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Piers, any idea what method was used to "fix" the rust? I have a piece that has the same problem.

well I made it back to the sword shop for another try..and Brian, there was no gun shop that I could see. I managed to convince the shop girls to let me take pictures of the inventory and explained the necessity of removing the tuska in order to properly examine the sword. Everything was going good, I started on the katana in the window labeled 17th century and then on to the ''hizen no kuni jyu tadayoshi'' when out of no were a mall security guard enters the store and tells me I can not take any photographs in the mall!!!....possible an attempt to get a bribe? I never encountered this before and the shop girls appeared to be incredulous also but I decided to pack it up....oh well. Here are the pictures I managed to get this time. If any forum member is in the area you might to try your luck. Once again the Japanese owner was out of the country and I left my info but since the shop had no web site does not ship, and the owner does not sell online or advertise etc I do not think he will get back to me. http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz23 ... ?start=all

Dai Mei This is a signature of a smith which is chiselled on a nakago by his family or students, with his permission. It is regarded as a genuine signature. Dai Saku Mei Swords made in a smith's style by his students with his permission were often signed personally by the smith. This is called dai saku mei and is regarded as genuine.

Piers, there are far worse things a man can spend his time and money on, reading your reports always makes me feel better about my questionable purchses At least I know I am not the only one!

Piers, so much great info in this thread that I had to reread it, and then I started rereading all the Tanegashima info on the forum....you can learn more here then any book that I know of with better pictures.

I remembered the discussion on bandoleer and apostles when I saw this post on another forum, for anyone who might be interested. From the Rothenburg Reichstadt Museum. Rothenburg is a walled city in the Franconian region of Germany. http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showth ... p?t=103779

Yes, a kusari katabira or chain jacket with the chain hidden between layers of cloth was very common in Japan as was armored clothing in general, kikko katabira also were used. Almost impossible to spot and no noise unlike traditional armor and very effective against slashing attacks.

As far as tang stamps go Kevin at ryujinswords.com has great explanation on his site. http://ryujinswords.com/shostamp.htm

Kevin, I have always wondered why anyone would think that someone who used stealth and secrecy to his advantage (ninja) would be walking around in armor and carrying an arsenal of weapons. As to swords that appear to be longer then they really are, or are something entirely different then what they seem to be here are a couple of examples.

Actually Keith I was sort of making a comment on why an author should put a little more thought into his titles before publishing . From what you said about Todas book I wanted to take a look at it myself since it is one I have not heard of, unfortunate that there were no free peeks that I could find but I did see a used copy for $9+shipping, cheaper then going to a movie. A lot of people wont even mention the word "ninja" for fear of never being taken seriously again but its an interesting subject and it is a valid if not over hyped part of Japanese and Samurai history.

From the author of such highly acclaimed books as....Ninja Death Vow by Katsumi Toda and Revenge of the Shogun's ninja by Katsumi Toda!!!...but seriously James I do not think anyone on this site can answer your question with any accuracy (or they wont admit that they can). There is a site for people with an interest in all things ninja and you might find some one there who has some knowledge and or information on the subject. http://dothacker.omghax.ca/index.php?PH ... 0o387uo70&

Reinhard has indicated many times that certain aspects of high level swords can not be viewed through pictures and have to be seen in hand and even then with out the proper knowledge you may not understand the significance of what can be seen.

A picture of a very small yari I have considered to be a childs yari.

Ian, I saw this for sale in Japan a few days ago so either he bought it and is reselling or could not get a good price in Japan. I have purchased a couple of things from him, good communication and fast shipping, but it took me awhile to take the plunge. The dou is to me at least an example of the higher end samurai karuta that you see from time to time, certainly not ashigaru perhaps explaining the missing gattari. I wish the inside was pictured to see if the cloth lining was still intact. Here is a picture of a much lower end karuta tatami dou with the Gattari (Bracket) & Ukezutsu (Flag holder) for a sashimono and a picture of the same armor folded up showing why its is a tatami "folding" armor.

This is the one Chinese seller who does carry real Japanese antiques, he now calls himself...World Armor baiguixiu...a copy of World Armor Antique DAIMYOU perhaps. A very interesting armor, someone put a lot of work into the design. http://cgi.ebay.com/EDO-DOU-Japanese-sa ... 1798wt_700

Piers, thanks for your answer, it was helpful, and nihonto is the item I least want to take photos of, anything else you can eventually get enough good shots if you just take a lot, but unless you do it just right a good blade picture will not happen no matter how many you take..at least for me.

I received this message a few days ago, unfortunately my items are taking a nice long cruise already.

Piers, I was looking at some of the pictures of your troop and I noticed all or most participants were wearing only 1 sword and I was wondering if there was a meaning to this. I have read were 1 sword represented the ashigaru and 2 represented the samurai. The armor etc your troop used looks samurai to me. Did samurai actually use Tanegashima in battle nor did they just train and supervise.

Brian, small world, I will go back to the shop on the 7th on my way back and see if I can get some detailed pics, I do not have a clue of how hard it would be to get anything like this out of the Philippines but $$$ talk!

A tinder bowl, I would not have guessed that, thanks Piers....I will check the plug on the other container to see if it is off round when I return home in a few days.

Its working now...at least for me, thanks Brian!

Piers, I see what you mean..Mine must be missing the tube entirely as well as the cap. Here is a picture of one with the little metal measuring cup I was talking about.

I still received this message.."It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image."

I can not post any pictures from photobucket now, I get this message "It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image." I tried different sizes as in thumb nail size and even pictures I posted in the past now get this message when I try to post them as images. Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks Piers, I get the idea, a sort of measuring cap. I have seen some that have a little metal measuring cup attached.