eternal_newbie

While we're on the topic of eBay search software, FatFingers (and Eaby for Android users) is also useful for finding misspellings that might otherwise go unfound in a typical search (e.g. "samauri sword" or "kattana").

From a purely tech support perspective, based on a cursory glance at the registration form (I registered with them a while ago but didn't have any problems): Check your email spam box to make sure they didn't actually register you but just failed to display the confirmation. Check the inputs you are entering to ensure that they are all within the restrictions (less than x characters, more than x characters etc). Try changing the userID you are trying to register with as it may already be in use. Make sure you are only using digits in the phone number field. Make sure you're not using an invalid date (e.g. 31st September). If you're using any special characters in your password, try replacing them with numbers and/or letters (some sites only allow alphanumeric passwords). Only do this if nothing else works as it makes your account less secure! Also, the most widely accepted password lengths online seems to be between 6 and 12 characters, so if yours is longer or shorter you could try adjusting it. Edit: just thought of another one - try a different internet browser. P.S. And if you do figure it out (or someone else provides the answer), the etiquette for asking for technical help online is to make sure you post the result here so that a) nobody else spends time trying to help out and b) anyone searching for the problem in the future knows how to fix it.

Well, at least the account name of the seller is accurate - the "premium" part of it, anyway :lol:

A sad day indeed. His career has been one of the more interesting among the modern smiths. There is a good write-up about him and his son (now also Mukansa) in The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths.

Many Australian home & hardware stores (e.g. Bunnings) also sell it - the brand I tend to see the most is Digger's.

People using the "inevitable zombie apocalypse" to justify their sword collections always brings out the pedant in me... In the event of a zombie apocalypse where guns/bows aren't available or practical, I recommend a good yari or naginata - given most zombie plagues are spread by bodily fluids, you'd generally want the gore to be as far away from yourself as possible even in a melee. Swinging around a sword (or shortsword, if you're indoors) is practically asking to be 'turned' by wayward blood spatter after your initial display of heroics. And who'll keep those Juyo blades oiled and rust-free after you become a walking corpse? But I sense I'm wandering off-topic here, and I apologise if my glibness offends anyone :D

In Ogawa Kanekuni's case, his Sukehiro-style swords were the ones that "put him on the map" and earned him the Mukansa title. It stands to reason that his older works not in this style would be considered of lower value, as they weren't sufficient for him to gain recognition. That said, if an artist becomes famous enough, even the early works acquire a certain level of historical cachet as an example of the artist's evolution, especially by collectors of that particular artist; I doubt an early work of Masamune or Go Yoshihiro would be frowned upon in this day and age Not that I expect Ogawa Kanekuni (or any modern-day smith) to be anywhere near as highly regarded or historically significant as those two, of course...

My understanding is that swords considered suitable for iai tend to be lighter and longer, and thus more prone to breaking or bending, than those considered for batto-do/tameshigiri. Also, iai-to need a reasonable amount of curvature to facilitate the swift draw from the saya, whereas an almost-straight sword - in the style of Kanbun shinto, for example - can still suffice for tameshigiri. As Chris has noted, it goes without saying that any sword offered for iai or tameshigiri would also need to be of low enough aesthetic and historical significance to be worth the risk of destruction - even the most well trained martial arts practitioner can make a blade-ruining mistake under the right (or rather, wrong) circumstances. Outside of Japan, however, there's not much excuse to risk any historical weapon for iai or tameshigiri - if you can't afford a shinsakuto, there are numerous factory-made swords for martial arts practitioners as well as a number of Western bladesmiths whose works are as well-balanced and durable as any Nihonto (in some cases, more so).

Rather than envy, let us be relieved that this sword didn't find its way to the hands of someone just looking for a Japanese-style cutter to swing around for fun or hang on their wall, which is clearly what it was being marketed as at that price *shudder* Interestingly, as Chris pointed out, this Ogawa Kanekuni made his mark with a Sukehiro-stye toran-ba - which entailed a clean break from the Mino tradition that he had previously been working in. I imagine this would have been mildly scandalous in the rigid traditionalism of the swordmaking profession. According to "The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths" upon presenting his first toran-ba sword for competition, he was even accused of having bought the sword from another smith and signing his own name on it!

The photography and description look very similar to the komonjo (Mike Yamaguchi) listings, and if I'm not going senile, I believe he sold this exact sword a while back. There's no way to tell how many times it's changed hands since then, but at the very least, if anyone's interested in it they could shoot him a query asking if he's given permission for his photographs to be used in the listing (if he did, it would be a good sign that the auction is legit and not a scam). Note to moderators: if any of the above is against site policy in dealing with live auctions, please feel free to delete and/or add an explanation so I and others don't make the same mistake twice.

"Ko-Uda" means "early Uda", so most (good) references with information about the Uda school - such as the one posted by Jean - would include some details on the early period of the school's lifespan. Another example: http://www.nihonto.com/abtartudaschool.html Edit: I believe in this case, "early/Ko Uda" refers to the Uda school in the Kamakura and Nanbokucho eras (pre-1394 AD). Past that point it is just referred to as Uda.

Not sure how much of a difference there is in quality/size/construction (if anyone knows I'd love to learn about it), but Tokugawa Art seem to have similar paulownia katanabako at a much lower price: http://sanmei.com/contents/en-us/d23_01.html 23100 yen for a box housing a single katana vs 70000 from Namikawa Heibei Co., and they also do boxes for daisho, wakizashi and tanto.

I wonder if the data gained from this type of testing would be of any use to a modern smith, for example, trying to reproduce the steel composition in a treasured Awataguchi or Masamune blade...

Clearly Masamura is the gimei blade Doug is using in combat while his Muramasa sits safely at home!

As a relatively new collector who used the expensive "head-first" method of starting the hobby, I've noticed something - when I began, the one or two average blades that I picked up inspired a great deal of excitement, while the first two references I bought ended up collecting dust. As time went by and my tastes became more refined, I found that I grew less fond of the blades and more fond of the books, to the point where I think my collection of references and catalogues is worth as much as - if not more than - my swords! I tend to treat the Internet more as a super-index for all the literature out there to see what references would be most likely to give me the information I need. I also find that (reputable) online stores can be a surprisingly good reference if one is able to apply the right amount of skepticism and cross-referencing - as the proprietors have an interest in making their merchandise attractive, the descriptions and photography often far outstrips what you might find in a textbook, so long as you check to make sure the information is accurate. In particular, listings for blades by obscure or unpopular smiths are sometimes accompanied by a veritable torrent of information to make them more appealing to buyers, when my own limited research and expertise would usually yield nothing more than a single nondescript listing in Hawley's.

Slightly off-topic: paulb, I believe the smith that the "11 of them are fakes" comment referred to was Kotetsu. Can't remember exactly where I heard/read the original quote though...

Apologies if this is straying too far from the topic... Unfortunately a great many people - myself included - often spend far too much time thinking about what they are attempting to purchase and not enough about how they are trying to purchase it. Some reasons I have heard so far from questioning people who do this: "I'm trying to psych out bidders by showing I'm serious right from the start" (or just make them feel like the item MUST be worth getting) "I didn't realize you could raise your maximum bid" (you can) "My maximum bid would be the same no matter when I place it, so what's the difference?" (you're more likely to get it for less than your maximum if you hold out) "I'm not going to be here when the auction ends" (fair enough, but you're probably better off using an auction sniper like Gixen) "This way it shows up in my bidding history" (you know there's a watchlist, right?) and my personal favourite: "It's more exciting this way" (maybe save your $2000 and go skydiving) But yes, the best strategy is to wait until the last moment possible and put in your maximum bid, and then walk away so you don't get "caught up in the moment" and ending up paying much more than you intended - or indeed, more than you can afford. And this way you don't have to be too worried that the bid was artificially inflated, as you were always willing to spend that much and not a dollar (or your local unit of currency) more. Rohan G

This is a mass-produced Chinese sword from the lower end of the market, used for amateur tameshigiri (although I'd recommend against it, since swords like this have mass-produced, one-size-fits-all tsukas) or for people who just want to swing around or display something that looks like a samurai sword. This particular model is called the Ryumon Dragon Katana, and it retails for around the US$300 mark, less if second-hand. Information on this sword is plentiful on the Internet and a Google search on it should tell you everything you need to know about this sword being "very old" or "an original." I would not say this is a fake or a reproduction - it does not even pretend to be Japanese or a sword made by a Japanese smith, as the product logo is clearly visible on the box and on the Internet where one can find these for sale. I believe the common term for these, as used over on websites like Sword Forum International and the Sword Buyer's Guide, is "production blade," and a lower end one at that. I've heard of people who use these as decoys, so when thieves break into their house the gaudy production blade gets stolen while the treasures in plain shirasaya get ignored :lol: As others have mentioned, the box is probably the nicest thing about this sword, although I can confirm that the inlay is not silk but rather some kind of satin-esque material. I have in fact purchased one of these boxes (sans sword) from a garage sale and used it to store a real nihonto when moving house - it was far cheaper than a gun safe or even a proper Japanese sword box. -- Rohan G

Microfiber cloth is your best bet, but plain white tissue will work with a bit of effort. If you can find some, use a bit of denatured/isopropyl alcohol (99% or higher) to make sure the finger grease is completely gone. Happy new year! Rohan G

My newbie two cents' worth - a couple of other things about this blade that seem a bit off to me: * Mei seems a bit sloppily chiseled, alignment appears to be uneven and it's, well, a bit large compared to most others I've seen - it appears to take up a whole 3/4 or more of the nakago width * Nakago appears to have no taper or so little as to be unnoticeable from the photos Also, not exactly related to the blade itself, but the disparaging remarks about the seller's wife (can be found in the other listings too) are a little... off-putting :lol: Being a relative newcomer to the nihonto scene, it's possible these attributes are found on Japanese shinsakuto that I just haven't seen yet. If so, don't hesitate to correct me - always better to learn through the wisdom of one's contemporaries than to learn through the folly of one's wallet! - Rohan G