Martin

Hi all, saw this TSUBA on ebay but I think it is a later EDO copy. I like the style and design very much though. http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... &rd=1&rd=1 What are your thoughts on this one? cheers, Martin

John, just remove the last dot after the Top Level Domain. http://www.roninswords.com cheers, Martin

Hey Guido, Mike gave his sincerest apologies for this mistake and made a very kind offer to make things right. I am very pleased about him handling it this way. cheers, Martin

Hey Milt, seems to look very similar to that one, doesn´t it ? At least from the design http://www.militaria.co.za/nihontomessa ... .php?t=680 cheers, Martin

Hi all, I have 2 questions regarding the treatment of iron (Sukashi) Tsuba: 1) Sometimes you may find some shiny spots on the surface where the patina has gone. I was wondering if anybody could share some experience (or practical advice) on maintaining / restoring patina on iron Tsuba or on ways to let it recover itself. 2) Why is it a big NoNo to remove the (red) rust from the walls of a Sukashi Tsuba whereas it seems to be appropriate to remove it on the front and back surface with ivory or bone? Thanks in advance, Martin

Stephen, that sounds good to me :lol:

Hi all, I may have a silly question here. But on a sword of mine there is an area that seems to look like an eye-pair (even each eye with a pupil and maybe an abstract mouth underneath). It maybe not be that well recognizable on the pictures than it is when you hold the sword in hands - but this seems that those "eyes" could have been made on purpose. Does anybody know if there were smiths who were able (and wanted) to give a sword a kind of Hada "motive" like they sometimes did with the Hamon (ie. pine tree, Mt. Fuji)? Or is it more likely that I had a bit too much wine that evening :lol: cheers, Martin

maybe a stupid question - but were those war fans also made by swordsmiths :? ? cheers, Martin

Hi Rich, so this information ( http://www.ricecracker.com/japanese_swo ... apage2.htm ) is wrong :? ? I do not understand Japanese but the first 5 Kanji on the far left side (that should inform about the issuing organization) look the same. I was told, that these are Kanteisho (paper) from 'Tosougu Hakubutsukan' (Japanese Fittings Museum) - well respected for their papers on kodogu - and compatible to a Hozon NBTHK Paper. Furthermore, that the owners (brothers) of the museum had an argument and the museum had to close. This museum was located in Sugamo, Tokyo. The Head Kanteika was Ikeda Suimatsu (now deceased), who wrote many books on the subject of swords and sword fittings. Cheers, Martin

Hi all, first of all a Happy New Year to all of you! I have a question concerning authentication papers for Tosogu. Is the attached paper an origami issued by the Nihon Tosogu Bijutsukan (NTB) / Sword Fittings Museum? Examples of papers issued by them seem to look different to mine ( http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/tosogu_kanteisho.html ) :? . At least that´s what I found out so far. Or are the papers attached an older version of the NTB Origami? Any help on this would be highly appreciated. I furthermore would like to understand the main facts of the content. So if you have some spare time (maybe while still digesting the New Years turkey :D) I´d be really grateful for your translation help! cheers, Martin

Hi all, saw these tagane marks and was wondering if they are "Tagane Mei" too. Happy New Year, Martin

Hi all, many thanks for your posts so far. Jean, I already have the Sue Koto books from AFU. That´s what I meant with Yoshikawa (these are the spiral bound books). I also bought a Shimada Yoshisuke Tanto from AOI some time ago. It is a really great sword and has the same features that you described for your Tanto. I´d love to see some pictures of your Tanto. I would really appreciate if you could post them or send me via PM. Happy New Year, Martin

Hi Sencho, the fittings were part of a sword that did not sell at the auction. Maybe you can still get it if you´re interested. But I don´t really remember the blade... Anyway, here is the link to the auction (unfortunately no english language available): http://www.klefisch.com/index.php?page_ ... temid=2550 Cheers, Martin

I bet we do Here is a nice one that was part of an auction that recently took place in Germany. Cheers, Martin

Hi Barry, thanks for your plugs I recently joined the European Branch of the NBTHK and had the pleasure to listen to Michael two times already. His Kantei sessions are really great - for a newbie of course it all sounds a sort of weird at the beginning - but I think his knowledge and abilities are outstanding. A nice Christmas to all, Martin

nor to me. I can just advise you not to buy your first swords on ebay (unless you are really sure what it is). When you had the chance to look at real and good blades holding them in your hands (at a sword club or dealer) you will soon know what to look for and how to distinguish a fake from a real sword. Just my two Euro-Cents cheers, Martin

Hi all, as I am still not an owner of Kantei books - Could anyone please provide any information (Text, Oshigata) on the Koto Smith(s) Yoshisuke of the Shimada school? Especially their Tanto would be of interest to me. I already have some information from Yoshikawa and Fujishiro but maybe there are some more sources available (Nihonto Koza or other Japanese books) Many thanks in advance and Happy Holidays to all, Martin

Many thanks Bungo!

Many thanks so far for your posts. Unfortunately I don´t have any Tosogu books to compare the signatures. Would it be possible for anyone to maybe post some pictured examples of the signature? In my opinion it doesn´t look clumsy - but I am a complete novice in judging signatures on fittings The only object I found to compare with is a Fuchi / Kashira signed Nara Toshimitsu at the Usagiya website. But who knows if that´s an authentic signature... And even if I had a good and a bad signature to compare I doubt that I could see the difference or indicators that finally states it true or false :? cheers, Martin

Hi all, I have recently acquired a nice Kozuka. Could anyone please help me translating the mei and maybe tell if the signature is genuine. It seems to me that the front is made of Shibuichi and the back of (meanwhile dark) copper. At least this is my impression because the back is quite abraded and the red color of the copper can be seen. Am I right with this assumption that back and front are sometimes made of different materials? The third thing I would like to know is if it is possible to repatinate the back of the Kozuka and how this is usually done? Thanks in advance and Happy Holidays to all, Martin

Hi all, many thanks for the once again very informative answers. cheers, Martin

Hi all, As for waterless alcohol - I asked in some pharmacies around and they told me about a solution called ISOPROPANOL (or ISOPROPYL-ALCOHOL) 100% . According to them it is comparable with 100% alcohol and is completely waterless. Does anybody - maybe Guido have any experience with this? Thanks once again Martin

Hi Jean, I indeed also heard that people store even their very valuable swords without any oil :? Maybe this is due to the climate here in germany where the humidity level is usually not that high? I am a kind of anxious though but maybe give it a try. cheers, Martin

Hi all, my wife asked me yesterday why blades usually have 2 "storage places". She ment 1) the shirasaya and 2) the koshirae. I then explained to her that the shirasaya is usually the "safer" place to store the blade because it is (normally always) made after a polish and should fit the blade very well. In addition to this I told her that a blade sometimes had more than one koshirae - depending on the situation the sword was worn. But then I asked myself, when - in historical times - the Japanese invented the shirasaya and what purpose it had in the first place. Can anybody help me in finding an answer for this or maybe enlighten me if I told something wrong best regards, Martin

The original: http://cgi.ebay.com/K-Japanese-KATANA-S ... dZViewItem And the fraud: http://cgi.ebay.com/K-Japanese-KATANA-S ... dZViewItem I already contacted the real seller. cheers, Martin