Icepic

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.

Thanks for the heads up. I got a e-mail from him the other day. He wanted to know if I was still looking for the Item That I posted in The Wanted To Buy Section. So he must be reading this forum. He had the nerve to address me as "Mate" This is why I perfer to buy from A board member in good standing.

Hello, Thank you All for your help. Here is another scan, I hope it helps.

Hello , I would much appreciate it if someone could translate the inscription on this nakago for me. Thank You in advance. The person I bought it from told me he thinks some of it states... Hiroyasu ?

Hello Carl, If you like it the way it is the next person that owns it would probably be happy if you just enjoyed it as it is. I think it would be it would be good for the sword also. The artisic value that it has can be brought forward at any time.

Thanks Stephen, Great advise. The sword is old and so is the mei, so a few more years shouldn't matter much. Hey Stephen, I am sending you a PM.

Hello folks, I likewise had a blade pink slipped at the S.F. shinsa as gimei but the koshirae for that blade which I submitted as a suite recieved 72 points. I thought for sure it would be the other way around. I submitted the Koshirae just becouse of the possiblity that it might pass. I can accept thier judgement on the blade. They indicated on the pink slip that it was worth preserving and estimated the work done by "Echizen Seki" , not Masanori as inscribed. I don't think I will be in a big rush to have the mei removed after reading some of the post; but if I do want to get it removed someday can anybody recommend a place in the USA to send it?

Thanks Mr Brashear for that link, That is a good summary of what happened. After viewing the Fujita sword I went down to the sword show and I submitted a mid-edo koshirae as a suite and it recieved 72 points. That made me happy. I can hardly wait untill I recieve the origami, It will make a nice addition to my collection. The sword show was great.; It was my first show so I stayed all three days. This one guy had about three really nice long Tachi. Those Samurai must have been real strong to swing a blade that long from horse-back and slice thru people like they were butter. I think that the sword prices there were very reasonable. For the tune of five to eight thousand USD I guy could be the proud owner of a very nice blade. I will try to attach a picture of the Fujita sword and the Koshirae I submitted.

Hello Folks, I drove to the San Francisco sword show from the Seattle area with the express purpose of viewing the Nobuo Fujita samurai sword on display at the Chetco community library in Brookings Oregon. I am glad I made the stop. For those not familiar with this sword please allow me to explain: On sept. 9 and again on sept. 29, 1942 a Japanese pilot (Nobuo Fujita) dropped a total of four incendiary bombs in the Siskiyou National Forest just 16 miles east of The town of Brookings, Oregon. The purpose of the bombing was to start a massive forest fire in retaliation for the Jimmy Doolittle raid on Tokyo. The Japanese bombing by Nobuo Fujita was the only bombing of mainland America by enemy aircraft during wwII. The bombing was not a sucess becouse the forest was to wet, but Officer Fujita was treated as a hero back in Japan. How fast forward twenty years. In 1962 Mr. Fujita presented to the town of Brookings his family's 400 year old Samurai sword. The same one that he carried with him on those bombing raids. I always imagined the sword to be a wakizashi, but no- it was a large katana. Very impressive, there for all to view. In 1997 Mr Fujita was proclaimed a honorary citizen of the city of Brookings. Later that same year Mr. Fujita passed away at the age of 86. In 1998 some of mr. Fujita's ashes was placed at the bomb site. Sorry, out of room, rest of story latter.

Hello Paul, Nice to hear from you. I enjoy your post and agree with you almost always; However I do not understand what a person would be missing out on by limiting a collection to papered swords that are uba with a mei ? All things being equal between two swords I will choose the sword that is uba with a mei over a suriage/mumei blade every time. P.S. I was not trying to reopen a post on Mr. Nakahara's new book, but I will admit that I was SO MUCH looking forward to reading what NMB members thought about it. Maybe later uh ?

Thank You Mr Tenold, That was every sound advise; especially for those folks who live in a place where shinsya's are not held. Also, after reading Nobuo Nakahara's new book, may I add to buying already papered blades; To buy blades that have Ubu Nakagos and has a Mei.