Jwrussell

Hi all! Been a bit since I've been on the site. My wife and I are planning a trip to Japan in the next 2-3 years (so no urgency here), and of course I want to make the most of my time there in reference to Nihonto and Samurai culture. We are looking at Tauck and other travel groups. I won't be able to monopolize the trip, of course, but want to make sure that with my free time I hit anything that is a "must not miss" for a Nihonto fan.

Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated. Typical trips hit Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagano, Hakone, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, and Osaka (in no particular order). 

Appreciate the help.

Seems within reasonable market price to me., but that's just based on my perusing what's been in inventory over the past year or so. Nice looking poker.

It's not saying much, since I acquired my first two blades this year, but I still have them.  Again, not that it counts for much as I'm at the beginning of my journey, but I don't see myself letting them go in the future.

Thanks for the response Steven, and please understand I wasn't trying to malign the blade, just curious on your take.

Original question stands, is the sugata uno kubi zukuri? Looks that way from the bottom of the blade, but can't really tell towards the top. 

Nice looking blade. Is it U no Kubi Zukuri? Also, any thoughts on the authenticity of the mei? I would have to do more research to have any opinion, so just curious as it is not papered. Good luck!

Beautiful blade at a great price. Good luck. 

I would say that so long as the cost to you is bearable and you are willing, there is never a reason NOT to have shirasaya made for a blade. Whether or not it makes financial sense is really the only question. 

I want to say it has been discussed on the board…

yup:

I've found Boshi to be very difficult to capture on a phone. You did a good job. Beautiful. Would I be correct in labeling this Kaen?

kissaki mune  burnishing: MIGAKI NAGASHI, 

burnishing above the nakago

Okan, what you are likely seeing on the mune at the kissaki is burnishing. It is like the burnishing one sees near the nakago and can be considered somewhat of a signature of the polisher. 

As to sharpened edges, the ha is meant to be sharp the length of the blade. If it is not I would make an assumption that the blade is simply out of polish to some degree as polishing and "sharpening" are to some degree indistinguishable on nihonto (an over generalization for sure, but since believe still accurate). 

I will I'll try to track down some images...

5 hours ago, Kiipu said:

 

Is this the one your looking for?

E Swordsmiths of Japan

That’s it!!! Thank you. 

1 hour ago, Ken-Hawaii said:

You may be getting your wires crossed. Markus publishes both "Swordsmiths of Japan" & "Index of Japanese Swordsmiths" as PDF files.

Hmmm...I must be. I don't see any of the "Swordsmiths of Japan" listed as anything but hard covers in LuLu. Books on Demand link isn't working and they don't come up in Amazon. Or does he only do this at certain times? Appreciate any direction if I'm missing something here.

11 hours ago, Ken-Hawaii said:

I have all of Markus' books loaded onto my Samsung Android tablet in PDF format. It's like carrying an entire library!

 

I reference them so often, that I can't figure out which would be "the book." Sorry, Jason, but any of Sesko's books will be a worthy investment in your knowledgebase.

Thanks Ken. I plan on picking up quite a few as I progress. Will be waiting for that sale as it will hit perfectly with when my Nihonto budget replenishes, lol. Regarding the Swordsmiths of Japan X-X as those are apparently only available in hardcover...do these go on sale as well?

43 minutes ago, Valric said:

Here is an example of something good to aim for: 

 

https://aoyamafudo.co.jp/product_en/1134/

 

-Naoe Shizu, an upper tier school of the late Koto period.

-Real Koshirae (not some cobbled-up mess for westerners)

-Some interesting history of ownership which can open up interesting discoveries. 

 

Christopher,

You've significantly jumped the cost factor on this one. The range we were playing with in on this discussion was in that 700K area...with this you've tacked on another 1M on top of that. WONDERFUL blade, for sure, but speaking as someone who plays in this arena (price-wise), that's not really something in consideration. So it begs the question, do you believe similar blades (meeting the criteria you've laid out) are available in that lower tier of pricing? I don't know about the OP, but while 1.7M Yen might be within reach somewhere down the line, it's not something I'm considering if I'm looking in the 700K Yen area.

I admit that if I had the spare funds, at least one of Christopher's marked options would have been gone.

I would like to think I would have pinged Jon about anything on his list I felt that way about before snagging it, though. 

23 minutes ago, b.hennick said:

Markus has a good sale once or twice a year 

Yep. Hence my question on getting these on an Ipad as I'll definitely be taking advantage next go 'round.

If you check the Nihonto-related pages on Facebook you will see a number of pictures posted. Looked like a great show, sad I couldn't make it that weekend.

Great thread, fun to watch. Can't wait to see what you went with!

Just saw this in another post today. Markus is a prolific writer with a bunch of books, so which one is "THE BOOK" that everyone references?

I'm assuming Genalogies and Schools, but want to double check.

Also, anyone care to comment on the more in depth "Swordsmiths of Japan X-X" books?

Lastly, for Markus's E-Books, anyone with apple products, how do I go about getting that on my iPad. Haven't done this before, I always just buy stuff via Amazon and read on Kindle app...

TIA!

1 hour ago, Ken-Hawaii said:

That's a lot of sori for a wakizashi, Jason, & check where the center of curvature is located.

Ken, I sense a lesson here.  I actually found that sori attractive, but yes, it is quite a bit. As best I can tell, it appears Torii-zori (mid-point for the deepest part), though my eye wants to say it tends almost to Saki-zori?

Please, elaborate your thoughts, sir. Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks Michael. I need to do some research on polish types I guess. 

So, was browsing the AOI auctions the other day and came across an item that got me thinking. I am not actually looking at bidding on or purchasing this particular blade. Currently my budget for the year is blown, so this is more of a hypothetical for use in future potential situations.

https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-mumei-attributed-as-kanabou-school/

So, AOI is guaranteeing Hozon for this blade. I like the blade, and based on the Oshigata the hamon is very attractive to me. However, studying the images it appears to me that the blade is out of polish (comments welcome, if my novice eyes are not seeing correctly). So, if I were to decide to go after a blade like this, wanted to update the polish and send to Shinsa, what would be the correct way to go about it? I'm assuming by other threads I've seen that entrusting the polish to Tsuruta-san would not necessarily be best. That said, what then about Shinsa, as my understanding was that AOI would handle that? 

Again, all hypothetical, just trying to understand the best process for a situation like this.

4 hours ago, francois2605 said:

 

You most likely lost by more than 1000 yen. The final price of an auction is the 2nd best bid (yours) + the bid increment (1000 yen here). If the winning bidder outbade you by 1000 or 100K yen, the final price will still be the same.

To slightly hijack, this is a question I've been wondering about. To confirm, AOI's auctions work like EBAY auctions? You put in your top bid and they bid up for you pending other bids, correct? So No matter what bid you put in, if no one else bids it would be the starting bid.  Thanks.