Alex A

Remember it now, cheers. Just concentrating on the blade, dont look Shinshinto to me. Less important, neither does the kasane. But what do i know

Jacques, if you always came across like you did in your last few posts then you probably wouldn't wind people up as much. Yes, always have to be sceptical in this hobby. One thing that always surprises me about this hobby are the swords that dont quite fit. I dont want to spend all afternoon pulling out examples of swords of different lengths from a certain period with large O-kissaki. If i did though wouldn't be surprised if i could find a papered example the same size as the sword we talk about. Im more interested in finding more out about the blade itself haha Cheers.

I get what your saying, its just that suriage was not always done the proper way. When i look at the image of the full blade the impression i get is that it is too straight, so may well be O suriage John has had it in hand so thats good enough for me. Anyways, does it matter

Im confused Jacques, with what you say, its as though there was one workshop in Japan that did suriage and always did it the same. The reality is it could have been done any old way. Nakago dont look too old so maybe suriage done quite late in its life.

Remember reading this some time ago, about British contracts with Liege https://collegehillarsenal.com/Fine-Belgian-Made-P1853-Enfield-by-OP-Drissen-of-Liège

Not a guess but this has led me to such places as Hankei and Mizuta Bit of a wild goose chase so far The Ara-nie in the jigane is the issue, for me.

Thats great Thomas, the wonders of the modern age. Might just take you up on the offer. Cheers.

Guilty of using the tern "kantei" in its wrong context, cheers Thomas for the reminder Yes, we have our online "kantei" here which is quite fun, but besides that the only time i get on the same kind of lines as a kantei is looking at blades for sale, here and the odd dealer. Still interesting from time to time,, you do what you can.

Hi Adam, this conversation reminds me of Facts and Fundamentals, think it was him that said avoid unsigned blades. Kantei can be straight forward, as i pointed out, but can also be a pain in the ass when looking at a unsigned blades that do not seem to fit, blades where there is little information out there. I dont enjoy that,. Always said, if not text book blades then you end up going around in circles and coming up with a few maybes. Nothing wrong with unsigned blades by the way, just wish everything was signed for an easy life As evident by the sword in the Kantei that is going on now, that has FOUR expert attributions. Says it all.

Also, id be wondering why they would go to the bother of creating a mekugi-ana and then cutting straight through it.

A controversial blade!, so detecting a curve ball. Any chance of more information? Utsuri ? Width at hamachi/kissaki ? Kasane ? Looks O-suriage but difficult to tell without close ups. Kind of thinking this may be a later sword, the jigane.....................intentional ?but need more info. See why Satsuma mentioned, and Yamato Shizu for other reasons. Cheers

Hello Adam, see your name now. I stand by what i wrote earlier. Watch the kantei here, if all relevant info is added and the images are good then someone always gets it, in fact some folk are surprisingly accurate on a regular basis. Im assuming their knowledge is not that of the NBTHK and they have not had 1000,s of blades in hand. For Christ's sake, its not rocket science. Some folk blow their own trumpets about how much they know but when it come to these kantei they are not even in the right era As mentioned, when everything is textbook then life is a lot easier and i can imagine a Shinsa team getting through blades quite quickly, especially when a mei is present. The headache is mumei/suriage and the work not textbook. To be honest, this at times, i consider utter b******** even bothering with., but you can still form your own opinion, Noticed 2 examples of what i think a Shinsa team dont like to see when they are in a hurry. Unknown, Unknown, from an experienced seller. https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A110119.html https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A070321.html

Its a lack of understanding on your part Baba. Yes the NBTHK are obviously more experienced and well read than us guys, but that does not stop them using a boat load of reference material (they are not so "EXPERT" all the info is in their head). It does not stop them making the wrong call on some blades either. To be honest, i think some folk are that thick at kantei, they cant do it for themselves and because of that assume everyone else must be the same. See it a lot in life really, over different things, human nature

I dont think you need the experience of looking at 1000,s of blades in hand to work out what a particular sword is, and is that not the point ? No point over complicating what can be achieved by some study, some ownership and 1000s of examples in books and online. As evident in the odd Kantei here, that is when the sword is textbook with all the correct info available. Ps, I find it a lot easier looking at large clear images online of details for particular swords than i do trying to see it in blades in hand, Horses for courses, everyone has their own view

Hi John. "Vultures" is a term often linked with valuable items and the deceased Whilst not dead lol, certainly went on a learning curve. Some people are ruthless when it comes to attaining swords.

Nice Chris!. Also whilst your here, i will buy the Tadakuni back should you check out And if your reading this, that goes for the Sadayoshi too!

Forget dealers and auctions, Pretty sure the folks you leave behind will be aware of the time you have spent on this forum When your gone, tell them to join this forum or give them your log in details. Explain to folk that here that you have popped your clogs and are wanting to sell (if thats their choice) No doubt they will be inundated with enquiries. When Covid killed my job a few years ago and had to sell some swords, surprised at the number of private enquiries. Not just what i had listed but folk looking for all kinds of stuff. "Have you got this?" or "Have you got that?" Reminded me of vultures a circling, but i suppose thats just life and understandable. You will achieve better prices here than from a dealer.

Hello Jimbo The original post states "or a temple sword". Aoi states they have never seen a sword by this smith made so LOOOONG (neither have i) and describe it as a "sword offered to God" so i guess that gets it in the brackets. I see it as an alterative for a guy that maybe just might be happy with a BIG sword, which is what Odachi are. Anyways, just a polite thought to help someone Cheers.

Maybe this, if your still looking. https://www.aoijapan.com/katanabiyo-osafune-ju-yokoyama-sukekane-saku-nbthk-hozon-token/

First glance, it reminds me of Ishido, not sayng it is though. Plenty to go off there, Folk always talk about sending swords of to Shinsa, sometimes i wonder, why bother? What i mean is, sometimes there is enough to work it out for yourself and avoid all the hassles, worries. Nice sword!.

If im being honest, if i was extremely wealthy, there would not be an end. Even now, not in buying mode but still look around the same old sites. Occasionally, maybe once or twice a year i see something that i really like, something that you seldom see for sale. The last one was a late Edo Tanto, lovely blade by a good smith, but it was the inscription that was rare! Nearly, but had an holiday pay for so had to be sensible. For anyone keen, there is no getting away from the odd temptation now and again. Saying that though, something would have had to go Maybe thats the right way to go about it, if not a lottery winner.

When you realize that you dont actually need to acquire any more swords. A big awakening, sometimes caused by issues out of your control, job loss, house purchase, divorce etc etc etc. Some have owned all they feel they need to own and no point putting any more money into acquiring more swords. For a lot of folk, that interest never goes away though. Just a few points.

I cant say say Paz, they know who they are. Some good honest dealers in UK though, real sword dudes, will advise you to do the right thing when it comes to good blades.

Late reply, but just been thinking about this. In contradiction, it may actually make matters worse. Imagine customs officers making a big deal about dealing with the import of Japanese swords, the headaches involved and the hassles. Wouldn't want them to make life easy for themselves and just ban ALL Japanese sword imports

Not mentioning any names but there are well known sword dealers destroying good quality historic heirlooms with cheap crappy commercial polishes. I hope they read this and i hope it makes them STOP!!! Its all about profit, not a care about what they do.