Bazza

Hmmmm - is it a kofuda?? BaZZa.

Has the legendary 'sword stretcher' raised its ugly head again??!! BaZZa.

A friend left a pile of Daruma magazines with me to help pass the time (!!), You guessed it, Nos 46 and 47 were missing... I do have a colour laser copy 'somewhere' of I guess what might be No. 47. I'll look for it and if anyone would like a per tem scan of it I'd be delighted to oblige - PM please. Happy New Year to all. BaZZa.

We're all getting Old mate!!! Greetings from Australia. How go the .310 Cadets???? And the fishing. Happy New Year and may all your troubles be little ones... Best regards, Barry Thomas. aka BaZZa.

Interesting discussion. There are at least three (four?) systems of transliterating Japanese to English, some from the 19th century. I used to agonise over this in my early days of collecting, but no more. My view is that we should be as good as we can by example individually and be gentle and encouraging with other folk as Jean has done, without being didactic in the matter. The Hepburn system is the preferred method, but these days I reckon we should roll with the punches instead of being overly precious about it. The way to have the stuffing knocked out of you is to study Japanese intensively for a few years... BaZZa.

Correct orientation. BaZZa.

Michael, spot on mate. Shows the failure of shooting from the hip and relying on memory. Thanks for the correction. BaZZa.

Julien, Thanks for the news Jon is doing well. A very long time ago he did a beautiful polish on a godai TADAYOSHI wakizashi that I still have and admire. Barry Thomas Melbourne, Australia.

Thanks Michael, delighted to see this. Gives me a chance to show my latest find, a TERUKADO wakizashi (50.0 cm) in Edo period koshirae. It is said he signed TERUKANE in the earlier part of his career and TERUKADO after he was given TAMBA no KAMI in 1659, dying in 1584 (?). A google search finds much more information including on this Board. Regards, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

?Modern fake? There's just 'something' about it.. BaZZa.

Very sad news indeed, RIP Richard. BaZZa.

Ahhhh, hadori vs sashikomi observation????? A vexed and long-standing bête noire of collectors... BaZZa.

HOSOKAWA? I have a pair of menuki (ex Guntou??) with this mon. BaZZa.

Ken, in the first photo what you're seeing is a tobiyaki, an 'island' of hardening/temper. Utsuri doesn't have a hamon. BaZZa.

HEISEI MOTO NEN?? BaZZa.

Gives me an opportunity to show a pair of mumei tiger menuki I have had for decades. They come with an old paper to Yanagawa. BaZZa.

Study never ends... (Thus quoth a great man). BaZZa.

I have seen shingane in a Kotou tanto with my own eyes... BaZZa.

STUNNER sword... I'm sure the tsuba is by one of the YOSHIOKA artisans, an excellent tsuba. Thanks for sharing. BaZZa.

The day started well with a call from an acquaintance saying he had "two Japanese Samurai swords" from an estate amongst a pile of guns. Hope swells eternal in the human breast, so I had joyous visions as I drove to his house. Well, would you believe it! Two of the worst looking Type 95s I have seen. I don't want to belabour the faithful about the dreadful condition these were in, approaching zero value wall-hangers, but I have a question about seemingly genuine habaki stamps on one of the swords that I think may have been a genuine Type 95, except that the flag reminded me of a Chinese origin? I would be grateful for an opinion on this as well as a translation of the two kanji under thr flag. With thanks, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

Colin san, not offended in the slightest, just to let you know. A good and interesting purchase IMHO. BaZZa.

My thoughts exactly. I was wondering when someone would notice... BaZZa.

What he said (first sentence!). Just discovered this thread. Worth close scrutiny with time on one's hands - and a dictionary at hand. BaZZa.

Kiril Sir, this is the kernel of a brilliant haiku by someone... BaZZa.

I remember a REAL TOGISHI who visited Melbourne Australia maybe 40 years ago now. He was a sponsored visitor by an art dealer who specialised in Japanese art. This man had never been out of Japan, had never traveled on an aeroplane in his life and didn't speak English. His father was a togishi and his grandfather also, the latter being taught by a Hon'ami of the day. Our art dealer did the tedious task of all the back-and-forth translating. We, the gaijin audience, had many revelations during his short stay. As he was viewing a sword one comment that stuck with me is "They should all be restored". I'm sure many of us would agree with this as even the humble kazuuchimono is a survivor of centuries aided and abetted by the Japanese themselves. Such a sword is a stark contrast to the higher tier swords, to be sure, but we would do well to remember the times and not our highfalutin opinions. The trouble is, of course, the time required to learn how to properly and correctly polish a sword and the consequent high cost of gaining a knowledge entry point. This all conspires to consign centuries-old swords as junk, derisively called 'crappers', even by me!! However, I do remember "the wide-eyed, child-like enthusiasm which led us all here in the first place" as I pored through my newly bought copy of John Yumoto's "The Samurai Sword" trying to understand my newly acquired first sword, a Sue Kotou katana in a rather nice and good condition Shinguntou koshirae. Its long since gone to support the purchase of undeniably better (even to my eye!) Tokuho swords. I still have that wide-eyed, child-like enthusiasm and more of this on the Board would be nicer than wild-eyed jousting. Surely we are better than this... BaZZa.