Jimmy R

PM sent. Jim

His website is Montana Iron. Very good guy. I have ironically recently been dealing with him. I just saw some of his work and am very impressed. He will be using the best rayskin (from me) for his core builds with nice large nodes. Very easy to deal with and always does exactly what he has said. Maybe a good idea to use him from now on. His URL is http://www.montanairon.com/ Jim

Thank you Jean. I am going to contact him immediately. The large handle is for a Bingo Mihara. My favorite posession and I want it done right. I really appreciate everyones support in this. I really got sucked in by the way his bio is worded. I have not had anything like this happen in a long time. Ebay is treacherous waters. I went swimming and got attacked by a shark. jim

So I made the huge mistake at the Minnesote show of not leaving my tsuka to be re-wrapped by Mr. Buck as I had spent all my money at the time and so later picked an ebay seller with, as he stated "18 years of experience" who offered "museum quality" work. I sent him pictures of the handles and told him to alter them as he saw fit. I sent him $200 and he was very enthusiastic about getting started but insisted I immediately send the other $200. So I did just that. He stated that we would talk about what I wanted when the handles got there. I emailed him what I wanted and gave him specifics about Menuki placement etc. Nothing I asked him or requested was responded to. I sent him a picture of what I wanted and he did not respond. I then after 2 weeks of silence posted a request for his contact info on the board here. THEN he contacted me and made excuses saying he would send me pictures and the handles would be sent monday. Then another 8 days went by with no contact. I have two cousins in Half Moon Bay where I grew up and that is near him so I asked one of them to go get the tsuka. "No problem" my cousin Chad said. So after telling him this he finally sent the tsuka and sent the attached pictures. I am very upset about this. They represent some of the worst Tsukamaki I have ever seen. I asked for a refund of course but he told me to send the Handles back and he "would make it right by altering the cores". What a joke. DO NOT SEND ANYTHING TO THIS GUY!!! He should not be doing any restoration work. I got an email from someone who had a sword polished by him and was also upset. it seems no one wants to put a warning out about this guy. But I am now.

Jaques, many people would argue it is definitely worth having a fake paper otherwise there would be no fakes period. Second if you are going to forge a paper for a sword with Mokume hada, a nice subtle suguha hamon, it was shortened and the original shape was not discernable and there was any evidence of age whatsoever, you would say Tegai, Yamato. If that is you were an unscrupulous seller. I am not saying the seller of this sword is unscrupulous (as i am sure he is not the one who drafted the document) i am just speaking in the most general of terms regarding the possible reasoning for forgeries at the ouset. The first five years of the 70s were notorious for the proliferation of fake papers and also papers being issued indiscriminately by recognized organization/s. Dr. Homma and Dr.Sato may not have set out on a capitalist venture but capitalist it became and along with it the corruption that always follows. Many articles and studies document this phenomenon. There should be a more readily available and comprehensive archive made available by the organization itself. But why would the organization in question advertize its own history of corruption? It would seem that such an institution would not survive such corruption, but hey, just look at the (omitted). Jim

1973 papers... Warning flag Yamato Tegai... Hardly Not to be negative but there are much better investments in the $6000 range. I mean just look at those fittings. Sub-par at best. And look closely at the kanteisho. Do you see what I see? Books, yes, but remember that first buy? It is like an unquenchable thirst. It is okay to get a Nihonto without being an expert. He just needs some HONEST guidance. Jim

Please post pictures of the sword. I would really like to see it. Jim

Please let's see the sword Jim

"Jim, I am sorry but your remark is not at all courteous. You could at least have pointed him out to some reference books, the site of RichStein, and well, it is not the way we do things here on the board". I did offer to help. Bingo mihara are very distinct. You cannot tell, or rather it is useless to just show the tang. I am not here to be courteous. Education does not ride the coattails of propriety. Rather I am here to discuss Nihonto. If it is bingo mihara I would like to see the entire blade. That is all. No discourtesy intended. We are so lucky to have you, Henk to guide us morally. Jim

It is completely useless to post just the Nakago. There are many books available that could offer the information you seek. Start with the Nihonto koza. Mr. Watson offers a cd with an index for the original Japanese version and he has done us the favorof translating six of the volumes and publishing them of you have a little more coin. I will look at it if you give a link to some more pictures or tell me where it is for sale. Jim

That is wakasa nuri. Very difficult to achieve. The effect is supposed to mimic diffused sunlight on a rice paddy. Where the intention is to create the illusion of depth on a two dimensional surface. Done properly it is absolutely incredible. Definitely a rural sort of theme. Is it for sale? Jim

I feel it is the aesthetic we value rather than the object in question itself. In the case of Nihonto we are all in love with a cultural view whether we have looked at it that way or not. It is the unique cultural perspective that created Nihonto and it's many facets but that perspective once expressed is not exclusive to the genre. I have thought about this a lot since moving back from Japan and there is something very unique in Japanese art. What is it though? My conclusion is that it there is deep emotional restraint in Japanese culture that explodes in it's art. An extreme focus of energies seem to be captured in the various expressions. This exists within the relative field of Nihonto beyond and outside of Japan and I personally love to find it. Several of my friends are restorationists who do amazing work. It is impossible to do this without having a deep understanding of the Japanese aesthetic. That is why in my woodworking I cannot let my creations go so easily (or cheaply) I see them as a perfect expression of myself Jim

I am very interested in this book but..... the login does not work at all, the search in English under both your name or the title come up with nothing. I would handle this ASAP. Jim

There are several in the Sano museum under 20cm that have the characters for "yoroi doshi" or "armor piercer" as the description. This is obviously a yoroi doshi strictly meant for piercing to the hilt in any situation. By the way this type of knife was Carried between wraps in the obi. I saw a demonstration at hirado castle with Edo armor and live Nihonto and he put this exact type of knife deep in his obi. Jim

I read somewhere about a revision after some battle where the design was changed due to the way it hung with two hangers. Jim

The question I believe was one regarding the thematics of the koshirae. It feels en-suite to me Higo of course. The kozuka is definitely a variation on a new years dance. There are literally thousands of this sort of dance with each prefecture and even in some cases individual Cho having their own variation. The shi shi is a symbol of striving in the face of hardship. Those dancers are celebrating the survival of "being thrown into the abyss" and surviving another year. The peony speaks for itself and is the polarization of the aforementioned symbolization. This is all rooted and defined a little more clearly in Chinese mythology. It has it's origins in ancestor worship. I would love to own this yoroi doshi. Beautiful. Jim

I have spent the last three months setting up and perfecting(loose term) Nihonto photography and I can say with some certainty that is just the lighting. By the by I also would like to say that that Naginata looks like a steal to me. The policy of eBay and paypal would protect you in the case of fatal flaws. It is best to ask for specific pictures and offer the seller guidance in how to capture the images if you are a potentially serious buyer. My first four Nihonto all came off of eBay and they all papered. It is just a matter of research and trepidatious movement towards the maximum degree of certainty. But for people who are not certain, buy a thousand dollars worth of books. And also did the original author of this thread just ask for a picture of the area? I mean come on. Jim

I would really like a copy of the Token To Rekishi if anyone has it. Jim

If anyone has any resources on this topic I would be very grateful. Jim

Mike is the exception to the rule. Every sword I have purchased from him has been papered. There are not many like him. Jim

I just had a very interesting conversation with a seller on eBay. The description states "...by the great Inoue Shinkai". This sword is not Shinkai and when I told him so he stated that it was what the registration said and not his opinion but just the registration. I told him how ridiculous that was to state that it was not his opinion when it was he, KATSURAGI that said it was the "Great Inoue Shinkai". I cannot believe the lack of honor shown by some sellers. I have caught the seller Yumigo shill bidding when he offered to sell me a sword I was bidding on after a bidder with %100 of his bidding done with Yumigo won the bid. He then contacted me and offered to sell it to me for the high bid. I encourage people to blacklist sellers like this. Jim

I am looking for pictures of Bingo Mihara works across the spectrum. Also if anyone knows of a definitive book I would love to own it. It can be in Japanese as well. I am also interested in the specific direct links to the early Yamato Den and how it influenced the bingo mihara smiths. I am working out some theories. Thanks, Jim

The oval is a sort of 3D representation of the mouth of a vase The sprig is a spring cherry branch with buds, freshly picked. Very common in Japan to pick them early and young and wait for them to bloom. Very nice tsuba. I would love to own it. Jim

There was a thread started a while ago about this seller. I have had the displeasure of doing business with him recently and second the opinions put forth in the initial post. When the items arrived scratched because they were rattling around in the box he accused me of extortion (even though I never asked him for anything). He was very hostile and I got the impression he was used to bullying unsatisfied customers. Potential buyers warned. Jim

I have a sword that papered to sue mihara with an obvious signature removal. There would be no way to overlook the way such actions would alter a tang. Jim