Stever

Wikipedia is your friend : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil /steve

This is on eBay, therefore it must be worthless. /steve

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Actually, I commented on a picture of a blade, based on the experience I currently have. Perhaps I should have clarified, but thought it was fairly obvious that I didn't have the blade in hand to give a detailed assessment of the item itself. Again, how many comments are there on the forum by those who didn't have the blade in hand, or know the smith's work intimately? If you want to know why someone made a given statement, ask. You aren't exactly furthering the conversation about the blade either now, are you? So is the rule then, "thou shalt not comment on blades by smiths thou dost not have hands-on experience with"? Maybe if more learned members did more to teach, rather than condescend? You don't seem to be too interested in actively helping in the learning process, seems more like you want your own little elite club to me. If I'd known that when I found the forum, I wouldn't have bothered joining, let alone posting. Never said my opinion was worth anything, let alone as much as those of others on the board. It is an opinion, that is all. Maybe we should have a test so you can decide if an opinion is worthy, before people are allowed to post on the board. Would you prefer that? namecalling is completely unnecessary; you've made your position quite clear. Those without experience need not apply. That's enough for me. I don't need to come online to get insulted, I can get that at home. Later, folks. Enjoy.

Thanks, Moriyama san. I think you're right. I got stuck on 'mune' after seeing this (warning: large image file): Sukemune yajiri cheers, /steve

Wow, what you guys see in a low-res pic and Oshigata is quite impressive! All those of you (except Darcy) who actually came nearer than a mile to a Kiyomaro blade -*any* Kiyomaro - raise their hands, please! So very sorry that I haven't had the honour to hold a kiyo blade in hand. I guess that makes me inferior somehow. I stated an opinion based on the picture posted. Has anyone here held this blade in hand? How many of the blades posted here and commented on were held in hand by those making the comments? It may well be a fantastic blade. I personally don't believe in falling over myself for a name, nor paying for it. Maybe that makes me stupid, maybe not. I will freely admit that I have *tons* to learn about nihonto, but if this is the reaction that people have to an opinion, I won't be sharing mine anymore.

Hi Rich et al, I've been kind of wondering at the details of the comparison between NTHK and NBTHK papers. What do you folks think of the accuracy of this chart?-->http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/origcomp.htm I have an NTHK kanteisho wak at 74 points that I've wondered if it would make hozon, but according to the chart hozon starts at about 75 points. I realize they can't exactly be compared side-by-side like this without any leeway, so I guess my question is, what's the leeway? edit - Oh, and to keep this at least partly on topic, I tend to agree with the general consensus about this blade. I've seen a couple of Kiyo katana that blew me away, but this tanto is underwhelming. There are a few blades in the 10-15k range at Aoi that would be money much better spent, IMO. cheers, /steve

Well, after being stumped on this for some time, I caught a lucky break. I believe this yajiri to be signed by Sukemune. The interesting bit (and the part that made this so tricky - especially for a newbie) is that he signed it across two of the edges, so there's only a partial kanji on any side. You have to look at it edge-on to see the kanji properly. I took a couple new snaps of this revelation, thought you might be interested. Let me know what you think; if anyone has any info about this smith (which sukemune, for instance?), it would be appreciated. cheers, /steve

Hi Folks, Something mentioned in another thread kind of tweaked me to ask this. How often do people swap out kanagu, particularly tsuba, and how easily is this accomplished? With fuchi/kashira and menuki I can see it being simple enough (just get a new tsuka made), but how do you fit a tsuba to a different blade? Does a sayashi do this for you, or...? Cheers, /steve

I'd be very interested to hear what the other shinsa team members have to say. Still looks to me like a WW2 kamikaze dagger, though there are some differences. Here's another one on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.ca/Japanese-WW2-Kamikaze-pilot-dagger-tanto-sword_W0QQitemZ220126600698QQihZ012QQcategoryZ4080QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The sugata fits, and so does the hamon (except for the oddity) for this type of knife. I'm with the crowd that thinks the strange hamon the result of clay slippage, as you can still see the normal hamon pattern in that area in the higher res pics you posted. The only thing that looks shinto to me is the colour of the rust on the nakago, but the fact that it's got the same stubby nakago as the WW2 daggers would mean it was reshaped. Is there any visible evidence of this? It just seems unlikely to me that someone would find an old blade with the same hamon and sugata as the kamikaze daggers, and have it mounted as such for the war. Not trying to argue with a shinsa member, just stating my observations. I'd love to be wrong. BTW, what in particular did the shinsa team member see in the blade that impressed him so, besides the hamon? cheers, /steve

Just found this one elsewhere on the net, give you a better idea of price (though I still think this one is a bit overpriced, due to the condition): http://www.wwiidaggers.com/SWDSJAP.htm cheers, /steve

Never dealt with them, but from looking at their items for sale it appears they are a seller of fake/reproduction Japanese swords. cheers, /steve

While I agree with Stephen that this is not a true nihonto, I do think it is (or appears to be) a Japanese sword. Specifically an army or police parade sabre as on this page: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/civilian.htm And while dropping a zero might be a bit much (if it's real), I again agree with S that it is definitely way overpriced, IMNSHO. cheers, /steve

Brian, Is there any chance of resurrecting part of that thread? There was some interesting discussion purely about ayasugi hada and not necessarily about that particular blade that I wouldn't mind seeing continued. Cheers, /steve

Here's a pic of ayasugi hada creation (non-nihonto) technique: FWIW, I have definitely seen the bullseye pattern appear on other ayasugi blades, especially Gassan ones. The end product from the pic above has it to some extent, but not as well defined as the Gassan. I will try to find a better pic of the effect. /steve

Hi Grey, I've seen some references to the 'W' stamp before, I'll try to see if I can find them again. I did find this (very small) reference on Dr. Stein's site, perhaps it will help you along the path: http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/showa.htm By the way, beautiful sword and mounts! cheers, /steve

Just my amateur opinion, but I agree with Simon. Looks like Gassan hada, but very deeply acid etched. Also looks to have no real hamon, possibly fire damaged. One thing I'll note, though, is that I am unable to find any examples of mei with just "Gassan" in any of my (admittedly very limited) resources. Any one else find this aspect unusual? my .2 /steve

Bleedin' heck! That's just a few blocks from where I was staying when I was in London (Marylebone)! Really wish I'd checked that out when I was there, d'oh! /steve

What confuses me is this statement: Here he directly compares one to the other and says "this is x and this is not x", but uses 'naginata' in both instances!? Does it also say this in the original copy? Were it me, I'd replace the last 'naginata' with 'nagamaki', and that would fit the definition that I tend to go by. BTW Carlo, all three of those blades on that page have yokote, but only two are referred to as nagamaki. I don't think you can count on that because it could have been added after reshaping, at the polisher's preference. Just my .2 /steve

Yes, they are definitely worth it. I was at the V&A last spring, beautiful swords and fittings on display, as well as netsuke and all kinds of lacquer work. Stunning to say the least; I took more pics of that section than any of the others, and that was before I even got into nihonto! cheers, /steve

Well, you could use some of that time to look for another version of it for me! Nice tsuba, Jean. cheers, /steve

Good eye, Moriyama-san! I think you may be right! How much do you want to bet the removed signature started out "Bizen Osafune..." cheers, /steve

To me, it looks like a profile shot of chrysanthemums. But I obviously defer to the more knowledgeable. cheers, /steve

BTW, not sure if anyone cares, but I've created a modified e-version of Dr. Stein's sword inventory sheet as a MS Word form. I find it a bit easier to fill out and print. Full credit still goes to Dr. Stein, of course. You can get my version from here: http://www.mediamax.com/gongfu88/Hosted/swrdinv.doc Cheers, /steve