chameloon

In the $4000 range, more or less

Hello, I'm overwhelmed by the offers on Ebay, not being knowledgeable enough to detect flaws and quality of the blade in all the listings I see. Hence I post here, hoping to find a blade from a reliable seller (Europe, anyone?) at a fair price. I am after a Katana from the Kamakura/Early Muromachi. Mei or Mumei, as long as it comes with NBTHK papers, no Kizu and a sane appearance/polish. Thanks for your help

I have my eyes on this blade: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Katana-Japanese-antique-sword-made-by-Kanemitsu-Kamakura-period-69-9cm-blade/265114032740 For a signed Kamakura blade, I found the price to be really appealing and right in my budget...Is it a legit bargain, or there are flaws I wasn't able to spot? Thanks for your help! Laurent, newbie

Hoanh, blade will soon be shipped back to me. I'll post when I'll get it Laurent

In my case, beside mizukage, there is fukure and very few hada. That seemed like indicators of a retempered blade, according to what I read on other topics here, on the forum Laurent

Hello, is it possible to spot a re-tempered koto blade easily, before polishing? Or is it just a polishing that can reveal the mizukage? I bought my first sword via Ebay from a member of this group some time ago. Even if the seller is knowledgeable and described it "fully", he never ever said it was a re-tempered blade. It is only after polishing (that cost me a leg and an arm) that I was revealed by the polisher, the presence of the mizukage. Laurent

Simply copy the link, paste it on google image search. Et voilà, you'll get the link to the original auction. In this particular case : http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h178090523

The original auction : http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f119914545 Nice increase in price... Laurent

I don't know what the sellers on yahoo JP would think of what is done with their pictures Laurent

No matter the way, on real life or on the internet, you cannot sell something you don't own if the original seller is not aware of that. Legally speaking it is called a pyramid (or Ponzi) scheme (see Madoff) Laurent

Nothing illegal may be, but at least, with my method you can contact the original seller on yahoo Japan (or any other site) and finally skip those easy-money-seeking leeches... Laurent PS: If they list on Ebay something they don't own, without the consent of the original seller on yahoo JP, yes, it is illegal!

Another example, using this method (google image search): Ebay : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-SAMURA ... 0848008003 The original : http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e131629818 13500$ vs. 402000 yen Have fun finding the others Laurent

Hi there, we all know the methods of these people. A funny remark : if you check the address of the pics they use in their Ebay listings, you can see where the object is actually listed : they don't even save them on their hard drives to repost them on Ebay, they use directly links of pictures coming from yahoo auctions. Demonstration : let's use this auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-SAMURA ... 0848216168 You can find this picture on the listing ( right click -> save image link to access the link of the picture) : http://auctions.c.yimg.jp/img309.auctio ... 427936.jpg If you want to go further, by copying this link in google image, you can find back the page with the original auction. In this case : http://winners-auction.jp/productDetail/3694/ (sold for 20000 yens already) Laurent

Yes, it's that sword Laurent

Hello, I recently bought a Momoyama blade on Ebay for a fair price. On the shirasaya, there was a paper label, slightly eroded. Here are a couple of pictures. I guess this inscriptions are not contemporary to the blade, but were added later... Can this however help "identify" the blade, some of its origin and history? Thanks for your help ! (I'm still at the beginning of studying, and really need help) : Laurent