Marius

Dear All, I have just won this wakizashi (thanks, Jean for pointing out it that it is slightly machi okuri). The seller is unknown, no feedback on sword deals, but, being a stupid beginner who relies on his gut-feel, I have decided to take the risk. I know, I should have asked before I decided to bid... Now I would like to ask your opinion about the blade and the papers. Was this a good deal or have I , hm... overreacted? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=011 Best regards

Brian, sorry, I should have guessed and checked. As far as the "fake vs. real" manual is concerned, I could give it a try, but what about the pictures? I could add some pics of my real nihonto (no outstanding pieces, though), but otherwise I would violate copyrights... The NMB members could certainly help here with pics of excellent swords and koshirae, but what abouth the fakes? Best regards

I guess, Drirk's idea is very good. Maybe, with permission, the NMB could publish this information: http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/fake_j ... words.html it should be updated, because the fakes are getting better. Regards

Jacques, I presume it may be gimei, but if it is not, then the "crispiness" of the tagane just like tha overall state of the nakago is said to depend very much on the conditions in which the sword has been stored. Or is there any "universal look" of a, say, Kamkura nakago? Best regards

Thanks to all of you :-) Again, an opportunity to learn. To wrap up: not a bundle-sword, not quite like Bizen, but cannot be ruled out. Overall, might be worth the risk. Good (Japanese?) polish but no kanteisho should make one a bit cautious. Good beginner's sword? Best regards

Dear All, I am sure that the seller (whom I know and respect and from whom I have bought a nice wakizashi in the past) will not mind discussing this auction. He is selleing rarely, but if, then it is rather high quality stuff (my personal opinion). What do hold of this uchigatana? It seems one of the bundle-swords to me and I take don't quite like the hada, which seems coarse. I may be getting paranoid, but was this hada "enhanced" somehow? The mei will not matter at all I suppose - if this is a bundle sword as I presume the mei would be the equivalemt to a "factory stamp". The boshi seems very nice though. Anyway, would you recommend this blade for a beginner? I would fancy it, to be honest.... here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=018 best regards

I have bought a yari from showa22 - it was exactly what I expected and I am very happy with it. Hope that helps.

Hm.. I see zero bids and a price of $1.0. Strange or was is a joke by some idiots? Regards

Thanks, Ted :-) It is mitsu mune. It is indeed itame hada with masame running through it. To my untrained eyes the hada does look tight, but I may be mistaken. I shall have to produce some high resolution pictures. I can see no utsuri (not that I would recognise it if I saw it). I see also two/three spots of darker, grainless steel (not shingane, though They are small. One is on the omote, two on the ura side. BTW, the boshi is hakikake and the hamon is very thin and very bright indeed. It consists of ko-nie. there is no ara-nie, whatsoever. Now, that is a puzzle (at least for me Best regards

For those of you, who don't like to open endless webpages here are some pics of the tanto. Sorry, I should have done it in ther first place...

Dear All, Some time ago I have acquired an interesting tanto, presumably a koto piece. It is signed Kuniyuki, most likely gimei. Still, I have been told that it exhibits the characteristics of a Rai school work. Here are some pics, sorry for the quality: http://gallery.me.com/mariuszk/100365 I would ask you for your opinion - is it koto? Is it Rai? What is it? I like it, but I am not an expert. Your opinions will highly apreciated. Best regards

Yes, but not before I am 100% sure that I am dealing with fraud (for the time being I am only 99% sure Best regards

Too late for that, more than 60 days have passed. And I have paid by wire transfer. Regards

Well, thanks, but I have never got any tracking number from this seller, which makes me suspicious. regards

Dear All, I have purchased a sword for $1,000 from a certain eBay seller (I will not disclose his identity before I have more facts). He has informed me that my package was lost and that: "it seems that the New Japan Post is not going to Honor any prior claims dated before October 1st 2007 . They have plainly said they are not going to payout on the insurance to us over the Telephone" and "EMS Japan no longer exists : New Japan Post is a `` Privately `` run company from the 1/10/2007 . They have stated clearly via a telephone conversation they will not honor prior or Future insurance claims on samurai swords tanto naginata , any antique samurai blade sent via ems" I am sure quite a few of the board members here will recognise this rather uniqe style of writing. What do you think of that and what action should I take? Best regards

Jacques, you have good eyes, congratulations and thanks :-) One of those ware seems to be filled with red urushi. regards

I have originally posted some higher resolution pics here, but the seller does not wish the pictures to be distributed anywhere outside eBay, so I had to respect his wish. Sorry. regards

hm, which leads me to the question - is this a good blade or not, in your opinion? regards

I agree, but can we not safely assume that 90% of all signed blades are gimei? I (and my friend too) like to look at the blade only. What I see here is a decent blade, gimei or not. I know that what I get on eBay is not up to the Japanese collectors' standards, but I cannot afford perfect blades. If having a gimei makes the blade affordable and accessible to me, that's fine. I have a (Rai) "Kuniyuki" tanto, which I really like, knowing that it is gimei. It is a nice blade and it exhibits all the characteristics of a koto tanto. I could have the mei removed and send the tanto to a shinsa, but what for? I know it is a good blade. BTW, any thoughts on removing a gimei? regards

Dear All, a friend of mine is looking for a daito. He shuns gendaito, and he has seen a sword on eBay, which is described as a shinto by the seller. He suspects it is a gendaito. Could you please help him determine what kind of sword it is? Here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.pl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... otohosting Many thanks and best regards.

Brian, I beg to differ. This is by no means amateur polish, nor is it rough the ridges are just to crisp for that. Please take into account that the pics are high-res, which makes even tiny scratches visible. The sword must have been badly rusted before it was polished, hence all those pits. But the problem with the boshi is that the tempered part is just at the cutting edge, which indicates that this sword has been over-polished. That is my humble opinion only. best regards

Roland, do you actually have the sword, or are you just looking at pictures? I have noticed that cheap polish often "hides" the boshi. The kissaki has not been sanded - the yokote is too crisp for that. IMHO, it is not ichimai boshi. Then again, I can't really see the hamon, although at this resolution of the picture I should. The yakiba seems to have been produced with hazuya. I see no grain, and I guess even if the hamon were nioi-deki, I should see some. My impression is that this sword has been polished down and that the hamon is somwhere near the cutting edge. What you see in the picture is the effect produced by the polisher. This is my opinion only, and since I am a beginner, it needs to be confirmed or trashed by the experts on this forum. They should probably see the sugata as well in order to determine whether the kissaki has not been cut down. Best regards

Hi Ford, many thanks for your opinion. I will include it in the description of my tsuba. Best regards

dear All, I would be very grateful for your opinions about this tusba I have purchased some months ago. I love the tale about Shoki, I love the tsuba, but I would love to learn a bit more. Sorry for being such a darn beginner and ask basic questions. I know, I should buy some books first (Actually, I have, including the Compton collection and other tsuba books, but this is simply not enough) best regards

Henry, I am not an expert, but I have tried this method, so I feel I can voice and opinion here without harming anybody. It seems to be working insofar that the surface of an iron tsuba gets very delicately polished over time (you need to keep in in your pocket for quite some time, that is). Any residue and loose rust will be to a certain extent removed by this treatment. I would, however, be wary of applying this kind of treatment to a tsuba with inlays made of a metal or alloy softer than iron. Here, the nice patina will be removed from the inlay's top parts and you will get shiny surfaces as a result. And this does not look elegant at all. Patina Which develops on iron over time is pretty hard - I have had some success with removing red rust from my katchushi tsubas without damaging the patina. I have used sharp pieces of bone (ivory is said to be good, but I would do absolutely nothing to harm elephants) and I have managed to get rid of most of the rust specks. Everything was done exactly as recommended by Rich Stein, carefully and slowly, that is: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/tsuba/tsubacln.htm You may want to try, but, mind you, do note exaggerate and be careful. Best regards