Rivkin

I feel these terms are more commonly used in the US compared to Japan, in part as they tend to mean somewhat different things to different people, but here is a personal opinion: Soshu very seldom works out in sashikomi. Bizen with long choji and prominent utsuri can be easily denigraded by careless application of hadori. And very often - it is. Even in the hands of people who are part of the top 10, or even top 5 polishers in the world. Kirill R.

Interesting hosho interpretation: http://nihonto.us/TAKAHASHI%20HIDETSUGU%20JL.htm Feels like it goes back to some Naotane's school works and then Sendai at earlier times. Kirill R.

Suishinshi Masahide I guess... But that's his personal statement. Might be applicable to Sukehiro's style, might be not. Kirill R.

I don't think this particular claimant means that, but there have been studies which demonstrate much tighter material property distributions and much smaller grain size for shinto. Shinto is not as good looking, but good looks in nihonto do stem from inability to transport heat fast, so that extremely non-uniform formation of martensite can happen. Kirill R.

Thank you very much, gentlemen, much obliged. To be honest, I still need a bit of luck to produce good images and there are couple more people who use a similar/related technique. This being said, the recent travel troubles for me mean collapse of all agreements to shoot kokuho in Japan, and knowing the Pain that went into making those, I am worried the chances to have it rescheduled some time in the future are problematic... Kirill R.

Well, hopefully that's a more rewarding market, and they probably do read more compared to nihonto experts... But the problem with ALL these books is that they ALL use photographs from DNP. You can have publication rights to each for 100$. Any kokuho. But... The photographs were taken by museum photographers who could not care less for the fact they photograph swords. Administred by curators who in Japanese museums are certainly not sword people (even in sword museums!), but graduates of general-venue curatorial or art history studies. The quality is abysmal. Only the most brilliant Soshu gets through the foam of poor technique employed. DNP is what resulted in tons of books publishes, since its actually very cheap to publish a nihonto book with the very top grades. And it destroyed quality sword photography in Japan, at least in "official venues". Kirill R.

True said! Oracle bone script imho. Thank you for a nice show. Kirill R.

I don't know what the article is about, but I very much doubt its a traditional Ainu weapon. Feels like late Edo, or more likely Meiji to Showa gimmick signature, maybe by a part Ainu Japanese swordsmith. Plenty of hirazukuri waki found in Hokkaido and further north and west, none are signed. Kirill R.

I don't mind basic questions. The bane of internet societies is the lack of deep questions. Or having 15 answers which can be replaced with a simple "Dude!". Kirill R.

I spoke with couple of people mass submitting to NTHK NPO as well as had a phone call with someone who is a part of the organization. Obviously there are people far better informed at this point, and the statement below is NOT TO BE TAKEN as official information, as its not in their materials that we all see, so it is just a rumor, but: As part of regular shinsa (don't know if it includes the US shinsa, but it might), NTHK NPO no longer assigns scores above 78 to blades. Also, the score of 78 is capped to no more than 5% of submissions. Kirill R.

Being extremely direct - I heard this being stated hundreds of times and yet to see a single blade decisively proving the point. All horimono are placed exactly where they should be for the given image or fuller, and the given period or tradition. Quite a few of such decorate blades do have fukure or ware which sticks out in some other place. Since the majority of really bad defects would be in the ha, one would expect some clever way to be devised to cover them up, but nothing short of very aggressive application of keisho does not come to mind. I know quite a few collectors of koto who despise elaborate horimono since it conceals much of hada or could have been added later etc. Still, placing horimono was quite expensive at the time. Kirill R.

Interesting! Sorry can't see - is it like Echizen Rai, Rai Kuniyasu? Kirill R.

Sorry, I meant other Muromachi generations being sai-jo-saku. That seemed quite unusual. Kirill R.

No problem whatsoever with receiving EMS in the US, default shipping method. Kirill R.

I extremely doubt this is going to happen. The situation in much of the US is unpleasant as is, Kirill R.

[?] I might be completely in the wrong here, but I doubt this rating was done by Fujishiro. Can be someone retyping his information, though I am saying this without actually looking. Kirill R.

[?] Gimei typically means later signature. The blade is Muromachi and most likely Bizen. Quality cannot be assessed by such pictures. I would begin with high resolution, low compression photos of nakago all kanji included. The good thing I like about it is the location of all kanji and spacing between them is right for the period. Need to check the details. Sorry did not check Jussi's post earlier - yes Morimitsu used different "ten". Kirill R.

A very personal opinion - its gimei. Morimitsu Oei is a big name. The writing of Muromachi Bizen smiths is very distinctive. The cuts are not deep, but the pressure is very confident and uniform. Here the writing is visibly shaky. Yet the characters are all excellently preserved. The patina is a tad light for the age. But either of these things sometimes can be a photo artifact. A full resolution macro of both sides as is, not with the nmb's extra compression would help. This being said, the work itself does not categorically disagrees with Morimitsu. Kirill R.

I heard today most shirasaya are even made from imported Chinese or Taiwanese wood. Its certainly true in lacquer world (and you can notice the difference), but not 100% sure with shirasaya. Kirill R.

Pretty much similar with wood used for makie. Until 1840s it was dried for a century and even today can take almost any climate and any abuse. Modern works instead prevent warping by being glued from a few separate parts. Modern shirasaya will respond to climate and in some cases can get stuck and even need some careful climate adjustment. The more they err in choice of wood, the more pronounced will be the effect. Kirill R.

Well, its not a huge name with even fewer blades to the name (not a lot of demand at the time), and the work shows nothing obviously disputing the signature, though without seeing the nakago and/or better photographs its hard to tell - but as far as purchases go the risk of gimei here is not that high. It appears to be in full polish and there are some good things about the sword. If its long enough, and you like it, generally speaking can be a decent purchase for the money. Below the polish-shirasaya price. Kirill R.

I don't know. Yasurime are deep, crisp and well spaced on a relatively long nakago, which might be shinshinto, and yellowish brown patina would just mean exposure to elements in the last half century. Nie foaming about the upper edge of hamon without much activity within hamon precludes koto. Broad masaie that sort of dives back and forth into hamon is something not at all common. Sendai Kunikane is kind of automatic response here, but they usually make more or less uniform masaie throughout the blade. If transition to dense itame up towards shinogi is a photography artefact then I would personally strongly vote for Sendai Kunikane. If there is a real transition like this, needs second thoughts. Kirill R.

[?] Yamato except for Senjuin 1300+ Yamashiro - very little in Munechika and Ayanokoji related production. A lot in 1280-1350 group. By comparison ko-Bizen has a lot of swords. Kirill R.

It almost feels like the numbers are Juyo-biased. I can imagine in this case the signature being such a major bump so that it alone propels pre-Muromachi Yamato to Juyo, but I do feel among among wider "all papered blades" segment the percentage of signed Yamato is well below 10. By the same token, very significant portion of Muromachi Mino is signed, but Juyo will be dominated by Shizu attributions, which are basically unsigned daito. Kirill R.

Looks very much as a legitimate signature. Kirill R.