kusunokimasahige

makes me shiver to think i have to put my earlobe between the split of the saya and then let it release hahahahahahaha... any rice preferred? sushi rice? broken rice? pandan? KM

what age does it have? KM

LOL!!! spreading your business that is called! :lol: KM (btw i dont think the image on this Kozuka has anything to do with any god, more like any parabel about a guy and a fish....)

Ah thank you for that info! I did not know that wood-glue (the white goo) did that!! i use it on furniture, model aeroplanes etcetera... anyway my replica sword is chromed zink alloy so it wont rust... i wouldnt put my Nihonto in the scabbard though.... is there any way of making rice glue yourself? or are there any vendors? KM

you might find this terrible, but i do have a fairly well done replica katana at my house on which the saya also split at the same place. now of course this was no antique so i removed the sword, put a small wooden wedge in the saya carefully untill the split was opened to about 2.5 to 3 millimeters. then I took simple and plain wood-glue and put a thin layer on each side of the split. I then pushed the two halves together (by rubber band/clamps) and removed all excess glue after which I repainted the split side with Urushi. all in all its hardly visible. Now I dont know how old your saya is but its a way. KM

can you try to make a tang rubbing? like you rub an image of a coin onto a paper....... put the tang under a sheet of paper, and slide over it with a charcoal pen like painters use or a soft tipped pencil...... KM

Dear mr Stein Sensei, I will pray to the Kami to guide you in this very difficult time. From your e-mail i too sense the severity, and having lived myself through the actions of the Oni who struck both my parents with their illness which they fought very hard but with little result, your letter hits me deeply. Your site has been and will remain an inspiration to all of us, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart since without your site i would not have learned so much in so little time. Ganbatte Kure, and may Amaterasu Omikami intervene to let your light shine for many years longer. KusunokiMasahige H.J.Vrielink Leiden Netherlands

copper/brass/bronze with silver solder perhaps? KM

maybe a strange question but doesnt the copper insert come loose? how do they attach it? do they stick the nakago in the tsuba and hammer their way around it to make it fit? KM

hello John, Namikawa i do not know, but thank you for the namae! i just looked on their site! domo arigato gozarimasu! KM

Thank you! as I know Trevor reasonably well, i already contacted him but unfortunately this section is still closed... I however keep looking and also hope someone on this forum with good connections in Japan could help me out...... KM

thanx waynes! nice links! and very helpful!! now i still need to find egawa and lace for my gusoku.... KM

Hello all, I am looking for online sellers wof the above mentioned things since i want to try and re-tsuka my sword myself, and also am in the midst of restoring a Do and its Kusazuri. I have great difficulty to find suppliers of Egawa (printed leather), which i need, as well as the proper silk (or non-silk) lacing. also i would like info on how to make a saya yourself. I have found a very good Urushi course in Amsterdam, which i might one day attend with various armour parts and / or saya.. any info on restauration supplies is most welcome! thanx in advance, KM

Well... tsuba looks real (maybe Milt can add to this) Seppa near habaki looks WWII gunto. fuchi/kashira on tsuka looks real, as well as the tsuka itself including the menuki. saya i do not know about. blade imho is a fake. best wishes, KM

If you look closely at your fittings and compare them to the ones on the site you showed us, and to a lot of newer replicas not made by artisans with a thorough understanding of the materials they work with you can see a very big difference. the only ones making fittings that nice these days are almost all based in Japan, but i believe one of our forum members is also VERY good in making fuchi/kashira and tsuba! your fittings and tsuba seem legit to me, however the blade seems not to be, nor its habaki.. however to be certain i would try to post some extra pictures of the tsuba and fuchi/kashira. best wishes, KM

Personally i would never touch anything made by someone not using the proper techniques or not having been trained by a proper gendai smith... not even for Iaido or Katori...... I like swords, not cutters........ that is why i rather practice with a proper gendaito in stead of anything in which in my view is fake, whatever high grade steel they use...... KM

http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/paul- ... words.html you can find some reviews here.. KM

I also have the feeling this is indeed a Paul Chen blade.... however the fittings are very nice and original in my view...... KM

Darcy, i cant seem to take good photoghraphs.... sorry but as soon as i have more info i will post it! KM

a question for you Simon, which sport do you think is most useful in self defense? Iaido Kendo or Katori Shinto Ryu ? i dont have the money yet but one day i would love to be able to do all, including Kyudo/Yabusame.... since i would love to have a full Samurai training....... KM

anyone on this forum who was "In country" when they were young? KM

not that i am aware of, however if you really want to dive into history i would most certainly visit the Chu Chi museum with its VC tunnels, Da Nang, Saigon and all places where there have been battles... have a lovely trip! KM

same here... ganbatte kure to everyone!! KM

Thank you Brian, well nothing has been done to the Gunto Saya yet so rest assured, its still an idea... cleaning the fittings like any normal soldier would have done back then is in my opinion not that bad, and i must say i like the shirasaya idea, and displaying the gunto saya with it too.... there isa however not much left of the hilt, no wrap, no bindings and old sticky tape around the wood to keep it from dalling apart.. KM

Thank you Rich for your comment, Of course I understand these swords and their scabbards have a history on them, also the WWII ones, however in this case, since the blade is definetely quite a lot older than the military saya, i want the blade to have its proper encasing one day. Also, since WWII mountings are not that uncommon nor expensive, IMHO restoring the blade into its proper Samurai setting by having koshirae especially made is much more important for it's kami than restoring the blades second world war Gunto mountings. I personally think the kami of older swords used in the second world war, as well as the spirits of the ancient bushi who used them long before, were very much insulted by their WWII users having nothing to do whatsoever with the ancestral bushi of the past, nor with the honourable code of bushido which was trampled upon ever since the Meiji restoration. now while that might strike you as a nutty opinion, i merely want to express my respect for this blade. I do not like Gunto mountings nor anything post Meiji that much, but i do adhere to the fact that history should be preserved in some ways. Well since there are far better and more beautiful examples of Gunto swords in existence, changing this one does not strike me as that bad... best wishes, KM