Brian

Martin, I am also not qualified to judge a mei, but this is one of the harder aspects of collecting Nihonto. Basically this is why we have Shinsas and experts with huge libraries of oshigata that they can reference to see if the mei matches known examples. It comes down to being able to recognise the strokes the make up the signature, and then see if the blade characteristics match his known works. Most of the books used to compare signatures are in Japanese, and the most well known one is the Fujishiro Nihon Toko Jiten with Koto and Shinto volumes, and also all the Nihonto Koza volumes that AFU has translated into English. Those can be found at http://www.afuresearch.com/index.html Weak strokes, wrong placement and unconfident chiselling can be indications of gimei, but there is much more to it. So basically you compare it to known works, and then see if the hamon/hada/sugata etc matches his work, and then you will have only an educated guess Take a look at the top of the forum for the suggested reading, and also the Swordsmith Database can be helpful. The Hawley books, Japanese Swordsmiths, are also popular, and have a good section on gimei. I am sure someone will take a look and give you a good opinion on the smith in the pics. Regards, Brian

The scrollbar color is very difficult to change in .css code apparently. I'll be looking into it. Firefox has no problems...I think this is only in IE that the colors are close. But why not use a mouse with a wheel? I just roll the wheel to scroll...haven't had to use the scrollbar in ages. Who knew running a forum would force to me to learn coding. Argh. Brian

Apparently we are fast..but not always correct :D Thanks for the correction. Brian

Koichi San, Thanks for that link. I had found it a few weeks ago, and it is very well done. Lots of good pics and info. It looks like he is translating more in English over time, and it is a valuable resource. Regards, Brian

Hi all, I am looking into the site layout and general presentation, and would like to take a quick survey of what screen resolution most of you use? 1024x768 shows full screen with no scrolling needed, while smaller screen resolutions might need scrolling to view the whole page. If you are not sure what your resolution is, right click on your desktop and select settings. The sliding bar should tell you what resolution you are currently on. Thanks, Brian

Hi, How about 3 posts down from yours? http://www.militaria.co.za/nihontomessageboard/viewtopic.php?t=84 We are fast here on the NMB :D PS - Please could you sign your posts with a first name and initial of your surname, or vice versa. Much appreciated. Brian

Tim, Hard to find originals in one place unless you are maybe at one of the larger shows or dealers. Otherwise you will probably find them one at a time on the auction sites, and hard to match a set. For modern pieces, try Fred Lohman who has sets and pieces. http://www.Japanese-swords.com/ Otherwise try the various sword dealer links at http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/links.html The scabbard mouth does not use a fuchi. It is called a koiguchi and while it may match the other fittings, is not the same as a fuchi. Brian

Definitely not Japanese. I would say it is some tourist fantasy piece (especially with the small knife inside the handle) but perhaps it is some other Eastern sword such as from Burma or Thailand? As suggested, your best bet would be to post it at the Swordforums where they have forums for these other countries. Regards, Brian Edit to add: I believe this may be a Burmese Dha. A great page on these can be found at http://dharesearch.bowditch.us/ I am still unsure if it is old, or an early tourist piece..but looks like it may be fairly modern with that screw in accessory knife that isn't typical

Just to second (third?) what has been written..my dealings with them have been very pleasant and I am very satisfied. I think Mark is one of the regular sword show trusted dealers? Brian

Good find Will be interesting to see what it goes for. So to be registered in Japan..it would have to have a mekugi ana and a sharp cutting edge? I assume this blade is just a thin saw blade without a straight cutting edge? Brian

Jeff, What error are you getting? Pics should upload ok. Check out the how-to at http://www.militaria.co.za/nihontomessageboard/viewtopic.php?t=8 for instructions, or email to me and I'll post them. Must be smaller than 1Mb in size. Brian

I was intrigued..so I did some reading through Fuller and Gregory. This pommel shape differs from the Navy dirks, and there are other differences, so I would count that out. The shape of the brass pommel and backstrap matches the fire bureau dirks almost exactly. But they have more decoration on the backstrap. There is a star badge on the back of the pommel that also leads to Police or Fire depts. (see more photos at the original link) The fire bureau dirks seem to have had a press fit retention system on the ones pictured, but that is not to say all the variations are pictured in the book. The other one that matches is the Police dirk - junior officers. This is similar to the fire bureau dirk, but uses a button retention system. The senior officers police dirk has extensive decoration on the backstrap, while the junior officer's has less decoration, but retains that star badge. So my conclusion is some modified junior officers police dirk, although my gut feel is that it is indeed a seldom seen variation from the fire bureau. It would tie in with the blade and tobikuchi. Not Nihonto..but interesting none the less. Brian

Well..that is an odd one. I haven't seen anything like it before. Looks like the scabbard has a fireman's hook on it..similar to the tobikuchi. Perhaps it was used by firemen during the war and the blade is a wood saw used to cut through buildings during or after a fire? Take a look at this link..and compare the projection. http://www.e-budokai.com/collection/tobikuchi.htm Very interesting item Rich. Brian

Hmm...this one is a difficult one to say anything about with certainty. Has many traits of a fake..but then it has a shape that is better than the usual fakes, and I haven't seen a 2 piece habaki on a fake yet..especially one that looks like it is part shakudo? There is definitely some acid or ferric chloride treatment there...and what looks like an ayasugi hada as was mentioned. I have seen worse kissaki shapes on neglected Nihonto, but it is definitely off. The nakago has 2 added holes that might have been an amateur mounting job, or used to display it on a wall or something. Not even typical for a fake..especially with the one ana in the right place. The nakago shape is very rough, and not well done or aged. Am I seeing some nioi brought out by ferric chloride (bad!) or is it just a fake hamon? This one will need more pics to be certain. I wouldn't write it off completely yet..but wouldn't get excited either. In hand...most of the more advanced collectors will know immediately. Are you near any sword clubs? Brian

That is very sad news indeed. I never had the privelege to meet the gent, but have heard of him. My condolences and thoughts go out to his family and friends. A great loss to the Nihonto community. Brian

Probably an excellent time to submit too..since there is the New York Shinsa comming up in September. No need to send to Japan (yet) http://www.ny-tokenkai.org/shinsa.htm Running out of time to reserve a spot, so if you want to take advantage, book now. I am sure if you are not going to be near NY during that time, there are people who can organise for the blade to be submitted. I think it would be an excellent place to get a good opinion on how to proceed further. Brian

Can't comment on most of the names, since I haven't seen their work, but the most highly regarded "Westerner" that I commonly see recommended is Bob Benson in Hawaii. He is used by many of the advanced collectors that I have had the pleasure of communicating with. Some of the less advanced polishers have the good sense to only polish non-Nihonto, and this is the way it should be. Brian

Just ordered mine..and I'm really looking forward to it. For the overseas guys like me..just want to mention that the shipping is very reasonable too. Good job to the JSSUS for arranging this publication at such a good price, and thanks to the anonymous donor. If you aren't a member of the JSSUS, now is a good time to join, it's never too late. Brian

Tim, Just remember this is a tachi tsuba, and as such it should form part of the koshirae for a tachi and not just a katana. Not sure how often (if ever) tachi tsuba were used on katana..does anyone have any comments on that? Brian

Milt.. Welcome. Good to have you here. I moved this topic to the General Discussion Forum for convenience. http://militaria.co.za/nihontomessageboard/viewforum.php?f=8 Yes..your "badboy" smilie works fine. As for the avatar pic, take a look in the General How-To Forum for full instructions on how to resize pics and upload them, or you can email me the pic and I will resize it and upload it for you. Regards, Brian

As Stephen pointed out..when you log in to the main forum page, a waving flag symbol on the left will indicate that there are new posts that you haven't read. Also..hovering over the icons briefly will pull up a note on whether there are new posts or not. Finally...if you change the timezone to your own one in your profile..I find it is fairly easy to see if the latest date of posting is newer then the time you read the posts last. I agree the old forum was easy to spot new posts, but for now we will have to hopefully adjust. I appreciate the messages of support and am very glad to see how many of the old members have joined. Wishing us all a speedy growth and much new knowledge. Brian

Hi. Welcome to the board. It would be appreciated if you could please sign your posts with at least a first name and initial, or initial and surname. Easiest to add this in your profile if you like. The best info I could find on short notice is at: http://www.reninet.com/shoshin/yam4.htm Yamato smith, Senjuin school. Not quite sure what the seller means by rare shugu gunome. maybe he means suguha/gunome mix or a suguha with ko gunome? If he is referring to Senjuin Yasushige then that would be the early 1300's smith. There are a few discrepancies in the description, but didn't go through all the pics. Can't tell you if it is gimei or not, but without proper papers or opinion, I would always treat swords like this as gimei until proven otherwise, and buy the work, not the name. Btw..this one doesn't have long to go.....so you don't have very much time to decide Good luck. Brian

Pity they aren't antique..but they are the correct mon menuki..from Bugei http://www.bugei.com/product_218_detailed.htm Will keep a lookout. Brian

Excellent info. Thanks Ed. That makes sense to me too. Brian

It's not the board this time..I think Darcy's 2 links are down. Can't load nihonto.ca at all..so maybe just down for maintenance? As soon as the site is up, the pics will load. I have allowed most html tags now, so you should be able to use them with very few exceptions. Sorry your kantei is ending up being a test post. Brian