Brian

It's real. But it has been polished so many times in its life that it has lost a ton of metal. You would need to check very carefully if the temperline is still complete all along the edge and doesn't drop off anywhere, as that is a fatal flaw. Fittings are nothing special. This appears a very mediocre piece and has poor shaping. eBay price back then is around current value or maybe worth a little less

Bruce, In this case, you were probably following a section of the forum where this was incorrectly posted originally, and it sent you the notification as it should. But once a mod (or myself in this case) moved it to the correct section, you are seeing it in a different section to the one that sent the notification

If anyone is having trouble accessing the forum, one more thing to try. Please check if you are accessing via www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb or www.militaria.co.za/nmb If one is working and the other isn't, please update here so I can investigate. The second link is the primary one and recommended one, the other is a redirect.

Check the top of the forum, there is a menu for image resizers.

You are likely uploading directly from a phone? Edit the pics, and without doing anything to them, save them again. That will "lock in" the orientation. It's the cellphone that is saving the incorrect orientation, and servers can't read that info. Just edit..save. Done.

If you mean the one mentioned above..have you checked the downloads section? If you mean a full translation, no-one has confirmed one exists.

Don't forget what I consider to be a huge influence on the above: The internet and availability of a huge number of swords from a wide variety of sellers. In the past, you heard about swords being available on auction, or you traveled to a seller. You had to fight other buyers for a decent sword as auctions and sales were the primary source of Nihonto. Now you just log onto the internet, and can choose from thousands of swords. Sellers aren't guaranteed a captive market. They need to be competitive and aattractive to buyers. The more the internet makes good stuff available to a wide audience, the more prices will have to adjust to lure the customers. It's no longer "Buy that sword because I don't know when a better one will come along" Now it's "Let me compare 10 of the best examples available on the net and decide which interest me" I think in a market like that, it's only natural that prices remain competitive and sellers are under pressure.

I'm going to take responsibility and host it, with the caveat that it will be taken down if there are any objections from anyone connected to the book. It will only be of use to those with the book, and may even lead to people buying the book, so there is no downside to the publisher. Let's see. Will upload later today.

I won't claim to know the legal answer, but considering the scan isn't for sale apart, and is useless unless you have the original book...I would be willing to give it a try. Plus it's for non commercial educational use.

Yip.

Can you try it without the VPN engaged? I'd like to see if the server is blocking you because it is detecting a VPN. Also worth trying a browser like Firefox or Chrome. But I suspect this may be a conflict with the security software and your VPN if you are using it all the time. Or try change the location of your VPN to the USA or elsewhere and see if that changes anything? If you aren't using the VPN, try switching it on, choose one of the other countries and see if that changes anything? It's not happening in most other places, so has to be between the server security and your ISP. You can also open a command prompt and type ping www.militaria.co.za and see if any of the packets are not making it through?

Guys..seriously. If you are going to mention access issues, there is zero I can do about it unless you are VERY specific about what the issue is. I need exact error messages, screen shot if that is easier. What browser, phone, pc or mc etc etc. It is extremely difficult to know how to address issues if I don't know exactly what the error is. Some have zero issues accessing, others have a problem, which to me suggests it is overseas lines or related to cables somewhere, but I can't look into it unless I get as many details as possible. I would suggest starting at places like these, and see if the site is down for everyone else or just your location/country https://pulsetic.com/is-website-down/ https://semonto.com/tools/website-reachability-check https://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/down-or-not/ https://www.site24x7.com/tools/check-website-availability.html

Assisting a collector to sell his 2 papered swords that he has owned for while. He is not confident enough to do the listing and asked me to assist. He got into it during Covid, purchased them in 2021 and is no longer collecting. Both were imported from Japan, purchased from Samuraimuseum, with a lot invested in the shipping, vat, duties etc etc. He is in Basingstoke, and would prefer to keep the sale within the UK for now. Both in full polish, and both papered Toku Hozon. All the details are in the sales flyers below. If anyone has any interest, you can comment and I'll put you in touch. These have both been reduced significantly below what was paid. Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi - (Still as purchased) - £5,250 (reduced) Tango no Kami Kanemichi - (With additional papered tsuba) This sword has a stunning sudare-ba hamon and lovely fittings - £7,995 (Reduced) See pics and details in the pdf's attached. Gorgeous sudare-ba on the Kanemichi and interesting habaki... Kanemichi also comes with this additional tsuba which fits: https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/antique-tsuba-for-samurai-sword-with-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-certificate-t-366/ Kinmichi: Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi-2.pdf Tango no Kami Kanemichi.pdf

His location was the give-away Work on about 17.3 ZAR to US$1

Quite an interesting and nice take on the "tiger and bamboo" theme.

I explained that in my post above

You can find a decent write-up of Zohei-to in Mal Cox's article here https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/118-showa-period-swordsmiths-of-fukuoka-prefecture-kyushu-and-the-kokura-arsenal/ Basically a machine made higher end sword than the Type 95.

Awesome gesture Justin! Really appreciate it. Current bid $850. Shipping is free within the USA folks.

Quick bump, this one ends tomorrow at 8mp EST. @Justin Grant currently in the lead at what is still a great price of $700

Mark, You'll need to post pics of the tang to get any interest. It's a vial part of the sword. That said, the blade almost looks like a Type 95 arsenal/mass produced type. Not showing any hamon or hada in that polish. At R55k (about US$3165) that is waaay out of what something like this would go for. In SA, you'd be expecting something like this (assuming a Showato) to be closer to about R15K-R20K) and less overseas.

Jesta's Vesta :-) Sorry...had to say it. (Vesta is the name of these matchbox items, as Piers mentioned)

Whoever the winner is, I'll also throw in a year Gold membership. If you are already one, I'll extend it by a year

Nice job, looks understated and elegant.

Guys, before we get carried away, I have no plans on charging for listing or buying. It's tempting, but that is one of our strengths and I think it generally works well. Maybe I can look at a system where a person gets a badge if they have done X number of successful sales, so that they have somewhat of a "verified" badge that sets others at ease, but that we'll look at later. I've just bumped up the hosting with more webspace. Just means the bill in a week or 2 will take all of the Gunto proceeds that is up for auction currently, but at least we won't run out of space. Advertising will likely happen, nothing too intrusive. Guys who take advantage of the services here like translations...well the board is self regulating, and as you can see they get called out. Nothing I need to do...you guys handle it for me :-)

Indeed, sorry but story not withstanding, this remains a Chinese fake from what we can see