David Flynn

Goodonya Brian, happy birthday.

Not a machine made blade. Ichi Ryu Shi is also a name used by Ichi hara Nagamitsu. Google Ichi hara Nagamitsu.

I have a sword signed, Mino, west village, Kanetsune. This sword looks to me, to be a copy of a Koto Mino blade. Submitted it for Shinsa and recieved 75pts. I have not been able to find any information on this smith.

I would resist buying from a Japanese dealer for a while. The reasons are plentiful. Costs and methods of transport etc. On the home page of the Nihonto Message Board, is a list of dealers. I would recommend looking at all of them and the pictures, descriptions therein. If buying from a Dealer, I would recommend, one from either America, Australia or the UK. Also, I believe most if not all, have an inspection/return policy.

Roy, PM Richard Turner, he has done the photography for the Sydney and San Fransco Shinsa.

G'day and welcom Dimitri.

Keith, Neverdull is an equivelent brand, also, there is a generic brand (under a couple of different names) sold in a yellow tin at Motor spares places (repco etc).

I picked up a Koyama Munetsugu Katana at an arms fair in Sydney. Got it very very cheap. Chap brought it to the table, mounts virtualy none existent and overal not in very good condition. Still healthy though. Sent it for polish, hasn't returned yet. Will submit it at the next Sydney Shinsa.

G'day Christopher and welcome. Always good to test the water before diving in :D

Why would they fear Bombing in 1941? Peal Harbour didn't occur till 8th Dec 1941( Japanese time). Also, for most of 1942 Japan was wining, even after midway.

Depends also, on how much acid the polisher used. This keeps reacting with the steel for some time.

Congratulations Gentlemen, extremely well done.

Stephen, that does not compute

Cliff, the term Shinken, has been purposely used to confuse one. Yes technicaly, a shinken means new sword, however, it it now used as a generic term for a sharpened, non traditional sword (not true Nihonto), used for martial arts. A shinsakuto, on the other hand, is a traditionaly made sword, "Nihonto." If you want a traditional Nihonto, cancell your orders and contact http://www.japaneseswordsocietyofcanada.org/ Or, JohnBerta, http://www3.telus.net/sword/sword/index.htm/MyWebs6/

G'day Cliff, something tells me these swords are "Shinken", not Shinsakuto. If this is the case, they are not Nihonto. before spending any more money, may I suggest that you check out the difference.

Is this sword going on ebay Jock?

Thanks for the report Gordon. I remember at the Sydney Shinsa, we had some discussions on why some swords pinked. There are still a few ruffled feathers. However, on the whole, I think, it's always better to err on the side of caution. Congratulations on a successful Show and Shinsa.

G'day Rick, welcome to the forum and study hard.

Ford, thank you for raising this issue. I agree it's easy for and experienced collector to say that, that particular book is not for beginners. When I started, the only real books available, were, The Japanese sword, by Sato, The arts of the Japanese sword, Robinson and of course John Yumoto's handbook. May I start the ball rolling, with a sugestion, that, The craft of the Japanese sword, Yoshihara and Kapp would now be a good starting point.

How Zen of you Franco.

G'day Carl and welcome. I hope you have an understanding wife :D

I also started as an accumulator. Went through a period where I would collect fittings, Tsuka and swords, with equal abandon. Next came a period of stagnation, this happened, mostly for personal reasons. From this period came a bugger it all period where I was going to give it all up. Then came the next period(still there) where I decided to specialise more. So now, I would class myself as a collector.

sometimes being nice, is put in the too hard basket :D

Just a note, to further what George has stated on quality Gendaito. I have a sword Signed Kanetsune, that recieved 75pts kanteisho at the NY shinsa in 06.

Hi David, You said, you "got the impression". What gave you this impression? We had a NTHK-Yoshikawa grp Shinsa in Sydney last year and were told Star stamp swords are fine. However, there wasn't one submitted. I went to the NY shinsa in 06, and was very suprised by the amount of Seki and Showa swords submitted and rejected. Because of this factor, we didn't want anyone submitting a sword that didn't have a chance. We considered this to be bad policy. I was in charge of the recieveing the swords for the shinsa and so made a point of asking what was acceptable. Also, I have not heard of an oil tempered Star stamped sword.