Nicolas Maestre

Thanks a lot, beautiful 😍

Great pics here 😍. Here is my modest contribution to this thread! First time I'm trying to focus on the hamon. I was using the macro lens of my phone. Don't know if there is a lot to see though, as it's not a quality blade... Here I think I managed to get the nioiguchi quite distinctly: Last one, I like it a lot but I'm not knowledgeable enough yet to understand what I see (provided that there is something to see at all 😁):

Very nice write-up indeed! Thanks 👍 Ok so my initial statement referring to how rare Ubu Kamakura blades are is kinda wrong 😁. The thing is that every blade I stumbled upon online seems to be suriage... Oh and also this article from Markus Sesko was pretty clear about it (last paragraph). Thanks to you all, I think the bigger picture is now much, much clearer for me... I love this forum 👍 Can't wait to read what his take is on the subject!! Oh no need to apologize 😉. As I said I totally agree that it is an important part of the equation here.

Thank you Thomas for bringing this topic back on track 😊. Not that the whole Hada discussion is off, because it clearly isn’t since it’s part of what makes those blades so unique if I understand well. But the peeing contest / “I know and you don’t” thing, is detrimental to everyone imo. Anyways, little did I know that this question would bring so many views and would be so complex. But the read has been very enlightening so far! Question if you don't mind: I can totally understand the points made around Hada, Hataraki, etc. But the shape?? How would you even consider the shape as part of the equation when most of the blades (Kamakura) are Suriage, and you can therefore not have a look at what the smith created in the first place? I mean, the Sugata we see today is only due to a dude, several decades or even centuries later, choosing to cut here, or hmmmmm, nope, maybe here… and boom, it’s the shape you see now! I’m genuinely asking, not trying to be disrespectful or anything 😊.

Wow, thanks a lot everyone for your thoughts on this topic. I just love this board 😁. Fantastic reading! What I got from everyone's inputs is that the words "best" or "quality", when referring to Kamakura blades, are used in the aesthetic sense. And if considered this way, I understand that indeed, there is a general consensus that Kamakura blades remain pretty much untouched to this day. Which I find absolutely fascinating. Thanks, that sums it up I think. That's an awesome story by the way! Shows how subtle and complex this whole thing seems to be... Well, maybe one day I will have the chance to handle and study such blades in person... Sadly I don't know anyone who's into Nihonto in the area where I live (near Angers, in western France). It's funny because a low level Sukesada is precisely what I just bought as my first Nihonto 😁 (see here and here). I agree with your statement btw!

Wow, thank you guys. Thanks a lot Ray for the detailed answer 😊. I admit that I had not approached the question from a raw material perspective... It makes a lot of sense. Man I'm shocked by the words of both Akitsugu and Nagayama. It shows how exceptional what Shibata Ka accomplished really was (not that I can comprehend it, but if those two masters say it, I believe it ☺️). See Ray, when I read stuff like that, I feel like I will never be able to "see" those things. Especially if all I do is reading books and looking at pictures and not the real thing 😔. Maybe that's why I have not been able to fully get the differences between swords from Kamakura and some later, high quality work... I think I know the answer... but do you consider hands-on experience a mandatory step in studying Nihonto? Thank you for the link Franco!!! Thank you so much 👍

Hi everyone, As a newbie, there is one thing that I can’t seem to be able to grasp, that I read on multiple occasions, whether it be in books or online articles. That thing is the fact that, supposedly, sword quality after the Kamakura period not only decreased, but was “NEVER to be matched ever again”… This latter statement is what I struggle with. I have read quite a lot about Nanbokucho and Muromachi periods, and I think I do understand why quality was not the major concern during those times. But what about Edo ? I mean, given the number of Juyo Token swords from past 1600, I’m tempted to think that the quality of those blades is quite high right? But then you read that later smith tried to replicate Kamakura work, but never quite managed to achieve that… so why is that??? In other words and to summarize where I struggle the most: What makes Kamakura top quality sword better than later top quality swords? Why, despite what happened at the end of the 13th century with the Mongol invasions, do we still consider the swords used at the time to be of the best quality ever? Why were later smiths not able to achieve such a high level of craftsmanship? While I think I understand the basics of what makes a good sword a good sword (i.e. how controlled and consistent the Hada is throughout the blade, how fine it is, how perfectly executed the Sugata is, and of course how much Hataraki can be seen and how complex it is), I’m still confused! Maybe it’s something one can only appreciate with hands-on experience, but then again, what is that “thing”!? 😊 Anyways, of course I’m not expecting you guys here to do the homework for me, but if anyone wants to share their views, or point me in the right direction with references specifically on this topic (books or online), I would greatly appreciate it!!!

Thanks a lot Dominik!! Will try, as I have yet to get an answer from the others ☹️

Thank you all!!! That is truly awesome!! I'll reach out to them, and hopefully get this tsuka rewrapped soon ☺️. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again, what a great community...

Hi, Sorry if it's not the right place to ask, but I have a tsuka that I would like to get rewrapped, for my steel iaito. I know it's not nihonto related, but I figured this community would most likely be of great help 😜 I searched online and the only website I found that seemed active is "Cottontail customs", but unfortunately queue is closed for the moment. Any suggestions? Preferably in Europe ☺️ Thanks!!!!!

Thanks both! Yeah I understand that it's clearly not an important matter. But I don't know, I'm kinda obsessed with accuracy in general so 😁. Thank you again for taking the time to answer my question 😉

Hi everyone, I’m a little confused when it comes to dates on mei regarding the month of the year. Up until today, I thought it was pretty clear, according to several sources that I could find online such as this one, that the first month of the year was roughly starting around Feb. 5th. But I just found out that on Aoijapan (aoi art), the owner always directly translates months like 1 gatsu = January, 2 gatsu = February and so on. So what’s your opinion? Is there a “definite” answer somewhere? I know it’s a detail, but I’d appreciate your input. Thanks 😊

Thank you guys for the answers ☺️. Yes Thomas, that makes a lot of sense. I just wanted to understand whether or not a piece of koshirae could be, even very remotely, linked to a particular family thanks to the mon represented on it. Thanks again for your inputs, much appreciated!

Hi everyone, Question here 😁. While researching a bit more on my nihonto (pictures at the bottom of this post here and details from the vendor here), I also found information on this mon, which is present on the fuchi: If I'm not mistaken, it's supposed to be the family crest of the Kuki clan... Wait... Kuki as in Kuki Yoshitaka !!? I'm pretty sure it's highly unlikely that there be any sort of connection between this sword and this clan, but that led me to this question: could there be?? I mean, could someone back in the day exhibit a mon from a clan they had no connection to?? Was this "allowed" or was there some strict rules surrounding what could or could not be represented on sword koshirae? As usual, thanks a LOT for your input 🙏

Ha ha 😂 While I love snails (I'm French) I would definitely not be able to eat this one 🤢😅