Lewis B

Thanks Ray, Good detailed descriptions but pics were not available to me. Are you able to access them?

I've looked everywhere online and I can only find low rez pics of his long swords. Tantos are quite common but of limited use for study. I would like to find some pics showing Hada and hataraki as part of my due diligence into this smith. Darcy had some but those are currently unavailable. If anyone has a link it would be much appreciated.

Good call. That is a really nice looking piece with excellent activity in the Hada. Fine polish too.

I don't have a particular interest in koshirae that are often bundled with swords in shirasaya. I feel like less than premium accessories are being bundled to pad the already high retail price. I inquired with one dealer if I can remove the koshirae and fittings for a lower price. In the end the discount was only 100k yen on a 2M yen sword, and probably adds more than that on the secondary market if decent quality.

OP how was the sword advertised? If it was described as a Japanese Nihonto and you paid with a credit card, initiate a charge dispute and return it. If paid for with cash please use it as a learning experience and spend a few months understanding the finer details of nihonto before considering another blade.

Sorry for bumping a 6 year old thread but this is probably as good as any to express my regret from a couple of years ago. I had the opportunity to buy this Norishige which was languishing at a dealer in Vermont or Montana. As they say timing is everything and it came on my radar around the time I lost my job of 17 years. Still think about it 4 years on.

That's terrible. Are they using camera equipment from 1880?

Please take a look at "Token Sugita Europe". Lets just say they are not selling Nihonto or Nihonto related items Bushi Art Osaka also seems to be inactive.

I can understand why you don't want to name the dealer so no need to confirm or deny, but the images look a lot like those found on the Katana no Kura website. They seem to consistently overexpose the images to minimise the finer details on the blade. The consequence being that buyers can be disappointed when they see the sword in person. AOI seem to offer for more naturalistic images that more closely match reality. Caveat emptor.

I concur with others. Looks like rust that has had a treatment to remove the active corrosion. I have seen high grit silicon carbide power used to clean up surface rust, without leaving scratches. Anyone else think the dealer supplied photo looks filtered eg softening, to minimise the defects on the blade?

It was just a couple of hours.

Great read Paul. As with other artistic media, art is in the eye of the beholder. The maxim you know it when you see it, I think applies to swords too. Having just experienced 3 Juyo papered swords, one in particular evoked a visceral reaction. It was beautiful expression of the swordsmiths skill and artistic expression. I could have walked home with that but for the price. The other 2 were very accomplished too, exhibiting many of the characteristics of their respective schools, but they just didn't stir the soul like the first one.

Yes, it's a thing. They have their preferred shippers and if that happens to be EMS then the UK is now persona non grata. Did you ask if alternative carriers were available or were they saying it was a blanket embargo?

I am curious to know if horimono are a useful way to identify a maker or if they are just design elements that are representative of a particular den or era? Something like this? Are these chisel marks stylised kanji?

I also ordered this Markus Sesko book as it contains many swords I find particularly appealing. Most of the books I have are secondhand although this one is quite reasonably priced so it was purchased new. If the owner of the Sanekage wishes to sell PLEASE contact me.

I have started my nihonto collecting journey and begun to accumulate a small reference library of noteworthy books. The 3 I have seem to be widely recommended. So what next for someone interested in Kamakura and Nambokucho era swords and a particular interest in Ichimonji-den, Soshu-den and Yamato-den blades?

2 hours? Doing what? Can't you just print labels, fill out the customs declaration and pay for postage online in France?

I'm a novice collector but count me in. I'm honing my preferences for the big purchase and the more higher end pieces I see in person the easier it will be make that informed acquisition. I've spent 2 hours with three Juyo token swords last week and will hopefully see a few more in Utrecht next month. A venue in Northern Europe is ideal for me.

Well to be fair the 1975 Juyo papers say Den Masamune. So not an unequivocal evaluation. At 180M yen I assume the seller is not really looking sell. Would be interesting see how it would shinsa 50 years on.

You need to scroll down and not use the 'right' button to see the additional images.

Fascinating article read as a nihonto neophyte. Puts a lot of perspective on the subject of collecting.

Having inspected 3 Juyo token Koto swords yesterday I completely agree. Not knowing the prices before the visit the one that 'spoke' to me happened to be 2x the price of the other two so I guess there is something to the adage that quality comes at a cost. Unfortunately the asking price was well above my budget. All 3 had at least one pit probably the result of corrosion. Not active but certainly obvious visual blemishes on what were otherwise blades in excellent polish. How should, what I consider material defects, affect value? Or do swords from the Kamakura and Nambokucho eras get a pass for certain 'issues' like minor corrosion and kirikomi on the mune? I ask because I want to calibrate my mental evaluation of a sword in hand.

Just goes to show who has the strongest lobby group. A few sword collectors are inconsequential.

Been on that downward spiral for decades. Glad I left in the early '90's and never looked back. Although I do enjoy the political histrionics as an outsider looking in. Same goes for the USA which has its own leadership and societal issues.