adequate skill can separate those pics ? There is a wealth of info here for those who like bakamatsu era.

Dear Randy, Count me in. Thank you very much,

I will donate a real Edo time arrowhead.