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Thank you Paul. I'm well aware that it's not where, but whom, I've just never seen anything for sale in the UK that I was overly taken by. My above comment was heavily truncated for the sake of brevity, with the intention of expressing that membership is not required to import Nihonto and that it is not difficult. I've had a few pieces from dealers in the US, but it's been mostly contemporary commissions direct from smiths in Japan. You are definitely right though and I'm sure that I'd have been better off as a member for the past decade.

I'm in the UK and have never been a member of the GB Token Society. I have plenty of contacts in Japan and only generally buy Nihonto from Japan, I've never bought from a UK based dealer. Importing is generally not a problem. If you don't regularly visit Japan, it would be best to join the Token Society. Even if you do it's probably best to.

John, The nakago-jiri is the butt of the blade, see below: Orikaeshi mei leaves the mei upside down and there's a fold visible when looking end on at the nakago-jiri. It certainly looks like orikaeshi mei in the image below, but an end on photo of the nakago-jiri would show definitively if there is in fact a fold or a seam. If it is orikaeshi mei, the inlaid mei will be attached to the other side. The mei will be on a flap, like the triangular section on an envelope which you use to seal it. What we're looking for is an image showing the folded edge. Scroll to the bottom here for a clear explanation of gaku mei and orikaeshi mei, along with diagrams.

I think the NBTHK criteria are worth reviewing when considering mumei in different eras: Edo and earlier blades with correct mei, or mumei blades on which the time period, kuni and group can be identified, may receive Hozon paper. Muromachi and Edo period mumei blades may not receive a Tokubetsu Hozon paper, as a rule. However, if a blade is attributable to a famous smith and in excellent condition it may receive Tokubetsu Hozon paper. Blades made in or before Nambokucho may receive Juyo Token paper even if they are mumei. Blades made in the Muromachi period have to be zaimei and blades from the Edo period and later, as a rule, have to be ubu and zaimei to receive Juyo Token paper.

There's a fair bit of background that's somewhat necessary in order for this to make sense. It might be better for us to provide some reference links rather than try to answer directly. With the appropriate background, the answer is very obvious, but might not make much sense otherwise. I see you're in the UK, if you want to discuss this over the phone, PM me and we'll be able to cover a lot of ground in a few minutes.

Dan, To further clarify the point on assembling a daisho of blades which are not papered together, I feel some more context would be helpful. If the blades are mumei, unless they're top tier, it's unlikely that they're by the same smith even if they are attributed as such in the papers. It's simply impossible to know with certainty. What you're really pairing are two blades of the same era, same school and equal quality, but not necessarily by the same smith. Not to speak for him, but I believe this is what Michael @Gakuseewas referring to above. Rather than going into great detail here, I'll provide a reference link when I find one. Bear with me a few minutes. Edit: https://blog.yuhindo.com/attribution-is-everything-and-when-its-not-it-almost-is/ The following isn't referenced in the link, but seems pertinent to add. The etymology of the word daishō becomes apparent when the terms daitō, meaning long sword, and shōtō, meaning short sword, are considered; daitō + shōtō = daishō. Any pairing of a long sword and a short sword would be a daishō in that regard, but if that's all we mean by it, it becomes a somewhat meaningless term to us as collectors. The term would apply to any two blades placed together on a kake with one above and one below the threshold for being considered a long sword. While it's true that many daishō worn in the past would likely have been entirely mismatched, without provenance it's very unlikely you'll be reuniting two unmatched swords that were historically worn together as a samurai's daishō. An edict in 1629 defining the duties of a samurai required that daishō be worn when on official duty. Two swords were required to be worn as part of their official duties. There was no requirement for them to match, though this would have indicated greater wealth and status. Other then commissioning new blades or tosogu or for the sake of reenactment, LARP or cosplay, I don't understand the desire to assemble your "own daishō", as the concept simply doesn't apply. I don't say this to be abrasive, I'm just somewhat baffled by the whole thing. What do you achieve by pairing the blades, and referring to it as a daishō, unless you also fabricate a back story? It's like trying to match up an old pair of boxing gloves by purchasing left handed and right handed gloves individually. A little bit of socratic questioning perhaps. Exploring what we're trying to achieve can often help clarify our goals and intentions.

Hello JP, It's great to see you here again. There are some truly vile people out there and then there are some people like you who shoulder a great burden and, at great personal cost, work tirelessly to redress the balance. I had a French teacher many years ago who had emigrated to England after her third cat in a year had been killed by someone leaving out bait for it containing crushed glass. Please edit to remove any and all apologies. You've done nothing wrong and should take great pride in what you're doing. To apologise is to deny your own honour, virtue and agency. You didn't delay response because you were being inconsiderate; you delayed response because you didn't want to transfer any portion of your suffering to your friends. You are not acting in bad faith (mauvaise foi as Sartre would say), you are not a victim, you are not playing a role, refusing to make a choice or denying your own freedom. Quite the contrary; you made your choice; you chose to do your duty, and accept the pain that comes along with it, rather than seeking your own pleasure. You're not a victim, you're a hero. Kant argued that all morality must stem from duties: and that consequences such as pain or pleasure are irrelevant. You're living by the Kantian ideal. I went quite abstract there, I don't know how else to respond.

I think the problem you'll have is mostly related to the polish on the face you'll be examining, or rather the lack thereof. The details of the steel; the microstructure, layers and lamination are not readily visible to the naked eye. Polishing is needed to bring them out. I'm sure there will be plenty there to study, but it'll need a proper polish. I'm not sure a traditional Japanese polish would bring out all the internal details and I'm not sure if any togishi offers this service. A modern hybrid polish involving an acid etch should work to bring out some details, but again I wouldn't know who to suggest and any kind of polish would obviously add cost. I have several san-mai wa-bocho and on those clad in pattern welded nickel/ stainless the san-mai lamination layers are visible when looking at the spine and choil; like looking sideways at a sandwich. I can't capture this in photos, but can see it under certain lighting at specific angles.

Darcy's article covers everything important, so there really isn't much to add. To put together two unmatched blades as a daisho pair is either a marketing effort or a personal project. It could increase the value a bit for the right buyer. I personally wouldn't bother with a daisho unless papered together or newly commissioned as a matched set. Even then, I'd feel wasteful in the resource allocation and would rather have a single higher level blade or koshirae. That is unless the blades or koshirae are each interesting in their own right, and the two works form a unique unified whole. A unified work of art where the whole set is necessary and the whole is far more than the sum of its parts. So for example, matched tosogu in the theme of sun on the katana and moon on the wakizashi, or larval stage insects on the wakizashi and adult on the katana, with the whole set created together by the same hand as a single project. Matched but not identical, brother and sister or husband and wife as opposed to twins where one is a runt. I wouldn't go with a design dominated by matching kamon, for instance, unless it was of great historical importance. I'm much more taken by the idea of paired koshirae and a maki-e kake, which is an integral part of the overall design, than by a pair of matched blades. Just my personal take after many years of considering this from time to time.

I have one anecdotal, but true, example of a healthy profit being made quite inadvertently on a wakizashi by a close personal friend in London. I'll have to keep this vague, as the details of the transaction were shared with me in private. In brief though, the blade was by a Living National Treasure smith (forged after receipt of the title) and was sold privately at a 50% profit within 24 months of purchase. There was nothing underhanded in the transaction and the buyer (a mutual friend) remains fully satisfied. I share this story not to argue with Michael, but rather to illustrate his point; this remains the only example I'm personally aware of involving a sizable profit (recently and in real terms) being made on a wakizashi by a collector. Clearly in this case though the individual's pre-existing network played a significant part.

I didn't pick up anything in 2021, and not for lack of trying. I had more time on my hands this year and spent more time seeking than usual. I've averaged only 1 acquisition every 2 years since starting in this hobby, and 2021 was one of the dry years. Edit: I thought it best to add that I'm not unhappy with this, and it's entirely my own fault as I'm very picky. Most of the pieces I'm interested in have already found their way into museums, so my acquisitions tend to be newly made utsushi at the point where I lose patience with seeking antiques.

Yes, absolutely Vlad. I simply wanted to be sure that your expectations were reasonable (which they are) so that you'll be pleased with your purchase in the long run. Best of luck.

Vlad, The market is mature and quite efficient, so you're likely not going to make any significant profit unless you can buy for well below market value or you have a suitable client base and sales funnel to facilitate selling well above market rate. But then you'd be more a merchant than an investor. I wouldn't consider anything lesser than a Juyo candidate or work from a Mukansa smith to be an investment of any kind, and even then it would depend heavily on the purchase price. The real value of a sword won't increase, and it can't earn you a profit or pay a dividend, so it's purely speculative. There's also the issue of liquidity. If or when you want or need to liquidate, you'll likely need to sit on it for a long time before being able to sell without discounting. Finally, you likely need to sell for 20% above what you paid in order to break even after covering consignment/ auction fees and other costs. Once you've also factored in inflation, it's highly unlikely you'll be earning a profit in real terms. ------- To give some figures to illustrate the point, if you bought a sword for $10k, held it for 10 years, and inflation was 5% per year... $10k x 1.05^10 = $16.3k If we then add 20% to cover consignment/ auction fees and other costs... $16.3k x 1.2 = $19.6k. So even at a conservative 5% inflation rate, the value would need to roughly double over a ten year period for you to be standing still. That same $10k invested in an S&P 500 index fund 10 years ago would be worth $42k today and you'd have full liquidity. Taken across 30 years, that $10k put in an S&P 500 index fund in 1991 would be worth $250k today. This isn't to dissuade anyone from collecting, but rather to highlight that its maybe best thought of as a hobby. A hobby on which discretionary money is spent rather than invested. ------- My personal approach is to only buy something now if it or a direct equivalent, which I'd gladly exchange it for, won't be available in the future. This is only generally the case for high grade items or commissions. I'm quite young so I figure I can pick things up in the future for a lower price in real terms. There are a select few specific items (most of which are tsuba) which I try to keep track of. If any of those were to go on sale I would liquidate investments and buy them immediately. These are all entirely non-fungible items where I know another quite like them doesn't exist, so to me they represent special cases and once in a lifetime opportunities. If you're young and optimistic about the future you can wait to accumulate a few decades of compound interest. There are however many members here who are on the other side of this, so the economics for those individuals are very different.

What's going on with the disgusting trypophobia themed horimono?

*Stunned silence.*

You're most welcome, and please pardon me if the previous post came across as rude; it wasn't intended to, I only intended to add some more clarity. I was alluding to the fact that a Nihonto of the same age could have significant value, depending on condition and quality. I'll add a couple of links below to give you some more info and a quick overview of what to look for in future: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/showato.htm http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/realold.htm I hope you'll stick around and that I didn't make you feel at all unwelcome.

Just to be completely clear Tim; it's not a Nihonto. The value is determined more by quality than by age. A Nihonto of the same age would be termed a Gendaito, but this isn't one of those. A Nihonto made today by certain smiths can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, while some very old Nihonto can be had for a few hundred dollars on account of their quality and condition.

Hi Tim, It's a souvenir. These were made for sale to tourists from around 1870 - 1930. The blade appears to be mass produced, untempered, soft steel. The only value is in the carving. Here's an example of a similar item (in good condition) which sold at auction for ~$100. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Thank you Uwe.

Thank you Alex. I think that would be a wise approach.

Hahaha. I might just do that.

Thank you Piers. You caught me. I do like it, a lot, I was trying not to think too much about it, so as to be better able to explore other options. Are Aoi Art ok with offers these days? The last time I made an offer was almost a decade ago and I was told in response that the item had been withdrawn from sale. It was removed from the site but reappeared, about a month later, once I'd stopped enquiring about it.

Thank you very much Thomas @Iekatsu. You've answered all the major questions I had. I was especially dubious of the menpo attribution and I thought the kamon looked to be a later addition. I too was surprised by the lack of contemporary origami. With your advice in mind, I'll not jump on this suit and instead take a few months to explore.

I would appreciate any opinions on this suit of armour. Would you trust the attribution papers for the kabuto and menpo and would you consider the set to represent good value overall? Should it be submitted for more recent papers? I usually only collect smaller items and as such I'm only intending to own one Yorio, Menpo and Kabuto. I admit that I'm taken by it, but I don't know if pieces of this standard are regularly available and it would be better to wait. Any thoughts are much appreciated. Thank you.

Very well played Piers.