nihonto1001

It is a great reference to start with. But, do not take the information as "scripture". Robert, has been recently working to clear up inaccuracies and conflicts with canonical references. So, hopefully it will only improve.

Hi Jean: Was it an Ebay find? Trying to draw some similarities.

Hi Stephen: Strange they missed the hagire. I once bought a NTHK papered osuriage Kanabo Masatsugu Wakizashi that had a hagire, from a Japanese Dealer. I returned the sword to the dealer and it later turned up in Australia. The new owner was trying to sell it, unaware of the hagire. IE., until I notified him.

It hand, it looks more like it was a former tachi. It is still 21.25", but is osuriage. None of the original nakago remains. So, chances are it was a longer than 28". It also looks a little slender to be a Katana. The tapering is more consistent with a longer sword. Also interesting, it looks like the shingane is split in the middle; two pieces welded together.

Shingunto with Koto Blade. I decided to put this up for study before I sell it. It is a Koto Period blade cut down from a tachi, into wakizashi form. What is interesting about it is the Nakago. It has 6 closely placed ana. Also, check out the end of the nakago, you can clearly see the kitae, the strata of different grades of tamahagane. It is one of may favorite finds so far. http://onihonto.com/Shin_Gunto_Koto_Blade.html Please feel free to comment on this piece. I try to represent all of my items as accurately as possible, so feel free to critique any of my listings. If you find a material factual error, let me know what it is and its good for 5% off on any item.

I removed what I said before about the sayagaki because it may have been an honest screw up on the part of the togishi. You should have been there... It was a good show. Sold a couple items, bought a few more, an had a good time with friends. I also, got to see Ed Marshall's knife making skills and was impressed. Bill Green, did a great job, and nothing was lacking. There were not many items in the auction. But the auctioneer was very good.

Forget Global Warming, this is the next Ice Age.

This reminds me of the Collector vs Dealer debate from a while ago. We are all Collectors, Investors and Dealers to some degree. We are all in it for the love of the subject. I think more people would be involved if they knew they could collect/invest in real Samurai swords. Most people think this stuff is locked up in museums.

This type of thing is a "vicious loop" for Shinsa teams. They may never have an alternate mei, if they reject them based solely on previous examples. I understand that it is better to be conservative in these cases. However, I always hate hearing stories about swords being resubmitted after having the mei removed, just to have it paper back to the original smith.

Ted does nothing short of an excellent job as a togishi, for those that do not know. I had a wakizashi, that a very experienced Japanese collector could not believe an American had polished.

I second that Jean. I consider Darcy a mentor.

Rules are meant to be broken. In this case, in style. Tomonari! I am looking forward to seeing it.

China is taking over economically by producing half of world's s**t. I just bought a brand new pair of Calvin Klein shoes. I was surprised to find one shoe was an inch longer than the other, but marked the same. Guess where it was made. I am convinced that it is a conspiracy... Chinese drywall, toxic dog food, auto & motorcycle parts that fail and/or never work (that's another story)... On the flip side, sometimes these things are originally sold as knock-offs, but resellers try to pass them off as real. As far as antiques, it just makes honto more desirable, in my opinion.

Maybe this has bolstered Sadamune's legend. Without signed examples, scholars rely on shumei examples, and paper trails of ancient text. I wonder how much of it is embellished; ie., in the same way many ancient "sword anecdotes" were. For example, we know that Masamune and Muramasa were not contemporaries, so they could not have competed for sharpness. Obviously. But, what about stories where the line separating fact and fable is more cloudy? "Nihontology" is in a state of flux. Theories are changed and modified as new information becomes available. So, I think it is also important to keep an open mind with these things. Hopefully, the NTHK & NBTHK will continue to function more as a museum and less as a business.

Jac- Not all of us share your infinite knowledge of the universe. The guy is looking for information on his sword. No need to be a

An O'Sa tachi would be a dream sword for me. Hear that Santa? Realistically, a nice Awataguchi, or Rai, Juyo someday. One of the vendors at the Tampa Sword Show, was nice enough to bring a Tokubetsu Juyo Rai Kunimitsu and my eyes were forever changed. That particular sword could also fall into the 'Dream Sword' category.

Great topic. I would like to add that people are usually surprised when they realize they can buy a real Samurai Sword. A goal with my site is to bring the knife guys over to sword collecting. However, it seems like more sword guys have purchased Microtech knives, than the inverse. I am not complaining. The question is, how do we get the word out?

Gentlemen: Thank you for your assistance. This has been a difficult one. They are so much easier to translate when they are mumei...

Hi John Thanks for the assistance. Is the first kanji a general one designating Kozuka? The only Tomokazu I could find is one that made netsuke. Although there were a number of works from the Kao den on the net. I found this one at a local gun show. I would have liked to have seen it with its sibling tosogu.

I am probably way off on this, but I am thinking xxx Tomo Ichigo??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks ahead of time. http://onihonto.com/Tiger_Kozuka.html

If you are looking for specific attributes, it is a tough answer. It depends on the School, or Den. Certain artists and/or Den are known for specific attributes. You look for certain things from Kinko, other things from iron. Goto works are different from Tosho. You get the idea. That being said, here are some rough guidelines that I use. I look at form, composition, execution and condition. Form: The tsuba has to appeal to me aesthetically, or have some unusual feature that makes it special. Composition; the quality of the materials used. In Iron, collectors look for toketsu or "bones" that indicate the quality of the iron. Execution; refers to the intricacy of carving, or artistic merit. This is especially important in Kinko. Condition: A good tsuba is in excellent condition. One must develop a feel for what normal patina looks like. Avoid repatination, excessive rust, wear, damage... Den: More advanced collectors have favorite schools and look for that schools characteristics in their tsuba. Certain schools are famous for excelling at some attribute and because they made good tsuba. This is very important from an investment standpoint. Hope this helps.

Hi James Most of Bobs swords are not on his website. When you are ready, just call him and tell him you are a beginner and need help finding a good sword... Also, there is a sword show in Tampa in February. It is a great opportunity to get some hands on learning.

I purchased my first higher end swords from Bob Benson, http://www.togishi.com, and have never regretted it. You will get a good sword at a better price. There is one sword that I never plan on selling. I think the book before purchase idea is good, but I also understand wanting a real Samurai Sword, is something of an impulse purchase. So maybe get one, then read up. You will have a research subject to motivate you. If you go this route, ebay is definitely a bad place to shop. If you go for the book first, maybe get some sword porn, like the Christies Compton Collection catalog. It has very good pictures and write ups on many nice swords and kodogu.

That definition works for me. Gentlemen, thanks, this has been a very informative thread. Did not mean to Hijack it.

Here is an interesting example of a Gendaito made in the Mino tradition with two stamps; a Star and Seki stamp. http://www.nihontocraft.com/Kanehide.html