Grey Doffin

Let me add that the Hizen-To manuscript is still available to those who join the JSS/US yet this year. If you join before issue #6 for 2009 is mailed you will receive all 6 of this year's issues. Grey

The book is both hard and soft bound. The Met's price for the hardbound edition is $65; lower online prices might be for the softbound edition. Grey

Uwe or anyone else who's seen the show, How well were the swords lit? Were you able to see hada & hataraki or was the lighting poorly done? Should I take a flashlight? Thanks, Grey

An expert to the rescue! Showa Ju Hachi Nen Ju Gatsu. Showa 18, 10 month, or October of 1943. The paint on the other side is 4 numbers: 4, ?, 7, 9. Grey

Hello, Do not try to remove any rust; never, ever. Don't try to fix anything that you think needs fixing; you're much more likely to do damage than good. Here is a link to a sword care and etiquette web page that should answer your questions: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm Grey

"Ozawa Kanehisa Saku" with a Kokuin. Which means, made by Ozawa Kanehisa, and kokuin is a personal seal. Grey

I'm thinking hand made, water quenched, made in China by Paul Chen or someone similar. The nakago looks that way and the very shallow, even too shallow for Kanbun Shinto, sori is something else I expect out of China. Grey

Hi John, Mino no Kuni no Ju means resident of the Province of Mino; Kanenao is the name of the smith. Bruno, A method of mei translation: Kanji Flashcards, from me (I sell sets). Grey

with the Showa stamp. Grey

"Sagami no Kami Fujiwara Hiroshige". If the signature is right the blade dates to late 17th century. Grey

Max, Put a few drops of light machine oil on a piece of facial tissue and wipe it on the polished part of the blade (do not oil the tang). Then take a clean piece of tissue and wipe off the oil. The tiny amount of oil left will be sufficient to protect the blade; more than that will drip off the blade inside the scabbard and eventually create a gummy mess. Here's a link to a care and etiquette website: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm Grey

Hi Max, I agree; looks like the Seki Arsenal stamp. Matsuda Kanetaka was not one of the few WWII swordsmiths who are considered important today, which means that your sword is an ordinary Gunto (military sword) from the war. Too bad about the cleaned nakago; it does hurt the value. Grey

Hello, The signature reads, "Noshu Matsuda Kanetaka Saku." (Made by Matsuda kanetaka of Noshu). The sword was made during WWII, and there appears to be an arsenal stamp above the signature. Grey

No. Grey

Hi Lionel, Looks gimei; I don't think I'm wrong. 4,000 Euros would be inexpensive for a real Masahide. You need to buy books, not blades. Study, study, study. Go to shows, ask to look at collections, do whatever it takes to learn something. Then you can buy a sword. Grey

I would expect this to bring close to $80. on ebay if listed well, at a low start price, and without reserve. Grey

Hi Peter, I think you're asking the wrong question. Rather than, "Will I find a polisher willing to take on this sword?", how about, "Will I learn anything from the process?" As I said on another thread, newbies want to have their swords polished. More experienced collectors want to own swords worth polishing. Grey

I will be there Friday, Nov. 6th. Grey

Hi Joe, Maybe a match for Nidai; maybe not. Ideally I'd have the blade in hand so I could check hada & hamon. Don't like to make a claim based only on photos. Anyone else have an opinion? Grey

Hi guys, A couple recent threads have centered around signatures of smiths who aren't recorded in any references, not even Hawley's. Recently I received from the NBTHK American Branch a translation of an article by Mr. Tanobe entitled, "Appreciating and Judging Nihonto: Practical Techniques to Spot Counterfeits". In the section headed "Regarding shiire-mei (bulk purchased gimei)" he writes, "Among these crude counterfeits, you will not only find gimei of very well known smiths but also gimei of a nonexistent imaginary smith that the forger made up..." Not saying that this is the case with the 2 threads, but something to consider a possibility. Grey

Hi Jarrod, Pretty much every newbie decides he wants to restore his 1st sword; it usually doesn't make sense for a number of reasons. Chances are you'll never be able to recapture the cost of restoration when you decide to sell the sword; gunto are almost always worth less than the cost of polish. Grey

Hi Joe, I've never seen Fred Fimio's reprint of "Token Bijutsu" so I can't say much about it. I know that the original 59 volumes contain about 2,500 pages of text and oshigata, including 3 fold out full length oshigata per issue, a far cry from the 509 page reprint. The Florida Token Kai is reprinting all 59 issues one at a time as their periodical, currently up to issue 36 of the original. The reproduction quality of the oshigatas leaves a bit to be desired but the information is the same. Grey

I think you might find The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Kokan Nakayama useful. It's easy to find and usually sells for $50 to $70. If you decide to get serious about this you should try to get a set of "Token Bijutsu" English edition, by the NBTHK. The 59 volumes in the set are easily the best material on the subject in English. Expect to pay about $1,500 if you can find a set. Grey

Hi Ed, This nakago would be classed as ubu (original) in spite of the extra mekugi-ana. If the nakago jiri is original but the machi have been moved up, the nakago is called machi-okuri. Only if the nakago jiri is not the original (the blade has been shortened) would you call it suriage. Grey Grey

A note to authors with material they'd like to see published, who don't want the grief of dealing with a publisher who doesn't understand the subject and is interested only in profit. Come talk with us at the Japanese Sword Society of the US. We're pretty much always looking for our next project and we speak Nihonto. Grey