My First Nihonto :)

[seanyx11]

Hello all,

 

I just recently started collecting Japanese swords (well, Chinese made swords in Japanese style) in March. I've always loved the way Japanese swords looked and have always wanted a "real" one.  The Japanese culture has always fascinated me and the historical significance and almost supernatural aura the katana exudes is just something I've always loved.   I kind of gave up on the idea once I realized how expensive a "real" one was and then recently started looking for them since I've finally gotten to a place in my life where I'm financially able to indulge in such an extravagance. Just like any other hobby, I tend to jump in head first and go overboard pretty quickly.  That being said, I'm very meticulous with my research and willingness to learn everything and anything I can on said hobby or topic.  Once I get a taste of what I want though, and its all over, I'm hooked. 

 

Anyway, the first sword I bought was a Ronin Elite that ended up being very nice for what it is, not to mention it cuts like a knife through hot butter.  I bought a couple cheaper hanwei and dragon king blades as well, then a Hanwei Tori xl light and tori xl (the tori xl was used and such a good deal, I could not pass it up).  Then, came another Ronin elite and a used Ronin hammer forged.  So, needless to say, I was rolling right along buying 8 swords in about a month and a half.  I then came across a few custom made swords that were professionally mounted, so I got a pretty nice James Raw blade with bamboo themed fittings in rokusho patina.  At the moment, I have a very nice Rick Barrett custom katana being mounted with some custom fittings.

 

To make a long story short (too late, I know) I ended up finding a nice little wakizashi nihonto with plain antique iron tsuba, fuchi kashira, and modern tsuka and saya made for it and I just absolutely loved the way it looked.  It wasn't too expensive, so it was a good place to start my collection IMO.  It is signed kunehisa, which I have no idea if that's good or bad, but its definitely an old tired blade that has seen many polishes, but it still looks pretty damn good considering.  I never saw myself owning a nihonto at first, because I just saw these as weapons first and pieces of art second.  I wanted to be able to use them to cut with if I got a wild hair, and that's just not going to happen with something so expensive (for me anyway).  Once I saw this wakizashi nihonto though, I decided that being able to cut with it wasn't all that important since it looked so damn amazing

 

So, now I've got a taste for the beauty and elegance that these amazing pieces of art have and I start looking for my first proper registered, papered nihonto.  I am still learning what all of the Japanese terms for each type of hada, and nakago shape, and what school or era its from, but I do know what I like and what I think looks healthy with proper geometry.  Having said that, I found an Edo Jidai circa 1660, mishina school, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon wakizashi signed Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi, that is extremely healthy with a beautiful bold hamon in a nice polish.  I've put a down payment on it and it will be mine in just a couple months when its paid off.  I'm very excited about it and I hope to learn as much as I can from all you guys (and girls) so I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions...don't give me too hard of a time

 

So without further adieu...here are a few pics of the Kinmichi wakizashi.  Please let me know what you guys think, good or bad

[mywei]

Should be a decent Osaka shinto imho. Good job.

 

You could have not bothered the 8 or so non-nihonto blades and used that money on a better nihonto or books... just sayin'

[seanyx11]

Thank you sir I think it will be a great first (or at least the first NBTHK papered) nihonto for my collection.

 

And yes, wouldn't having 20/20 hindsight be wonderful lol...when I first started looking into buying a sword, I was wanting to spend about $300-$400 tops.  I ended up spending $850, which, at the time, seemed like a lot of money for a sword.  Spending $5k on a sword wasn't even a thought for me at the time.  Until I bought a few and found out what I liked and realized I should save to get a real nihonto, it hadn't crossed my mind to spend so much on a sword. Either way, the swords I bought were perfectly fine for beginner swords to play around with, cut some tatami, and learn what I liked and what you can get for a specific amount of money.  I bought swords from $240 to $2000, with many Chinese production, one nihonto wakizashi, and one custom modern made katana.  So, I was able to get a good feeling for varying levels of polish and craftsmanship on 3 different types of Japanese (or Chinese made Japanese style) swords, Chinese production, custom modern made, and nihonto.

[Jacques D.]

NIce find,

 

Third generation of Izumi no kami rai Kinmichi

[PNSSHOGUN]

The upper end of US smith custom swords is very popular lately, nothing to regret at all in my books. The chinese blades, well, they're good for cutting large objects into smaller ones.

 

I think you've made a fine choice to go for excellent quality early in your nihonto collecting career proper.

[SwordGuyJoe]

The pics look like you bought from Danny at Nihontocraft.com. A good guy that sells good stuff. A good choice! Choosing a vendor, especially when getting started, is just as important as choosing a sword. This group has seen far too often, eager new collectors start with eBay, have a bad experience, and be turned off from the hobby. Good luck on your journey, congratulations, and welcome to the habits, er hobby.

[Ryubiken]

Regarding swords made outside of Japan, I have been studying quite a lot of them in the sense of tameshigiri swords. While usually not close to real thing in terms of handling or quality, chinese top-end swords beat american smiths in almost every aspect. In my personal opinion the best/only smith that I would consider of commissioning a blade would be Anthony DiChristofano. You can take 1000€ chinese sword and compare it to 6000€ custom sword from US and there's no contest.

 

Regarding your Nihonto, I think it is better than 70% of swords people usually start with.

[Stephen]

Fine first sword, i wish i had been as prudent!

 

That guy Joe said

 

(Good luck on your journey, congratulations, and welcome to the habits, er hobby)

 

in Nihonto speak that means addiction! 

[SwordGuyJoe]

Well put!

[Brian]

You have done well! With a great looking sword, high level, and with papers.
Wish I had started out with such a solid foundation. Very nice, and looks like you are well on your way. You'll do just fine
Congrats!

[seanyx11]

The pics look like you bought from Danny at Nihontocraft.com. A good guy that sells good stuff. A good choice! Choosing a vendor, especially when getting started, is just as important as choosing a sword. This group has seen far too often, eager new collectors start with eBay, have a bad experience, and be turned off from the hobby. Good luck on your journey, congratulations, and welcome to the habits, er hobby.

 

You are correct good eye.  Yes, he has been extremely patient and did everything he could to work out a deal between myself and the owner of the sword.  Don't get me wrong, I've been scanning ebay nihonto for several weeks as well, but I just happened to find this one that I fell in love with and was in my price range (sort of).  I almost bought a couple from ebay several times, but I'm always weary of items that claim to be "authentic" this or that.  After going to Danny's site and reading all of the info he wrote about each sword and his background, I thought, "well, he's either selling the real deal and very knowledgeable, or he's one hell of a good liar."  I obviously decided that the former was true, and pulled the trigger to contact him.  Once I spoke with him in a few emails, I had no doubts he was an honest, trustworthy and extremely knowledgeable guy.  I would definitely recommend him to anyone and I will gladly buy another sword from him in the future (providing everything goes smoothly with this one, of course).

 

It's already become an addiction, so too late to call it a hobby at this point

 

Regarding swords made outside of Japan, I have been studying quite a lot of them in the sense of tameshigiri swords. While usually not close to real thing in terms of handling or quality, chinese top-end swords beat american smiths in almost every aspect. In my personal opinion the best/only smith that I would consider of commissioning a blade would be Anthony DiChristofano. You can take 1000€ chinese sword and compare it to 6000€ custom sword from US and there's no contest.

 

Regarding your Nihonto, I think it is better than 70% of swords people usually start with.

 

While I agree that you can get a much nicer blade for cheaper from Chinese smiths, I don't necessarily agree that Chinese top-end swords beat American smiths in almost every aspect.  I've got a Rick Barrett katana that is being custom mounted as we speak and its an absolutely beautiful blade.  I have not seen anything from a Chinese company that comes close to this level of craftsmanship, including but not limited to, Hanwei/bugei, Ronin, munetoshi, Huawei, dragon king, dynasty forge, citadel, etc.  The hamon is a beautiful choji, the shinogi is crisp and straight, the flats are smooth as glass, and the geometric yokote is extremely well done.  I have a Huawei sword being made at the moment (yes, I commissioned it over a month ago, before I started looking for nihonto) that is one of the best looking blades for the money I've seen.  The level of polish they can achieve (literal and figurative) for just $500 is amazing. However, they usually don't have much distal taper at all, and are not particularly well balanced either.  I just like the way they look, so I bought one . 

 

The problem, is that once you get to the point of spending over $1500 on Chinese production swords, where the quality of the blades are somewhat close to custom made American blades, the koshirae are not even close to the quality and fit that a custom sword will be.  Comparing a $1000 Chinese sword to a $6000 modern custom sword by an American smith like Rick Barrett, it gets even more lopsided, in my opinion.  I'm not sure what swords you are looking at, but I've got a comparison in mind:  Hanwei Tori series katana (which I actually own an XL and XL light), will run around $1000 depending on where you get it.  I've got a friend that sells custom swords, who I bought my James Raw custom and wakizashi nihonto from.  He has a Rick Barrett fully custom mounted sword on sale right now for $5500, and its not even close in terms of level of polish, hamon detail, fit & finish, and geometry.  There are plenty of pictures of Hanwei Tori swords online to compare.  Here's a link to the Rick Barrett sword I'm talking about: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7Ws_1m1h-WsYVlkZW5haGxHSzg

 

I've seen some of Anthony DiChristofano's work, and I agree, its absolutely stunning work, but I also believe that Rick Barrett and Howard Clark are right up there in terms of craftsmanship and attention to detail.  Obviously, I'm new to all of this, so I may be missing something that more knowledgeable folks may see, but I still have eyes (pretty discernable ones at that) and I think they are all extremely talented bladesmiths, deserving of equal consideration IMHO.

 

Thank you for the compliment It's good to be reaffirmed that I've made a good choice on my first proper nihonto.  I hope you don't take the above disagreement personally, its just my opinion, and a beginner's inexperienced opinion at that

 

 

Fine first sword, i wish i had been as prudent!

 

That guy Joe said

 

(Good luck on your journey, congratulations, and welcome to the habits, er hobby)

 

in Nihonto speak that means addiction! 

 

Thank you.  I definitely lucked out with this one I think.  I'm glad I came across Danny's Nihontocraft.com, since it really helped in my decision-making process.

 

Yes, as I stated above, it went from small hobby to full-blown addiction pretty quickly

[seanyx11]

The upper end of US smith custom swords is very popular lately, nothing to regret at all in my books. The chinese blades, well, they're good for cutting large objects into smaller ones.

 

I think you've made a fine choice to go for excellent quality early in your nihonto collecting career proper.

 

Yes, US smith custom swords seem to be pretty popular right now, though I don't have much to compare to as I just started collecting.  I've definitely enjoyed my custom swords so far and they've been a nice stepping stone to my nihonto collecting. 

 

Thanks I think its a good start for sure.

 

You have done well! With a great looking sword, high level, and with papers.

Wish I had started out with such a solid foundation. Very nice, and looks like you are well on your way. You'll do just fine

Congrats!

 

Thank you Its nice to hear that you guys also like my choice, especially since I'm so new to all of this.  Of course, the most important thing is that I'M happy with my choice, but its always nice to hear more experienced and knowledgeable guys like yourself agree with the choice as well.

[seattle1]

Hello:

 You did a terrific job in finding a dealer who combines integrity, knowledge and plenty of contextual background for what he sells and the choice you made will not lead to the "buyer's regret" syndrome anytime soon as is too often the case when first putting your toe into the Japanese sword collecting pool.

 While you may have found some non-Japanese made swords of interest and perhaps attractive as swords, remember no swords made in Japan since WWII, or anywhere else in the Nihonto mode, were made with the intent behind the traditional sword, namely to be used in deadly battle. The major attraction of the Japanese sword is derived from its intended use function and the historical associations that the "real deal" ones carry with them. It is fine and good that swords are still being made in traditional ways, and other countries than Japan should ponder the stupidity of allowing craft traditions to become manufacturing mysteries that can only be wondered about. However you will find a real pay off from extensive reading into the historical development of the sword in Japan and its role in the episodes of that country's history. That essence is only associated with swords like the one you bought and cannot be found in any other context. That is a sort of consumer surplus derived from owning one of those things and only the "real deal" offers it.

 By the way signing with a name is required on the NMB.

 Good hunting,

 Arnold F.

[SAS]

Nice Rai; congratulations! There are plenty of excellent American smiths doing Japanese style sword work, but they market to a select audience and are not mass producing. (Not to take the thread off topic.)

[Vermithrax16]

Hey man welcome to NMB! Great to see you over here.

 

Incredible waki, super fine piece! All your recent additions have been excellent swords.

 

As others have said, this sort of sucks you in and does not let go 

 

Good luck!

[seanyx11]

Hello:

 You did a terrific job in finding a dealer who combines integrity, knowledge and plenty of contextual background for what he sells and the choice you made will not lead to the "buyer's regret" syndrome anytime soon as is too often the case when first putting your toe into the Japanese sword collecting pool.

 While you may have found some non-Japanese made swords of interest and perhaps attractive as swords, remember no swords made in Japan since WWII, or anywhere else in the Nihonto mode, were made with the intent behind the traditional sword, namely to be used in deadly battle. The major attraction of the Japanese sword is derived from its intended use function and the historical associations that the "real deal" ones carry with them. It is fine and good that swords are still being made in traditional ways, and other countries than Japan should ponder the stupidity of allowing craft traditions to become manufacturing mysteries that can only be wondered about. However you will find a real pay off from extensive reading into the historical development of the sword in Japan and its role in the episodes of that country's history. That essence is only associated with swords like the one you bought and cannot be found in any other context. That is a sort of consumer surplus derived from owning one of those things and only the "real deal" offers it.

 By the way signing with a name is required on the NMB.

 Good hunting,

 Arnold F.

 

Thanks and well said.  I couldn't agree more with you about the historical significance and traditions of the Japanese sword.  This is ultimately why I decided to finally get a "real deal" Japanese sword.  I look forward to learning more about all of the fine details of each era, school, mei, as well as the myriad of other nuances involved in nihonto collecting.

 

I assume you mean I need to add my name in the signature at the bottom?  So, basically if you have anything in your signature, it should at least have your name...makes sense.  Though I wouldn't have thought it was required.  I shall add my moniker sir

 

Nice Rai; congratulations! There are plenty of excellent American smiths doing Japanese style sword work, but they market to a select audience and are not mass producing. (Not to take the thread off topic.)

 

Thank you.  Yes, there are a few doing very good work IMO, giving guys like me another option other than Chinese production on one end and Nihonto on the complete opposite end.  Not to say that all Chinese production swords are bad, quite the opposite in some cases, or that all Nihonto are perfectly made masterpieces either.

[seanyx11]

Hey man welcome to NMB! Great to see you over here.

 

Incredible waki, super fine piece! All your recent additions have been excellent swords.

 

As others have said, this sort of sucks you in and does not let go 

 

Good luck!

 

Hey man I saw your name in a thread recently and I thought that was you from SBG.  I think I saw Verity over here as well, which I'm sure you know.  Good to see (read?) some friendly faces over here.

 

Yes, the black hole that is sword/nihonto collecting

[singlechange]

Sean, The sword kami was smiling upon you. Very good day finding Danny at Nihontocraft.com. Danny is my first nihonto source for purchasing and I like the fact he is more of a sword scholar too.  More and more I subscribe to the adage "Buy the seller." Enjoy your nihonto.

Robert A.

[seanyx11]

Thank you Robert   Yes, it seems I've been blessed to have found Danny and Nihontocraft.com.  I have nothing but great things to say about him and the way he does business so far, its been a pleasure to work with him finding this beautiful Kinmichi.  I couldn't agree more with the "Buy the seller" adage, especially when dealing in such expensive antiques that open up the doorway for swindlers and liars.  Its good to have a trusted source that loves and believes in what he is selling, a rare trait these days indeed.