Visiting Aoi Japan - First Nihonto Ever

[radicalrad]

Hi all!

 

I'm completely new to all this, but I've been trying to brush up on the basics before I leave for Tokyo tomorrow.  I have 3 swords on hold with Aoi Art Japan but I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have on the following 3 wakizashi (save me from stupidity please/thanks!).  The listings in level of interest are:

 

1. Cane Sword (O-wakizashi, late Muromachi era) (link)
   • I'm happy with the "naked" scabbard for the time being, I'd probably not use the lacquer "cane" housing very often (obviously wouldn't throw it away or anything).
   • In the future I'd like to make this a project sword and mount it more like a battlefield or formal sword.
   • I love the hada (grain) on this and I prefer the straight hamon
   • I prefer the smaller sori/curve aesthetically, but I don't know if it's a detractor for the average collector that I might sell to in the way far-off future.
   • The signature isn't confirmed and it doesn't have any grading papers/origami, so I'm worried about that a little.
   • If it really is late Muromachi era though, it's the oldest sword in the group and that's kinda cool from an antique/history perspective.
2. Standard Wakizashi (Late Edo era) (link)
   • I like that this one has a consistent motif (lobsters) with the exception of the tsuba (easily replaced).
   • The ridged saya is kinda unique and looks like it's in good shape.
   • Probably has my 2nd-favorite hada/grain of the group.
   • They rayskin and wrap look like they're in great shape.
   • It's the most-recently made sword which is a little less interesting to me.
3. Wakizashi with Kogatana (Early Edo era) (link)
   • It's the only sword with an accompanying Kogatana, which is unique.
   • All the decorative metalwork looks good.
   • The rayskin looks like it's drying out and separating, but it has nice color.
   • I'm not really a fan of the saya, but it looks like it's in decent condition and pretty understated/muted.
   • It's a little older than the #2 sword, but doesn't look as good in my opinion.

[Rivkin]

The answer I feel is to buy whichever you like. There is a caveat that while Aoi has quite a few deals, no Tokyo shop is going to be the best option in 200-300k yen range, but on the other hand Aoi has a solid selection of "complete packages" with koshirae, which seems to be what you are looking for. This being said, its unlikely to have any blade of substantial importance in this price range. 

You might get a better deal at a sword show, but not by a great margin. No hidden gems, no concealed frauds among the items you identified.

 

Kirill R.

[Ray Singer]

You are looking within a very difficult price category to find something of quality. If you have already decided to make your first purchase from Aoi, then a suggestion below in that general range:

 

https://www.aoijapan.com/tanto-zuisei-minamoto-hideaki/

[Ken-Hawaii]

The first blade is obviously made to be a shikomizue, & doesn't have enough sori to be remounted for "battle." Whether or not you add new koshirae, the blade should be kept in shirasaya-type mounts to keep it from rusting.

 

The other two blades are pretty much run-of-the-mill, as others have stated.

 

Have you done any studying to help decide on what you really want to collect? Because the first blade you buy sets the course of what else you're likely to collect, I suggest you read http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/articles/Collecting.pdf which is written by one of our members.

 

Last, please sign all posts with your first name, so we know how to address you. Welcome to the forum.

[Ray Singer]

I would also like to advise, as Ken mentioned above, that starting with study is a better approach. Grey Doffin, who is here in this group, can assist in locating some good primers in this area of study. There is nothing wrong with visiting dealer shops and being exposed to a number of pieces, but you may want to wait to make your first purchase until you have a clearer idea of what you want to collect and have perhaps set aside enough to meet your collecting goal.

[Valric]

I wouldn't touch any of these blades with a ten foot pole. Stay away! the Koshirae are makeshift junk 'bought by the kilo' and the blades are exceedingly poor in quality. While they look good at first glance, I guarantee that as you dig and dive into the hobby your eyes will sharpen and you will see it as what it is. Generally AOI is full of landmines and you need a lot of knowledge to avoid getting burned. 

 

In your price range what you want is MUMEI + top Muromachi / Shinto / Shinshinto maker. The MUMEI (no signature) will cause the price of a very high quality item to dive down to oblivion. This is how you can get away with a top quality piece at a steal. For example, a mumei first gen Tadayoshi which was, if I remember correctly, priced at 550'000. 

 

I had a look on the web to see if by chance I could find something nice as a starter piece within this very tight budget. I couldn't, even looking a prior listings. But as soon as you break 3.5+ you can start finding things which meet the criteria above (mumei, high quality, Muromachi+)

 

Here is one: https://tokka.biz/sword/kanemoto6.html

 

A fine Kanemoto Wak with the classic Sanbonsugi hamon (saw-tooth pattern). Healthy, no flaws I can see. A piece which illustrates an iconic style of hamon of the late Muromachi period which would endure for many generations. The price would be five times what it is, had the signature been preserved. As a bonus, there is a so-called 'Kinzogan' mei, a gold inlay inscription which reads Kanemoto. Now, the question is which generation kanemoto. This is a question for you to research, and here you can find a good primer. 

 

Of course the better option is to wait and build your war chest. Wait and see what comes up. Look for big names or big schools on the NBTHK papers, flawless, healthy and mumei of these eras. In the meantime study, study, study. Collecting Nihonto is a very slow hobby... 

[Alex A]

Well spotted Chris. If your patient and keep an eye on the many various sites, something will come along and you will appreciate it a lot more with a bit of knowledge.

 

Being reminded of what its like lately, developed an interest in Napoleonic flintlocks and been eager to buy BUT i remember where this can get you, so bought 2 books instead and eventually learned that what i was going to buy would have led to dissapointment.

 

Always be swords etc to buy, no rush, enjoy the trip.

[Marius]

I would recommend Hiroshi Kojima's sword shop. Just be patient and buy once something good turns up.  One thing is sure - if Kojima writes that the sword is good, then it really is. His descriptions are always brutally honest, even if they hurt his sales. Kojima is a sword smith (4th Naohiro of the Naotane line) and he has forgotten more about steel and swords than we will ever learn. He used to be NBTHK inspector for the Saitama province and is active in the Musashino Sword Club, where masterpieces are being studied on a regular basis. He really knows his stuff.

 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/catalogue.html

[radicalrad]

Thanks for the great feedback everyone! I understand that my budget range is asking for trouble it seems, so I'll heed your advice and hold off.

 

I'm getting ready to board my flight, hote everyone has a good weekend!

 

--Conrad

[reeder]

I think Stephen has a really nice Torio Hiromasa for around $2K...

[Death-Ace]

Hey Conrad!

 

I visited Aoi a few weeks ago on my weekend off and they are very nice. It is a small shop. However, call them in advance to see three blades max at once. They're more than happy to help but as they're show room is about as big as a tiny apartment, they have most stored in a tiny apt.

 

The do have some blades not on the site, so def ask. They had a nice ko-wak awhile ago with Tokubetsu Hozon papers for abput 1500 USD, but think that's sold.

 

Let me know when you land, could show ya around!

[Valric]

"Three blades max at once" As if its a courtesy to be able to see the merchandise. 

 

The reality is that you will be much better served in terms of customer service in the many Ginza shops, such as Ginza Choshuya. There you will find a wonderful English speaking staff which will entertain you about swords and fittings while offering you fine tea. 

 

AOI photoshops blade to hide flaws, and this is just one of their many, many questionable business practice. While it may have the biggest online presence in the west, and they do once and a while have a good blade up there for sale, this is a rarity. They specialize in 'problem swords' which are hard to sell in Japan because of some hidden issue which allows them to buy cheap and sell high by exploiting ladder theory. 

 

I call their offering the 'freak circus' because you have all sorts of strange things, such as the RAI tanto with an unbelievably disgraceful horimono, a bizarre Ichimonji with a hamon which no longer corresponds to its old Oshigata, a Chogi tanto with a Hitatsura tempering which doesn't fit the smith, but the signature is authentic (?). The deeper you dig, the more you know, the more unsettling it gets...

[Tom Darling]

Kurakawa, is well suited for top quality. Maybe, someone can post his address in Tokyo. Peace.

 

 

Tom D.

[Alex A]

I find Aoi to good to deal with, a lot more honest than other dealers that I wont mention.

 

As said many times, its up to the buyer to thoroughly research every sword etc they buy, and Aoi puts swords on hold to allow you to do this.

 

Ive only had one issue, a bit of rust in the bo-hi and they took it back with no hassles, even though it was consignment.

 

Now I notice they are more clear about issues, they don't want the hassle of swords being returned.

 

The one thing ive learned about swords is that they are not always straight forward and comply with what is written, as there are always exceptions and issues to look into. should the info be available which is not always the case.

[Blazeaglory]

First, i agree with Alex but I'd like to say that I don't think the above comment about calling ahead meant that we as customers are peasants under AOIs arrogant thumb but what it said. The place is tiny and a heads up would save time and effort. A little communication goes a long way.

 

I've bought several Nihonto from AOI. I went in with ZERO illusions with a "buyer beware" mentality. Also, I'm constantly online browsing multiple websites to examine (best I can) every blade they list or have listed. So I have somewhat of an idea in regards to the online sword game and what to look for

 

I didn't feel AOI was hiding anything but quite the opposite. He has super detailed photos and tries to list as much problem as he can find. As with anything in life, sometimes things escape our eye, especially when we've become somewhat complacent in the monotony of dealing with multiple blades constantly. Does he trade items from koshirae or use toss away items to beef up low grade swords? Imho don't think so but heresay can be quite the detractor. Who can say if it's true or not? If you like something he has for sale and are ok with the price, then go for it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

What I like about AOI is he has a range of items from low grade to excellent. Sometimes his prices are higher than I like but he's always worked with me on pricing. Very few other dealers were willing to negotiate pricing and offer layaway! What other Nihonto dealers let you do that?

 

As for calling out certain tanto's or other blades, most of that is subjective to each individuals preference as a large majority of his Nihonto are recently papered.

 

I would totally recommend him but buyer beware. Don't over pay and don't get caught up chasing a sword

[Blazeaglory]

I would recommend Hiroshi Kojima's sword shop. Just be patient and buy once something good turns up. One thing is sure - if Kojima writes that the sword is good, then it really is. His descriptions are always brutally honest, even if they hurt his sales. Kojima is a sword smith (4th Naohiro of the Naotane line) and he has forgotten more about steel and swords than we will ever learn. He used to be NBTHK inspector for the Saitama province and is active in the Musashino Sword Club, where masterpieces are being studied on a regular basis. He really knows his stuff.

 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/catalogue.html

I second this! You gotta keep an eye on this website tho because once listed, they sell fast!

[Rivkin]

Everybody buys from Aoi. Suwaguchi, Dmitry, peasants, officers and ncos.

I had couple of times issues like a minor fukure which was not disclosed in text and not clear on photographs. Tsuruta san seldom specifically comments on small-mid defects. Its something that a few others pointed out as well.

Otherwise, above 250-450k yen it is well known as a shop where one can buy good things for less. High throughput, low margin.

 

The one thing you will find lacking in this thread are the victims. Nobody says I bought a green papered sword from Aoi, which Tsuruta san said he trusts, had issues with repapering it and was sent off when complained. Or I bought papered sword, went to Tanobe for sayagaki and was told its saiha. 

 

I heard about a dozen of revelations about Tsuruta's real practices within the last year alone, none from the actual victims. All of them in fact went back to a single person who was kind enough to prevent collectors from being swindled by Tsuruta san. 

I guess, there are dealers who REALLY dislike Tsuruta.

 

Otherwise if return guarantee is a big thing, then American dealers are the way to go. They also tend to have reasonable deals within this price range. nihonto.us, yakiba, nihontocraft come to mind a reliable shops that do have substantial wares in 1000-5000 usd range.

 

Kirill R.

[Darcy]

Kitae ware is a small-minor defect, a fukure is not a small-minor defect.

 

Return guarantees are always a big thing and people need to be careful about this. Reliable dealers will give a reasonable time for you to evaluate what you received and return it with no stress or attempts to force you to keep it. 

 

Sawaguchi san (not Suwaguchi) is one of the top collectors and buys about 1,000 blades per year so he is a client of almost everyone. He is not shopping the "what's new" list at Aoi but in general dealers who are aware of what he likes approach him and allow him to decide without having to refresh websites in the morning like everyone else. 

As for Dmitri, he is your friend and you should be then aware of where his blades came from. Considering his information as yours to share online I think is a poor choice. But the implication that he is a major client of Aoi and his collection is being built this way is a bit misleading, also in the case of Sawaguchi san. 

You can attempt to connect with a wider range of collectors if you want to get their experience, because for the most part people do not want to come and fight with loud voices on NMB telling them that they are part of a conspiracy or are posting for nefarious reasons like hate. That is always an easy accusation to make. Rather most people try to resolve their problems and if resolved, consider it closed and are just happy to have gotten out of it. Even in cases where it is not closed most people will not go online and dump because they don't want embarrassment or blowback as it is rarely worth the stress it gives to fight with people on this site and on Facebook. There are a lot more people who read than write and the reasons for that are to avoid drama and conflict, which they see as a negative addition to their life without any upside.

 

When I came into the collecting world, I think now over 20 years ago, I thought everyone was a samurai. And it took some years for that idea to be peeled away. Having my swords stolen, being sold known fakes, items arriving not as described and so on, polishers polishing my swords without asking me and handing me the bill, multiple times people having my stolen blades in their hands and refusing to hold the blade for me so the police can get involved... but even then, people don't want to get involved. In both cases the commercially well known person simply gave my stolen sword back to the thief to remove any obligation they might have for "getting involved." The thief is still involved in the community under various aliases and people continue to do business with him on a willful blindness level because it's money and they don't really care how he gets it. That is happening though it's not being posted about. 

Most things heard and discussed about the problems in our community are done between friends because people just do not want the drama. But everyone has had their own story and knows what they chose to do about it, to post it online or just tell their close friends. A lot that will know enough to weigh in, will not because there is nothing for them to gain personally and a lot to lose.

[EastCoast]

I'll throw in my .02.

 

I've purchased many items from AOI. Wherever an issue arises with a purchase they are quick to make it right. This includes offering full refunds.

 

I visited the shop last year and will be going again this year. He and his staff go above and beyond to assist you in finding 'your' piece. Also, while the three limit exists they are always willing to retrieve more if you are serious and passionate. Finally, when you are there for your appointment you are catered to exclusively... they do not take phone calls or entertain walkins during 'your' time.

 

Best,

James

[Rivkin]

Dmitry's showing items from Aoi Art and openly discussing this, is a public record on facebook.

The case in point - almost everybody uses Aoi once in a while. He has a wide range of items, prices and clients.

Is Tsuruta san the most honest, straightforward and worthy dealer?

No.

The problem is, I don't know any such person. He is better than quite a few, but I never worked with a dealer I did not have an issue with, at least once in a while. Never saw a dealer whose description was not proclaimed dishonest by someone else. Or someone commenting that the items "should not be sold", because they have demerits - mumei, or bad horimono.

I heard stories about Fred Weissberg. Spending some time with him I instead formed an opinion he is a very honest and direct man. Does not mean agreeing with everything he says. There are horrible stories about myself. I am glad they are exotic.

 

One thing I learned from that - not to take too seriously anything that does not come from a victim. If someone says - I was wronged in such a way, then at least something did happen. If the story is told by another dealer whose moral qualities demand fixing the world... Maybe I simply don't like people with high morals. I am but a simple unscrupulous man in the world of scholars and ancient nobility on the mother's side.

 

Once I was selling a koshirae; I brought it to a very old and very respectable dealer. He looked at it, said I can take it, but the menuki are new. This can be hard to see for a newbie, but new gold has this distinctive look. He quoted the price reflecting that. I walked out. A few months later I decided I need the money and have to sell it. Brought it back; he looked at it - a really decent koshirae. And well, the price does reflect it having nice gold menuki from a respectable school. 

 

Kirill R.

[Surfson]

I have a very nice sword cane that I will sell to you for less than that!

[Surfson]

Kirill, I love your quote!:

 

I am but a simple unscrupulous man in the world of scholars and ancient nobility on the mother's side.

[Darcy]

I'll repeat again that there was an implication made that Dmitri and Sawaguchi san built their collections through Aoi art and it's simply not the case. If Dmitri has shared specific items on Facebook and said their source, that's fine. In which they could be said here and it would make the point I am trying to make, which is that they are neither in the major part either in quality or quantity from his collection. They are in fact minor or undocumented. The statement on its face is intended to associate that dealer with two excellent collections and collectors and so give people the impression they are getting their best items from this place, and they are not. They can indeed provide a good item but the kinds of items that interest those two collectors are not along the lines of the commercially available goods that we find on Japanese dealer websites catering to the west in general, though from time to time there certainly are exceptions. However trying to normalize the exceptions as the rule is misleading.

 

As well what I read above is that we should disrespect people who are trying to help, we should suspect and disregard any warnings but in the same voice there are assertions that such and such is good and the reasons people may criticize someone else are only for hate. 

I don't think there is a coherent flow of logic in that. 

If we are to disregard assertions of truth made in some way: so-and-so is a con artist, as an example, then we should also be disregarding assertions such as some dealers must hate this other guy, or this other person is very honest and respectable. The problem is the assertion made with no evidence, not the criticism. Criticism and applause are two sides of the same coin, and it's the coin provided with no evidence that is the issue.

What I don't agree with is this desire to disrespect people who are helping by saying "oh they are trying to solve the problems of the world." What they do is stand up and stick their neck out for other people, especially newbies, trying to be elder brothers and provide a bit of guiding light. In general the community consumes newbies like a crocodile at a watering hole in a drought. 

Those people who try to help, there is no benefit to themselves in doing this. We know this because each of us knows things we withhold for the same reason: we don't need the trouble of turning ourselves into targets. Those that give warnings immediately draw fire from fans and friends, and in private may receive threats. 

As always when corruption is outed, corruption takes all paths, public and private to silence the person shining the light on the problem. Disrespecting them as innocents trying to impossibly solve the problems of the world is just providing cover and dissuading people from being those that shine the light on the problem.

When I shone the light on the green paper problem, it made me a target for every con artist buying junk in Japan known to be fake and sold for cheap and dumping it onto newbies and fools who wanted to believe it to be real. By drawing attention to this problem, it turned me into a target, someone to be brought down as not knowing what they are talking about, because the reality of it was that I threatened a really sweet business model of buying garbage and pawning it for 10x markups to fools. 

I did it though because I thought it was important. The people I tried to help, many of those fought me because some people do not want to be dragged into the light. In the light you have to address the reality of all of the problems that you've backed yourself into. As long as you stay in the dark everything is nice and cozy and you can continue to believe what you want. But you continue on a path that damages yourself.

Anyway so I understand that and after many years of trying to explain and trying to help people I felt my energy go to zero on these matters. I got tired of fighting the people I tried to help. I got tired of the corruption backchannels coming back at me from allies in public and through other means in private. So I don't post here anymore as a regular thing or on Facebook because I am done with the conflict and the corruption.

I do respect though others who try to help or who stick their neck out and end up becoming the target. They should be applauded not scorned.

Lastly the idea of "if you didn't hear it from the victim, it didn't happen" is ok for court. In practice it is smart to establish trusted paths of information and find out what you can. Historians are supposed to understand this that even if it's not a first hand account, if the information is coming through different independent channels it verifies itself. Also, it's possible as I had written before to expand your number of contacts and talk to people in private and then you may indeed be exposed to the first hand stories and be able to verify directly. The most valuable pieces of information were conveyed to me by people I trust not because someone online told me to trust them and spouted words of praise, but through my personal interactions with them not over one conversation or two meetings but over 20 years. With this depth of experience you do find out who you can trust, and who you can't. That much time gives people enough opportunities to demonstrate what they are about. 

 

Trust in general is a grey area because there are few perfect beings. Some through mistakes or forgetfulness cause you damage and that needs to just be shrugged off as being human, others through patterns of deception or exaggeration cause a different kind of damage which is a constant erosion. And the last type simply tries to bite your neck in every interaction. 

But understanding who you can trust also gives you access to a pool of information which may be shared, and if so you're lucky. 

One has to remain skeptical of what one hears, whether that is the positive assertion that some man X is honest and beyond reproach, or that another man Y is a thief. And to examine the motives, for sure. Anecdotes of good experiences do not mean anything because on this board there have been people recommended that I personally have been defrauded by. Because I do not need to have cans and stones and tomatoes thrown at me I've let those things pass. In such a war I'll only lose, but I have seen it first hand where I've been the victim and people on this board are standing up and clapping for this person. 

People can provide anecdotes of good experiences with Mao, Stalin and Hilter and it doesn't tell you about their behavior in general. 

So by all means retain skepticism, but retain skepticism over both positive and negative anecdotes and do your own research until you end up first hand talking to the person involved and invariably they will tell you what happened and you can then either call them a liar to their face or accept that you finally got the truth.

I'll return now to my policy of not posting here. I have no desire to enter into fights and so last words may be had at my expense.

[Brian]

Don't need a policy of posting or not posting. When you choose to post, it is usually for a good reason. And even though it may seem as though we do not pay attention...trust me we do.
It is noted and taken in, and usually the advice heeded. You are not wasting your time, and your input is appreciated.
I would rather see you take a stance of "I'll post when I feel it is needed and something needs urgent addressing"
Points noted as always, and welcomed.

[Rivkin]

I can't offer much except for a very personal opinion:

 

the notion that claim was made that specific collections are in large formed by purchases from Aoi Art is factually false.

The discussion on green papers was similarly problematic because of the whole other set of factually false claims - that green paper Sadamune are always available on yahoo (no, they are very rare), that green paper swords are sold for nothing (no, they are expensive, except a steep discount on certain specific categories). Yes, maybe Aoi Art selling green papered swords is not to the liking of someone in America. Tough.

Until I see any evidence that Aoi Art's blade was sold with such papers with a statement that the papers are to be trusted, but later failed to repaper - to me judging such sales has no more value than a niche personal preference. 

People buying green papered swords en masse for nothing in Japan and selling them with 10x markup - not aware of any such cases, its commercially very difficult to impossible.

In the original discussion Andy Quirt was the one who had green papered sword for sale, and I really don't think depicting him buying up green papered swords in Japan and then swindling newbies is accurate at all. I personally can highly [!] recommend his shop, as probably most of the actual collectors.

 

Coming back to Aoi Art, I found myself within the last year repeatedly in a difficult position. I was asked to comment about a dozen times on Juyo and above swords on sale by Tsuruta san with a caveat that it is "known" that the images were photoshopped and the item itself is highly problematic. In all cases it turned out to be an opinion coming from one and the same person.

Obviously I could not just say - I vouch for the item. Because I did not see the blades myself. Neither did the dealer who did not like them. And why should I take the responsibility? At best I can only comment on the photographs presented, which in my case is not worth that much.

 

In light of this, my position was always - take it with two grains of salt. Somebody who bought a sword, studied it extensively and then voiced what he saw as a problem may or may not have a point. I heard so many times "it will never be Juyo again because it is slightly suriage/hamachi moved/etc.", it seems as much an art of guessing as objective analysis. Had papered swords pronounced saiha by supposed experts. Maybe they are right!

But compared to all of those case, Le Grande Opiniators - like me, commenting based on photographs or oshigata should be assigned lesser priority.

Every matter reported by those without personal involvement - much lesser priority.

 

I heard so many horrible stories in the past decades about "what really happened", I lost count. When I acted on this rumors I typically made mistakes myself. Just as with Aoi Art, I heard a worrisome tale about Fred Weissberg. Zero chance its real.

 

I can't comment on Hitler, Mao and others, as my understanding of those subject is very slim.

 

Kirill R.

[Alex A]

All this makes me so glad I am but an humble bottom feeder 

[paulb]

I am glad I have pretty well stopped collecting!

Over the past thirty plus years I have bought pieces from and sold pieces to nearly all of the different dealers mentioned here and more. I may just have been very lucky but I have never had a bad expereince from any of them and now count many of them as friends.

Today there seems to be an increasing lack of trust and good faith. I think it has a lot to do with the expansion of social media which allows unqualified hysteria to spread like a nasty rash. 

Ultimately we have to trust ourselves, buy what we like from a trusted source and enjoy it. 

At the risk of being contentious most problems appear to originate when people rely too heavily on what they are told rather than what they can see, they use a papering system as a shortcut or replacement for study and then panic if someone on social media says something negative about their purchase.

Study ( knowledge and understanding increase confidence.), decide what you like and buy it if you are happy with the price.

[Alex A]

Sometimes think to myself "how much do I need to know"?, the conclusion I have come to when buying, know enough to know when someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

[Jean]

I am glad I have pretty well stopped collecting!

Over the past thirty plus years I have bought pieces from and sold pieces to nearly all of the different dealers mentioned here and more. I may just have been very lucky but I have never had a bad expereince from any of them and now count many of them as friends.

Today there seems to be an increasing lack of trust and good faith. I think it has a lot to do with the expansion of social media which allows unqualified hysteria to spread like a nasty rash. 

Ultimately we have to trust ourselves, buy what we like from a trusted source and enjoy it. 

At the risk of being contentious most problems appear to originate when people rely too heavily on what they are told rather than what they can see, they use a papering system as a shortcut or replacement for study and then panic if someone on social media says something negative about their purchase.

Study ( knowledge and understanding increase confidence.), decide what you like and buy it if you are happy with the price.

[raynor]

I'm off facebook and other social media for near a decade now and can wholly recommend it. I saw Stephen King follow suit today, so by now it should be socially permissible to bow out for everyone   

 

Oversimplification and misinformation sprees aside, data (information) overtook oil a year or two ago as the worlds most valuable asset, yet there are still no (effective) legal framework to protect people's rights when it comes to the information we generate and share, any person or company can still (and will) benefit from this in whatever ways they see fit. If you ask to see or have removed your information today you will most likely be ignored, at best told a cordial no.

 

Initially I logged off because I was tired of baby shower photos and petty arguments, I can understand why people chose to read over participating in online fora where internet distance allows a different approach over old times sitting down talking in a cafe or whatever else used to be the public space.

 

Regarding Aoi art, I once bought a tsuba stated to be shakudo but it was very clearly iron. I kept it as I bought it for the work not the supposed material which the price also reflected.

Do I think there was mischievous intent involved? Not for a second, and I will shop there again. I was puzzled that the mistake could been made, but they happen. A very wide canyon between a mistake and deliberate misinformation.

People would not be able to stay in business for long in this field if they deliberately snuck one under the radar now and then, better to go into the used car market or ebay if that is how you want to do business.