lonely panet

Hi guys, Here's a new piece I got just last week, its a nicely mounted katana, modified for military use with the surrender tag as well, and some info about the Australian officer who had taken it aswell, at first glance I thought it was koto by the shape, but I was very surprised when I looked at the nakago, as it appears to be taisho or early showa. the hada appears to be poor and uneven, so im at the assumption that is a early showa, as its not signed or stamped and appears to have no activity in the hamon.. please comment and tell me your thoughts.

Hi Guys, I once owned a yoshii kiyonori uchigatana, from the simular period. when doing some study on the groups, I read that the yoshii group moved to osafune in the early 1400s and was absorbed by the osafune school in the following years, so may this fine piece is from the transitional period? regards h

here here Denis some one put in some hours on this, somebody should be making knives with skills like that regards H ps still easy to spot, the acid etched hamon the big hint

go the kotetsu regards H

Im with Jeffrey A. stupid prices, considering type 32s were made in some of the same factorys and they only fetch 300-500 and they were made in simular numbers too. maybe price fixing :lol: :lol: :lol:

a fool and there money is soon parted out of polish, no features to see. WHY REGARDS H

well were do we start, theres no tassel to display the rank of the original owner so you can dismiss that salesman rubbish, the blade isn't shown well, but I think the hamon near the habaki looks alittle like a showato ( out on a limb there) so if this a showato, why is there a cut on the mune??? sound abit hight for me! just my thoughts Regards Hamish

Thanks for the comments, out of interest, does this tsuba exhibit features of any school?, i didn't think it was so young. also does anyone have a pic of a nodachi tsuba??? regards Hamish

iv tried to get some photos of the activity I was talking about, but I don't have a macro lense for my new camera I hope you can see what I mean, the grain of the steal near the rim. regards Hamish

thanks for the help, as normal I was way off. and thanks for the website, it looks good. is this smith a well known one? I like the item because the metal has good feautres. I will get some nice pics for you regards Hamish

Hi guys, I hope you are all well? Im having troubles with reading Mei still, ( no surprise there ) my I please have some help this, its a tsuba I picked up when in Japan, the box has the mei written on the outside but im still unable to complete it. I have tired and im pretty sure I wrong too. 1- KANE 2- taka (not sure) 3- mori or kami (not sure) 4- MASA 5- KAO thanks for the help regards Hamish

Hi Guys, I hope you are all well? I have a question. heres a very large tsuba of mine, and I was thinking is this called a nodachi tsuba or a large katana tsuba??? regards Hamish

I too wish to give my wishes to Paul, I know how much Paul has done for the Nihonto community wourldwide, All the ways back when he first started at the V&A to date in Japan. Best wishes Paul and recover quickly regards Hamish

Thank you very much Mauro and mariuszk, im sorry about the upside down tsuba pics, I didn't even notice until you mentioned it. I will make sure that I get my punishment tonight :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I will attempt pics with natural light and repost just so they can be compared. with many thanks and regards Hamish

Hello all, well its set, as of the 1st of sept I fly out to Japan for 10 days. wish me luck, hopefully I can get to go the international markets held on the first sunday of each month regards Hamish

Hello all, I hope you are all well and collecting madly. Here is a tsuba that I would like to confirm as shoami school- 17cent please let me know if I am way off, also I think the pattern is of a wave like shape, or maybe a stylised gust of wind maybe. it has a nice ring to it when flicked. your thoughts are more then welcome. with regards

Hi guys, thank you very much for confirming this for me, I have a O suraige Hizen Wak im thinking of taking over to get Tsuruta San to confirm for me. also im looking at going to some markets too, does anyone know the dates for the sunday market held at the Yasakuni shine car park, are just any cool markets I can visit?? thanks again regards H

Hi guys, Im planning a trip to Japan in the near future, and I'm going to take some blades with me for restoration. I have read that 3 is the max, but a friend of mine seems to think that they will allow up to 5? can anyone confirm this. short of contacting AOI art , I thought I would ask fellow board members first. Also there is a small sword shop just around the corner from AOI art in Tokyo, but I don't know the name of it. can anyone help too please.. regards H

Hi Trent I know what you mean. Im 30, and Im the youngest collector that Im aware of in south Australia, I use to collect SUE KOTO BIZEN, but I changed to military swords because I found it cheaper and easer.

this item is now in ebay, abit of a shame it was offered to members first, considering they helped with all the questions.

Im glad to see that dishonest dealers are being "outted" , Im in Australia and Im a part time dealer. I help beginner collectors and some times find items for them at a small return to myself, for all my time spent beating the bushes finding them. So people like this just make life harder for those who are still learning, or have a small budget. I think dishonest dealers should have both hands removed, as they are basically thieves. regards Hamish

PM sent regards H

Thankyou for your kind words John. I will keep trying to translate Japanese kanji, (with limited accuracy) and any and all help will be welcome and appreciated. once again thankyou John.K and to all members of the board, this is great tool for help/sharing and conversing with like minded collectors and myself. regards Hamish

Thanks for your help, but how did I get it so wrong??? have I miss read the kanji?? regards H

Heres the whole, I was translating it as a name, and sorry for you iphone, they break to easy 1 ? 2 Fuji 3 Mich or tsukuru 4 Ichi regards Hamish