Alex A

The "katate" , think of it as a foot soldiers side arm, Ashigaru. Not their main weapon, that would be Polearm etc Tachi still carried by Samurai. Samurai even carried many other types of weapon. I see your confusion, stuff overlapped. It was not a case of all folks calling each other and organising a mass sword swap for the new thang.

About the "Katate" Quick explanation. Changes in the Shape of the Japanese Sword | Japan Forward (Japan-forward.com) Going over old ground here, plenty available with searches.

Not getting into that debate, that got sorted out in the link i provided. If you prefer "single handed", im ok with that too. Either way is good for me.

You can interpret the OP question in different ways. I did not see the question aimed at personal taste or functionality Just getting the best from any given smith and avoiding potential wear issues with older swords. Not saying you wont find perfect older swords by the way, just different ways to find a perfect sword.

Jacques is referring to Katate-uchgatana Length varied a lot, see measurements added by Jussi. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18788-koto-ubu-tachi-and-katate-uchi-in-shinto-times/ Ps, Often fitted with Ko-Tosho/Katchushi tsuba, a rough idea of tsuba hitsu-ana size would be about 28mm x 7mm A rough idea, obviously varies but around that would be the norm (off top of head) To the original question, its a bit like asking the old question how long is a piece of string, varies.. Large Katana be looking at 29, 30mm etc x 8, 9 mm etc Lol

Check out the variation here, Grey puts sizes of Hitsa-ana on his site (hole for nakago) https://www.Japanese...tegory/tsuba-kodogu/

If your buying blades without papers They need to be textbook correct Not question blades

Lol, you getting you pennys worth, reminded of the never ending story Only one i found is Koto, check out the dates on the link for Uda I would advise you to stop and learn a bit first You may end up buying something you dont understand or can appreciate As we have all done Look for Hozen, if your unsure cheers

Find these threads a bit pointless without reasons why. Out of curiosity. Asked a well known Japanese dealer this question. I wanted to get an answer from someone that has had thousands of blades in hand and had time enough to study them. From Chu-jo to top notch If he takes the time to answer il let you know.

1457 to 1460 Chu-jo rated Suguha hamon Only one Uda Kunimori in the Index and that's as much as you will learn from that source. An obscure one, usually find them easily on this page http://www.sho-shin.com/hoku15.htm

Looked for a fuchi some time ago, that needed to be 41mm but that was a very wide katana. Most i saw were around 38mm

Long sword around 38mm length. a rough guide That size may also suit a wak with a wide blade. Generally though, waks a little smaller.

My advice would be look to swords entered into Japan's Shinsakuto competition. Just acquired one. its flawless. Smith gave 100% effort, and it shows. He previously had 4 results, two 2nds and two 3rds. The sword is as made, perfection , does not have centuries of polish.

Will have to think on this but for now will just make a point. For me, you don't really know a sword unless you owned it for a while and studied it under different lighting etc. Looked at a Juyo sword a while ago and remember thinking to myself be good if i could have it for a week. So in respect of "in hand", depends. Other factors as mentioned.

I'm confused, read all of this twice and don't see any bullying. Just concerned folks hoping that folks that don't know what they are doing would just stop. Before anything else gets ruined. Forums about preservation, not DIY.

What i like about modern swords. Don't get me wrong, like all swords but there is something special about such swords. The fact there is s much information available, a real connection that you never get looking at older swords. No condition issues, you see them as they are and not a polished down remnant of what they once were. The more i know about a sword/swordsmith the better, makes an object real, without that its just an object. If you know what i mean.

Colin, Not to take this interesting thread in the wrong direction but all i will say is that i was talking to antique gun dealer not so long ago. His advice was stick to Flintlocks. and avoid Pinfire like the plague. Sold the last of my Colt percussions at the weekend and a few other percussion went off to Dom Vincent on commission. I think percussion will be ok but cant be doing with the worry. The vid wont download for me, but this laptop been playing up lately. Back to the topic.

Well done Stephen, must be good having it back in a better polish. We had some fun sending stuff abroad, remember the tsuka guy over in Japan I guess the less said, the better. Never again.

Been a while but solely to help anyone that may be importing in the future. I don't be wanting shipping to be the death of the hobby, so here goes. Modern Long sword from Australia to UK. (shinsakuto) Customs tariff number 9705.00.00.90 (different for antiques, see Darcy's write-up) Description... TRADITIONALLY MADE Japanese CULTURAL ARTWORK Darcy's write-up..........https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/1860-importingexporting-and-customs-queries-and-advice/#comment-14557 Shipped with DHL, who were brilliant. Posted on Friday using DHL EXPRESS, the delivery date was the Monday after but had to move that back a few days as no one in to sign. I received the import customs charge before the sword even left Australia, they charged 5%. Seems they have their own agents to sort the fees. Tracking was accurate and even got text and email on the morning of delivery with a 2 hour slot.. No problems whatsoever. Paperwork was meticulous, thanks to Mal. Anyways, may help some folks in the future. My advice, make sure the paperwork is honest and idiot proof.

Shame about the shipping, actually find it astonishing there is no shipper that will take that package. Australian dollar being weak compared to £ etc, there will be many outside of Australia thinking, if only......... Hope you sell it soon,

Unless there is a piece of another blade embedded or some kind of provenance (even that has issues), then you will really never know unless you knew who owned the sword and you had a time machine to go ask. They can make a really bland blade that bit more interesting, for some folks. (not talking about this blade) Lets face it, not very hard to create. The apprentice at work lost his rag one day with a steel ruler and attacked a machine lol. Every time i see the marks he created it reminds me of Kiri Komi, maybe this is why I'm so sceptical about them. Just marks, don't know what all the fuss is about.

Very sad to hear. Seemed a real nice guy. Will miss the always friendly and enthusiastic approach that he always seemed to have.

No Piers, gone off on a bit of a tangent. Just interesting that all the trees mentioned have also been favourites with Bonsai practitioners for centuries. Due to their flowers.

Just a thought Adam, always sceptical.

That's another used in Bonsai, cheers.