Help with first Katana - Please see Link

[Ffffrosty]

Hi Everyone,

 

Okay, I am ready to pull the trigger on my first REAL katana.

 

Can you please let me know what you all think of this one and let me know if you think I am missing something?

 

http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/katana/08239.html

 

Thanks so much,

Mark

[Jean]

Mark,

 

The blade seems polished and the saya is interesting though there is a missing - Kurikata seems made of wood, it would cost a lot if you have it to be made. Kozuka is missing. Description is astonishing : Nagasa indicates a katana. It is listed in the wakizashi section and the description hilarious :

Shape : This blade is wid and thick Tanto, and size is rather short

Chu-jo saku is not a bad rating. Fittings are probably common or Tsuruta san would have them pictured. I have seen a lot worse. Ask Tsuruta san if it is a tanto/wak/katana and try to discuss the price. Perhaps Tsuruta san shall grant you a small discount

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

 

IMHO, this blade seems well scratched and i'm not sure this blade was made by the shodai, there were 8 generations.

[Stephen]

IMHO pass for a longer Katana, that price should find you one.

[sopadorjii]

Hi Mark,

 

I would concur with the gentleman above... also something about the hamon's straightening at the base of the blade on one side only seems a bit off to me. The koshirae is nothing special either. IMHO, there are better deals to be had.

 

Paul W

[Ffffrosty]

Thanks everyone so much for your help... I feel like a stranger in a strange land.

 

I think I will post in the wanted section, I really have my heart set on wanting a beautiful katana, but my budget is capped at $3500.

 

Thanks again,

Mark

[Brian]

Take a look at this one too:

http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/katana/08058.html

It's mumei, but if by Koyama Munehira then not bad at all. It has the length (almost 70cm) and the hi. And koshirae that isn't too bad at all.

You could always make an offer.

 

Brian

[Jean]

Mark,

 

Brian is right, this one looks good. Make a direct offer to Tsuruta san, saying that you can't afford paying more than 3,5 K$.

 

Taking into account the number of discounted swords this morning, you can take a chance

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Mark, the above are all good advices as well as the sword suggested, but have you considered

the "wait" option ?

 

Might be you haven't focused yet on which school and period, or any other

specific your sword should have in order to be completely satisfied by your purchase.

If it is so, a little more patience thinking about these things (and adding up money to the budget in the meantime)

might result in a more satisfying purchase.

 

Consider also if you need a sword in Koshirae or if you can equally appreaciate one in shirasaya.

Mountings rise prices, of course.

 

Good luck.

[Tavroch]

Hello all.

Can I put in my two cents?

 

@Jean:

Every katana on Aoi-Art is in the wakizashi section if you look at the details page.

You're right about the rest of course.

 

@Brian:

I have been looking at the one you pointed to before, and I noticed the yokote seems very vague, not sharp at all.

Especially near the ha. Or does it merely look vague?

If a crisp yokote is a sign of a good polish, isn't a vague one a sign of a not so good polish?

Furthermore: the koshirae are nice, but the saya is rather badly chipped at the koiguchi.

 

Speaking of yokote: there's something about the katana Mark is/was considering, I've noticed in others before:

the yokote on one side seems to have quite a different angle than the one on the other side.

Sometimes this is due to the way the two sides are aligned, but this is not the case here I think.

Does this too tell us something about the quality of the polish, and thus the overall value of the blade?

[uwe]

Hi Folks,

I`m watching Tsuruta san`s site a couple of years. Meanwhile it seems to me , that many of his "lower priced" blades have an mediocre to bad polish. Especially kissaki area looks mostly vague!

Otherwise I`m with Carlo

Uwe

 

PS: Mark, look on Moses site occasionally