Nihonto Otaku

It is awesome that you know Mr. Koike, Piers! I have followed him on twitter for about a year. XD He always share nice photos of the blades from his club meetings.

I am still open to buy Yasutsugu Taikan, please let me know if you have one that you would like to sell. I will post here again when I get one in the future to close this thread.

Thank you very much for your information, Curran! If you have any other good Nihonto books that you want to sell, please feel free to let me know.

Dear Chris, I am a Nihonto student living in Ohio. I am looking to join a local club to meet with other Nihonto collectors and studying Nihonto together in person. It seems most of the local Nihonto clubs are all located in the west coast. And I don't know if we have a serious Nihonto club in Ohio. Driving to indiana seems ok for me, definitely better than a trip between California and Ohio. LOL Is your sword club associated with the NBTHK US branch? The swords that you guys have for the previous meeting seem very attractive to me. I hope I may have the chance to join you guys in yours future meeting Thank you very much! AL

I am looking to buy the Yasutsugu Taikan （康継大鑑）by Dr. Sato Kanzan（佐藤寒山） My offer will be $400 includes shipping for standard condition. If the condition of the book is excellent without any marks or damages, I am willing to raise my offer. But if the condition is bad, I may lower my offer too. The payment will be made via PayPal. I prefer UPS as the shipping method. I live in Ohio sate of the US. But if you are going to ship the book from outside of the US, EMS is ok too. If you have one for sale, please message me. Thank you very much!

Hello! Chifan, I have been hoping to find a chance to get to know you. We are both Kojima-san's friends/customers. Here are the photos of my sword made by Kojima-san that also has Yaki-Otoshi. It seems like it is not uncommon for Kojima-san to make swords with Yaki-Otoshi since one of your swords made by him also has Yaki-Otoshi. By the way, Chifan, this sword of mine in the photo is the sword that has the Shingane that one of your students held in a group photo that you and your students got at Kojima-san's forge during the summer of 2019. 😆 http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/US1.html Best Regards, AL

I agree with Michael 100%. Shinsakuto can be used in sword appreciation and martial art training or combat (but yea, gun is more effective to kill your enemy in combat and hopefully we never have to confront any life and death combat during our life) while antique swords (mainly swords made before the Showa era or swords made by swordsmiths who have deceased) should only be preserved for sword appreciation and be regarded as important artworks and historical artifacts. It is actually good for modern swordsmiths to continue to make Nihontos for martial art practice. The customers who seriously practice martial art can give the swordsmiths valuable feedback to ensure newly made Nihontos are still practical for combat. If modern swordsmiths stop making Nihonto for martial art training/combat, they would focus too much on making "fancy" art swords and forget the practical elements of the sword (for example, general shape of the sword, balance of the sword, weight, curvature, and the balance between sharpness and durability). If the swordsmiths of the current generation and the following generation stop to make practical Nihonto, the true art of Nihonto craftsmanship would be lost and the future Shinsakuto could only be considered as "sword-like artwork". But on the other hand, JP's concern is understandable. It is always sad when swords are damaged during martial art practice. For example, a sword could be bent during a failed tameshigiri practice. This kind of incidents should always be avoided. And that is why, in martial art training, Shinsakuto should only be used by serious and experienced martial art practitioners who have the right and mature knowledge about how to take care of their swords. And of course, martial art practitioners should always be careful not to hurt themselves. All of these being said, please enjoy watching this video about Yoshindo Yoshihara made a sword for a martial art master to test the sword's strength when dealing with a Japanese helmet:

Sorry for the late reply. I was off in the past two weeks... If EMS is available, it is always the best option in my opinion. As for your second question, whether surface mail is safer or less safe comparing to air mail/EMS, it is hard to say. At least for my own experience, I have safely received my sword from Japan last month through surface mail. It took three months for me. So the waiting is super painful. The swordsmith who made my sword also sent other swords to other customers in the US. And all the swords he sent through surface mail have been delivered.

鐔tsuba 無銘unsigned 奈良Nara 寿long lived 老人elder 図picture But since 壽老人 usually refers to one of the Japanese blessing God for long life, using the direct Japanese pronunciation in English as a noun is good. So, "a picture of Juroujin" for 寿老人図. 素銅槌目地 means the general material of the tsuba is Shakudo and the surface is hammered. 長丸形 long circle shape 薄thin 肉 flesh/meat 彫carving/engraviation. So 薄肉彫 means the engraviation/carving is thin. 毛hair 彫 I think this is referring to the engraviation of Juroujin's beard 片切 half or sided cut 彫 I think this is the description of the general style/method of the engraviation of the long-lived elder picture. 金・赤銅象嵌色絵 means gold and shakudo (or golden colored shakudo) were inserted when the picture on the tsuba were made. 耳ear・ 打返しhammered back. This is a description of the tsuba's rim. Please check this English webpage from Mr. Kojima, a very nice contemporary Japanese swordsmith http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Nobuchika.html for more information about this term. 無銘であるが奈良派あたりの作で、重さがあり、図柄．色合いともに好ましい鐔である。江戸後期。 Although this tsuba is unsigned, it is believed to be made by an craftsman from the Nara school. It is a tsuba with certain weight, picture design and tasteful color. Made during the end of Edo period. (The long paragraph before this paragraph is a bit too long for my lazy brain to work. 😵 I am sorry. 😣) 縦七二．六㎜　vertical 72.6 mm 横六六．二㎜　horizontal 66.2 mm 厚さ四．九㎜　thickness 4.9 mm 七万五千円　So this tsuba has been valued for 75,000 Japanese yen in this article.

I am sorry if it is bad to revive this thread after three months. But besides the material and the technique of the swordsmith, maybe the way the polishers polished the sword can affect the steel color as well? A sword can look totally different between Sashikomi and Hadori style of polishing. And different polishers have different ways/formula to do Nugui. So one sword can also look very different if it is polished by different artisans. In addition, an ancient sword could have been hundreds of years old while a newly made sword is less than a few decades old or just several months old. So the ancient swords have been taken care of with lots and lots of Uchiko powder + sword oil and been polished by many different generations. All of these elements can affect how the swords look like today.

https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/kanji/逆/#jn-54100 both "saka" and "gyaku" are the pronunciation for 逆.

Wow! Sayagaki from Sato Kanzan sensei. I like his calligraphy works. Sato Kanzan sensei and Honma Kunzan sensei were the leading founders of NBTHK and the heroes who saved Nihonto from being destroyed after world war II Amazing! This sword really is a treasure.

Hello! James, the Hamon pattern is described in the bottom left of your picture after the words for Tanto 短刀. 逆丁子 Gyaku-Chouji can be translated as "reversed clove pattern". This dagger has won two awards 特別賞第三席 third place of special award 岡山県教育長賞 Okayama prefecture education director award The swordsmith who made this dagger is 久保善博 Kubo Yoshihiro. He is one of the most accomplished students taught by Yoshindo Yoshihara. In NBTHK rank, he is Mukansa.

agreed, according to the third picture from Bruce. The inscription in the first picture from Bruce has been grinded down too much to be read.

Hello! Tyler, i will be glad to do the translation for you. But could you please convert your picture files into JPEG files please? Although HEIC files can be downloaded and then viewed in PC, I can't view HEIC pictures directly on the webpage. And I prefer to just view the pictures on the webpage. Thanks for your understanding! AL

this is one of the best articles in English for people to get information about import/export Nihonto. In my case, I guess they must have categorized my sword to either 1. 9705.00.00: item of historical or ethnographic interest (etc.) or 2. 9706.00.00: antique item more than 100 years old. The thing is, the US customs has the authority to determine how much the US government will charge me for importing Japanese swords into our country. In other words, even if I want to pay duties tax, if the US customs say no tax, I can do nothing but obey their decision. 🙃 By the way, about concerns for importing weapons into the US, swords are not a problem. Please read this article from US customs official website: https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-329?language=en_US Although this is an article about traveling in and out the US with swords, this last paragraph in the article I quoted here still apply to sword shipment: "Customs and Border Protection does not prohibit the importation of swords, although your local police jurisdiction might have regulations restricting having these weapons in your home. Switchblade knives* and other spring-loaded knives are prohibited and may be subject to seizure (there is an exception for one-armed persons)."

Yes, above $800....

Hello! Ron, US postal service and Japan post still provide international package service through sea surface mail. It will take around two to three months for the package to arrive. Yes I know. This waiting period is super painful. But for swords, postal service is the only/best way between Japan and our country. Last week, I had a newly made Japanese sword delivered to me from Japan. The swordsmith sent the package to Japan post on July 8 and I received it on September 26. The swordsmith only said "Japanese sword" and declared the real value on the form without customs code. But still, I was not charged any duties tax this time and based on what I can see from the box of my sword, the US customs didn't open my box at all. I actually have the experience of calling US customs associating with the USPS facility in Jersey city NJ ( the primary port of entry for east coast if packages are sent through postal service). The agent who picked up my call was very friendly and informative. I don't know about UPS or FedEx. But if you want to discuss your concern with the customs office that may inspect your package, maybe you can call them. The link below will show you the number that I called. https://www.google.com/maps/place/US+Customs+Services/@40.755338,-74.061654,17z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x89c25710fa0030a5:0x4e11188cd7810007!2sUSPS+International+Bulk+Mail!8m2!3d40.755338!4d-74.0594653!3m4!1s0x0:0x3afec18579b19f37!8m2!3d40.7560754!4d-74.0599966 AL

looks like these two characters below, so yes, Hiroshige 廣 hiro 繁 shige

The two signs ("Ichi" and the chrysanthemum crest) should be looked as one complete family crest. The samurai family Nasu 那須 can trace back to the legendary samurai archer 那須与一 , who sided with the Minamoto clan during the civil war between Minamoto and Taira during the 12th century. But as to how the Nasu family came up with this family crest design, I don't know the detail. After reading the post from Piers and the links provided by Michael, I believe my original assumption for the "Ichi" following the chrysanthemum on "Kawachi no Kami Sukesada's" blades is wrong. But I believe there must be a reason why Sukesada used Kiku-Ichimonji sign and claimed to associate with the Osafune school. Does anyone have Mr. Iimura's Shinto Taikan? That book might have some good information, hopefully.

For those people who want to know the meaning of the Kanji "Ichi" under the chrysanthemum crest, "Ichi" in Japanese not only has the meaning of "one" but can also be used as bullet point. For example, please look at this official announcement/oath of Meiji reformation from the Meiji government: And based on the description of the swordsmith below the hole of the tang "備前国住長船河内守祐定”, the swordsmith is Sukesada of the 長船 Osafune school. So I don't think the "Ichi" in this description refers to the Ichimonji school. On the other hand, for those people who want to get detailed explanation of the description on the tang, here they are: The omote side 備前国 the state of Bizen 住 live 長船 Osafune school 河内守 this is a governmental position title. 河內 is the name of a region in the central area of Japan's Honshuu island. 守 in case of being used as a governmental position title, it means the authority of the region written before this character. But I think this kind of titles "(name of region)守” is just an honorary title since many swordsmiths had this kind of titles but never seemed to actually have governed the region that he was titled with. 祐定 Sukesada The ura side 為 for 吉田 Yoshida is the family name of the commissioner 六左衛門尉 this is also a governmental position title 藤原 Fujiwara is the clan name of the commissioner. Back in the old days, people of Japanese noble/samurai often claimed their families traced back to either of the three of the most influential clans: 藤原 Fujiwara, 源 Minamoto, or 平 Taira. 国家 Kuniie is the given name of the commissioner. 造 made 之 this 元禄十二年八月日 a day in August in the year of 1699 AD

I am sorry, John. But I think chrysanthemum crest is for the Japan royal family. The most famous sword maker who used chrysanthemum crest in his sword was the retired emperor Gotoba 後鳥羽上皇. If the swordsmith was under the retainership by the Shogunate, the swordsmith would use the crest of the Shogun family. For example, Yasutsugu used Tokugawa's "three Aoi tree leaves" crest in the swords he made.

無銘　後代梅忠 unsigned attributed to the later generation Umetada 碁石形 is the description of the shape of the sword guard. 碁石 could mean "the foundation rock of an architecture" based on the meaning of the Kanji characters. 形 is the kanji for the word "shape". 鉄地 means the material of the sword guard is iron. 小透 片櫃孔 This is the description of the holes on the Tsuba. 小 means "small". 透 could mean "penetration". 片櫃孔 is the description of the holes on the sword guard. I don't know how to describe 片櫃; but 孔 means "hole". I guess 片櫃 could be a description of the shape of the hole on the left.

Here they are The sword making part: https://www.touken.or.jp/Portals/0/pdf/news/2020現代刀職展（作刀の部、刀身彫の部、彫金の部）.pdf The sword polishing and sword mounting part: https://www.touken.or.jp/Portals/0/pdf/news/2020現代刀職展（研磨の部、外装の部）.pdf URL of the announcement page from NBTHK's official website https://www.touken.or.jp/news/?itemid=186&dispmid=627 https://www.touken.or.jp/news/?itemid=194&dispmid=627 Let me know if you need help with any translation. Can't say I will know the exact English way to spell every artisan's name since sometime the name is read with Onyomi method but sometime with Kunyomi

I have always dreamed to become an owner of Moriie's sword. But the time to realize this dream has not come yet. By the way, The video of that Youtube link is not available to be watched in the US.