Bruno

Thanks for the links Brian. Actually I had already read them before posting. All are about Takayama-to and some about Masanao, but no info about the smith himself. I compared his mei with the other known Takayama smith Hattori Masahiro. There are some similarities but can't tell if they are nakirishi mei or even the same person. Still digging...

Hi guys, I am looking for infos about Takayama smith Masanao. I believe his first name is Ishihara. He made many of the Takayama-to from what I saw online but a part from that I did not find any other reliable infos on him. Was he a fully traditional trained tosho or did he make only showa-to? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I second Klaus. Mark is very helpful and patient with his customers. Super fast shipping too. I am very pleased to have bought "hard to find" Type 3 fittings from Mark. Will buy again.

Thanks Neil! Quite happy to see a star stamped gendaito without the double chuho buttons. I am looking for a scabbard for my RJT Masamichi, and the single button version is much easier to find. When you wrote scabbard color is salmon pink, you meant it is a different color than the usual light brown one we used to see? I would be glad to have detailed photos of each parts if you don't mind. Tsuka, scabbard color , kuchigane, fuchi, menuki, ito etc... No need to rush, take your time. BTW, I am aware that a matching scabbard is hard to find, but with double buttons it is almost impossible.

When buffed, 100% of the original polish is gone so not nice. Impossible to tell wether it is showato or gendaito. It will cost $3000 to have a new polish. That being said, if the price is significantly low, you can still buy it.

Hey Neil, Out of curiosity, may you tell me if your scabbard has a chuho button on the kuchigane, or only on the fuchi? Thanks

Buffed blade I would not buy it. It is an old debate but a blade is considered nihonto as long as it has been forged in the traditional way from A to Z. Some nihonto were not made with tamahagane.

Put good mineral gun oil on the nakago and wrap it with cellophane. Wait a few days, then gently tap the nakago with a mallet. It should remove the active rust without damaging anything. You can repeat this process several times. A part from than I would not do anything else.

Hey Bruce, No date on this one which it makes it more suspicious imho. He sometimes has good deals but you must better know very well at what you are looking at.

Another fake https://www.ebay.fr/itm/S717-Japanese-Samurai-Sword-IJA-Imperial-Army-Mantetsu-Gunto/143665486142?hash=item217321593e:g:7WYAAOSweYhfHGMy

Nice score Klaus! Any infos as to who polished it?

Super nice Chris! I am looking around for the cherry blossoms civilian set with the idea the have a koshirae made some day, hopefully with a nice gendai-to.

Thanks Bruce! If you happen to find it again, I would be happy to have a look at it.

Hi Bruce, Like you, I have seen one RJT star stamped gendai-to mounted in the light brown metal saya (double buttons & dust cover), it is a Nakata Kanehide that belongs to George Trotter. But as Brian said the rest of the "Type 3" gendai-to I saw, were mounted in wooden saya. So to be sure I understand you well, you also saw one star stamp RJT gendaito mounted in the light brown metal saya (without button on the kuchi gane nor dust cover), just one button on the fuchi, like all the Type 3 showa-to were mounted?

Hi guys, I need your experience regarding Type Koshirae. I have seen some star stamp/RJT gendai-to mounted in Type 3 koshirae with the metal light brown scabbard and 1 button for the locking mechanism on the kuchi gane (plus dust cover). All the showa-to I have seen mounted in the same scabbard do no have this extra button on the kuchi gane, but only one on the fuchi and no dust cover. Do you guys have ever seen or have/had, a RJT gendai-to mounted in this kind of scabbard, without the dust cover and the second button on the kuchi gane? I am looking for a Type 3 scabbard for my gendai-to and do not want to make any "historical" mistake. Thanks for your help.

Someone I know who is fluent in Japanese, bought it. He says there is nothing really more that is already on the website.

If I can put my hands on a cheap one I will give it a try. But usually those for sale on Ebay are more around $200/$300 so totally out of the question for me.

Hey John, Yes I know I will need luck, not sure yet if I will really do it. The only other example by this smith I saw was in this kind of Type 3 scabbard, though I agree with you, gendaito are more often, but not always, found in wood type 3 saya.

Hi guys, I know the odds that a blade would match a random gunto scabbard is very low (but not impossible). I was wondering if with Type 3 blades/scabbards it is easier to find a matching couple. I have a nice star stamped Masamichi with original habaki without any other gunto mounts. I am tempted to buy a type 3 scabbard for it. So if the nagasa, motohaba and sori seem to match, both blade and scabbard should feet together, or is it more complicated? Thanks for your help

Is it possible to download and print the articles if one creates an account?

Thanks Geraint!

Geraint, it is off topic but if you have something about Ishido Teruhide among your files, I would be interested too.

Thank you Geraint. No rush, but if you can find it that would be nice.

Hello, A fellow member kindly sent me the pdf version of an old article Mr Bowen wrote on Amahide. Since the original pdf version seems to have been converted in jpeg, resized and re-converted in pdf, my computer skills do not allow me to obtain a clear readable and printable version. I was wondering if another member here has the unmodified version? BTW, of course I asked Chris Bowen but he lost this article, so can't help. Thanks! Amahide.pdf

There will be a physical book or just a database? I read there were too much data for a physical book.