Marki

Oh thank you. I was hoping for someone from switzerland to contact me here. I will try to reach out to him! Cheers!

I was considering it yes.. Im usually interested in buying Katanas from early to late Edo period in good conditions with a important family history. I thought about a Koto from the Kamakura period as well. But before I could really be worthy of such a piece of history, I need to feel the presence of a living master and his work to better understand its value and appreciate the work. Thats why in the end I'm prob going for a beautiful blade from Kimura Kanetsugu 兼嗣. He has some beautiful work from the 90s. Especially the ones inspired by Minamoto Kiyomaro. I dont know if you know him well enough but after my research.. he is one of the few smith alive that make great Utsushi's from Kiyomaro. Also the school he leads they use their own Tamahagane and it gives the blade a bit different Jigane of what i heard. Example: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-higo-kuni-ju-akamatsu-taro-kanetsugu-saku/ My next blade in my collection will tho be one with bit more history (1650 to 1850).

Hi Shugyosha Thanks you for the suggestion of Yuhindo's blog. I just saw a great visualization of Juyo graded swords across all centuries: https://blog.yuhindo.com/manufacture-period-and-juyo-sessions/#more-1014 I will deffo read into this blog more when I have some freetime. Also to avoid basic errors I took some time to register in here and read through the posts. I think it makes sense to ask some professionals as well instead of only reading books etc. Happy to be part of this forum. I feel like I am in the right place. I will deffo try to talk about the price with the seller also to see other very interesting works from other sellers as well. Since years I get the catalogue from Unique Japan and since years im reading about those swords others are buying. But I feel like the time for me is coming.. this or next year I want to buy one myself. Thanks for all your help! Cheers

Thank you guys for your honest replies. Yes I thought about a Koto from the Kamakura period as well. But this sword was sent to me from a friend and thus I wanted to see other opinions also to see if the seller (seiyudo) is more on the upper price range or not. I will take my time to look into your links you provided me. Also if anyone knows a seller of a beautiful Gassan Katana you could also provide me the link. (The engravings on those are beautiful) Cheers @Brian: im based in Switzerland

Hi there, Im new here and not really sure if its the right board to ask this. Im interested in buying Katanas from early to late Edo period in good conditions. This would be my first buy. I was in Japan already and was discussing with some collectors and shop owners etc. and now I decided to finally buy such wonderful piece of craftmanship - history/art myself. A friend of mine showed me a specific katana from an online seller: Paper(Certificate):[N.B.T.H.K] Tokubetsu Hozon Token Country・Era：Musashi (Tokyo)・Late Edo period 1857 Blade length(Cutting edge): 73.2ｃｍ Curve(SORI): 2.1ｃｍ Width at the hamachi(Moto-Haba): 3.16ｃｍ Thickness at the Moto-Kasane: 0.81ｃｍ Wide at the Kissaki(Saki-Haba): 2.60ｃｍ Thickness at the Saki-Kasane: 0.55ｃｍ Length of Koshirae : about 102ｃｍ Habaki: One parts, gold foil Habaki Sword tang(Nakago): Unaltered,Sujikaiyasuri with Keshoyasuri file pattern Rivet Holes(Mekugiana): 1 Price is around: 40'000$ (its less about budget but more about trust) Do you guys think that this is way overpriced just by looking at those pics and description or is it kinda in range that you can expect for such graded sword (Tokubetsu Hozon Token)? Appreciated for all your help and also pointing me to other online sellers that might be more trusted? Thank you! Marki