BenVK

Fantastic blade! I think I saw it on ebay in the US but sadly couldn't afford it myself. Did the shipping to New Zealand work out ok? I recently sent a waki to NZ with TNT/Fedex but it never left the UK and got returned to me 10 days later with no explanation. Sent it again with DHL and it arrived with no issues. Stupid couriers, it's a complete lottery with them. Happy New Year to everyone.

Ok, I think we have our answer now. This from Togishi David Hofhine and photo of a Mantetsu that he polished in 2017. "When finely polished the Koa Isshin Mantetsu has a nashiji-hada. This is a surface that looks something like the flesh of a sliced open pear. In this case this is a texture caused by the crystalline structure in the metal and not by a folding pattern. Some folded blades exhibit a similar pattern if the skin steel has been folded so many times that the weld lines all blend together. The hamon is primarily nioi deki suguha, but with some ko-nie along the top. No larger nie crystals. It has been reported that the Koa Isshin blade may have been tempered in water rather than oil. The composite construction of the blade allowed for the more traditional method of tempering. There is also a faint bo-utsuri about 1/4" above the hamon, visible in parts along the length of the blade. Unfortunately all of these subtle features are nearly impossible to photograph using the equipment that I have."

That's true and if all Mantetsu were manufactured the same way, high carbon steel tube and low carbon steel core, I have no explanation as to why we see that line. The auction sword seems to have a line as well or am I mistaken?

Hi Bob, the Kiyomitsu was from the late 17th, early 18th century.

Blade reminds me of the Kiyomitsu I sold not long ago.

There is no Hada in the sense of a pattern created by folding steel multiple times and forge welding it together to create a billet. It's simply the grain of the steel which depending on the polish and which stones and nugui were used, can either highlight the grain or hide it. As I understand it, Mantetsu swords were forged using a sophisticated taco or san mai method so the lines would be the demarcation boundaries between each different steel once it's been shaped/ground/filed to the final geometry of a Katana.

Swords with boxes seems to be the latest fashion on yahoo auctions in Japan. It's a win win for the sellers, more money for the items and more money they can demand for shipping. Buyer beware.

Ah, thanks for letting me know. I hope John is ok and nothing bad has happened.

I'm having a hard time getting in touch with John Kurata, does anyone have any up to date contact details for him please?

Hi Georg, I think your friend is correct, pre war 1920's/30's Could be traditionally forged judging by all the little kitae-ware. Nothing special unfortunately.

No of course not. Kiyomitsu from Kaga blades are known for being no nonsense cutters which is why I mentioned it. Anyway, it's sold now via facebook.

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Offered for sale is this Katana signed Kiyomitsu. Judging by the unique nakago shape called "Kashu Nakago", he was from Kaga province and I estimate made circa 1700. It has a single bo-hi on one side, double bo-hi on the other that terminate at just over a quarter of the length of the blade.The hamon is Suguha and narrow, typical of Kiyomitsu. Nagasa is 70.7cm. Blade is in decent condition but does have a few kitae-ware, fortunately all within the shinogi-ji and nowhere else. These openings in the cladding are old, purely cosmetic and look a lot worse in close up photos than in reality. This is a no nonsense cutter and has a hefty feel and weight to it. Koshirae is a mixture of old and modern parts and nothing special, just functionable. It seems the tsuka ito has been varnished. Tsuba is old iron though and quite nice. Please judge the fittings for yourself as I'm not that knowledgeable about them. Looking for £1000 or very nearest offer. Trades also welcome. I can post worldwide but price will be dependent on what shipping service you want, insurance etc. Please feel free to ask for more photos. Cheers Ben

I thought you guys might like to see some of the very nice Japanese items sold in the recent Zacke auction. I wanted lot 39, the bronze kestrel but it went for way over my budget! 😪 https://www.zacke.at/auction/search/?au=16&sd=1

I think that's a great idea Chris and you should do it! There are very few really good youtube videos which discuss Nihonto in detail.

At first I was ready to dismiss this guy as a giggling buffoon but he's actually very smart. For some reason which I don't fully understand, sharpening kitchen knives is incredibly popular right now and there's a big market for the associated products like wet stones. This Ryky guy has very cleverly tapped into this and got 205,000 youtube subscribers, 13,692 facebook followers and 671 patrons paying him a minimum of $4.50 each, that's over $3000 a month to make a few videos. Let's say he attracts 1000 new patrons to watch the katana auction video, that's another $4500 and there's also a gofundme campaign to replace his "stolen" gear which has got a target of $25K and it wouldn't surprise me if he gets that.

Hi Paul, what I was trying to say was the ware on the kissaki does seem to have exposed the core.

I don't see any evidence of Jizukare in the photos provided. There are kitae-ware which have exposed the core steel but that's a different thing entirely and not due to over polishing. In fact, judging by this kitae-ware on the kissaki and how deep it goes before reaching the core, there should be plenty of skin steel left on this blade.

It looks to me like it's got many years worth of uchiko powder stuck in the open hada.

Is Louis Skebo still polishing? might be worth contacting him to ask.

Absolutely 100% correct! I strongly believe that no one has the right to publicly interfere with a forum sales thread unless there's a very good reason, for example warning others of a fake item or fraudulent seller. Even if that were the case, there's still a right and wrong way to go about it. The right way would be to write something along the lines of "I have concerns about this item and/or seller" and then asking Brian to step in. I personally think it's outrageous that a sale was interfered with simply because that sword did not meet that particular persons standards, criteria, benchmarks or whatever you want to call it. That was more than not cool, that was unacceptable and I'm glad to see that the comments were removed. I've suggested this before but why not just ban all replies on the sales section of this forum? (unless it's to warn others as I wrote above) That goes for all the "beautiful blade!!" and "what a bargain, wish I had the money" replies as well. 🙄 Get rid of them all and we will have less drama and a quieter life for Brian which can only be a good thing.