eternal_newbie

Funnily enough swords are probably the thing I've had the least problem bringing in (apart from the inevitable customs/GST dues) - probably because I get the sender to mark the full value on the shipping material, and they don't want to be the ones getting docked if it gets damaged! On the other hand, here are some things that have somehow triggered red flags at customs: A large pack of handkerchiefs. These were opened, unwrapped and rewrapped individually, and a "Customs was here" leaflet inserted. My sister's theory is that they suspected the fabric might have been impregnated with drugs of some kind... Two sword books from Japan. Maybe they were expecting naughty manga and were disappointed to see oshigata An MP3 player (back when your phone couldn't do that for you) A box of Harry Potter novels for a young cousin (seriously, why so suspicious of books...) A very short, very heavy faux-shinai for indoor suburi. This one I sort of understand, given that it looks like bamboo. However they have (thankfully) heavily relaxed the rules for food in your luggage - our tiny, understaffed airports simply couldn't cope with 4 in 5 travelers going through the "Declare" line because of a bag of chocolates or a sandwich from the plane.

If nobody bought it in the auction, they may have found an in-store buyer for it. Otherwise, it will probably reappear with a non-auction fixed price later.

My guess is that it's a clerical error on their end - the description itself doesn't mention anything about the sword being suitable for iai, which Aoi Art typically does whenever a blade is listed (and just about all such blades in the past have had koshirae included).

As always, the first and foremost rule of getting a sword for iai is "ask your sensei" A blade that might be fine for a Jikiden iaidoka who's 5' 10" might not be for a Shinden iaidoka who's 5' 10", and so on... I do agree with John and Rayhan that I'd prefer something that already has an iai koshirae. In addition, blades used for budo have a slightly different polish to those meant for appreciation - I suspect the polish on this one would be the latter. The price is also an issue - compare it to some of the swords here in the similar length range with full koshirae: http://www.e-sword.jp/iai.htm

There's also a decent range of modern iai swords in that price range here, updated fairly regularly: http://www.e-sword.jp/iai.htm The advantage (aside from being less controversial) is that these would have been mounted especially for iai, and so the koshirae would probably hold up better to repeated use in a dojo. Also worth noting, when Aoi feel a blade and koshirae is suitable for iai or batto practice, they will mention it in a note on the listing (along the lines of "We recommend this blade to you for iai"). The note isn't present on this one...

I concur with Donny - this was well done and much appreciated. Looking forward to poring over them in great detail when time permits. Cheers, Rohan

Hi Paul, I believe this is the thread you were looking for: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21341-national-treasure-swords-and-koshirae-of-Japan/ Can't wait to see what eventuates, and definitely interested in getting a copy (A3 or A4) of my own!

I saw that one too, but it was the koshirae that drew my attention - in particular, that three-piece tsuba is something I personally haven't seen before (well, either it's a three-piece tsuba or those are the most epic seppa I've ever encountered!) https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-uno-shin-15-mai-tanren-bizen-kuni-jyunin-ichiryushi-nagamitsu-saku

Steve - all I can think of is that the mei was either preserved, or fraudulently added to increase the value, when shortening the blade but the signature didn't convince the NBHTK - it would then have been removed in order to pass Hozon.

Very nice indeed. I like the koshirae too...

In case anyone's interested, I've done a bit of research on this scroll and Morita-san's very helpful translations, and here's what I've got so far (assuming that it's not gimei or a reproduction): A - Hawk, pine and sparrow by Kano Isen'in Naganobu (1775-1828) Son of Kano Yosen'in Korenobu; succeeded his father as seventh-generation head of the Kobikicho branch of the Kano school. Granted the rank of hogen ('Eye of the Law') in 1802, and was subsequently further elevated to the highest hoin ('Seal of the Law') rank in 1816, which is reflected in his mei here. More information about Kano Naganobu: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=139768 B - Family of chickens by Kano Seisen'in Osanobu (1796-1846) Son of Kano Isen'in Naganobu; succeeded his father as eighth-generation head of the Kobikicho Kano. Was a firm believer in the importance of the classics and made a great many copies of classical Japanese and Chinese works. Granted the rank of hogen in 1819, and hoin in 1834. More information about Kano Osanobu: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=145043 C - Bird (dove?) on a branch by Kano Tan'en Morinao (1795-1866 or 1805-1853*) The eldest son of Kano Tanshin Morimichi of the Kajibashi Kano. He was granted the rank of hogen, presumably sometime after this collaboration. Other than that, I can't find much about this artist at all from English sources - and that much, I got from listings of some of his paintings on eBay. * The sources disagree on the dates - a number of eBay listings have Tan'en as 1805-1853, but Louis Frederic's Japan Encyclopedia has him as 1795-1866. D - Crows in a tree by Kano Dotei Takanobu (1807-1878) Son of Kano Tokinobu. Became the seventh generation head of the Saruyamachi Kano family. His pupils include Takahashi Yuichi (1838-1894) and Iwahashi Noriaki (1835-1883). Other than that, I can't find anything online. Virtually all of the search results are for the considerably more renowned Kano Takanobu (1573-1615) but the birth dates of the other artists in this collaboration exclude him as a possibility. E - Pigeons in wisteria tree by Kano Tosen Nakanobu (1811-1871) Fifth son of Kano Isen'in Naganobu (and therefore brother to Seisen'in). Was later adopted by Kano Yusen, one of the head artists of the Hamamachi Kano, and became a goyo-eshi (painter-in-residence) at the court of the Shogun. More information about Kano Nakanobu - http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=145513 All in all, this looks like a nice little representative snapshot of the Kano school as it was in the mid-to-late 1820s (Tosen would have been 9 years old in 1819 and Isen'in passed away in 1828) - from the leading artists at the very top of the school to the promising young talent who would have just come of age as painters. I'm not sure if there's any significance as to the subjects of the paintings or the little shapes that border each painting - if anyone believes there is, please let me know your thoughts!

Looks like a most worthwhile endeavour! I would also be interested in accessing them, thanks!

Thanks for that Randy - I hadn't considered that the country of origin might be an issue since Australia is usually on the "good books" of other Western nations.

As some of you will know, I've been liquidating quite a bit of my collection. So far, everything I've sent overseas has been received OK, but one parcel sent to Canada arrived at the post facility in Vancouver almost two weeks ago and has had no further update, and the buyer is quite understandably getting a bit concerned. Furthermore, shortly after sending that parcel, I sent the buyer another one and it too has not arrived! There weren't any blades or otherwise questionable items in there so I'm hoping it's not something to do with Customs. Has anyone else here experienced problems with the Canadian Post service or experienced similarly long delays? There's not much I can do on my end other than offer the buyer a refund and hope that the parcels either make their way back to me or the buyer is ethical enough to re-pay me if they do eventually get delivered. I've done a bit of searching online and noticed a few other (non-Nihonto) complaints of a similar nature in the last few weeks and was wondering if anyone else here was affected. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=339809&tstart=0 https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.canadapost.ca

http://sanmei.com/contents/en-us/d23_01.html

There's also the Sword Buyer's Guide forum (the parent site also has a number of resources about identifying Chinese-made swords and how to handle them): https://sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/

Another suggestion - if you do want a nihonto to use for practice, there is a very nice modern nihonto in the Bizen style available on this board: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21958-bizen-masashiro-shinsakuto/ It has already been used for practice and cutting so there is no harm in you doing the same. There's also several other "working samurai" swords available at this retailer, which gets updated semi-regularly: http://www.e-sword.jp/iai.htm

One thing a few people seemed to have missed is this bit: I dont plan on cutting with it, but i want to buy as if i will. I DRIVE my hotrods... in the rain, in the snow. They are cars. Cars drive. I dont intend on cutting with a true nihonto, but it IS a sword. Its a weapon after all is said and done. I want the best i can afford. I will likely do at least some practice with it... suburi, etc. I would suggest you aim for something a little newer, rather than a mounted work from the Edo or Koto period. Speaking from a martial arts perspective, even if you're careful and skilled, accidents happen - and all it takes is one slip-up to irreversibly damage a nihonto. If you'll forgive me for being a little blunt, if you want to stay on the "good books" of most of the people worth knowing in this community, you're going to have to work out whether an older, highly rated maker (sai-jo saku or wazamono) is more important to you than being able to use the sword for practice - or be prepared to invest enough money to buy one sword for appreciation and one for daily use. One option would be to purchase your highly rated wazamono sword, mounted for use, and then have an iai-to (for example, http://www.tozandoshop.com/Minosaka-Brand-Basic-Iaito-p/016-s100.htm) customised to match the size and weight of the sword for practicing with. This way you don't risk damaging the sword in practice, but know more or less how it would feel in the hand if you were to use it that way. Other than that, I concur with Grey's advice - be patient, learn what exactly you like and why. Us newer collectors are fortunate to "come of age" in an era when information - and more importantly, high-res pictures - of nihonto are plentiful and easy to find no matter where you live or who you know. Use that to your advantage before plonking down a 4-digit sum on a centuries-old piece of history. Good luck!

Can't speak for others, but personally, I don't do anything to a tosogu box that I wouldn't do to a shirasaya.

Thanks Lee - I hadn't considered a tanto kashira since it's larger than all the katana-sized kashira I have, but a different koshirae style could explain it. I'll look around on the internet to see if I can find similar examples.

While taking inventory of all the items that I can sell off to fund my pursuit of Juyo, I found a strange little brass tosogu that I got as part of a bulk lot. It's pictured on the left here: http://members.iinet.net.au/~rjgengath/MiscItems/tosogu_03.JPG http://members.iinet.net.au/~rjgengath/MiscItems/tosogu_04.JPG I remember it being described as a kashira, but comparing it with a similar kashira (on the right) it's much deeper, has a curved base, and the hitsu-ana seems too small for regular ito. The hitsu-ana's size also rules it out from being a kurikata, unless you're using a shoelace as a sageo. It looks like the right size and shape to be a kojiri, but then why the hitsu-ana? Anyone know what this might be?

Also, even if your home environment is 100% humidity free (which I doubt, unless you live in the Sahara) - you still need to breathe, and your breath contains moisture. So unless you're holding your breath or wearing a gas mask every time you view a blade - chances are the rust will set in. Depending on your environment you may not need to re-oil for a year instead of every 3 months - but the oil should still be there when you're not actively viewing the blades.

Thanks Piers, I'll see what I can dig up!

Hello all, I'm trying to find a translation for a mei (at least, I think it's a mei) on the back of a kozuka. It's one of the items from my collection for sale at Grey Doffin's website and can be viewed (or bought) here: http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/nara-collection/r142-kotsuka-crows-and-waves In addition to the photos on Grey's site I managed to dig up a larger photo of the mei in question: Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rohan

Save the sake for yourself - 99.95% or higher ispropyl alcohol (or isopropanol) and a microfibre cloth will work just fine. Whatever you don't get with the cloth will evaporate before any rust can set in, and then you can apply the thin coat of oil.