WellsFargo

Brian.... that's absolutely beautiful. I must say I'm feeling some jealousy at the moment. :D thanks for your reply. Jan-Wouter

Hi John, I have a question. You replied that according to Fujishiro this smith "Kunitsugu Yamashiro no kami" is "chusaku". However the seller stated that this smith was "jo saku". Now, I do not own the "Nihon Toko Jiten" from Fujishiro, nor the translation from Harry Watson, so I tried the swordsmith database on nihotoclub.com and there are two Kunitsugu's and both are "Jo Saku". You also state that this smith signed as "Yamashiro daijo fujiwara Kunitsugu" and in this smith-database on nihontoclub.com this smith is rated as "Jo Saku". It doesn't change anything for me with regards to liking this yari, but it's quite a difference... chusaku or josaku... It would be nice to know for sure. Maybe you can help me out with this. Thanks in advance. Jan-Wouter

Thanks Grey, Yeah, my son was born 5 months ago and I'm already wondering what to do when he starts walking. I know when I was a kid and my dad wasn't home... I was chopping branches in the yard with his sabres and bajonets... I guess I'll just have to place them in my safe.... I really enjoy just sitting on my couch looking at my swords. It feels like buying a beautiful painting which you enjoy looking at and then storing it in a safe. It bothers me, but I guess it's the wise thing to do.

Okay... thanks John... now I'm worrying even more! :D :D :D Yours sounds like a very good sollution, but unfortunately it would take quite some remodeling of my home to arrange such an "art-chamber". It is however something I've always wanted so it's interesting to look into. J.W.

Hello gents, I have a question. What do you guys do with your collection? I am a beginning collector and now have three pieces; a katana, wakizashi and, since yesterday, also a yari. I have them displayed in my livingroom on katanakake's, and when we're away from home I put them in my gunsafe. I've purchased these weapons because of their beauty and I want to be able to look at them. But as we all know it's a lot of money, and my father (a fellow guncollector who keeps his valuable pieces in the safe at all times) always pushes me to keep them in my safe.... what do you guys do? Maybe keep one or two pieces out of the safe on display, and "rotate" so that every piece gets their "display time"?? Every time I go to bed, I feel a slight discomfort knowing that if some punk who breaks in sees these items and decides: "hey, I might get 50 bucks for them on the black market..." I quiver at the thought... My apologies before hand for this post. I can most definately imagine that you guys do not want to share when and how your collection is "out of the safe". It is however becoming an issue for me. If you could give me some ideas that would be great. Thank you guys in advance. Jan-Wouter

You're absolutely right. Well put. Do you know if there will be a shinsa outside of Japan in the coming years? Is there any way of knowing/asking? Jan-Wouter

Thanks John, What do you think? I live in the Netherlands and let's say that maybe in the coming years the NTHK will have another Shinsa somewhere in Europe.... would it be a good idea to submit it for shinsa? Jan-Wouter

Good afternoon gents, I've just returned from an arms fair together with my father and we've purchased a beautiful yari. it is signed: Yamashiro no Kami Fujiwara Kunitsugu. This smith was active from 1615 till 1660 and is labelled a jo saku class smith. His swords are considered wazamono. It has no papers. I've attached a few pics for you to enjoy, and, as we are beginners in this Nihonto world... any info you guys can give regarding this yari, smith, school, periode would be very much appreciated. Greets, Jan-Wouter

Thanks for your info, Joe. It's very much appreciated. Greets, J.W.

Hi Joe, You have good eyes. That is in fact a crack/groove in the tang. And yes, the kissaki doesn't look too good. Edit: about one milimeter of the tip has broken off. That is probably what you mean? The blade has been sanded in certain places which is clearly visible. Near the habaki the blade still shows a little hamon, but after that it's gone. Covered by sanding markings. Okay, so you lean towards showato. But.... (here I come again) Does a machined sword show blisters? Or can this happen only with "layered" swords? It has one small blister in the middle of the blade. Thanks for your opinion, by the way. Jan-Wouter

Thanks for the tease, Stephen. Here's some pictures of my wakizashi.

So guys, I was wondering if you could give any extra info. Even with these horrible pictures. I have seen some great looking swords in this section of which you guys state that they are machined. One more question: I thought, "hey, there are file-markings on the tang, then it must be hand-crafted." but is that always the case? If not, why does a machined sword have file markings on the tang? seems "odd" and unnecessary to me. (although I haven't the faintest idea how they "machined" swords) It would be great if you guys could give me some extra info. Thanks in advance. Jan-Wouter Thijssen

Hello guys, I'm new to the board and also quite new to "collecting" Japanese swords. My only genuine Japanese art-sword is a wakizashi with NTHK kanteisho attributed to Aizu Michitoki. To me, it's absolutely beautiful (it can still be seen on the web if you google "aizu michitoki") But, there was a time I even new less about Japanese swords than I know now and that's when I purchased this Katana which was gathering dust in the corner of a fellow gun-collector's home. To me it looked beautiful and I just had to have it. I have shown it to mr. Duindam from Token Sugita Europe and he believes it to be a genuine Japanese handcrafted sword but could not give me a whole lot more of info. A little info on the sword: - it shows little rust on the tang, indicating to me it's quite young (1900 till 1950 or so?) - it has no yokote (probably sanded off) - Mr. Duindam stated it had the shape of an old sword (until he saw the tang and lack of corrosion) - The hamon is barely visible and seems a little bit brownish in color - it has "iori mune" (can I say it like that?) - it has a total length, from tip of the kissaki till end of the tang, of 91 cm. - it has one mekugi ana - There is no signature and no stamp to be found on the tang.

Thanks John. Greets, J.W.

Hello guys, My name is Jan-Wouter Thijssen. I live in the Netherlands and I am 32 years of age. I work as a Health, Safety & Environment Manager at a shipping company. Together with my father I've collected antique firearms. When we became members of the Society of Dutch arms collectors and went to their meeting for the first time, I was confronted with some beautiful Japanese art-swords. Of course as a kid, everybody liked the "samurai-swords", but now I could see their real beauty and the beautiful history behind them. My first Japanese sword I purchased without any knowledge whatsoever. It seems I was a little bit lucky. It was a simple sword without signature or stamps in WO II Koshirae but according to Mr. Duindam from Token Sugita Europe, a genuine Japanese sword. A little while later I bought my second sword, a wakizashi with NTHK kanteisho attributed to Aizu Michitoki. In my opinion beautiful, but nothing special. I hope to learn a lot on this forum. I see "newbies" on this site using terminology I haven't even heard of yet, so I have lots to learn. Greetings from the Netherlands, Jan-Wouter Thijssen