Grey Doffin

There is one more item I could use help with. I know that not every computer will display Kanji. I checked my index yesterday at the local library and the Kanji showed as question marks. The index of swordsmiths is less useful if the user can't see the Kanji in the smith's name. I would like to have a paragraph or 2 in the index tutorial about how to set your computer to display Kanji, but I don't know how to do it. Can someone do a short writeup on the process for both Windows and Macs that I can include in the tutorial? email link below. Thanks, Grey

Hi guys, My "Index of Japanese Sword Literature" is now open for business. You'll find it at jssus.org and click on the JSL Index tab. It isn't 100% complete; there's still a few details to tweak with the software. Most notably, there is a field for listings in the Juyo Token and Tokuju books that isn't showing. Otherwise, I think you'll find it useful. If so, please join the JSS/US. With more members we can accomplish more. Please spread the word. This is the only online forum I post to; maybe some of you could let the others know. I'm missing a few Kanji for swordsmith's names (12 total); I'm wondering if someone is willing to help. There are 2 books in the index that I don't own and for which I'm missing some Kanji: Zuikan Tomei Soran by Iida and Jukken by Shibata. If you have either of these and know your way around an online Kanji finder, please email me (link below) and I'll send you the list. Also, I need a line drawing of the Kikumon for smith Kikugyosaku (Emperor Gotoba) and the clock face mon used by Shinto smith Lekko (page 147 in Fujishiro's Shinto-hen). Can someone email me one or the other that I can paste in place? Any case, check it out; enjoy. Take care, Grey

I have a guide to fakes on my ebay ME page. Search ebay for seller greyguy0 and click on the ME button. Grey

Hi Piers, I'm up to about 1,800 of 3,250 or so. Most of them go quick but some can take 10 or 15 minutes per Kanji. Gendai smiths are particularly troublesome; did they have contests to find the most obscure Kanji? When I get to the end, if I haven't been able to fill in everything, I will post here hoping for examples I can copy and paste. Grey

Hi guys, I am busy these days adding Knaji to the online version of my "Index of Japanese Sword Literature". I'm using the language bar of Windows XP to place the Kanji in the names of the 3,000 or so swordsmiths included. Most of the time I can type in the romanji for the smith's name and get a list of Kanji that includes the one I need. In some instances the Kanji I need isn't included under it's Romanji and I have to type in Romanji for another reading of the Kanji to get what I want. For instance, I type in tsutsumu to get 包, for Kane, since typing Kane doesn't work. In rare instances, none of the readings I have in my 2 Kanji dictionaries (Koop & Inada and Nelson's) elicit the Kanji I want; no matter which of the readings I try the desired Kanji won't appear (How can there be 405 ways to write 'Kou' in Japanese and none of them being the one I need?). Do any of you have a suggestion? Perhaps an online dictionary, similar to Nelson's with Kanji and Romanji readings, but with different readings? Is there an older dictionary that might have older readings for the Kanji? I don't read Japanese other than sword signatures so any reference will have to provide Romanji. If necessary I can live with the index being 99% complete but it would be nice to get those last few. By the way, I'm about 1 week away from letting everyone have at it. Once the Kanji are in it's open to all. Grey

There are no givens with Nihonto. Grey

Good Choshu iron has a blue black color. About all I know. Grey

I use both Koop & Inada (Japanese Names and How To Read Them) and Nelson's (The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary); both are helpful. The 1st is aimed at the Kanji used in names, titles, places, and the like, and Nelson's has most everything. Make sure you get the New Nelson, not the original edition. Grey

Steve, I sell a set of Kanji flashcards that contains many of the 2 character terms (provinces, titles, clan, etc.). The Kanji in the set were chosen for their relevance to sword signatures. 270 card set for $25 plus postage. The easiest way to learn to read mei, if I do say so myself. Email me (link below) if you're interested. Grey

Harima no Daijo Fujiwara no Shigetaka, I believe. Grey

Excuse me but I think this is uncalled for. Richard came to us with a legitimate question seeking help. Nothing he has told us seems the least bit strange to me; I can imagine someone in charge of an estate acting exactly as Richard says he has acted. Questioning Richard's honesty or motive is, I think, entirely out of line. What's more, Richard gave us his name on his 2nd post on page one of this thread. Back to friendly sword talk, please. Grey

Matt, If the smith is closely associated with a school or den, then you would expect him to follow the tradition. This is especially so in Koto, when the 5 den were important/influential. Come late Koto and into Shinto the strict adherance to tradition starts to break down. Also, exceptional smiths of this period often made a break with their teachings and started doing their own things, hamon-wise. Hybrid of the 2, I guess. A good book that discusses kantei by hamon (and other aspects of kantei) is The connoisseur's book of Japanese Swords by Konkan Nagayama. Grey

The date reads "Kagen Ni Nen", 1304. Didn't bother translating the mei because I'm certain this isn't a 700 year old Nihonto. My guess is that the blade is from one of the Chinese or Thai knockoff factories, but not low end. Looks like what we would call a hand made blade but given the date, bad patination of the nakago, and the cheesy tsuka-maki, I doubt it's Japanese. Grey

To answer the original question: what does a welded on nakago look like? Sometimes it is tricky to spot the repair; you have to look close. With careful examination of the attached picture you should be able to see where the weld was done. Grey

Does read Kiyomitsu. May be 16th century; may be later. May be Bizen (does look like a Bizen nakago); may be somewhere else. Definitely Japan. Maybe if we saw a picture of the whole blade we might be able to tell you more about age, and if you can describe the hamon and hada we might have something to say about den/school/province. Grey

A bit of each, I'd say. Grey

Us power/massive commercial sellers hate it when you private people bid on swords and make us pay even more. On a more serious note, I'm selling a wakizashi by another important smith, Yamato Daijo Fujiwara Masanori, no question about the mei being right (I think the Mondonosho Masakiyo is gimei), my price is reasonable, and there'll be no game playing like you'll get on ebay. Rather than taking a big chance with online auctions and more often than not wasting your money, there are some decent deals to be had on the For Sale/Trade/wanted forum here at NMB (look for my wakizashi there). Grey

Shan, Do you have a photo of the nakago so we know which Kanji are used in Kanetsune? Grey

To clear up any confusion, mine included, this smith, who was the 2nd generation Munetsugu I think, signed both Masatsugu and Munetsugu. The sword in question is signed Masatsugu. Grey

I believe it says, "Iyo no Jo Minamoto Masatsugu". Hawleys has one in Musashi working around 1661. Grey

Syd, The picture of nioi above does a good job of showing nioi but the one of nie doesn't show that feature as well. Darcy's recent post with pictures of his Go Yoshihiro: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4099 shows nie very clearly ("If You Like Nie", further down this forum). Of course, not all swords with nie look like darcy's Go, and nie can be small (ko nie) or large (ara nie) but all nie is seen as individual crystals, not the undifferentiated cloud of nioi. Nie and nioi deki is another matter. A sword in nioi deki can have nie and a sword in nie deki likely will have nioi. Here it is the crystalline structure that is the base of the hamon that determines the deki, not necessarily the most visible aspect of the hamon. This part of kantei can be very confusing, just like most everything else about these sharp objects we collect. Grey

The nakago looks like it was patinated yesterday. Grey

Nick, The real Sanjo Munechika worked 1,000 years ago and is among the most important smiths ever. Your tanto isn't by him. For some reason I don't know, many short tanto made during WWII are signed this way. Grey

Kin pun mei (lacquer) or kin zogan mei (gold inlay) are attributions, supposedly made by an authority of some sort. Normally, but not always, the person making the attribution would sign his attribution, which isn't the case with this sword. The lack of a signature doesn't mean that the attribution is wrong, just that it is somewhat less likely to be correct. The only way you'll be able to know if the sword warrants restoration is to show it to someone with the knowledge to tell. A classically trained polisher would be a good bet. Grey

Sebastian, The 5 traditions (den) of Koto are Yamato, Yamashiro, Bizen, Soshu, & Mino. Each of these had sub divisions. Once Shinto came around the lines between the traditions blurred and the smiths of this time and later are said, in some cases, to work in the style of one of the 5 Den, but not to be of that Den. There were many different schools in Shinto and later. I think there is a list of recommended reading at the links at the top of the NMB welcome page (or somewhere here). Read every book you can get your hands on, and if you learned something read them again. Grey