Curgan

Indeed the *best in Europe* was a discreet and modest refference for mr Van Damme. I will mail the AOI art manager to ask why he considers the signature unreliable. A shinsa will take part in Europe in 2011 the soonest, but, frankly, I felt well to buy it considering it a gimei and I don't have a special urge to confirm the mei (yet). The sho's specs are the following Signature: Bushu ju Ishido Hata Morihisa. (Shinto, Chu-josaku, Musashi province.) Blade length : 43.4 cm or 17.08 inches. Sori : 0.7 cm or 0.27 inches. Mekugi: 1 Width at the hamachi : 3.05 cm or 1.20 inches. Width at the Kissaki : 2.24 cm or 0.88 inches. Kasane : 0.71 cm or 0.27 inches. Era : Early Edo period.about Kanbun era(about 1661), Shape : The blade shape is wide and thick, Kanbun shinto style Wakizashi with little Sori. Jitetsu : Very tight Ko-itame, covered in Jinie. There is Utsuri on jitetsu. Hamon : Ko-nie based, Choji midare and Gunome midare mixed. There are many Ashi and Yo in Ha. Boshi is round Kaeri style. Special feature : Sekido Hata Morihisa was known as Hachi-zaemon. He was a swordsmith in Musashi province. After, he changed the signature to Toren. He was famous for Utsuchi (copy) of Ichimonji. On the surface, this blade looks like Katayama Ichimonji. NBTHK Hozon Paper

Unfortunately the waki has an inactive rust spot at the kissaki. However the toshigi (IMHO the best in Europe) says it is not dangerous, but can't be removed either.

I am glad the thread well received so well. Reading, listening to more experienced opinions and been able to actually pay for a good sword make for a nice acquisition. I wrote that the katana is most probably gimei, because Tsuruta san from AOI, wrote "unreliable signature" at his description. He is very honest (and very near the NBTHK building), so I think he might have a point. At the end of the day, if my "gimei" is indeed an "Akihide"... well thats good! The sho was already mounted in a fashion that suited my tastes and the dai will be mounted similarily. With small alterations The mounting will be kuroro saya, red-brown tsukaito, these shakudo nanako fuchikashira for the katana viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7566. The sho tsuba, menuki, kozuka and kogai will be altered. The tsuba will be replaced with viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7183 and I am still seeking for a similar antique tsuba for the dai. The rest I attach as pictures

hada and hamon

Nakago and blade

Hello all, this is my first blade. I was enchanted to the nihonto passion and -after some time reading and lurking at the site- decided to get my first one. Since buying from the internet is very risky, I bought a papered blade from a respectable Japanese dealer, which I fell in love with from the first moment. It is now -along with a waki- awaiting mounting as a daisho at the toshigi in Belgium, who was kind enough to provide me with some pictures and guide me patiently through the mounting process. The blade although heavy handles well. These pics are posted as a token of gratitude to the fellow forumites who unknowingly helped me with my acquisition. Although I have no regrets with my purchase, opinions are welcome. If the thread is of interest I will post and the sho. If it is bad ettiquete, somebody PM me and I will delete it. NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho Paper Signature: Kun 4 tou Kurihara Hikosaburou Akihide - most probably gimei Showa 16 nen 8 gatsu Kichizitsu Blade length : 75.0 cm or 29.52 inches. Sori : 1.9 cm or 0.74 inches. Width at the hamachi : 3.48 cm or 1.37 inches. Wide at the Kissaki : 2.41 cm or 0.94 inches. Kasane : 0.83 cm or 0.32 inches. Era : August,1941 Jitetsu : Itame hada well grained with Jinie attach. Hamon : Niedeki Gunome midare. In Ha, there are Sunagashi and Kinsuji.

Count me in as well. Just doing the maths. 365 pieces "reviewed" by *the* Ford Hallam for 50USD? It comes cheaper than most books... BTW will you discuss the items as well?

Unfortunately the spoils of the defeated go to the victors. This happened, still happens and will be happening. I 'd daresay it as a necessity The sad thing isn't that Japan was deprived of its swords. The sad thing is that those who got them, didn't understand their value. Some even now do not realise what treasure are the nihonto and many valuable swords are lost forever.

In Sweden the media have great power as I am informed...

What upsets me is the fact that a perfectly well packaged sword will be returned on the grounds of "safety". It would be easier -and safer for him- for a villain to use a shotgun shortened or not, rather than a sword.... ... which reminds me the scene with Indiana Jones at the indian mine

Congratulations! An original contemporary tsuba that evolves -and does not imitate- tradition ...

I am having a sword sent to sweden and asked the seller to mark it as "martial arts equipment". I am curious whether it will be stopped or not. The sure thing is that immediately after I see that it has left the customs, I will have it picked up...

I am still dealing with 20th c handwritting as part of my proffession and I do not think highly of that frenchman either....

My compliments on the content and presentation of the FAQ....

Can you decipher more of their meanining Christian?

probably a sheaf of wheat/rice/grain tied together

Splendid! As always very educational!

It had no info besides the attached certificate in Japanese....

I have found this tsuba in a website. It stroke me as very peculiar the fact that it has european letters engraved on it. They are capital letters on one side and "handwritting" (?) style on the other. I couldn't decipher them, so I came to think it might be Japanese text written with the latin alphabet. I don't think this was a common practice, but I do think that it might sparkle a most interesting topic and might revive the old "western influence" thread....

Is it the swedish postal service that considers them dangerous to handle or is it a customs problem? In the first case you should be able to pick up the sword directly from customs or -in the worst case- choose FedEx or another courrier.

About a month ago I had a sword sent to Sweden from the States and it arrived safe and sound. I think it is a bureaucrat, but since you have his signature at the letter can't you file a report on him or ask for an explanation?

My thanks for the informative posts. In parallel I will try making my own study. It mustn't be a leading artist, because the set was affordable by me, Japanese dealers ensure that you get what you pay for :D , It is of great quality nevertheless.

My apologies for the poor quality pictures. I sent them to my mounter as soon as I got them, without taking pictures of my own. Both fuchi and kashira are made of shakudo and have a fine nanako texture. At the sellers site it wrote 蔦図縁頭　銘　昌寿（花押）and I think it is Hitoshi, but my kanji reading is really bad.

And even more pictures.

And some more pictures