FZ1

Sorry, I forgot to say that collection from the local depot is possible (Cambs in my case), but they told me I couldn't collect from the National Hub (Coventry). To be fair to PF though, after clearing customs, my last purchase was at the local delivery depot in less than 12 hours, so not worth the trip(for me) even if I could have collected from Coventry. Yes indeed! Whenever going to the Parcelforce Depot (or the Tax office), I always make sure my phone is charged-up and that I have coffee available, so I can wile away the hours! Jon

Paz - From experience: Yes, it goes through PF in Coventry. You can't collect from there. It normally takes about 3 weeks from Japan via EMS, PF, Customs and back to PF, but it'll probably be a few days longer over Christmas / New Year. Wait until the PF tracking status changes to "In delivery depot" and the location shows your local depot. You then wait a week or so to get the letter with the customs charge, but in practice, you can ring your local depot and ask if you can pay the charge over the phone. This takes a week off waiting for the letter and they'll schedule it for delivery the next day (note - it costs an extra tenner if you want Saturday delivery). Its a waste of time contacting PF "Customer Service" if the tracking shows as "Awaiting customs clearance". You will learn the virtue of patience when dealing with PF & Customs Cheers, Jon P.S. I'll respond to your PM this eve

Hi John, I'm new to all this, so doubtless more knowledgeable members will shoot this down if not correct (and feel free to ignore if this is an egg-sucking lesson), but in the spirit of trying to help, here's my 2d worth. There are trade-offs regarding age and condition. The two rules-of-thumb seem to be (paraphrasing many posts on NMB): Condition is very important for market value The older a blade is, the more leeway you have regarding condition Late Edo blades should be pretty much perfect and there are a lot of them to choose from. However, 700-800 year old Kamakura or Nanbokucho blades are unlikely to be in the same condition, due to multiple polishes (possibly exposing ware and other kizu) and also potential battle damage, and all ages/conditions in between, and there are a lot less of them on the market, so the principle of supply/demand means buyers may accept lower standards in terms of condition. Cheers, Jon EDIT: Obviously, this relates to market value. In terms of value to you personally, it depends how much you like a blade. i.e. It might be over-priced, but if its a "must have" for you, you might be prepared to pay the asking price, even with condition issues!

Hi John and welcome from another UK-based new-starter. As you've already sussed-out, this is a great place to learn and get advice. Advice can often be contradictory, but the fact that most members provide a good rationale for their views means that you (usually) get a good balanced argument on which to make your decisions Cheers, Jon

Welcome Khalid, enjoy your stay! Cheers, Jon

Thanks Chris, that's a good read. I also read the "Mumei" blog post following it - also a good read, so thanks for the "2 for the price of one" Cheers, Jon

Thanks Steve. Jon

I've used the Search facility and got loads of info about humidity levels, but this one is about temperature. Is there an optimum temperature to store blades and/or koshirae? Is there a minimum recommended temp? Thanks. Jon

Hi John, As another new starter to Nihonto, can I suggest you look through the list of dealers in the "Commercial Listings" menu (under the "Forums" drop down menu). There are lots of good dealers there in Japan and the US/Can and it'll give you a much-expanded choice. As you'll see, there are many dealers who have reasonably priced blades with Koshirae. Also, being from the US, you are fortunate to have a lot of very knowledgeable dealers on NMB who are in the US or Canada (so easier shipping, etc). Have a look around the different forums on NMB and get to know who-is-who and perhaps ask a couple for help to get what you want. Cheers, Jon

There are also the variables of: who's selling it and where from (private sale, dealer/business, eBay, NMB sale, Facebook, etc), how much risk you're prepared to accept (related to the point above) how big the market is in your country (e.g. lots of swords/choice in the USA, not so much in the UK) Jon

I haven't bought from them, but have you tried submitting the form using a different browser, Brandon? (Firefox sometimes works when others don't) Jon

Affordable at the moment - the last Nambokucho Hokke blade they auctioned ended up at over double the start price! Jon

Ah! That makes sense, being as the worst of it is around the mekugi ana; presumably that's where the water ingress was worst. Thanks very much Ray. Jon

Thanks Ed - original post edited! Jon

What a superb gift - you must have bought a LOT of books Bruce! Jon

Still learning & still asking! Any thoughts as to how/why the nakago of this early Koto blade was damaged/modified like this? Thanks. Jon

Welcome Todd. Yes, the terminology is a bit heavy-going for us new-starters! It gets easier as you get more familiar, but I've got a couple of "Glossary" pages as shortcuts in my browser that I still have to use on a regular basis. Jon

No worries Mark, "my "lazy" reference was intended as a light-hearted "self-deprecating" comment, not an accusation! I've attached an image of the whole paper so that you can have a look at it (its for a tanto in a UK-based auction). Cheers, Jon EDIT: Length of blade is 27.6cm and I got as far as "Nagasa 9 Sun ? ? Length" (should be 1 bu?)

Thanks very much for your help gents, it's very much appreciated. Jon

Thanks Mark. I do use a couple of guides on how to interpret the various papers, and use them frequently. I have sussed-out most of the useful bits of the certificate already (length, date, etc), hence not wanting to waste people's time by asking for more translation than I need, i.e. just posting the inscription column from the paper that I can't suss-out. I don't do too badly when the writing is clear (like the one you put up in your post), but I struggle with reading the characters when they are blurred (like the image provided in my post). I just can't match them with a reference list of printed characters. I also use the "Translating Mei" links that Brian put on the right-hand side of the home-page, but sometimes I just can't match these-up either. I always sucked at languages at and I'm awful at reading people's handwriting in any language, hence having to do the Kanji laboriously by matching one character at a time, be it from a nakago, hand-written or printed source. I don't post here unless I'm stuck, so the foregoing lines are to attempt to reassure you that I'm not just lazy (well, not at this anyway - my Mrs might disagree with a more generalised application of the term to me! ) However, you have saved me from some embarrassment because in reviewing my post, I posted the wrong images - the correct ones (the "inscription" and "judgements" column of the paper) are now edited into my original post. However, the "inscription" column matches exactly the characters from the inscription column of the one that you posted (ubu, mumei), so thanks for that! So it's just the "judgement" I'm stuck on now - I've got as far as "Den" for the first character and I think it might be "Takada" for the last two? I have no idea what the second character is though. Thanks,

Could anyone possibly do-the-honours on these from an NHTK paper please? Many thanks in anticipation. Jon EDITED: I put the wrong images up

I enquired in July and they said they only sell within Japan. Jon

Did it increase or decrease the sori, Jeremy? (After overthinking this for a while, I've managed to provide myself with a good argument for either/both!) Jon

@Bruce Pennington, I think the local variation now reads: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares; and if any of those swords are nihonto, there will be a wailing and a gnashing of teeth on the NMB. And there shall be a plague of sad-emoji responses and down-voting of the beaters of swords"

Thanks for all your thoughts thus far gents; most enlightening