Dave R

I know that some here don't consider these worth collectiong while others do, but non the less they are Nihonto. Researching these has led to me asking a few questions here of people who collect these, have seen them turn up at sales or who simply know a bit about them. How often do these turn up with better menuki as opposed to the plain iron "washer" type, I have now seen photo's of 2 with decent menuki. To what extent are reused koshirae seen, as in "once decent now too shabby for normal use". I am particularly thinking about kashira as all the ones I have seen so far are plain iron and very shallow, made for the job of remounting a blade as Okashi-to. Has anyone ever seen one with a Kodzuka, are they ever seen with Ito of a different colour to the usual tan or dark brown.

Hi everyone, as a new to Nihonto collecter I have a question regarding a recent aquisition. I lately bought a Shin Shinto Hira-zukuri style blade with a nagasa of 16 inches, ie 40 centimetres, which is well over the standard length for a Tanto. Would this be regarded as an O-tanto or a Wakizashi? As an O-tanto would it have a particular function or just be an idiosyncrasy of the original owner. Would it's koshirae be closer to a Wakizashi's than a tanto. I have tried to use the search function to hunt up on O-tanto but keep getting a "no result". Comments invited and welcomed, and thanks for any input.