kusunokimasahige

I do like the idea of this new organisation in Japan, also the Tokugawa patronage.. but I am wondering who of the Hon'ami family is still living and is appraising swords, and if at all for any organisation... To me personally a sword appraised by a true scholared Hon'ami family member (Yes i mean traceable genetic lineage) who admires it and tells you its probable story rather than just a name and some points, in exchange for a cup of tea or a meal, or even a nice scroll or other gift, has far more value than a paper with a photo and some number punched in it by whichever organistion of people who, out of exclusivity appear to have the arrogance to ask loads of money for their services, papers, photos, memberships and what have you, and even demand the donation of YOUR sword if it is valuable enough, in exchange for a life long membership... With that remark though i do not want to insult anyone studying the sword, admiring it, and sharing their knowledge for free. Its just my opinion about certain goings on in the world of Nihon-to which strike me as perculiar... And yes, maybe one day i will put a sword through shinsa, maybe not, who knows... however, what i do not like is the overly submissive behaviour towards some masters on those events by some people who do not get the message that a paper is just an opinion. Its the same i have seen in some budo sports. That is why i never wanted to acquire any grade or standing unless absolutely nessecary, since it takes away the focus of what things really are about..from a Zen point of view. " The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances. Atisha " KM

PM Sent KM

http://members.chello.nl/tfujimot/ is his Dutch link.. I wrote him an email asking for his adress since the only thing i find on his site is a postal code somewhere in Amsterdam... KM

Want me to check him out? since he is in the Netherlands.. KM

Seems it has been over polished... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... otohosting KM

They are, but sometimes they serve as a warning to newbies.. KM

And of course : "the scabbard is solid iron hand carved... " KM

Actually... to test whether its real paint you can also put water on the print and start smearing the pic with your fingers... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: KM BTW for the price of a Kunitoshi you could also get one of these!! http://www.cascade-crest.com/teahouse.html

Previously unseen and unheard of, it has hit e-bay! Scholars all around the world are in amazement about this new type of Wakizashi.. http://cgi.ebay.com/HAND-MADE-SAMURAI-S ... 286.c0.m14 KM

SECvNDvM A VICTORIA , PANGO GALEA STABILIS was what an online English to Latin translator came up with.. LOL KM

Thats not a sword, its a monster!! WOW KM

Rather the smell of Sake...... KM great to hear all your views on this!!

Okay we all know that there is a lot of talk concerning papers on here, and that some swords are attributed to one smith or another... Now....... A Smith in 1579 makes great swords... he makes a daisho for a Samurai and the Samurai takes really good care of them.... centuries later, the Daisho is split up somehow and the Katana goes to Shinsa.. it gets tokubetsu hozon, or even Juyo rating.... The Wakizashi is years later submitted to Shinsa somewhere else... It gets a Gimei qualification... and a pink slip What no one knew... Was the fact the Smith after a night of heavy sake drinking was feeling rather sickly.. hence when signing the wakizashi the carving showed a lot of mistakes...... So arent we all attesting too much value on Papers in stead of admiring the swords for what they really are...? beautiful works of art? I mean, i could imagine submitting a sword to two different shinsa and getting two different opinions....... KM

Hang on James... how did u manage to change the pic in his listing without his password ? wow i must be getting rusty! KM

Darn you did it again Milt! what a fantastic painting!!! KM

Great pic! though in this case it should have said: Ame Ko..... Also a good idea to use that device to dry out your suit!! Ian, great information!! We also use the wearing technique on our mail and sometimes we just put it in a bag with a thin layer of very fine grit sand and shake the entire hamata around, that also takes care of most of the rust... the segmentatae we just sand and oil, as well as our helmets, and often we polish them too, but not with very abbrasive stuff.. (the Brasso/Silvo Community LoL) then we oil it, often with WD-40 because we did try olive oil, but it tends to attract more dust and rust than it keeps away.. (hence the use of this type of oil in Roman bath houses) my own gusoku which I am still restorating is quite rusty in the lamellar deparment, probably an early 19th century one.. I gor it fairly cheap because of the bad state it was in.. The Do halves are not that bad, they seem to be lacquered with some kind of thick paste containing ground oyster shells and urushi, which was painted gold afterwards.. only problem there is that on the back two pieces broke off but i still have those and could re-attach them. Also still working on a zunari kabuto withhout shikoro (probably 17th century), with contemporary repairs done to it, but that needs the total removal of the left over urushi and relaquering. it has been outside if i look at the inside of it closely, a puddle mark can clearly be seen.. need to redo the shikoro (ie make them from iron) and get some lacing for the entire suit... including the replica menpo.. Maedate i will make myself from various bits i collected over the years including real deer antler i got once... (a young deer's antler hahaha not the massive and very heavy ones) I use two O-Yoroi type shoulder plates of which Anthony Briant and Stephen Turnbull told me they could well have been used mixed with the Do.. heres the deplorable state it was in last year.. the finished suit will definetely be posted if i succeed... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/ ... GE_103.jpg Only downside is i cannot seem to find proper and affordable sheets of e-Gawa and dont know suppliers apart from Toraba who does not often have this kind of stuff.. KM PS Piers same here... We can fire a real gun (flintlock and also / matchlock) from the era but we are not allowed to own replicas unless we have a full firearms permit.

SAAAAAAAH the recognition!! we displayed with the Ermine Street Guard several times in the drenching rain and since Chris Haines (Centurio) and the Optiones shouted: "Romans dont mind a little rain now do they" we held our displays...... only inside the testudo, with the clattering para para of ame, were we a little more comfortable.... the downside being our Lorica Segmentatae and Hamatae getting wet.. plate armour and mail does rust since its made of the same material the Romans made it of.. so that meant in the end of the day we were polishing, polishing and polishing...... We do rust!! do I read correctly you use the antique stuff?? yaikes!! of course Japan probably has the same strict gun laws as we have here in the Netherlands... so Teppo replicas might be out of the question i dont know... Poor lacing..... funny thing is our composite bows and ballistae/scorpiones do work even in the rain... but drying them is a ...... I like the anachronism of you with the digicam while the audience takes pictures hahaha.. We once had a phone go off during a display..... OOPS!! Well heres some fun for anyone not understanding re-enactment...: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=L4IS4OwOk ... re=related PS Piers, you should get over here one day, or the UK so we can have a Pint !! (if I ever make it to Japan ill be sure to pay your lot a visit!!)

Ooh definetely Carlo! especially the ancient Yamato/Uji artefacts ! I also like the examples i have in the book of the old helmet and armour pieces they found, which prove the Haniwa to be not at all far fetched!! So special to see cheek-pieces also applied! i have studied the evolvement of Ancient Roman armour and equipment so its always interesting to see the Aziatic variants!! KM

ANO NE BAKA RRROO! split this topic please! open a new topic about polishing in stead of making my thread look foul! KM

anyone ever tried to construct meteorites from swords? :lol: KM

To the original poster. Never mess with a blade........ I think you mean Nick and not me... KM

Thats great to hear Piers!! hopefully you were allowed to make a few photos... I have one sword book in my posession which is in Japanese with some really old blades in it... it is the catalogue of the 1976 Special Exhibition of Japanese Arms and Armour from the Tokyo National Museum. here are two pictures out of that book: PS Piers, any re-enactment pics of last weekend? I guess you are portraying an ashigaru Teppo unit? KM

If this knit bitting is going on much longer id like this thread to be closed... The question was not about using lemon juice but about the wakizashi repair and any other sword repairs be it or not, contemporary. KM

True, indeed thats a flaw in the investigations, furthermore a sword hit/cut and even a yari thrust would be clearly visible on the skeletal remains.. cf a Roman ballista bolt in a Brittannic tribesman's skull and a bolt wedged in his spine: Of course with the Japanese sensitivity about human remains in an archaeological context we cannot be sure of any thesis unless properly investigated and described. Would be interesting to see wether the Nose mound has anything to offer but probably it will never be excavated and its highly likely nothing remains of the Korean noses buried there during Hideyoshi's campaign.. KM

Nick, sorry but you are wrong there.. it DOES harm a blade ! If u send it to a Togishi afterwards it might be repaired... or he might just refuse to... KM