Schneeds

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

I don't have much experience or knowledge, but strictly on a basic economic level early 2021 saw the JPY at around 103 to 1 USD, compared to around 154 right now, an increase of around 48%. I was able to track the sales history of some swords I was interested in recently (with some help) and the prices only marginally increased over the past few years, essentially keeping with inflation as Brian noted above. So on a basic level, your dollar will go a lot farther now. That being said, I think it is only a good time to buy if 1) you would otherwise be in the market for a sword anyway (i.e. you have discretionary funds available and set aside), 2) you know what you want and why you want it, 3) what you want is available and in the condition you want it in, and 4) the price is reasonably within range of comparable offerings across the market. If answer to those is yes, then you will either save a decent chunk of money, or get a finer specimen than you might have earlier in the decade

I just realized the font in Connoisseur's is so similar between h and b my brain never realized the change. Thank you.

Thank you! I wasn't sure if it is called futatsu ji-hi or soe-hi

Thank you, Lewis! It's a fun school to research from beginning origins to the end. I remember reading a post by Darcy explaining the multiple attributions the NBTHK uses for the Shizu line to someone, and the ways the lower 3 can leap frog; I had to read it multiple times just to understand what he was saying!

I have indeed read it I guess I just meant compared to some of the other big Soshu names it seemed like they fly under the radar, relatively speaking. I thought the Naoe Shizu chapter in the Soshu Den Masterpieces book was excellent.

After spending the better part of the last year learning and studying, (and getting a ton of help, advice and insight from members here) I finally figured out what I wanted and acquired my first blade. I had it narrowed down to two schools, with Naoe Shizu being the winner. For my budget, this one stood out in particular for its Soe-hi (I think that's the term) and jigane. It is certainly not flawless, but the polish is decent and what really drew me to it was the period, and sheer physicality of it. TH Naoe Shizu Nagasa 70.3 cm Motohaba 3.1 cm Kasane 6.5-5.6 cm Shinogi .87 cm Weight 785g Despite the typical 70.3 cm and slightly wide 3.1cm motohaba, it feels absolutely massive in hand; like I could split a vehicle in half. That might be a poor thing to judge a blade on, but it sure feels good. I don't have a macro lens so had to do the best I could with a wide angle. Some day I will pick up a Sigma 105 and do this justice. PS: that's not a hagire in the boshi; just struggled with even lighting and didn't notice until I took my setup down Hopefully it is a worthy first acquisition!

85% is horrific. Imagine being told the new car you just ordered has a 15% of being stolen. I had no idea shipping overseas was this perilous. Do dealers typically undervalue the insurance?

I think your pictures with the dark background are quite good, especially for a cellphone. Well done.

I can't say for certain with swords, but in general with high price niche items when thieves know what they have, they are looking for in person sales and will travel quite a ways for it. I once had a guy stealing John Deere GPS units and traveling all over the Midwest to sell them. A suspicious buyer finally led us to him.

Some jurisdictions require and maintain pawnshop databases for sales. If USPS is confident it's missing out of Salt Lake you could call their PD and ask if they have the ability to search pawn shops. Most cops I know would put in some effort for a stolen antique weapon. I would also start checking local FB and Craigslist ads for that area. And Ebay. USPS has their own investigative agency, but I wouldn't hold my breath there. Edit: I just realized this happened in May. That's a pretty big time lapse. When did USPS become aware it was stolen?

Naoe Shizu in this case, so sort of a Yamato relative The existence of the ware doesn't bother me nearly as much as the fact I can't find it in any of the sellers scans or images, despite image enhancement. I guess it could be hidden by contrast. We live and we learn.

Koto, Nanbokucho. Both images are the same flaw, with direct and indirect lighting. Trying to decide how big an issue it is.

Kitae-ware, yaki-ware? It is mostly above the hamon, but does extend a bit into it. I cannot tell if that is an open layer from a fold, or a crack from tampering. Or maybe neither? Any thoughts appreciated.

I browse that site pretty often. They are definitely using a low contrast, diffused lighting setup but they do that for every blade so I think it's just a chosen method/preference as opposed to trying to be deceitful. Some blades it probably does a disservice to actually. If I had to guess they're reducing the clarity and texture filters as well in Photoshop to give it that soft look. It makes it pretty hard to judge the blades, at least for a newbie like me. Below are examples of some sites that I think have high quality photography. https://swordsofjapan.com/ https://www.owazamono.com/fine-swords https://eirakudo.shop/ http://world.seiyudo.../?orderby=price-desc

That's kind of like saying a c8 Z06 isn't a nice car because you own a Ferrari. There's a multitude of reasons to like a historic weapon.

I recently obtained a copy of the Soshu-Den Masterpieces book. I love it. If I could have one book, it would be a guide/book on how to identify quality across the Gokaden, with photography and quality on par with the Soshu-Den Masterpieces book. It would contain macro, fine art photography comparisons of works by each school and smith, and explain why one muemei blade might be attributed the high ranking/founder smith's name, while the blade next to it merely the school. I think that would be very beneficial to beginning collectors, and probably very interesting to veterans as well. To your point Christian, I think both styles of photography are very valuable and have their place. Digital photography is, by default, an interpretation. You either shoot in jpeg and the internal software of the camera shows you what it thinks you're seeing, or you shoot in RAW and you have to edit it, which is again an interpretation. Kirill's photography shows you everything that is there, past what you might be able to see with your naked eye. Your style shows you what you can expect to see if you simply hold the blade in your hand under a light in a room. I think both are helpful in evaluating a blade and I wish more dealers would showcase using both. I prefer the fine art simply because it looks cool and I'm a photography nerd.

I don't know anything, but here's some more information on Kanemichi: Does that 2 million yen the seller referenced perhaps refer to the smith being rated 2 million yen?

Sokendo doesn't actually have an online inventory do they? As far as I can tell I've clicked every link on the Japanese and English sites.

When a blade is suriage, how do you judge the hamachi? The smith can rework the nakago however they see fit and create a new hamachi at whatever depth they choose, can't they?

What do you think of this Naoe Shizu compared to the first one? It is from the same seller; a fair bit of a cost increase though. The Nagasa is nearly identical length. To me the jiagne is more of a standout on this one with well defined pattern and there is more to appreciate since there are no hi present, but I also thought the hi went well with the first blade. The hamon I am unsure.

You're referring to the angle of the yokote? If it wasn't obvious, I'm not looking at this like a Juyo candidate. My budget range is nowhere near Juyo Here's a composite of two of the images of the same side of the kissaki, adjusted for a 180 degree plane. The yokote angle is substantially different, even in relation to the mune edge. Maybe they're using a wide angle lens and not using distortion correction or it's the angle the image is taken in relation to the blade? When I do the composite for the other side there's a difference, but it's not as extreme. Without seeing it in person I don't think it will be possible to know one way or the other. But now I'm not scrutinizing the yokote of every blade I look at so that's good

Ah ok, thank you. It's tough to identify things like that as a beginner especially knowing the effect lighting can have. Here's the original image set and I took the liberty of balancing out the exposure and contrast. They heavily side-lit the blade from the right to bring out the texture so there's only so much I can do. I think I see what you mean but it seems minimal and not unpleasing.

Where is there core steel visible? The little oval defect in the bottom of the hi? or referring to the other blade I posted above that is tired?