Brian

All, I have created this new category in order to keep translation requests in their own section and so that they do not detract from the other discussions in their respective sections. In this forum you can request translation assistance for any Nihonto or related item. This includes mei and reference materials requests. If translations lead to educational discussion of the item itself, then the post will be moved to the relevant section. Please note that we have a few incredibly helpful and willing members who selflessly devote time to helping us novices with these translations, and any info that is given is subject to them being willing, able and having the time to assist. Translations are not guaranteed, and are not always possible. If you do get assistance, please thank them for their time, and understand that you may or may not get the translation you requested. Do not take advantage of them and post page after page of requests, and abuse of their generocity will be removed. NB - Please state clearly if the translation will be used for any commercial use. If you need help with selling something, then mention that you need to use the info for commercial purposes. In these cases, it might be a nice (voluntary) gesture to make a small donation to the person who assist you, or at least request their full permission before using the info. Newcommers are encouraged to at least have a try at identifying the kanji. The ability to possibly get a fast translation should not substitute for further research and education. Check out the links pages, see what you can make out for yourself, and have a go at translating. There is no penalty for incorrect work...only the satisfaction of knowing you tried Regards, Brian

I'm not putting this one in the ebay section, because it is just for a laugh. http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Samurai-Sw ... dZViewItem You have to love Mike's sense of humour when he writes: Brian

I can think of a lot of reasons that that wouldn't make sense, and almost none that it would :D Let's call that source severely "suspect" unless proven otherwise shall we? Brian

Their prices may be sometimes a bit high, but I think that Guido will back me up that they have a great reputation, and are very nice to deal with. The staff are very friendly, honest and liked. Not a bargain basement shop, but one of the good dealers who always have great new stuff. Brian

Walter, Not to get carried away on another subject, but many of the German militaria collectors I know have quit the field now. They say that the fakes are getting just too advanced, and many of them can't even be identified easily by experts. Some even made on the original machinery. It is such a popular field that the fakers are becoming mind-blowingly good at what they do. Stick with Japanese swords. Most of the fakes are still fairly easily spotted, and we have a good number of years before they reach the level of the German repros Brian

Here is one pic of mine, before foundation polish. Also showing the habaki so you can get an idea of thickness. It is about 11mm thick. Not quite sure which ones you mean when you say "diminutive" but the ones I have seen have had a nagasa around 22cm long, so not short blades. There is some info here (if you weed out the incorrect info) http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?t=36237 Googling yoroi doshi will also pull up a lot of info. Connoisseurs has some info too. I think searching this forum for yoroi doshi will also pull up some previous discussions on them. Regards, Brian

Andrew, Obviously you are aware that the chip is quite a bad one, and would probably have to stay there. Some loose and open grain that might possibly have seen some acid at some point in its life. But compared to the first one you were considering, I would say it is vastly superior. For a beginner piece and especially at the price, you did good. Now use it to strengthen your passion and desire to learn more. Grab more books and study until you are ready to upgrade to a nice papered sword that will teach you even more. Age i'm not sure about, not too much to go on. Do some study and see what you come up with? Brian

Guido.... you are evil :D Making me jealous there. How about some details of the blades? I assume those are both papered daisho? It's about time we drooled over some of that treasure chest you have Great pics from everyone else too. Donations of items are welcome so that I can start a NMB private museum here :D :D :D Brian

Sebastian, You are lucky in that the Haynes Index is usually very expensiveto ship, as it is 3 large volumes. But one of the publishers is in Germany, so maybe it is economical for you to get it there. They are: http://www.nihonart.de/index_Robert_E.htm Brian

The dragonfly tosogu are all modern? Not sure, but he is unclear about the age, and they don't look antique to me. Some of them he mentions modern, others he says unknown (talking about the Kachimushi stuff) If they were antiques, I would be pretty peeved if someone was parting out daisho fittings piece by piece. Brian

That blade is not tired. It is not fake. It is not acid treated. It is what you see in the pics. It is just an average wakizashi in the process of a non-professional polish in my opinion. It has nice fittings and a nice hamon, and is nothing fantastic, but not junk either. It needs further work, and would be a fair piece to have polished further if it goes cheap enough. Let's not over analyse it, not all that much to discuss on it, is there? Looks like there will be some nice hataraki there. Brian

Dino, This is a quite a large request There are lots of pics online of yoroi doshi, and I'll post mine when I get home. Sometimes we see thicker tanto called yoroi doshi when they are kanmuri otoshi, but I feel that when you see a real yoroi doshi, you know it. Mine is about 11cm at the machi! and is almost triangular in shape. Obviously designed to pierce armour. They don't have to be diminutive though. Blade lengths can be around 22-25cm long, although width of the blade is thinner than usual. I'll post more when I get home. Brian

Moved to the eBay section (which is what I think the point was) If we miss a post in the wrong place occasionally, just pm me or Stephen or use the "report post" function. It happens sometimes. :| Brian

Walter, He is a WW2 smith making Showato. Listed on Dr Stein's site here: http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/index.htm Let us know when you are ready for your first Nihonto (after lots of study and books etc) The top of the forum has a recommended reading section, and if you search the forum for recommended books you will also come up with all the info. Check out Stephen's book sale in the Commercial Section as there are some great deals there currently. Brian

Good question! Right now all of mine are stacked under a heavy book to keep them flat. I really plan on getting them bound sometime though. The PO here does love to have a competition to see who can fold it the most times though, so I usually battle to get them looking mint. That, and the fact that they always seem to deliver them in the rain I think I must check out those binders that have a hard glue on the spine that you run through a heating machine and bind them all in a book form. That might be better than punching them and ring binding them. Brian

Moriyama san, Would this tie in with Paul's translation above...Sakon Katsumitsu? SAKON KATSUMITSU TEN-SHO 1573 from http://www.sho-shin.com/sue2.htm Brian

It's the polish. Has been taken to a certain level (foundation polish maybe?) and not further imho. Better than acid or ferric chloride treatment. Quite nice f/k there too. He seems to know his Nihonto and terminology..so I would expect he would have checked out the tsuba previously to see if it is shoshin or not. Brian

Guido.. I thought you killed that evil twin of yours? :D Ok..ok, point noted. lol. Good to have you to bring us back down to earth when we need it. No rules can substitute for hands on and educated examination. Gotta admit though..if there are some characteristics that are more common traits in certain swords, it is handy to know them so that you can start with some advance knowledge. Also handy when we see those out of polish, delapidated and rusted blades that we are taught to avoid but never do Sometimes the quality or lack of it is not immediately apparent. But your point is a good one and noted Brian

He's no. 270 in the book Shosankenshu, but it gives absolutely no info on him at all. Shows the correct kao though. I'll keep looking, but maybe someone with Haynes etc will be able to assist further. Brian

Sebastian (I like the fact that the new forum has real names in your profile ) Can you post a clear close-up pic of the mei and kao? I will have a look through my books and see if I can match up the kao. Brian

Henk, Go into the How To section, read the post about changing styles etc, and change to the Nihonto style in your profile. You will like that one. It is the default, and is why you are seeing part of it before you log in. Brian

Well....as long as you are being so specific and detailed..... Did you actually check out all 4 style options? There are very detailed explanations on how to preview all 4. You realise that once old software has been discontinued, the old versions are no longer supported and we don't get security or other updates? Therefore we don't have very much choice but to go to the new software which is this one. We could stick with the old forum, but eventually it is going to have unsolvable issues or get hacked. And as much as I'd like to keep the old look, the people who designed that themeset have not done one for phpBB3...so it isn't an option unless you know how to port themes? This move can be as easy or as difficult as each person wants it to be. I'm trying to make it as painless as possible. Brian

Here is the original thread (still there for reference) http://militaria.co.za/nihontomessagebo ... php?t=2731 Here is the pic: The translation according to Piers was 139 Akasaka Tsuba Broken fan, End of Edo 7th gen Tadatoki's work The quality of this design was the strength/appeal of Akasaka work Brian

Nigel, I can't find a download link anywhere on that page? Do you have to be a member of google books or something? Brian

I rotated most of the pics to read the right way up. Nice looking sword! Brian