Hawley

New kantei is online .......and my answer is already send.

if someone is serious interested in ......get in contact with Mr.Hoppen. If someone only want some pictures....there is a catalogue "Schwerter des Nihonto Club Deutschland" from Markus Sesko, published by "Books on Demand GmbH. ISBN : 978-3-8423-3868-5 In this catalogue you find the swords. Edit: the catalogue

a waste of time and money......

Done

Very good film ...nice to see that didn't just show only the technique also they show the human and all the problems behind this craft.

Like Barry write Keep this mind. They need time for doing a good work and you are not the only one who give them a order. I have to wait 4,5 years for polish made by a mukansa polisher including shirasaya. The work was absolutely perfect made.

The shijo-kantei no 760 is online ! Come on boys.....fill out the answer and show them that you are interested in keep this online-kantei-game alive !

A big "Thank you" to Pete Klein for sharing this ! And also a big "Thank you" to Markus for this very interesting story behind the tsuba.

Thanks to all god , demons and to the force ......... NBTHK arrives in the modern world.....whow. Also thanks to you , Wim , for this information.

Get my items yesterday.....and iam very happy that everything went nice and smooth.

PM send ....

Does someone see, or know the price for the book ?

@ Octaviano Sorry, for the stupid question ....... where can you see " Ayasugi Hada" in the ji-hada of this sword ?

Any simple digital camera, no matter which brand is suitable to take such pictures. It should only have a manual mode. So exposure, shutter speed should be manually adjustable.

I always use a tripond for the camera. My Camera is a old Minolta Dimage F300 and all pictures were taken in manual mode. Exposure, shutter speeds can be set individually. The pictures were taken in an absolutely dark room with only one light source. A single spot, not a tube. The light source should be adjustable. Then you can either take pictures in the reflection or you light the blade at a flat angle. This can prevent unwanted reflections. Depending on what you want to show. Sometimes less light is better than too much. Two examples in the pictures. It is the same blade with different lighting. The rest is a matter of practice and patience. That is sufficient for details ...... it is a completely different number to photograph the entire blade. Edit : Ah ... almost forgotten: All pictures were taken without Photoshop!

in the red marked area you see white spots in the Hamon ! That mean to me that the spots can´t be tobiyaki. That was the reason why i write that it might be possible that someone use agressive oil and damage the surface. And here is a exampel of a blade where the owner tell me that he use WD40 for conservation .........the result is terribel ! I have see this blade absolut clean , without these white areas 6 Month bevor by the previous owner. But .....these are just my two cent´s

That is the result if someone use the wrong oil ! Especially in Germany many people think that the cheap WD40 is good for conservation of steel! It is not ! In this oil some aggressive elements etch the surface and the result is you have these white , blind looking spots on the surface.

PM send for the Higo Fuchi Kashira !

Is the Tsuba in the EU located?

It is absolutely no problem for a skilled togishi to bring out the structure in the steel. It was done in the past several times. The last one I see it was on a wootz dagger blade polished by Dr.Stefan Mäder, if my information was right. But Ruben is right, the Look is more subtle. Not so black and white like it comes from acid.

Japanese Swordsmith Revised by Hawley is a book with a listing about 32000 smith.(taken from the website of Grey Doffin) How many smith are really existed......who knows. Ok, let's play a little bit.......one Smith make 12 swordblades in one year. After 20 years he had make 240 blades........one smith ! Today , the government in Japan say that a Smith is allowed to make two long swords per month or three short swords. Result is after 20 years 440 longswords or 720 short swords. In the book "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" we can read that Tsuda Sukehiro produced a extraordinary number of 1620 blades in 25 years. That mean 5 blades per month ! Ok....now I say 1 blade per month, 12 blades per year, 240 blades after 20 years and now I start fantasize ,with 32000 smith (after Hawley) ......we have 7680000 ! Take the limitation from our time (two long blades per month)....15360000 !..... .........(three short blades per month) ...23040000 !, I know that this is not a serious way ....and it is not a answer to the question :How many swords exist (from ancient time until now)......nobody knows how many swords have been destroyed....but is it really absolutely impossible to talk from a estimation about 20 million blades ? I think....... why not?

That was a estimate number and the opinion of Mr. Kremers. What is your opinion ? The original question was : How many Japanese swords, from acient time until now, exist? Have you got a better number ?

PM send

Edit

Also very positive experience with them. Friendly, fast , reliable and in my opinion good prices.