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Hello All, I have heard that if everybody in a dojo use the same type of wood in there is less breakage. Has anybody tried bokkens made from Appalachain Hickory ? There is a custom shop in Vermont that makes upscale martial arts bokkens out of hickory, the higher grade ones can be quite exspensive. There web site is pretty good also. http://www.kingfisherwoodworks.com

Hello Brock, I have seen this special, Like you posted, it's pretty good, I liked it. I think it is a good thing for people to get some knowledge of samurai and Japanese sword history. You never know when someone will catch the bug and start to dig deeper. I try to get my friends interrested but know real luck yet. I wish there was a Japanese sword club here in the Seattle area so I could get some personal interaction from like mined folks. I am a member of the Northern California Japanese sword club but the club meetings are about eight hundred miles away. The NMB has been a big help I must say. Tahe care.

Sir, I hope it is not to late to return it but I feel for the price you paid the sword has way to many flaws. Just e-mail them and inform them that you have inspected the sword and want to return it and ask for a confirmation. If you are past the inspection period perhaps they will make a acception if there was some misunderstanding or perhaps give you credit on another sword. Good luck.

Welcome Brock, You picked a good subject to study and enjoy. May I recommend two good text that has really helped me? " SAMURAI" by Clive Sinclaire and " Facts and Fundmentals of Japanese Swords" by Nobuo Nakahara, both can be bought at Amazon.com. Take Care and good luck.

I have read that sometimes talented smiths were engaged in gimei or making copies to decieve, like Yasatsugu of the Echizen Shimosaka school and the Gendaito smiths Shigetsugu and Okimasa. ( the book "SAMURAI" by Clive Sinclaire) In these cases it might be nice to know. I would even like to have one or two in my collection.

I have been wondering if a Samurai included a Ko-gatana to the saya of his sword if there was a effort to have the Ko-gatana and sword made by the same smith? Or did it even matter much. Is this something that is seen in collections ? Just wondering.

I have been wondering if the wood swords that the Samurai used in practice and duels any different than those used today? Certainly in the right hands they are a very effective weapon. Do authentic antique bokken ever come up for sale ?

Over the past 40 years I have collected many things, over 250 collectable knives alone, I am at the stage where I have been thinking about thinning out my collection. I have never sold anything on e-bay so I been thinking about going thru a e-bay seller for hire insted of attempting my self, I can't take very good pictures anyway. Has anybody tried this method ?

Hello friends, I have never sold anything on e-bay ( have bouhgt about 300 items) however I don't understand this zero feedback bidder thing I see all the time. If the bidders money is good whats the big deal? Maybe someone could explain that to me? About the sword; $5,300 USD is a big risk for that sword. For that kind of money a person can pick up a really nice sword from one of the members right here on NMB. On a side note I saw a tsuba up for sale on e-bay the other day for a buy it now price of about $1300. USD. The seller said it was guaranteed to be the real thing, however, does not accept returns or a inspection period.

Hello Members, Does anybody know when and where the next NTHK Shinsa in the USA will be? Thanks.

Them origamis are coming in like Grant marching on Richmond; now if I could only read'em. Thanks NCJSC, you guys are great.

I won a auction for a waki on e-bay for about $450. USD. It is uba with a mei but has a fatal flaw. the yakiba runs off the blade at the kissaki. (no boshi). So what I did was to clean the blade with was 99.99% pure methanol, then treated the blade with Renaissance Wax. Most collectors know about Renaissance Wax, however I am sure it is not accepted by collectors of nihonto. I will not use it on my good blades but I don't yet regret using it on that blade. I am not recommending this, let me make that clear, becouse it is non-traditional and I was quite nervous about doing it. Well, so far so good. It's a shame about the fatal flaw, becouse other than that it is a nice blade. I thought about entering it for kantei-sho last August in San Francisco but I sure it would have been useless. Sorry, kind of got off topic. Anyway that is the most non-traditional thing that I have done to date.

How many people purposely buy gimei swords? Clive Sinclaire states in his Samurai book that Tokugawa Ieyasu had a smith named Yasatsugu make some gimei swords that he gave away as gifts. I would like to have one of those swords, but still, the swords I collect need to have a correct mei. Thats just me I guess. Did someone mention something about westeners outlook on gemei swords are somewhat different then the Japanese? I wonder if there is a difference what that might be?

Thank You Mister John A. Stuart, I now can add this most important information to my decription sheet. My hope is that all the infomation that I can put together will help to further appreciation of Nihoto for western collectors. This sword is a very good example of a (uba) Shinto era Nihonto.

Hello, I am putting together a description sheet on a Hiroshige katana that I just bought from a board member and could really use some help in translation of the third line from the right (blade inscription) of the origami. I would also like to know the dare the origami was issued. Much thanks in advance.