Blazeaglory

Would it be fair to say its a sign of a polisher who knows what they're doing? I usually see this on blades with a good polish

Yes!

Good pics! I have a Samsung and a nice Olympic but BOTH are terrible at detailed macro shots. Even via the "macro" and "super macro" settings, the focus is horrible! Ive tried almost everything and the best I can get is some lucky center focus on my closer photos. Examples here show great clarity on small areas only. Im looking for something that focuses more of a whole such as your pics Ray (dont mean to thread hijack, just posting pics for comparison)

I would like to second the Yamato/Tegai but thats just my opinion

I've been watching this seller for a while now and I have a feeling many of his/her Tsuba are possibly reproduction. Also, if you notice his feedback, you can see that some high price sales usually get a reply of "out of stock" or "already sold", so who knows if he/she actually has the items to begin with, and the prices are way too high on most of the items anyways. But really, they could be a decent seller and I could be totally wrong but I try to avoid certain sellers with "red flags" such as this. Did you ever get a response ?

I like #8 and 4a/4b Personally, I would get rid of 6 and 10.

Good job on the research and posts Juss! Thanks

Maybe having something to do with the green origami scandal in the 1970s? Nihonto which had the green origami were allowed a free shinsa?

Ouch ouch ouch

Hello all. Looking for a matching, or close, kashira for this fuchi. Also, I think I might be going in a different direction so this will possibly be listed for sale soon if anyone's interested. Just an FYI Thanks in advance

Great condition ! I'm jealous????????

So it's Sadakiyo then correct? Its supposedly Yokoya school. Either way I like it. I was looking at a very nice papered shishi set but the prices are so high right now Anyways. Thanks for the little "push". I've been meaning to attempt this for a while now!

Yes I was doing the same thing. Maybe for me it was +-1 or 2. It's the little marks and "squares" that confused me.

For the life of me I couldn't find that second character! Plus the variations threw me off a bit

Sadayoshi or Sadayuki Den? Or Saku (in place of den) And I'm guessing they didn't sign that way? So more than likely this is Gimei?

OK Not looking at other replies. I'm gonna try to do this myself! Ill get back to you later with results lol

Hello all. Just wondering what this says? I think the first character is "Sada"? You guys think its a true Mei? I don't really mind as Im going to use this on a Tsuka but I'm curious. Thanks in advance

No worries. I had some trials as well and continue to everyday. Just take it slow and refer to that Markus Sesko Kantei link for info. Read and research and if you can't seem to figure out a specific issue, just ask someone here or shoot me a PM. I'm no expert on Nihonto but I can point you to the basics and refer to great reading material. Higher info or expert Kantei I do not claim to know, so I could only suggest basic info and refer you to others here but general Nihonto talk is fine. But take it from me, don't take anything personally here and you'll be fine.???????? There's many different personality types from many different nations. So good luck and hope to see you in the near future with better results!

I'm the same way so to speak but as time goes by it can become a problem because searching by era, for me anyways, kinda pigeon holed me and I was limiting myself to brief areas of time. Also a person can tend to buy up just those era of nihonto regardless of quality, only because it's "Muromachi" or "Koto" and get stuck holding allot of "garbage" blades so to speak. Loving certain era's is fine and you're right that older blades are made better, well prior to late Muromachi anyways but even that statement is kinda bad because there were bad blades during all era's and there are also great blades in all era's... That's why it's best to learn to see the sword without any labels. That is why, in my opinion, and what I got frm Brian's post is, once you find the love of the blade based on Sugata and other features, you'll find that era kinda takes a back seat to your love of Nihonto. The sword finds you maybe haha Also commas are your friend! Lol it's hard to read a wall of text! Now I know how everyone here felt when I first started posting lol

Some nice tidbits of info in that article. Thanks That article mentioned that Mino wasn't regarded as very high compared to the other schools at the time. I understand what they're saying but I disagree a bit. For me, I'm realizing that Mino/Kanemoto/Kanesada are my top smiths. Some of the blades Kanesada has created are amazing and incorporate so many different aspects it's crazy. Ok rant over, I just had to confess my infatuation with the early Mino elite????

I was going to mention Bizen/Ichimonji earlier as well. As for Kanemoto, I think the turn back is a bit too long on top and boshi is missing other known Kanemoto factors (early generations anyways) and I don't think were seeing sanbon sugi but a choji dominated hamon with some pointed areas that could possibly be seen as sanbon sugi, but its debatable. My 2 cents.

Please update if you fix the problem. Thats too bad.

You're welcome! That link will come in very useful if you continue to stick with Nihonto!

Hello, from one rookie (myself), to another. I know this place can seem off putting at times but I think what Brian is saying is to not worry about age or era, just see the sword as Nihonto and look deeper than the labels to try and understand the beauty and sacred things these blades represent. Look passed everything you know and forget everything. He really is giving you good advice, as well as others. Trust me, they're trying to help you so please take everything they say to heart and actually try to find the wisdom in their posts. Several members have multiple decades worth of experience and direct knowledge of Nihonto and dealing with physical blades, sometimes 1000 years old. They have seen and handled THOUSANDS of different swords. Please try not to take anything said too personally and open your mind to everyone's opinions and suggestions. There are steps and very serious methods to deal with Nihonto. You will find out that this area requires allot of sacrifice and hard moments. You must humble yourself to the process if you truly wish to be a caretaker of Nihonto. I understand your analogies with guitars and cars (I myself am a collector of old auto) but the Japanese views and traditions with these blades is nothing like we have ever been taught in the West. Its a very rigid and serious/respectful "hobby" and requires a certain type of person to understand and be willing to devote what is necessary. For instance, we bow to the blade prior to approaching and drawing... but actual Kantei (sword appraisal) is a long hard road with many bumps and turns but with great rewards at the end Start here (link below) and return here many many times. Ive been studying Nihonto for roughly a year and for the last few months in seriousness and I still constantly go back to this forum and Mark Sesko page. Trust me. https://markussesko.com/kantei/

Amazing... Lots of tense moments for sure! But it came out looking great. The Sori/Sugata is intense!