Lindus

You will enjoy this place,pretty much filled with humour and knowledge. Never be afraid to ask and never take offense when a grumpy who has got out of the wrong side of the bed gets snappy

Old Tosho...little doubt.

Once again old chap your right. Dontcha love the Japanese version of the Corrical {Taraibune},nice thing about it is that a second use would be for Togi....sale to your work shop then take the Taraibune,fill with water and off ya go. Cheers Roy

Malcolm,if you are not carefull you may have to give up your current occupation and become an Author....probably more money in it if you can get a little "Chick Lit" soft porn into the text.

Challenge Where is this glum guy and his kid? Note, the boat is clinker built,was that the Norm?

On a more light hearted vein and from my recent experience,Post it to Sweden via Fedex and it will arrive at you intended destination post haste although via Paris

Some years ago I had a sword by Okimitsu {From OKI Island?}, it was a stonkingly well made blade and broke me old heart that just above the kissaki was a large rust lump, when removed it had eaten right through up into the Ji....the rest of the blade was in good order. Was in those days{Pre web} unable to find much about the smith but it was obvious even to a relative new comer to Nihonto that it was far superior to many Gendaito I had seen. Well done,another saved.

1. Examine the blade. Is it in good polish? Is it clearly a showato? Is it in the style that I prefer (Bizen)? Is there good activity? Do I actually like it? 2. Remove the nakago. Is it Gendai? Is it stamped (if so put it down and walk away)? Is it signed? I have yet to see a mumei gendaito that I just had to have so I am picky. If I couldn't tell in step one, Is it Seki? If so avoid, unless it is Kanehide, Kanenobu, or Kanenaga (it would have to be special to break this rule). Is it star stamped? Is the smith well known, well rated, etc.? May I suggest Joe, that removing the Nakago may well reduce the value just a little.

The question should be "Are you ever" young Wilton.

Hay Ho, guess by reading that bundle I am still the only one who gives that Hamon a chance,would be prepared to bet a round pound I am right. And that is a bet from a Cornish person........ not often seen. Did I miss the pic's of the Nakago? or the mounts?....Both would give a good indication of the Japan/China debate would it not?. Have seen many Chinese fakes,the early one did not have a Hamon as such like those today,so, without some good pic's of everything..........

Brian in some way I do not envy you the choice you have today via the web which is vast. I remember an old friend,an insurance broker, who phoned me,he had had a dealer list from "Adamsons Armoury" {Olde UK collectors may remember him} on this was a No Dachi & a Daisho, both for £400....poor old Mike was distraught as he could afford only one I see the Chris has confided that this is not Ninonto,{Was that based on the kissaki? the Hamon looked good.} could you get some decent pics up?

Sadly some poor sod somewhere will eventually buy this. I visited an Italian chap in the early eighties who had one Gunto but a room dedicated to the third reich, he confided in me that a dealer had "Allowed" him to buy some rare and valuable items including Herman Goering's Dress sword and another belonging to Heidrich....only on the basis that he never showed them to German collectors or published anything re him or the collection.........See what I mean. :lol:

No Problem Brian Just how many swords now in your rapidly expanding collection?

The term "Hanyaki" was thrown at me some years ago as meaning "wild" or not conforming to... By the way,you can call me Roy as we are now on an informal basis Also, Shirasaya , and not Honyaki sport.

Does the term "Hanyaki" apply....well if the spelling is correct. Would be surprised if this was not a Japanese sword,but am constantly amazed at the fakes today. The Kissaki/Yakote area would appear to have some work done?.

Certain madness abroad today,apologies from governments for empire activities hundreds of years ago,museums lost in the debate on returning items to countries that are not stable or have vast collections they have taken from......ah what the hell. Currently we have a series of programs showing the treasures found in the UK, mainly by individuals with metal detectors. Fantastic hoards of precious metals and art objects,recently on the channel islands a ton of pre Roman coins have been found,lets not let these idiots drive this underground.

Early Mino Showa blade "Kane tell the maker" school Cracking blade though from what I can see.

Welcome Jag Check out the thread below "Sukekane/Sukenaga" it will give you some idea of the complex world you are becoming involved in.

Of course you are right young Paul, I just enjoy how some of these threads unwind {Rats there I go again}, one of the most content collectors I have ever met was my much mentioned Ron Gregory, who if he had the details of the officer who surrendered the Gunto mounted Kiyomaru did not much care if the blade was a genuine Kiyomaru. For him that was fine and fullfilled the purpose of collecting for him. {Read Brian}

I am glad that we have cleared that up So, we are sailing in uncharted seas with with a navigator who may or may not know all there is to know about navigation,in a direction based on a general opinion proposed and regenerated every few years if not lost at sea. Or.... PS. That mei above looks pretty Showa'ish, the cutting of the Chry: is damned right terrible.

Agree with Grey but have a close look at the Ha, I think I can see not little chips but Bur's, this would indicate a very soft Hamon, possible saha or polished out???

May have mentioned this way back but seems to apply again re shinsa. Some while ago a local chap bought a Koto Tachi from a well respected US dealer,lot of money but came with NBTHK papers {Sorry cant remember the details} and was a stunning blade. We,I and two others saw the blade and suggested it be sent again without mention of the previous shinsa and see if it would get better papers. Duly done and some months later he received from the same Man who had signed off the previous paper, declared to be a later date by a different smith and no paper issued.

Haloooooooooooooooooooooo from the UK Brian, by god you nare a tough man,splattered by all and sundry you keep going and I admire you for that Sir. I have had a couple of swords by this man and enjoyed them, know not if they are great Gendai but am certain that in years to come they will be re-assed. Go your way old chap, as we in the UKL say "Fill your boots"...eg, have fun. I suspect that your avenue is Militaria and in some books this is as good as strict Nihonto while being somewhat more easily fulfilling.

Would be interested in Robert{Fighter pilot} Robertshaws thoughts on this if he is a member....his knowledge of Hizento is legandary {or any correct spelling }

"Make that centuries. Take a look at the Hizen Tadayoshi school lineage for very similar mei over nine generations. Most of the generations can only be told apart by slight variations in stroke direction, specifically done to distinguish between them(from my limited knowledge of Tadayoshi mei, anyway). If nine generations can replicate similar mei, I reckon one smith should be able to handle it." So perhaps there are numbers of blades around that while being genuine but having the unusual feature of the smith on a bad day cutting a mei slightly different,would have been discraded. Had a blade been out of polish when BW Robinson and the Japanese officer were sorting through hundreds of blades in post war Japan, judging on Mei alone, this must surely have been probable. Was there not a very famous faker who took blades that appeared right for certain smiths and applied a mei as accepted by the oshigata books, these were accepted for some years as genuine......all part of the mystque that is Nihonto. Were smiths educated men?, did as some old tales say that they cut a mei following the signature written by scribes & applied the paper glued to the Nakago?. As Chris quite rightly said, judge by the blade. Although I took twenty swords to be appraised way back, the man,book in hand,scanned the Mei's and pronounced. On those suriage he stated that they would need to be polished to confirm,during that time a friend took a blade for polish, the man gave the opinion of period & school,changed that opinion almost completely when finished. Pretty much a fun mine field dontchathink. :?