Xander Chia

Thanks for all the replies! Looks like what I thought to be a simple concept turns out to be ambiguous and complicated once again.

I came across a kaigunto on Aoijapan that was stated to be “Showa-to, not forged blade”. However after looking at the images, I noticed that there were no stamps. I then realised that it is illegal to own a showato in Japan. Soon after that I found another showato that lacked a stamp on another site. It was signed “日比野義次” (Hibino Yoshitsugu) which I know to be a seki smith. I always thought gunto without stamps were all traditionally made, would be glad if someone could explain this to me. Here are the links: https://www.aoijapan.com/katanakaneshige/?_sfm_price=100000+300000 https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/22122.html

Hi, I've got several questions regarding tamahagane. I have read that tamahagane produced by NBTHK(Nittoho Tatara) has various grades. However, I am unable to find much information such as, what grades are there? And the information regarding these grades such as carbon content and usage. I've seen the some of the grades described as "First grade" and "Second grade" but also as "1A" and "1B". Are "1A" and "1B" subclassifications of "First grade"? Or is "1A" another term for "First grade" and "1B" for "Second grade"? Also are these grades restricted to just the tamahagane produced by NBTHK(Nittiho Tatara)? I was hoping we could all share what we know on this topic as it seems rather hard to get details on tamahagane by searching the web. I've managed to find these posts in another forum that have quite a bit of info "https://www.jerzeedevil.com/threads/a-short-history-of-tamahagane.115867/". Hope I'm posting this in the right section and thanks in advance!

How odd, I always thought the second printing had more pictures or something. Seems weird that they have such a huge price difference too. The third one I was referring to is white in colour with an image of a forge in the centre.

Hi everyone! I hope I’m posting this in the right section. I wasn’t able to find the difference between the first printing(red) and the second printing(blue) of “Modern Japanese Swordsmiths, 1868-1945: An Oshigata Book” on Google. In fact I was hoping you guys could help point out the differences between all 3 versions. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance!