Schneeds

That Ichimonji National Treasure sword on the page 24 spread is beyond words. At 92% scale, that alone is worth the price of the book.

That's interesting, like a wicking effect? It probably works to soak any current moisture off the blade and keep new air from circulating in.

The shirasaya is designed to have a much better seal, and therefore moisture barrier.

Bit more to it than that. HOZON TOKEN 1) Edo and earlier blades with correct mei, or mumei blades on which the time period, kuni and group can be identified, may receive Hozon paper. 2) Blades that meet the criteria given above can receive Hozon paper even if they are slightly tired or have kizu, as long as those may be permissible in their appreciation. 3) For Nambokucho and earlier zaimei blades by famous smiths, re-temper can be permissible if the blade is valuable as a reference, and if the jiBa and nakago are sufficiently well preserved. However, this has to be documented in the paper. 4) Repair on jiBa is permissible, unless it significantly impairs the beauty of the blade. 5) Blades made in Meiji and Taisho periods, and those by recently deceased smiths, can receive Hozon paper only when the blade is well made, zaimei and has a ubu-nakago. 6) Blades are put to “reservation” if a decision could not easily be made on the authenticity of the mei. This also applies to mumei blades in which an attribution is difficult to make. 7) Blades with hagire may not receive Hozon paper.

I can understand where Nicholas is coming from, but I just don't think the risk is worth it, especially when talking about koto blades. Like Alex pointed out, all it takes is one instance of something going wrong and the blade is ruined. Personally, I bought a cheap Zsey some time ago so I have a nice looking koshirae and something to swing around when the urge takes me. The only thing at risk is my house, and sometimes my wife.

I finally put the finishing touches on my display. It serves as both a display and a safe, which is close to air tight; the glass is clamped to the frame via magnets so it is removeable. The inside is lined with Aspen, and the fabric is vintage Japanese silk. I installed the light bar and a hygrometer. I also carved katanakake inserts for storing in shirasaya in the summer months when I'm away.

Thank you for posting that. Hard to think of a better way for me to spend $36.

I can't imagine the pressures of working on something like that. Magnificent.

Looks like the auction ended at 2,203,000. I wonder why they didn't just have a new shirasaya made and sell it as is with NBTHK TH on their website.

Dealers should start using/offering Airtags. The cost is very little and they're extremely accurate. U-Haul started putting them in the cargo vans because theft and re-VINing has gotten out of control and law enforcement simply doesn't have the man power and time to deal with it.

I'm sure someone will gamble and try it. I'd love to see how it turns out. I also thought it was interesting it was only papered 8 months ago for the first time.

https://www.samuraim...k-hozon-certificate/ I'm curious what the knowledgeable folks here think of that price.

Those look fantastic and the built in lighting is excellent. One can dream! That got me searching for other options. Here is something a fair bit less expensive and probably much more secure that still looks nice: https://invictasafes...shotgun-invictasafe/

Markus Sesko seems to be of the opinion that it is shigane. If not, what in a mono steel construction would account for hada? Polishing through the kawagane seems like a much simpler explanation. https://markussesko....i-2-jigane-jihada-1/

I looked into the display issue a lot on the forum here before deciding to do a custom internal build on a pullout gun safe. A major concern of displaying bare blades is dust. Dust will penetrate anything that is not air tight, and inherently contains moisture. So if you're talking about long term display you're looking at an airtight build within a safe humidity range <45%

I'm confused by this. Shintetsu is just visible core steel due to over polishing, isn't it? Or are you saying Rai works came out of the forge with shingane already visible? Why would visible shigane ever be a sign of quality, irrespective of the quality of the shigane?

What would be the upside of having it? https://www.Japanese...rdindex.com/kizu.htm

Are there links for those examples, Chris? Excellent post, it would be great to see the pictures.

There is a world of difference between generously highlighting a blade's positive characteristics and condoning deception. Do you have any examples to point to for that claim?

There's also the additional layer of external factors such as market fluctuation, general economic trends, and currency exchange rates. A niche market like this is highly susceptible to these at the lower and middle range of the buyer's market.

Some priceless knowledge can only be obtained from reading. This thread reminds me of my favorite Darcy post. I read it many times before buying my first blade and it took a while to really sink in: When the NBTHK ventures out and puts a Muromachi smith's name on a mumei blade, they are doing the equivalent of smacking you in the face with a chicken Monty Python style. If they just said Tegai or Sue Tegai you might get some thoughts into your head about it being some kind of master smith or maybe it is really Nanbokucho and Juyo sufficient. So they are winding the hell up and smacking you in the face with a Muromachi name that you can flip open a book and read about so that you will know this is a Muromachi blade in their opinion and you can look up on their website that it won't go Juyo and it is a suriage Muromachi sword and so the value is low. That's what they are doing. Attribution is the first word for quality assessment. They are spelling this out in black and white. People need to take all of the information that they have and put together the big picture and to not try to hammer these square pegs into round holes. There are perfectly round holes that they already fit into

Another vote for The Connoisseur's book of Japanese Swords. $42 new on Amazon. The best $42 you'll ever spend in this realm.

Pre-Edo koshirae are quite rare, so by default the vast majority of koto blades have lost their original ones to time. If as Ian points out, a dealer has a blade which they think is good for the western audience, the koshirae has to come from some place else. Good information in this thread:

My wife tells me I'm 40 but I don't believe in age.

It's always a pleasure to come across a new seller with high quality swords. I wish the pictures were better though.