chi fan wong

ran across this video on bilibili of some guy in china who owns a bunch of kotetsu.... https://www.bilibili...619&unique_k=vFAEDel

showa 17 and heaven under the flag.

hello, im wondering if utsuri is indeed that difficult to create? the smith from the usagiya site seems to have demonstrated that it is doable. he does describe using sensitive steel to start. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/utsuri.html there is also examples of his work that shows utsuri starting from mizukage. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Naohiro12.html i have a long tachi from him that has mizukage starting from about an inch or so above the hamachi and running the rest of the length of the blade as utsuri. i dont have pix of my tachi but will try to see if i can take some pix.

here is some good read about the beginning of the hamon and utsuri. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/yakiotoshi.html a shinsakuto i have from the smith there shows the hamon beginning well past the hamachi in that yakiotoshi manner. the utsuri starts at the same point as well. very interesting to see a clean beginning of the hamon.

hello, sorry if this hijacks the thread to a different direction. in looking at the picture of the nakago of that masanaga it seems like 3 or 4 words above masanaga was removed from the whole mei. and yasurime was applied over those removed mei. - does it seem like it was done intentionally? if so could anyone speculate as to why? - could it simply have rusted away or rubbed away in time? if so was it the norm to apply yasurime over it? just curious.

hi brian, may i ask what are the results of using this solution on rust? i have used it on rusted axes and found it great at removing the rust. but the metal is left with a dull grayness afterwards and im not sure if that is a new layer of oxidation or just residue from the chemical. i also found that if the treated metal is not then treated with oil within the week a new layer of red rust will very quickly develop if there is sufficient moisture in the air. what is your experience with that chemical?

Hawley has an entry on ichitosai yasutsuna from mino dated 1935.

hello, i have had the fortune of befriending a very nice individual who is the smith at usagiya. for the last five years, every summer i would travel to Japan with my students and we would visit mr. hiroshi kojima at his home/forge. he has been very kind to us and spend a lot of time showing us his work, the forge and let everyone try their hands at forging and quenching. that is also part of his experiment called the gotoba project. the experience was quite fun, incredible, enlightening and educational. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/US1.html http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/CF.html http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/ns2.html his smith name is keiun naohiro. his title is naohiro the 5th. on one of these trips i saw a new blade that is unpolished and immediately liked the shape. turns out its a fun project that he was working on. he lived in the town of honjo and so decided to try to make the honjo masamune. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Masamune.html and so i purchased it from him. the smith had in recent years started to participate in the nbthk sword competitions and this sword is his second one that received nyusen award. that was in 2019. this is not a commission but its as close as i got to it. its a very fine tachi and beautifully polished in older style without the burnished shinogi. mr kojima speaks english quite well and was able to coach everyone through the process of making the blades. and while he has been more inclined to make bizen style blades, he also takes commissions with what the clients wants and other fun experiments that tends to irk the higher ups in nbthk, which he does take some joy in.

alas, no. i was too young and brash to have put value on memories.... it's a long shot to think i'd ever find those swords, but thought if there's any chance it would be from here.

hello all, i am looking for a katana iaito that i had sold on ebay in the early 2000's. the record on ebay doesnt extend very far back and with many member accounts no longer active, its difficult to get in contact with anyone. anyhow, i thought this group would be a good place to start my search. background story: between 2002 and 2004 i started to collect antique, traditionally made Japanese swords. in my zest to "upgrade" to real swords i sold off first my katana iaito and then, separately, my wakizashi iaito. both were originally purchased in 1983 from token mitsuo in Japan when i passed through there. now i am regretting having sold the iaito as they do have some sentimental value to me. description: katana: - black saya with mottled texture. - tsukaito is dark blue with a bit on the green side. it is silk. - fuchi kashira and tsuba are dragon motif and made of cast copper based material i believe as it left greenish marks on my hand. they are darkened however. - the brass habaki has arabic inscribed on to it on one side. - the kissaki was sharpened a bit. ( i know, i was a kid and the aluminum was soft....) - cant recall the pattern of the fake hamon. - tsuka has real same. wakizashi: - dark red larquered saya and is (was) glossy. - tsukaito is black. its seems like nylon. - fuchi kashira and tsuba is a cast material and finished in mostly dark color with hints of gold showing through. - nothing special about the brass habaki that i can recall. - the kissaki is also sharpened a bit.... - the fake hamon is sanbonsugi. - the tsuka is white plastic and so the same texture is just part of the whole plastic cast. in searching through past transactions on my ebay i found one gentleman by the name of ed bowden saying "super katana" regarding a purchase he made from me. i cant tell if that was the iaito, plus his acct is unregistered. again, i thought this would be a good group of people to start the search with. if any of you have one of these in your possession please contact me. or if you recall seeing it please contact me as well. thank you so much for reading through this.

for those interested: http://www.katonahmuseum.org/exhibitions/

pardonnez moi! French it is. its just nice to see more and more none Japanese work of quality being recognized.

just went to the sword museum again to see the new award winners. i cant be sure but there seems to be a french tsuba maker that won an award? if so would that be pretty rare?

for some reason i had always thought leaving the oil on the blade can be potentially problematic. i was under the belief that if the blade with oil on it is touching the wood inside the saya for an extended period, it could cause rust. would simply wiping the blade with a cloth or paper after its ben oiled be enough to remove the excess oil to prevent the fore mentioned event to occur?

is micro fiber the stuff used for wiping eye glasses? how to clean the oil of of it after? just wash it with soap? also, would facial tissue be really bad?