lonely panet

Hi Kurt, there a interesting item if your interested in items from imperial Japan. theres alot of interest in the USA for neat versions of mantetsu gunto and they can go for a respeactable price too, taking into account that in the fuller and gregory books, they are rated as superior machine made blades. they were made in china in the matetsu factory, so they are not as highly rate as the showato but, earler blades were highly regarded though. Iv handled many of these blades and there interesting to look at, but sadly all the items iv handled didnt thrill me for the price tag, but at 100 dollers you cant go wrong, great buy. look at the fittings, there are some fittings also made in the factory, they appear to be lower quality compared to the normal shin gunto fittings, but they are a nice to look at and are har to find examples. regards Hamish

My lord, I am amazed at your collection!! finding really mint gunto of any type is getting harder and harder, im very impressed with the mint general tassel too, the gold zigzags look awsome. Hamish

Hi gentlemen, Iv been given a odd iron shingunto tsuba, iv would think that this type of tsuba would have been for the lower end of the gunto pieces, but not really sure because iv never really seen or read about them. so has any fellow collects come across these examples in the past and does any one know how they would have been made, IE machine stamped and hand finished??? regards Hamish

Hello everyone, im just showing off my latest piece i picked up today, it might not appear much but to thoses who dont collect this era of imperial swords, BUT these are abit hard to find in mint condition now, but it doesnt quite match either of the examples in jim dawsons book, is it a example not shown or has the scabbard been mis-matched in the past??? a very big thanks to the good friend who passed it on to me. regards Hamish

heres a piece of mine iv listed on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 363wt_1058 starts at $500, hope it goes well. i paided $2250 years ago and im not getting much interest atm, so i have decided to experment with ebay and see if the peaple who shop there will see it and bid to the market price or will i get bent over and loss big money. regards Hamish

the best bargin this month belongs th the following.... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Very-Rare-Ja ... 403wt_1187 regards Hamish

I think the point i was trying to make was missed , but thanks for the link that was posted. In respectfull thought of the Slough family, I was unaware of his passing and end this post. regards Hamish

Hi fellow humans, Iv had this question on my mind for months now, the book by J.S Slough and how many times its been used as a tool for dealers on Ebay to there perosnal gain, many times getting the smith they claim who made there sword mixed up with a higher rated one to help increase the final sale price of there item. If this is the case should the author be entitled to some for of royalty? Im trying open a can of worms out of frustration, as less experanced collectors my be unfairly over paying on the word of a dealer or seller whom some have no problems with being dishonest. regards Hamish (the can opener of worms)

Hello all, Iv only seen one, a high end showato signed FUJI WARA SUKE YUKI SAKU not dated, in earler style shingunto mounts with a wooden saya. it was only shorted by a inch or two. interesting piece regards Hamish

here is some more listings, judge for your self http://www.ebay.com/sch/xiaoan5567/m.ht ... 7675.l2562 regards Hamish

Thank you very much Ford, I was getting no were trying to find any info in the web. I picked this piece up at a antique fair and I know I paid too much( AU$350) but I really wanted it. its kind of funny tho, im collecting swords from that period now. how very odd thankyou again Ford and Morita for your help, its helped me a lot. regards Hamish

thank you kindly Morita, I did think the last charictor was SAKU but didn't want to look silly once again, thankyou I can now look to see when it was hopefully made regards Hamish

Thanks Stu, ill keep my eye open for both next time I head to town. regards Hamish

what about kuniie yoshihara?? trained son good smiths like ono yoshimitsu, and his two sons and all are makansa ranked the think. kotani yasunori but only because I have one regards hamish

thankyou for both of your input, tsuba are a bit of a weak point for me. the Umetada school, from what I read in some books are known to have this odd shape to there edges of the tsuba, but from what I can gather it was only in the early Shinto period that they had that style. Did they continue this up till the late edo? I thought the class of work was pretty good (to me) why dosent this school have a better reputation?, or is this piece one of there better examples? I enjoy sakashi tsubas from akasaka and shoami schools but the prices on some of them are a bit high for what I see. please correct me if I have committed a sin by saying that Regards Hamish

Thanks for your help, now that you point the metal around the nakago ana, I can see that it has been die cut. thanks for pointing that out, I was really only looking at the edge of the tsuba for activity. The surface rust is constant and evan all over the surface of the metal, do you think it is natural?? The reason I am trying to age the other side is that I have a edo wakizashi koshare that was used during ww2 and the tsuba would look better on it, compared to the one thats already on it. Thankyou again Jean regards Hamish

Thank your for your reply, its good to finally have a idea of the school. I normally collect gunto but when found the piece I decided to buy it. it may have cost me abit to much for a late edo tsuba (AU $500) but I really liked the detail of the carving and the good ring it made when flicked. thanks again for replying so quickly regards Hamish

pt 2

Hello gentlemen, Iv had this tsuba for a few years now, it come with papers but never bothered with getting the papers translated because I just enjoyed the tsuba for what it was. I think its muromachi and maybe kamukura school, but I like it for its almost "rural" style and decoration, its almost razor thin too which just adds to its attractive qualities. Can I please ask for your ideas on this piece and what type of papers they are please. kind regards Hamish

pt 2

Hello gentlemen, here is a showa tsuba I have, that at some point somebody tried to clean one side of for some silly reason. the aged patina looked nice for a showa piece so why remove it??? look closely and it has some forging marks so, I don't think its a run of the mill pressed tsuba. Im thinking of trying to reproduce the patina on the cleaned side, does anyone have any ideas on how ?? also please feel free to openly discuss the item, im not offended easly regards Hamish

Hi, here is my most liked edo period tsuba. Im not really sure of the details, I was told it might be chikuzen?? If any one else can offer some more ideas of school that would be nice, but if not please just enjoy it, because I think its a really nice piece of art. regards Hamish

Greetings all, I know its nothing to do with nihonto but I have a cigarette case that has a stylized mei that has got me better of me. can any one help with it?? normally I have no problems with gunto mei's, which can be tricky but john sloughs book hasn't helped me yet regards Hamish

Hello gentlemen, here's some photos of my new tassel for a type 95 NCO sword. This tassel was only made for type 95's fitted with brass tsuba's and is in really nice condition too, and may thanks to my friend who passed it on to me at a really good price. does anybody have any tried and true products to help preserve the leather? regards Hamish

thank you all for your help, I had trouble with comparing this mei to the "kunemune" in john sloughs book. for a low rated smith his mei his his showto are very rough but i assume he was also employed as a nakirishmei specialist as he all so signed other meis for other smiths like IDO hidetoshi and his father FUKUMOTO amahide. but thank you again for your help. regards Hamish