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Chris-san, much obliged for the rapid and complete translation. At 40+, trying to self-teach Japanese and its myriad forms is more than daunting. Thanks again, really.

Hey all, perhaps better placed in the translation section but hoping someone here can shed some insight. There is a "kanehide kanji" document posted as Pepin's web site (http://www.samuraisword.com/nihonto_c/S ... /index.htm), which I have taken the liberty to attach here as well: Anyone have an idea what this document represents? For example is this some historical/biographical data that would make a full translation worthwhile? PS> I have had some luck with English/romanji to kanji via web site translators, but seem to be hopelessly stuck in the reverse direction. Aside from counting strokes and then manually searching the resulting subset, is there a better way to start with a kanji and do the reverse (back to Rōmaji)? I recently discovered that I can copy and paste kanji into sites to get a matching definition, but this does not work for an inscription on a tang, or the attached, which is a jpeg rather than descrete characters that can be edited/copied. I guess maybe an OCR for kangi would help here. Any such thing in the public domain? Thanks in advance

Count me in. Really enjoying the facts and fundamentals book, BTW. Thanks Paul.

Aside from all the negatives so well stated here, I find ebay is no place for bargains due to the world-wide attendance. In effect it fails due to its own success. As a buyer I would want to be the only one at the auction. All to easy to sip beer and search ebay. I find that guntos often go for crazy money and attribute to folks that saved so much by not having to physically attend a real auction they can afford to pay 2 x what an item is worth. More than likely any real treasure will be spotted, even if mis-listed, and the bargain price disappears quickly. Regards

A good q, IMO. I has the same one, and came across the moderntosho link posted. I find it odd they have such low inventory. At 2 katanas a month all those modern smiths must have some other sales outlet. Perhaps private commissions? regards

Sorry for the bad news. When the grain actually looks so loud as to be real wood its a dead giveaway. Way too much Damascus like action here. regards

Hey Fran, welcome. I suggest you post a full pic of the tang (nakago), and the blade, with some close ups of the latter to help confirm. I'm no expert but the tang workmanship seems rough and the edges misshapen. In general real nihonto have carefully finished tangs. Other here can confirm, especially with added pics. Regards

Interesting thread, but I find all star-stamped discussions as such. FWIW, I plan to submit my Kanehide '43 w/star to Shinsa in upcoming SF. I sent a query to ask if they would accept a star stamped, and the contact had to check (ostensibly with the judges) if they would accept it. This tell me that, even for as US shinsa, any tang stamp is a net negative. The final feedback is they will accept, but its a gamble (what shinsa is not?); if not oil tempered it *might* get a paper. Given its wartime polish there is not a great deal of activity in the ha, but blade is in good shape with very little rust, so worth the price of admission just to know. Regards

Perhaps a dumb q. Forgive if so. Does one need to be a NTHK member to sign up for the Shinsa? Thanks and regards

I'll ante up with a star stamped Kanehide bearing two Nagoya arsenal stamps. One on the mune.

A good point, though I'm far too new at this to have much to offer. The modern Japaneses sword smith's book indicates that many modern smiths, by their own interview/admission, still mix "old iron" into the NBTHK's sanctified tamahagne. As far as I can tell these modern works, just as the old that in some cases boasted about the use of barbarian iron, are considered nihonto. At what percentage of tamahgne do we draw the line? Or, is it just the dreaded wartime works that are held to this standard? Regards

same here in the US. Oh well, will be a nice surprise when it does show. regards.

Malcolm There is a .mobi (kendal) and .pdf download avaialble from the site: http://www.archive.org/details/fighting ... 00normgoog Regards

No expert, but this means he is a somewhat celebrated smith. Second seat would be better than third. This is in regards to a military sword judging contest. The million yen is a way of rating the relative value of a sword. I think its somewhat arbitrary and does not mean someone will pay that much. But relatively speaking, a smith known for high-grade gendaito would fetch more Yen in Slough's book than one that was known for low-grade works. Smiths often made a mix of work, low and high. Each piece must be judged on its own. Generally a Rikugun Jumei Tosho smith would make traditional as well as non. I did not see any stamps on the tang. Not clear when this was made; stamps were not used before 1941 or such. Stamps generally indicate a blade that is ion some way non-traditional (excepting the star stamp, which is often seen on Rikugun Jumei Tosho blades). Sometimes stamps are removed to make the blade appear more traditional. A blade could be non-tradition for using non-native steel (tamahagne), or for being machine stamped and/or oil quenched. I think better blade pics are needed to determine nature of your blade. Hths.

Sorry for being away from my own thread. Did not seem it had been updated. Anyway, I can confirm my kanehide has a mune stamp as well, and that its also the Nagoya stamp. So, it has a star, and two matching nagoyas. Pic attached. Any significance to a third stamp? My blade is very bright, but I find the hammon is light. I attribute to wartime polish. From what I can tell to get a good polish we are talking 3k, a few years, and need to send to Japan, an act that is complicated by the stamps. This seems a lot of hassle for just a window. That said, I'd consider 90 bucks to see an inch or so of what the blade could be, I guess. (the smarter half says leave it alone and I will). I know there is Fred Lhoman here in the states, and for a "gunto" such a venue may not be sacrilege. thoughts?

Thanks! Was able to find a reference for the Nagoya stamp. Hope its ok to post. .jpg]

Just to clarify, are you are saying that the ura stamp on my Kanehide is the Nagoya stamp? If so, any ideas on the mune stamp posted from the ebay item? Having trouble finding a matching Nagoya stamp. Most seem to be on NCOs and do not match my ura stamp. For example, this does not seem to match: http://japaneseswords.gotdns.com/100Gendai29.htm Regards

I hope so, as my curiosity is piqued for sure. At: http://www.samuraisword.com/nihonto_c/S ... /index.htm They have a Kanehide and mention/show a small seki proof, but not enough detail to make out; does not seem to match.

Thanks for the comments. I have a Kanehide also, it has a small seki at the top on the ura side (the date side). I do not recall any mune markings; but do note that some info on the net regarding Kanehide indicates he was unique for a triple stamped/inspected blade. Guess its time to pop the tsuka off again and confirm. A pic of my seki is attached. Regards

Seems like a legit gendaito with a star stamp now listed on ebay (two actually, other is for 13K with presentation mounts or such). This one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... ink:top:en Has a mune stamp that I'm not familiar with. Hoping someone here can shed some light. Thanks in advance.

I had the same understanding, but after this post I noticed that ryujin's swords seems to imply that show stamps were phased out in favor of arsenal stamps in the date range indicated: "The Showa stamps were superseded in late 1941-early 1942 by the various arsenal marks. . . ." http://www.ryujinswords.com/shostamp.htm

Thanks guys. We are kid free and pretty static low-visitor environment so the obvious danger seemed negligible. Still, a naked blade begs to be touched, and I live in an earthquake zone; the saya would protect it in a fall or roof collapse. It is my duty to carre for it. Interesting this could be seen as an insult, but helps to consider how careless handling of a gun would put me, an American, off. Oddly I keep my guns locked up in the same "static environment". Thanks for the edification. In the shirasaya it will stay. Regards

Not to hijack, but: 1. I recently carved a sword from wood, to include saya. I'm no woodworker (more self-imposed work strike and resulting boredom), and used a dremil free hand to route rather than chisel the saya. Trust me, its doable, but no idea where to source the right wood. Used Douglas fir from big box store, and as it turned out OK now wish I used better materials. The "tsuba" is red oak, as is one of the seppas, as I wised up near the end. 2. I thought it was not unheard of to display the naked blade above its mountings (with the latter held together via a wooden dummy blade, sorry forget the proper name). Aside from potential of little curious fingers being cut, seems this allows easy examination of what is going on w/the blade, and facilitates the maintenance/inspection of one w/o messing with the other. Less wear and tear on the old menugi and ito wrap when oiling, for example. Seems in a humid environment the saya might trap moisture, and worse, hide the potential effects until you get a nasty surprise. I see the saya as making transport/carrying possible, not so much for corrosion prevention assuming its does not rain inside. Clearly this is not the consensus of the fine participants in this thread. Curious as to why?

Wow. Truly impressive. I would have bet that lost wax casting was used to make menuki. Very nice work there Ford. Thanks for posting.

Given the description, I'm not sure how I could make I case that whatever I got was not as described. Does "..which passed of the times" mean its an antique? Not sure you could make that claim in court. "This is samurai TSUBA of MOKKO form. It was finished in technique of KO-SUKASHI and the inlay. It is very interesting TSUBA which passed of the times. How will be it in a collection, document? There become gradually few articles of a samurai in Japan, and it is thought that a price will become expensive in future. It is an old thing. Please confirm photographs, and bid it. The pictures show all the item details. Please look at the pictures and judge for it. The size is recorded on the explanation. Please check it."