Schneeds

There are several considerations with respect to the lens: focal length, minimum focus distance, and optical quality. Ideally you want a fixed focal length lens (prime lenses will always have greater image quality than a zoom at comparable focal length), be in the ~100mm range or greater, and have a small minimum focus distance (just a few inches). The minimum focus distance will vary across the focal ranges on lenses so you have to pay attention to that as well. DXOmark and Lenstip are good resources for image quality comparisons.

Eric came here asking for thoughts on this sword. A number of experienced members chimed in with opinions and observations. And while some were delicately stated, and some not, I found myself learning from the things I had missed and overlooked none the less. Eric asked for thoughts, and to his credit, welcomed all of them. This is the way.

Thank you! Props to Hoshi and Michael!

Z-sey comes awfully close. Experienced people here can tell the difference, but new people? Their smiths are clearly skilled and talented. https://www.swordjp.com/product/tamahagane-katana-blade

Advice on the internet is free; you can take it or leave it. Personally, I like reading the variety of view points expressed here on the forum and I think it's almost always well intentioned. The advice given here is largely the same and in line with the advice I've read here over and over again, so I don't understand the controversy. On the other hand, baiting and mocking people for sharing their experience and views is counter productive and preventative of those people (especially new) coming here to learn and get into the hobby.

Is this actually the case nowadays though? How do Japanese clients from other parts of the country know what you have to offer if you don't list it online?

I would curious to hear the opinions of some of our US dealers with the current situation. I assume they procure swords from Japan from time from to time, and now we're looking at a 15% cost increase there for no reason. Putting aside the fact that tariffing antique goods is unequivocally outside the scope and authority of the President, there's zero chance I'm importing something in the next three years. I'll be damned if I'm going to throw away thousands and deal with this uncertain new process. If it's still like that in five years... I don't know. The more focused my collection goals and the higher they get, the more patient I'd need to be at home, and maybe never find what I want.

For me, the journey started rather typical (for this day and age). I started out just reading and browsing the forum for a long time, trying to learn as much as I could. Then I came to the realization there's really no way to skip the book learning. So I bought Connoisseurs and read that several times. Next I picked up Markus' Japanese Sword Smith Index. I spent a lot of time looking at dealer offerings online and cross checking it with Connoisseurs and the Index. From the onset I had the Nanboku-cho period in mind because I love the sugata, and that particular and relatively short moment in history. I began looking at and reaeaching the top Soshu masters basically because of the reputation of being the pinnacle. I liked Kaneuji and Norishige the most, however getting close to the master's work at my set price range was not gojng to be very realistic. Kaneuji's history was particularly investing to me, so I started looking into Naoe Shizu as a sort of way to get Nanboku-cho Soshu at Mino prices. (Rember I'm a newbie). I liked the examples of Naoe Shizu I could find, and what really sold it was my picking up the Soshu Den Masterpieces book. The description there of Naoe Shizu being a quality blade that was sought after by actual warriors really did speak to me. Ive been through some s**t in my 15 years in law enforcement, and when I look at that work, it feels deadly but beautiful. I don't know if that's a good reason or not

Papered TH Naoe Shizu. Condition is overall good. Decent polish. It will never be Juyo, but I still might explore a fresh polish and sayagaki someday.

A modest Naoe Shizu. It has a formidable sugata, is healthy, and quite hefty despite its futasuji-hi though. I ended up stretching my intial budget to get what I believed was a quality level I would be happy with the foreseeable future, while still stopping well short of what I think I will spend someday.

It seems to me that the NMB adage of "spend your first ____ $'s on books" is a very similar mindset. I never felt discouraged or encouraged to buy, or buy at any specific threshold; only to avoid rushing into stupidity. Also, there are a lot of outside factors that can impact net gain/loss in your purchase. I bought my first blade last year when the JPY bottomed out in a decade low against the USD, and avoided the now existing tariffs. That right there is a 30% reduction compared to if i bought it right now.

This sword is currently on display at the NBTHK as part of their Sword Crafts Exhibition. Unlike the other mumei blades in the polishing category, it does not have any attribution. It was my favorite off all the awards, and I'm curious if anyone has come across it before or knows what its probable attribution is/might be? Photographing was tough; it was busy and I was doing this hand held but still nice to look at.

Tokyo-nihonto often deals in that price range. Nice website and photography and is a forum member.

Doesn't appear to have a shirasaya either, unless I'm missing it. Paying 6k for a blade without one seems odd to me... maybe he lost or damaged it? Another bad sign. In my newbie opinion, if your budget is very limited, you are better off waiting for something in the for sale section here on NMB that catches your eye. Very reasonable and sometimes great deals appear there.

Make sure to check the schedule on the NBTHK website. The English-version of their site doesn't display it (at least for my browsers), and only gives the generic hours. Use a browser translation add on on the Japanse page. Otherwise you end up like I just did, finding out on your two-day Tokyo layover that the museum is closed for the week. Luckily I should be able to see it on my return.

Can't imagine how long it took to create this; it's excellent. As a professional I am jealous of some of that photography, from what I believe is Yuhindo; basically perfection.

There are a large number of reputable sellers listed under the Info/Links section on the menu. Also check the members For Sale section here. Lots of good blades to be found there, and there have been some excellent deals lately.

Congrats to the new owner. I didn't think it would last long at that price

Need a special title/librarian rank just for Jussi

That might be a good candidate for a Tanobe Sensei sayagaki if it's still in Japan

Some information from the Darci: "The whole Shizu thing is a bit of a mess but I would rank them like this 1. Shizu Kaneuji 2. Yamato Shizu Kaneuji 3. Naoe Shizu 4. Yamato Shizu Yamato Shizu may just be a synonym for Nanbokucho Tegai in many ways. There is no bias against it but we always have to remember that the attribution on a mumei blade is the first form of quality assessment. Kaneuji is a first tier swordsmith. As you progress down some of those blades are so confusingly similar in construction that the list of features could be pegged to any of the four. So if it is best of all Yamato Shizu school it goes to 2. If it is not it goes to 4. The weakest of 1 will overlap with the best of 3. The weakest of 1 will be below the best of 2. Some of the weakness can be ascribed to condition and it may be factor in it passing juyo or not. With Yamato Shizu you need to assume it is a school attribution unless it's indicated somehow otherwise. Either it's said to be Kamakura which is a quiet nod to Kaneuji or someone disambiguates by adding Kaneuji to the description. As you shift down lower in the reputation tree you need the work to burn brighter to make up for it. One of the most beautiful tanto I know of (very flashy style) is 2nd generation Yamato Shizu Kaneuji and signed. It is Tokuju. So the work needs to particularly elevate as a masterpiece and that it is signed removes some of the attribution as quality assessment indications. It always needs to be thought of like this: A Shizu is almost a Masamune but not quite. That not quite is what makes it Shizu. Not because we have a time portal and know the truth. The best Shizu have always been mixed into Masamune and are very hard to extract. The same logic applies at Naoe Shizu to Shizu. Not quite good enough. Yamato Shizu is like what side of the 50% line does it stand for Yamato features and/or quality? Some you can argue for one or the other and your opinion is ok. A Suriage Masamune wak can be Juyo Bunkazai but a suriage Yamato Shizu school attribution can't. Not because there is bias against Yamato Shizu school but if it was better it would be Kaneuji as mumei. Even better it could be Masamune and then qualify. So the attribution is returning a judgment already. Yamato Shizu ... best can pass Tokuju. But there is a high bar. The bar for Juyo is high as seen. There are three Tokuju all good length katana. First says Kamakura period (so is Kaneuji). Ne t two say beginning of Nanbokucho but the maker is additionally said to be Kaneuji specifically. So, no school blades. 2 of 3 from famous daimyo which helps. Not because the daimyo had it. But the daimyo had it because it was outstanding. So again have to key on the right bit of info and know which is cart and which is horse. Compare to Shizu himself after Masamune and now there are 14 Tokuju, 9 jubi and 6 Juyo Bunkazai. So you can see the difference in what the attribution means. Those best of Yamato Kaneuji may be better than a conventional Shizu. But in general all other things factored out a Shizu attribution is just that half to full notch better than even Yamato Shizu." I know very little, but agree with Lewis. Perhaps Naoe Shizu could be a candidate? I like it either way though.

Of course, but if they were the same quality and characteristics, how could you ever be certain?

The quality of the work generally serves to confirm the mei. In the case of a very high level smith such as this, the work would need to be outstanding for the signature to be considered. It would be extremely apparent to Japanese sellers. Additionally, as Brian and Kirill pointed out, it is consistent with later period work (more than a hundred years later than the signature). I assume that is based on the sugata and quality of jigane; they are much more knowledgeable than I. I don't in any way mean that to diminish your blade, I am a novice as well, but to the experienced it would immediately obvious. So I just use deductive reasoning as has been mentioned: high level smith with no papers = gimei.

Could it be the lighting set up they use? It's always looked to me like that dealer uses extremely warm light tones (3000k-ish) and over exposure that is blowing out the hamon detail.

What was the point of placing it on a filthy cloth on top of a filthy rubber mat? I can't even get past that.