GrantK

Hey Art, that's awesome! Cant wait to see them too!

Thanks all, I was really thrilled as well . Stats are, Nagasa - 26.3 cm, width at hamachi - 3.1 cm, kasane - 0.6 cm

A few more pictures.

Just about a year ago I contacted Mr. Chris Bowen about a potential project to have a tanto made for me and my family. I wanted a blade in the Gassan tradition to study their ayasugi hada and Chris was able to set everything up with Enomoto Sadahito in Japan. The projection was one year and Chris updated me with the progression as the blade went from the initial forging to shirasaya and then to final polish. I didn't get any pictures but in the end that really added to all the suspense . The tanto for me, came out perfect, a very imposing size and shape but the ayasugi itself was very subtle and subdued - and gives a very serene feeling while enjoying it. Even with a address flub on my part Chris called his postmaster and sorted everything out for me. If anyone is looking to get a new sword done I can say that Chris is an extremely stand up guy (though evident through the help he gives on this forum) and the service he provides is evident. I don't post that often but Chris really goes above and beyond and the quality of work produced by Enomoto Sadahito is amazing! My photography kinda sucks :3

808 as in Oahu? There is a sword club here and Bob Benson, who on many occasions has let me peruse through his collection of swords, tsuba at his house in Manoa - those would probably be a good place to start. At least you didn't buy this right lol? Grant

I agree with Gasam, look around here, sometimes shinsakuto (I assume that's what you're referring to) pop up and the Kanehide is a good example. Here's another gendai blade from the 80's on Fred Weissberg's site http://www.nihonto.com/rh477.html. So you can find them in the states as well. If you want a list of dealers, the NMB front page has like four pages worth . If you really want something from Japan just be aware that it takes 2 weeks to get an export permit on top of the shipping time, as far as any custom fee's I've never been charged any (United States). Never bought from that site before but they do have a lot of interesting swords! The only thing I can say is that, since it seems you don't really know what you wan't other than a Japanese made blade(?) to get the book "The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths" to start. A lot of good interviews and gives a small insight to what shinsakuto, motivations and process, are all about. Good luck! Grant

I third your choice, a really nice shinsakuto for the price! I doubt you'll be disappointed and Tsuruta is always a pleasure to work with!

A lot of people still do use nihonto for practice in iai as well as cutting, but without any knowledge or background in your art it's hard to make a recommendation at all, even then it's still hard to make a correct call. In my opinion I would not recommend ebay, as it seems like you're not sure what you want (the gendai period has a lot of different types of blades from stainless steel to extremely high priced shinsakuto.) So without much experience it'll be more of a gamble than anything else, where your money would go further on a later purchase with more research. If you're looking for a recommendation, here's a really nice Enomoto Sadayoshi in mounts http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/14133.html I currently have a tanto in production by his son Sadahito which costs even more than this daito, so really, you get what you pay for. With all that said though, you really should research gendai and modern blades, to me it's just as interesting as old ones, and then make your decision. Maybe by then you will have favored a certain characteristics in your blade, maybe a lineage, or even a specific smith! The research can be just as entertaining or even more so than the purchase Best of luck though!

The description on the page you purchased from has the exact reasons haha "After the World War II reconstruction of Japan, he continuously had won numerous prizes starting from 1955 in the contemporary Japanese Sword Fine arts Contests held by the Japanese Swords Preservation Society (NBTHK) such as "Doryoku Award" 3 times, "Nyusen Award" 8 times and got an honor of making swords for the Emperor and Empress Showa in 1957, finally awarded with an important intangible cultural asset of Seki city in 1976 and next year further awarded with one of Gifu prefecture in 1977." But I believe it's awarded to artists who work in specific regions as it makes sense as he is a Seki smith- but usually for their accomplishments as a sort of lifetime achievement award. I'm not sure what the specifics are about actually qualifying though. EDIT - oh it was already answered by Chris

Hey Zhang, i think most of your questions have been already covered, I think the main thing is just to broaden your horizons. You jumped in the deep end wit $4500, definitely not a small amount by any degree and what you came out with... was something really good in my opinion. But still $4500 in terms of nihonto is barely scraping the surface of what you can get, so consider it logically with your car analogy and why some things are just more expensive than others. A Nissan Sentra with drive just as well last just as long as an Infiniti G5 (my sentra is 16 years old ) but it definitely doesn't look like an Infiniti or sound like one . If you choose to use that sword I'm sure it'll cut through tons of stuff and then out live you and get passed on to your children, it's made for use, but that the same time it is a nice work that can be appreciated, you can tell just by looking at the pictures. So unless you're willing to shell out like $25000 for a shinsakuto with extra pepperoni and olives, you've done good for what you have! Hey Trent, I'm not sure who 'most people on google' are but like I said, you are right when calling alluminum blades iaito, it's just that, there's a much larger use of the word then I think you're getting. However, I'm not sure how much shinsakuto you've sold to get your biases on price but most times they usually sell for around the $4500-$5000 range, (if you look on ebay for shinsakuto there are some dodgy examples which may seem super cheap, but that's a risk I wouldn't be willing to take). As Chris stated too, it's very much personal preference when it comes to age, usually people are over concerned if a samurai actually touched a sword and look past a blades inherent qualities. If you're preference is older that's perfect! But if you've never seen and got to touch an art level shinsakuto then you should make plans, it may just blow you out of the water! But like most things experience it before you start judging, and this is a collectors hobby right, we're not all sales people .

A lot of these answers can be found by simply searching the internet and looking up information on shinsakuto. Paul Martin's website has a good section on commissioning new works for appreciation and study as well as martial arts, here's the link and a brief quote from the faqs... http://www.thejapanesesword.com/faq-3 "In a broad terms, Katana by standard swordsmiths for martial arts use (iaido/tameshigiri, etc) start from approximately 1,000,000 JPY fully mounted (around $10,000 depending on the exchange rate at the time). Katana in plain wooden sleeping scabbards with habaki by smiths rated as master craftsmen (mukansa), start at approximately 3,000,000 JPY (around $30,000 depending on the exchange rate at the time). Swords by prize winners at the annual sword making competitions cost somewhere in between. Second hand swords for martial arts use can be found for around $5000, but come with expected wear and tear. These prices are only a guide, as prices are subject to order and smith. I.E. if you purchase a blade for iaido in shirasaya, it may cost less than 1,000,000 JPY. Also, swords for martial arts by master craftsmen maybe slightly cheaper than their standard rate as the lower polishing price will be reflected in the overall price." Trent, I'm not sure where your definitions for sword classifications come from but just look around a bit, it's actually really, really apparent when you compare competition level shinsakuto with ones created for iai and martial arts (better to see in person). As well, in Japan they need to use shinsakuto as they can't import the Chinese production level stuff due to laws. But very generally, art swords will be in an overall nicer polish and usually found in shirasaya (though not always the case of course), iaito well... they're usually in koshirae suited for iai haha. Like I'm sure many people will recommend, especially if you don't see a difference in art level or iai blades, or even knew that shinsakuto were used for martial arts is just to do more research and reading. Even better is to actually see some in person, as pictures are always hard to judge by. But Zhang, for the amount you paid and the condition the sword is in you really did a good job. That is a blade I think you can appreciate for its workmanship and beauty and if you are a practitioner of the martial arts it is a fine blade for that as well.

When using the term iaito, it simply means a blade used for iai, usually a higher level of iai as most schools will probably restrict beginners from using "live" blades during classes. However, it is pretty common knowledge if you just look up shinsakuto that there are 'art swords', works in which the smiths put into competition and so forth and then blades meant for practitioners of the martial arts. You are correct in your definition of the zinc alluminium iaito from shops such as Tozando but other schools such as Toyama practice tameshigiri, requires a live blade. A higher end example of a shinsakuto would be http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00347.html or http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00336.html Just browse around a bit and you really should be able to tell the difference especially with modern blades. Still, $4500 is not a bad price for what you got, so don't fret !

When I follow the link to the site the sword is listed in the previously sold area.. not the 'bargain section', so I think he did purchase it. I bought from this seller before as well, the menuki arrived three days after I purchased, so I don't think you have anything to worry about and he sends email updates as the order status changes. I suppose some people don't like shinsakuto because it has no "samurai history" but I don't think the resale would be 'half' as $4500 is quite average for a decent shinsakuto and at 70.6cm it's again a fairly average length as an iai blade, so there is a market either way. The blade activity looks nice and seems to be in good polish. I'd say a good purchase, however if you did want something older or your tastes change as there is more good literature on older blades compared to new ones, then I'd say $4500 is a bit much - but if it was me and I was into collecting Seki smiths I'd be happy with the purchase! Congrats

Hey Steve, it is an active auction so we shouldn't say too much... But perhaps you might want to save up and wait for something you "know" is good, rather than always speculate. You don't want to jump the gun like last time.

Not to tell you what to do, but I do prefer your initial sentiment of following through with the deal you presented. You made an offer of 50% the cost which was accepted, with ample pictures and a description, which at least to me is very critical and descriptive of the state of the blade. Don't rush in this hobby, even $100 will put you closer to something you truly want!

I wish I could help, but really I'm also interested in this question. I've never had to deal with any rust on my blades, so it is a curiosity how one would handle this. Thanks in advance as well, if anyone has any good ideas!

I think you made a very good first purchase and the armor looks nice! I've done business with Nick as well and he's a real stand up guy - supplies loads of high quality pictures and usually responds within a day. Like the others I don't have a clue when it comes to armor but the set itself looks really nice!

That does seem like literally the same blade with a bit more punctuation's, "that's a real killer" added to the pics. Kinda odd, could be wrong lol. Grant

I've had good experiences with Tsuruta san of Aoi Art, and it's strange to hear about the shipping as shipping is included in the price they list, unless something has changed (I last purchased a tsuba around 5 months ago, and a sword nearly two years ago), all shipping charges were covered by them and my address was provided when I paid through paypal. I was also told before that they do holds for only a week unless discussed further so I would assume like everyone else this was probably a communication error. If English is not your native language and you tried to communicate with them I could understand that happening, did you try and work anything out to resolve the issue afterwards? Grant

If you're new to looking at quality you should also go to some of the dealer sites. While not completely true in all cases, some sites divide their collections into price brackets so you can see a scaling form of quality with the tokubetsu juyo usually in the POR category. It's hard to tell on ebay, many things, "are real" and although "real" may be what you're looking for now, you'll definitely pass that stage quickly if you do your research and reading. Learning about nihonto is essentially studying history and you'll probably find interest in a specific time period, school, etc. You might find that you really like showato and are fascinated completely by swords made in Manchuria during the war, I've read that Mantetsu's were actually of good quality and if you want to know, the label Mantetsu really refers to the fact that it's made using Manchurian steel and not made in Japan. Just pointing that out in case you were actually looking for a sword made in Japan. In my opinion, and coming from a rather new collector too - in the pictures of the blade on the listing, you can't even see the temper, koshirae isn't complete or in favorable condition... Be patient, you can probably find a mantetsu in better condition with complete mounts later . Try visiting Ed Marshall's site Yakiba.com he has a lot of really close up pictures and he divides prices of blades. I've done business with him before too and he really is a stand up guy! Grant Kurosawa

At least you can see the bright side of things, sounds like an honest mistake and it's nice that you can appreciate it with that small mark. Hope it doesn't get worse!

Ah, i just sent a sword to Canada recently too, I sent it by USPS express mail and no one at my usual post office told me of anything. Hopefully it arrives ok!

Thanks for having this sword show, as well as all the other members of JSSH. Was a good show, busy though, but I finally got to see blades (organized chronologically) in good condition. Too bad couldn't handle them and get a closer look, some of them I could only see the oil - but that was understandable as it was a public showing and safety first . Thanks again though, hopefully there are shows like this every year! Grant

That's an interesting theory Martin, I had no clue it was relisted lol, just for future reference is there a way to find out if an item is relisted? I also messaged the seller and he responded, "I already have it packed so can't do more pics but kiss ski is perfect with hamon visible and free of any flaw that I can find.. Truly very nice". So not totally reassuring to say the least. We'll see how the price goes though.

Thanks for the reply guys! Yeah, I was somewhat turned off by the seller description as there wasn't much to verify and the pictures were somewhat far away. However the polish is rather nice and as Mr. Barrett said if the price stays right I might actually pick this one up as my first nihonto haha.