SAS

I realize that there are experts in the field to authenticate mei and workmanship, but i sometimes wonder if too much weight is put on looking at mei only without seeing the entire sword from multiple views. As a smith myself, I can see that after a hard day banging away at steel that maybe my fingers are a little sore one day when it came time to chisel the mei and it came out a little different. 3 or 4 hundred years later, people are looking at my work and saying it is fake due to some irregularity in the mei. Just a thought i frequently have when these discussions come up

Heisei started in 1989....

Ford, even though your opinion is freely given, it is worth so much more to me (and I am sure many others!) Happy Holidays.

Those leather saya covers are sometimes found for sale on ebay.

I read a book recently about the Australians fighting in the new Guinea campaign.... A Bastard of a Place by Peter Brune....that was a series of very rough battles, and the fact that Captain Shimoto made it out alive to surrender with his sword (if this is correct) is of some note and makes this a very interesting artifact.

Done deal, no problems through paypal.

Looks similar to the character "niu" but I have no idea what that means or if it is that character.

Agreed. I think one reason people want this kind of polish is that the sword will photograph well, and in fact i read somewhere that some polishers use acid etched hamon to photo and then redo the finish polish for delivery. This can be seen as a destructive sales practice. I have used weak acids such as lemon juice and vinegar on my own self forged blades to help see the hamon on modern steel, which is then polished out; on a Japanese blade with a good hamon, this step is unnecessary. Some have been accused meritlessly not long ago of using acid on a sword which has a particularly good hamon contrast; as I said, this would be unnecessary. Shortcuts and preservation are mutually antagonistic.......thank you for your words, Kunitaro-san.

One of the Kunisadas?

At that price I think you did well. Polish is fine for this level of sword. Enjoy it and use it as a milestone in your nihonto experience.

You saw the videos, what more help could you get? Anything to help keep it from getting loose would work, once you leave the pure path you are da@#ed anyway. Japanese craftsmen used what they had to make things work; we have more options nowadays unless you want to be a purist. Nothing wrong with either path as long as no one is misrepresenting their path.

nice match!

The videos on youtube show the Japanese artisans using the sticky lollipop of resin for tsukamaki.

I think you need a new habaki. That would account for the gap.

There is no hope, sell your kids and rescue everything nihonto you can get your hands on......or.......just......say......nooooooo

Is it an optical illusion, or is there a numeral 2 in the 12th picture in the area where the habaki would rest?

I wonder how long the paper hishigami have been in use....I just took apart a cracked tsuka from a koto blade to salvage the menuki and kashira; there were no hishigami present. Tsuka was probably Taisho era and the fittings were poor quality, though the samegawa was fully wrapped.

After a month of waiting, my book finally arrived....I can die happy now (maybe I will stick around long enough to memorize it) On a sadder note, Booksamillion cancelled my back order for Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords. PS I also got my copy of Nihonto No Bi from Jason Mazzy, thanks for packing it well bro, the USPS handles mail like airport luggage handlers.

nice one

A few erroneous statements but this is most likely due to translation difficulties.....not an issue unless someone tried to follow the remarks in their own smithing attempts! A good article, thanks for posting!

Only thing that comes to mind is that there is nothing to see on the tang if it is not a traditional blade, so lacquering over the peg was done by the shirasaya maker.

I could be way off on this, and I do not mean to offend, but the mei does not seem chiseled in with confidence but scratched in, the hamachi seems overly deep in relation to the nakago, the ha seems to have the shape of an over polished blade, (can't see the hamon) and the lacquer on the saya does not seem up to standard. Leaves me with some ???

seems somewhat "unusual".

Kantei is difficult while drooling and shaking....