lonely panet

its hard to gaze into the crystal ball but, yet nihonto will loss value, Ebay has made them a common thing now. once they were a hard to find item. they will never become worthless, but the next bit trend in the sword market is military sword, very big at the moment, Mint gunto's with seki blades $2000 mantetsu in mint gunto fittings $4000 USD neat Kai guntos $2500 + naval Kyu guntos $4000+ naval dirks a stupid $1500+ the only thing to not rocket off in value is army Kyu gunto, the masses don't like them for some reason, but the biggest trend is seki style blades are more popular the ever, thanks to the affordable price and heaps of information so the hob-snobs will have to endure the noobs asking heaps of silly questions about there rusty ugly sword the just bought before buying any books regards H

Hi guys, just thought I would post this sale. ITS a super RARE admirals naval flag sword in mint condition, they were only made during 1883 to 1912. before people comment on the price, well its only one iv ever seen for sale full stop. iv seen a Gensui-to at auction in Tokyo sell for a $125k USD and admirals swords a rarer, so evan at half the price its still great history for your dollar. just think people pasted on one for less then $4000 on the board, only a few months ago. bet there kicking them selves now hahahah http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/RARE-Antique-WW2-Japanese-Naval-ADMIRAL-Dress-Sword-Old-Collection-Samurai-Navy-/361284915427?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item541e4250e3 regards h

Iv never done business with Eric, but he did have a nice range of items in great condition. but his price's were by no means reasonable. I don't know how many people would go on ebay, looking to spend big dollars, I feel its more a bargin hunt rather than paying retail with out being able to handle the item. I did see that he sold a mint Ishin Mantetsu gunto for $4000 plus, that was a eyebrow raiser. some wanted it bad regards H

what about the king of siam, who had samurai body guards on the 17 cent??

the change in metal colour above the mengi ana looks suspect, or is it the way the photos turned out. welded ??

the mei look ww2, but what type of blind person, with a both hands cut off would try to copy such a famous sword

I spoke to a trained togishi, and he was puzzled to how it could happen, as its the strongest portion of the blade. good news as it will only be a small amount of money to repair. but im done with ebay and selling anything or sending it to Japan now. this is the 3rd complication with importing/export swords from Japan, the first 2 were EMS not sending swords out of Japan to Australia, but they seemed ok with returning this one to me in a record 3 days. to much funny stuff for me... best of wishes to those who are still doing it

heres the original pics taken,

and it only gets worse, the was returned to day with no paperwork or fail card evan though I was told it would be sent back with the sword. BBBBBUUUUUTTTTT it did return with a considerable bend, 1inche infront of the habaki moto area, WTF. has any one ever heard of this?? and before any one asks, yes this sword already had a small deflection in the area just below the yakote line (2inches below) it was shown on the board when I posted it for sale hear. but how the fu## did this happen?, the box is in the same condition when I sent if, all the fittings are good, so how the fu## did it occur I can see this turning it a he said/she said s**t fit with Ebay

thank you all . Donation made best regards Hamish

Meah, all I see is bad photos and a bad hadori polish just my 2.5cents worth

PM sent I must express a huge, massive, giant thanks to Kunitaro San It must go with out saying, the caring approach of members of the bouard and there wiliness to help me when I needed it, is beyond words But sadly the buyer has blunty insisted that the sword be returned at once, with the fail papers so we can only wait and see. I know how to thank Kunitaro San, with lots of top shelf redwine and whisky's but how do say thank you to the board?? any suggestions best regards Hamish

I can't thank everyone enough for your help, people's generosity can make a world of difference in these difficult situations. thankyou, thankyou, thankyou

pm sent

Thank you very much for all your input. sounds like Im at the end of the road with this one, it was insured so worst case I will have to claim it. thank you for all your help and knowledge. regards Hamish

Hi john, I would love to do this but I can only find two examples and both are sukashi in the pony theme. mine shares the same traits of the smith like soft metal inserts in the nakago ana.for aesthetic reasons over function, but there is nothing mentioned about construction of the metal plate. the school did come from a armour making background in the 1500's so is this shown in the steal of my tsuba (so I know nothing of amour too)

chinese my ass my declaration stated it was a "Antique Kyu gunto", no age stated, I assumed they know what one is ( prob a dumb assumption) thanks for the advice. ill get in contact with them regards Hamish

Hi guys, I sold a meji gendai in Kyu gunto mounts to a gentleman in Japan, big problem is the customs people have refused it and are trying to send it back saying its not Japanese??? when it is quite obvious it is. can I resolve this issue with them? other wise this will require me to refund money plus all the postage and import taxes twice over costing me some wear near $400-500 AUD ontop of the sword costs. can any one help me please. I was thinking of contacting tsurata from Aoi-Art if no one can help, I know what your going to say, just refund him, but I sold the sword because I needed the money.

so hear comes the tricky part, if this smith is so highly prized, why cant we find anything for sale from dealers or many examples. sounds like he wasn't a prolific smith. in sesko's book he is mentioned is the same rankings as GOTO ICHIJO and KANO NATSUO, which are very expensive names to buy. SSSSSoOOOO why did I only pay $400 for this?? if hes so highly ranked ?? the metal work to me should warrant a shinsa. or am I look at through rose coloured glasses. can I please drag curran into this for his advice

:o step away from the sword !!! preservation vs conservation vs restoration that old chestnut

:o

im so shocked I have to comment again :o

why the hell would you want to do that!!!!! that would be a right shame, the condition of the nakago is very special point of the sword and its travel through history, after the samurai into the militarism of Japan. I would compare that to respraying john lennons rolls because you like the original colour more :o

more pics

the two examples of BAMEN TSUNAMASA's work