Soten_Fan

I am not quite sure what you mean John.. Can you please be more specific? I am a newbie after all! :D Bear in mind that the photos turned out real bad and that the piece looks much better in real life. I don't think it is a cast if this is what you are worried about. The dragon and gold highlights are clear inlays from what I could tell.

Hi guys, I bought a wakizashi a couple months ago (there's a thread somewhere) with all copper fittings except for the tsuba. I had in mind to replace the iron tsuba with a copper one so the koshirae would be more matching. I did so today, and this is the new tsuba: I would like your opinions, and if possible any info or suggestions regarding its history. I think it is fair to say that it is late Edo, but apart from that I have no clue regarding school or possible maker. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions. Here is the tsuba applied on the wakizashi: It was about 1 mm thicker than the previous tsuba, so I had to trim the bamboo peg a tiny bit... It kind of exceeded the budget that I had in mind. I have a couple of friends visisting from abroad this weekend and I had in mind to take em to fancy restaurants and afternoon tea and all that jazz, but I think they will have to settle for the local kebab shop instead! Sorry for the crap photos, they are all shiny because I oiled a bit the tsuba to clean it before I photographed it.

Hi Jussi, Your blade looks like it can be saved to me. Regarding the London polisher, I presume you mean T.N. whom I have used and was pleased with the results. He is not expensive either. You probably need to worry more about the habaki & shirasaya cost-wise. And of course you should be prepared to part with your blade for a year or so before you can see it again. Coming to London on holiday with your blade is not a bad idea either. Apart from meeting the polisher in person, you must make sure that it coincides with a meeting of the TO-KEN Society of Great Britain. That way you will get to show your blade to a bunch of very knowledgeable guys. The next meeting should be around March or something. If you are lucky, you may catch an arms fair too. I believe the next one is also around March. I need to mention that you should check with the airline if it is OK to pack the sword with your luggage. A hard & lockable suitcase usually does the trick. And when you get to the UK, make sure that you observe the law when you are transporting the blade to the meeting or polisher.

Hi Stace, Well, my first nihonto was a Naganori, but I don't know if we are talking about the same one. The signatures look a bit different. Here is the thread with pics if you wanna have a look about the discussion of that mei: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10766 There seem to be about 3 or 4 Naganori to choose from. In any case your wakizashi is fairly old.

Thanks Morita-sama :D I finally managed to see the link, but I had to use a proxy server. Maybe the hosting server didn't like my IP or that the request came from the UK. So it is a SUAKA KOZUKA w/ KYOKA by SHOKUSANJIN. But is it? Why would the maker do two identical kozukas? Is it likely that mine is a forgery? I spent some time comparing the two and there are subtle differences in the kanji handwriting. Also forgery or not, the kozuka is 19th century. Does this reflect the age of the blade? It looks older to me.

Hi John, Your link doesn't seem to be working. I tried both yesterday and today. Would you like to copy/paste the content here? Nobody else can help with the sword or the kozuka translation? Well, I guess it is hard to reach any conclusions about this blade as it doesn't seem to have any distinctive features.

Hello everybody, I bought this charming wakizashi the other day at an affordable price. I don't know much about it. I can tell that it is probably shinto judging by the curvature. The shape of the tang could indicate suriage, but again there is only one hole. No idea about the school or smith, so I was wondering if any of you gentlemen can help with that. I like the hamon and there is very little kitae ware, so I think is a fair blade for the price I paid. Perhaps it will be easier to identify the maker of the kozuka as it is signed. A translation of the poem on the other side would be very welcome. Below are the thumbs:

I didn't attend the auction as it was on a weekday, but I popped in the weekend at the viewing session and handled all the blades. There were a few that looked surprisingly affordable and the thought of attending the actual auction crossed my mind.. But when I checked the sold prices in Christie's the other day, I was glad that I didn't take the day off from work.. Most of the blades sold for way more than the estimates.. The Ichimonji one sold for £72,000 when the estimate was 30 to 40k. And that is not including the buyers premium and the VAT. It was a fantastic blade though... I held it in my hands for a few minutes.. Actually, at one point when I returned to the upstairs room I saw it there sitting proud in its shirasaya.. And there wasn't a soul in sight. A naughty thought crossed my mind, but my sense of morality prevailed at the end! :lol:

I have been using the Hanwei oil spray (chinese, yellowish) on my Paul Chen blades for years, and it hasn't done any damage. Further to that, it seems to stay on the blade forever. I used Japanese choji oil on my nihonto and I have noticed that within a week it seems to fully evaporate... So for a nihonto blade, especially a newly-polished one, maybe the chinese one is a safer choice?

Regarding the Naganori mei, I discovered the other day the following website http://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=naganori, and since that NAG399 is the only one listed as working in Izumo, I assumed that this must be my smith. I now realise that it is not as simple as that and that the maker of my wakizashi may be any of these guys listed on that page. I need to research this further, but since I don't speak Japanese, I don't quite know where to start.. Can anyone point me to the right direction? As for the tanto, yes this is a man-made notch on the ha-machi, that was presumably done so the habaki can fit properly. Regarding this blade, anyone has any ideas? School or region maybe? Thanks for all your replies!

It is a tanto, but a rather long one. Or maybe it wasn't always a tanto, but I don't see any evidence of shortening. I don't have a measuring tape handy, but it should be approximately 30 cm.

Hi guys, Thanks for your replies, this forum is certainly most reliable! So, a likely candidate for the maker of my wakizashi is Kishin Naganori (木神長則) who was active between 1394 and 1428.. If this is the case, then it is most welcome news. Not because a koto sword is necessary better than a shinto sword (as it was already mentioned), but because it is a piece of very old history that most people get to experience in museums. Also, the level of responsibility increases.. This blade survived for about 600 years, it would be ill-mannered of me to screw it up... :? Change of subject, as I mentioned I had bought another blade the same month I got the wakizashi. It is a tanto, possibly late edo, and I was attracted to it by its lovely saya. Good price I believe as it cost me 950 quid including the polish. Can't tell much about it, had a couple of knowledgeable people have a look at it, but no conclusions were drawn. If any of you gentlemen can provide any more info/suggestions, it would be most welcome. Here are the pics

Hi guys, Thanks for the rapid response! The notion that it could be a koto blade, excites me a bit. I wonder how many smiths by the name Naganori were out there. When I looked at the nakago, the rust struck me as being quite dark and old and the mei was pretty much embedded deep inside in it. Also the mei strocks looked pretty smooth and confident which gave me no reason to question its authenticity. The other thing was that whoever went into the trouble of curving horimono in both sides of the blade, regarded it highly, and it wasn't a blade that was produced in a rush during a period of conflict. All these details made me decide that it was worth purchasing as a first study piece that cost just a thousand quid. At the moment, I am a few miles apart from the blade, so habaki-less pics will have to wait a few weeks. These are the pics I have stored in my travel laptop. I will post a couple more, not of great quality, but maybe helpful in dechiphering the blade. The first one is of the other horimono. Any ideas what it is, and if it can help to pinpoint the era and province of the blade? Also, you can see evidence that this blade may have been used in action. There is quite deep cut in the back of the mune, which I believe is a typical defence wound. The other is a pic of the mei with some chalk applied on it. Thanks to all for your very useful input!

Gentlemen, A few months ago I managed to purchase my first nihonto. It is a nice study piece that was purchased from a reputable London dealer for just under a thousand pounds. I hope I did fairly well, and that it is a decent first purchase for someone with such a limited spending power that shouldn’t be collecting nihonto in the first place. What I would like from you fine gentlemen, is your honest opinion and input on this piece. Firstly, I would like to thank you because about a year ago, you averted me from buying some rather expensive and rusty examples. OK, here is the piece in question. It is the wakizashi in the bottom. It is displayed under a Paul Chen practice katana which is probably a bit sacrilegious.. It has a rather agreeable koshirae which is probably quite later than the blade, but it looks like a matching set (apart from the utility knife) What attracted me to this blade was that it was signed, and that it had horimono on both sides that was well executed but a bit polished down. No major flaws, just some kitae-ware and that the current polish is starting to get a bit tired. As I said, the goma-hashi horimono has lost some of its depth because of many consecutive polishes; however the blade still has a fairly healthy shape, which means that it must have been a pretty beefy blade when it was constructed. It seems to have a chu-kissaki, itame hada, momoyama period curvature, and a hamon that looks like suguha-midare? Actually I wonder what kind of hamon it really is because it has a very “misty” look. And now the signature.. The dealer said that it looked like “Naganori” and that it was probably made around the 1630s but he wasn’t very sure. What can you guys tell me from the nakago and the mei? I am looking forward to your opinion. Do you reckon I did fairly well on my first purchase? I also bought a tanto that I recently had polished which I will post later.

Ok, perhaps the above shadow box is a bit unusual for a nihonto.. But I wouldn't go as far as calling it tacky... Maybe something along these lines would be better? The idea is that I wouldn't like to spend lots of money on buying a fine blade and then keep it constantly in its shirasaya or in store. Ideally I would like to be able to admire it/show it off constantly. Like what they have in museums. Would such cabinets like the ones I posted be suitable for such a display without exposing the blade to rust? That was what this thread was about. Also I don't see how this is dangerous. If anything, a sword just sitting on a regular sword stand is more at risk from a sword inside a locked and fixed display case in my opinion.

I came across this sword display wall cabinet: Do you think that it is a suitable and safe way to display a nihonto? Obviously the swords in the photo are stainless steel wallhangers, so the question doesn't really apply for them but for the case of a real nihonto. The great advantage of such a cabinet would be that you could display the blade and the saya separetely as in the photo, but is such a cabinet airtight enough to prevent rust? According to the specs, it is lockable and the glass has 98% UV protection. It can also be ordered with LED lighting. An idea would be to keep the blade oiled all the time and maybe put a mini dehumidifier in the cabinet to counter any humidity problems. What do you think?

Yeap, I am from Greece. The 21% is the standard VAT. I was told that for such an item coming from Japan, there would be extra duties on top of that. I can't know for sure as the bureaucracy here is such a nightmare that it is very difficult to find solid and accurate information. I don't think that I am going to buy any of the blades I posted. I know that buyer's impulse more than often leads to buyer's remorse. I know I can do better with my money, the problem is how. I may travel to the UK in a few months. If the timing is right, I may visit an antique arms fair or visit some of the antique shops there. I don't know though if I would be able to bring back any sword on the plane with me. I know that it used to be possible (you had to declare it in advance and take it through the scanner in the oversize luggage department). Is it still possible to do that? Finally, for academic reasons only, is there any info you can tell me guys about the swords I posted? I am plain curious.

Hi guys, Went to the shop this afternoon and took some pics. Owner wasn't too thrilled and in a hurry, so the pics aren't that professional. The lighting is bad, and the hamon on the swords is not as visible as with naked eye. You should be able to draw some conclusions though. Just click on the thumbnails for a bigger view. This is the first waki. It has a nice handachi koshirae which is in rather good condition. This is the blade stripped. When I saw this photo I was shocked because the blade seems to be full of reddish rust. However, with naked eye those look like whitish patches. I don't know why it turned out like this in the photo. Does rust show more prominent in photos? Here is the tang. It looks like it was shortened to fit in the koshirae. So is the blade older than the koshirae? This is what I am talking about. Here it shows like a white patch instead of red. You can see a bit of the hamon on the right. This is the kissaki The tsuba looks unusual to me. What do you think? The other side. Now the second waki. It has a rayskin same with nice fuchi-kashira but in tired condition. The blade is less rusty, but only slightly. There wasn't time to reveal the tang on this one. Some really good quality rayskin here. Both wakis had a full wrap. Fucchi-kashira are nice, but the tsuba has seen better days. The blade. Hamon is there, but it doesn't really show in the photos. After seeing the blades for the second time, I am not as keen on them as I was after the first viewing. I am not sure if they are worth 1500 euros each. I will leave the verdict to you though. Still, I would like to know if you can tell me stuff about the swords like their age, as a history lesson.

The first thing that came to my mind when I opened the post and saw the pics was "Poor guy, that's an obvious chinese cast". However after reading everybody's posts, I have some doubts now... But, it does look to me as a chinese fake. I have a few myself of the same type. A good indication is usually the thickness of the tsuba. The chinese ones are usually quite thick. For me, there are many signs that this is a cast, but the most obvious one is the sekigane. Normally an altered sekigane is done in order to fit the tsuba in a different blade. But in this case it looks like this "alteration" is part of the design which is obviously not normal.

^ That's a good idea. I will go down there sometime this week and I will ask to take photos of the blades. If I am successful I will post them here so I can get your opinion. Thank you guys!

Thank you all for your replies. 8 replies in a few hours are way more than I was expecting. You certainly treat newcomers properly here! On the subject of books, I think on the theoretical aspect I am on a OK level. I have the Kanzan Sato book and the Yoshindo Yoshihara one. So, I think that I can safely tell if a blade is restorable or not. These particular ones seemed alright to me. Obviously I am aware that with the same money I could buy a very decent polished and papered waki online, but there are some facts that need to be taken into account. A website like Aoi Art has good blades with some of the best prices around from what I have seen. However that means importing a sword from outside the EU into my country. First problem is the customs duty tax. Such item is regarded luxurious according to our law, which means that I would have to pay import duty tax up to 50% of the item's value. The second problem is that even though it is not illegal to own swords in my country and you don't need any special permit to own an antique, I would need a historical weapons import license in order to import one from abroad. Unfortunately I would have to do that for every blade I want to import.. The bureocracy is a nightmare. A friend of mine waited over two months for his license to go through. In the meantime the sword was kept at customs. You know what this means. A clueless customs official may decide to reenact scenes from the 7 Samurai with my sword. Or merely inspect the blade with bare hands.. The obvious answer to this would be to buy from within the european union. However I have noticed that blades in european sites are usually inferior and way more expensive from the ones that you can find in US or Japanese sites. And in any case, I would still have to go through the import license procedure, although I am not too sure about that. On the other hand, the antique shop with the three wakis that I posted is only a 20-minute walk from my house. You can see why I feel tempted about them. That's why I need to know if you kind gentlemen can tell me anything about these three wakis just by looking at the koshirae alone. I know that this is a very difficult thing to ask. At the end of the day, would 1500 euros be a very unwise expense for one of these swords especially if the blade turns out to be a not so special one?

:D :D Sorry mate, I am just a nerdy guy with glasses... The girl in the avatar is Reina Tanaka a Japanese idol and singer. Thank you for your warm welcome!

Hi there, I am a 33 year old male who decided that it is about time I buy my first nihonto. I have been passionate about Japanese swords for many years now, but I was never wealthy enough to get practical with my hobby. The problem is that I am still not a wealthy man, so this kind of limits my options. In fact, as I recently lost my job due to the crisis, logic dictates that it is not the best time to indulge into my hobbies. However, I feel that as life is short, I should just go ahead. Hey, it would bloody make me feel better, so why not? One of my first concerns was if I should save lots of money to buy a high-end nihonto or if I should buy a low-end starter blade in order to avoid painful mistakes. I chose the second option as I would need to save for a loooong time before I could afford a high-end blade. Also, It is very difficult to find high-end blades in my country, so I wouldn't want to buy such a blade online with all the risks that go with it (fraud, postal mishaps, customs mishaps, etc) So, for the time being I am limited to the swords that I can find in antique shops and flea markets in my small town. A polished blade would be wishfull thinking, as the most usual finds are overpriced rusty WWII katanas. Luckily, I can tell them apart. I recently found in a local antique shop, a selection of wakizashis, that seemed interesting enough. Here is a photo from the shop's website: No photo of the blades unfortunately, but I went there and inspected the blades so I will try to describe them as best as possible. They are rusty but not too rusty. At least no active red rust was present. The blades were not tired as the hamon was visible and thick. The style of the hamon in the bottom two was choji midare I think. Small kisaki. Also there were some chips along the cutting edge, but nothing too major. Unfortunately the shopkeeper didn't know anything about the blades, and I am not versed enough to tell the age or style. I don't even know if they are signed. The asking price is 1500 euros each. It is a lot, but I have seen shopkeepers asking 2500 for rusty WWII guntos in my city.. Any advice? Should I go for it? I know that without any blade photos I am asking for the impossible, but can any of you wise gentlemen tell me anything more about these swords and their age from the Koshirae alone? All three swords have excellent same with big nodules, and the middle one has nice black leather ito with a very unusual sun-looking tsuba. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hello everybody! Long time lurker, but I finally decided to join the forum since I want to take my nihonto interests a bit further (aka actually buy a blade). Yeap, I am embarrassed to say that I don't currently own a nihonto (it is an expensive hobby after all) but I have done a bit of reading on the subject, as Japanese history, art, and pop culture is a passion of mine. I own a gendaito kabuto though. I am probably one of the youngest here, at 33. I am not a native English speaker so please excuse the numerous syntax and grammar mistakes that I will probably make. Looking forward to have great conversations with you guys! Dimitri.