lonely panet

my understanding, is there all at the shrine for the ronin. i didn't see then when last there, but i went midweek.

hi Dave and Steve, I have a photo, that I thought the soldier wasn't very Japanese looking. what do you think,

THANKYOU VERY MUCH everyone, Morita, john, steve and mal. heaps of info regarding the others, which is a real bonus too Im trying to buy another postcard from this series of Oishi's katana which is shown in better detail compared to the other postcard. Donation made, and once again thanks for helping one of those guys who has trouble with the Japanese language, (also I struggle with English tohahahahah)

from what I can read, most were oil quenched and acid applied hamon. but with a mei, how do we know

Greetings all, well I have a neat little post card that eludes to possibly showing some of the weapons used in the raiding of lord kira's mansion. but I have no readable results with google translator, so may I please ask for the help of the kind folks of the board Kind regards Hamish PS, donation to the board is done as thanks

as a noob, heres my go late kamakura, early nambochuko, Bizen tradition. and again maybe yoshii or osafune school?????????

mantetsu swords

cool thank, I was way off. did a quick check and got nothing, looks like a low end seki gendai?

Hi guys, well may I please ask for some help on this one? 1-MINAMOTO? 2-? 3- YOSHI 4-? 5- KORE 6-SAKU KIND regards Hamish

Hi guys, well we all know of the Murata-to, with in the IJA area. but not having seen any in hand, how would one recognize ? would it be completely rust free, or resistant to corrosion at slower rate I ask this because I have a neat type 19 Kyu gunto with a Mukade-giri-maru style blade, small amounts of rust on the blade. does any one have an example to post

but the price,

heres another isshin mantetsu for sale in Japan. http://www.e-sword.jp/katana/1610-1046.htm they must really be changing there minds, on what they will allowed to be sold inside Japan now.

or just sell them on fleabay like you do with your photographs

if you this is odd, you should have seen the ISHIN MANTETSU blade he sold. just like the high price on Yasukuni blades, its just there because the western market. they are most likely having a giggle to them selves, as the more they sell, the more they ship out side of Japan.

nothing special, just the run of the mill type 95. painted aluminium handle, with plian iron tsuba. made by Iijima factory. FYI early copper handled version, there tsuba is approx. 11mm thick and very noticeable regards H

if you have Japanese SWORD SURRENDER TAGS by R FULLER, there is some brief info and pics showing swords being destroyed after the war. I think Mitsubishi company had the contract to destroy them regards Hamish

Hi, I think it reads "property on zatoichi," if found, please return

very solid advice guys. I was trying to head to the next DTI, and I loved the NBTHK museum, but the glass gets in the way. so the DTI would be great. I would like to arrange to head over with a few aussie to make it a real event. what also hinders me is that, there's is very few collectors in my state, so its only militaria shows that provide a regular source of hands on stuff (twice a year). and there is never really anything of quality to see. BBBUUUTTTT I have to give a big shout out to the 3 very kind people in VIC that gave me a day I will never forget. the 1600 km round trip was well and truly worth the effort, just need another excuss to head over hahhaha. kind regards Hamish

Morning gentlemen, I wish to ask a general question from you all. as you may or may not know I, have been collection IJ swords for a while now but I feel I have achived all I can in that area. I have own just about all models of swords in that period, with only period blades housed in them, but I feel its time to change to a different area as I feel that the quality of the blades are stonewalling me to a certain extent to progressing in my study and learning of more traditional aspects of nihonto. I have set my self some goals my first goal is, and I know this might sound like a noob, but I wish to be able to accurately identify the following grades of nihonto UTILITY ART FINE ART I wont bother with high art because that might be to optimistic for another 10-15 years ahahhah. so the big question is what is a good school and period to start off with, in the wide and scary world of choices? also my budget isn't big I was thinking Bizen Yokayama, as I started off with sue bizen kiyomitsu. I throw open the thread to get some ideas kind regards Hamish

morning Bruce, all type 32s were issued blunt, it was up to the solder to put a edge on them, (thus why some are neat and some s**t). if you get right into them, you will notice that most KO versions will only have the top half sharp, due to use on horseback. an easy way to tell the KO and OTSU apart is to look at the drag on the scabbard, (one will be small and one will be big and fat) also the numbers you have shown above are just that, Numbers. The only Date Stamping was on the Knuckle guard ( if you can find one with matching numbers under 10,000.. grab it fast as these are all pre taisho and hard to find. one possible reason is such high use during battle, as they had a good reputation for a machine made blade according to sources.

I started off collecting type 32s as a focus at one point, I really liked them for some silly reason. these were first issued in 1899, sometimes called the troopers sword or type 32 sword for NCO"s as a standard, they all have date, inspection and arsenal stamps the knuckle guard, and the last three years of manufacture were from approx. 1932, 32 and 36. but were still iussed all the way up tp the end. if your sword is dated 1918 it should have a taisho stamp followed by 7. yours has been re-issued at some point and that is why your numbers have been over stamped, also check the knuckle guard. as these were sometimes sold to the chinese after the war, so they might have been removed . sorry but I don't see anything unusual, but if you can try and get them with mint stamps, as its easer to read them

its real, but pics are to low quality to really know, if its a unsigned showato or what.

fletch stop shopping on gumtree, also are you based in south aust

cant blame him for trying, gives him some room to reduce the price and not suffer to much of a loss

move on to better feeding grounds, I think the of metal that will have to be removed to correct the shape is pointless. imperial swords are a funny area, if its not in great to excellent condition move on, as there only 70 years old.