Alex A

Hi Jeremy, i have a blade with 2 nicks and also 1mm missing of the tip, it no longer bothers me. It did bother me when i bought it and was actually booked in for polish to correct. My turn came up but i never sent it. The old polish was a good polish, none of this heavy Hadori that you see. On top of that, a blade over 400 years old and a blade worth preserving. Taking steel off the blade just to please oneself is not the right way to preserve these old heirlooms. For blades like yours which are out of polish and showing rust spots, thats another matter. The cost of polishing blades is expensive as you probably know, you just have to weigh up whether its worth it or not. Being honest, yours looks to be one of the mass produced, with an opening i can see near the mune. Likely not worth the expense of a top notch polisher Still, a blade that has seen plenty of history. Cheers.

Hello, may well be Sue Bizen. Nakago has that rounded form, file marks are there and it is slightly suriage which was common on these blades (hence 2 ana peg holes) Pity its not signed.

Hello Some beginner books you will find on the internet for possibly less than a tenner. The Samurai sword, a handbook The Sword of Japan A bit of knowledge goes a long way in this game. Lots more books after that, a few more being Facts and Fundamentals The Connoisseur's book of Japanese swords Craft of the Japanese sword And so on. Ps, some good online sword sites where can learn, obviously here and others like http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm http://www.sho-shin.com/smith.htm http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/information.html

Ko-itame works well with flashy hamon, such as choji, for example For me anyways

Noticed price increases over recent years for Shinshinto blades, schools like Yokoyama. Seems to be more interest.

This too http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/suriage.html

Il be honest, my niggle is how a relatively unknown smith from the late Edo period can obtain TH on what looks to be a pretty average blade. Hence why i would want confirmation from NBTHK before buying. Had a quick look at the Sho-shin site at the rankings yesterday and this particular smith i could not see there either Not enough info. Good to be cautious

You will find blades by better smiths for the same money, smiths where you can find out lots of information. Ebay not a good place to shop when your a newbie. Plenty of posts about books on here, buy a few introductory books and read them before you spend any money. Cheers

Hi, better staying away from Ebay Check out the dealers listed here Just for comparison, look at other swords of similar price https://www.aoijapan.com/japaneseswords/wakizashi/ Places like Aoi will varify the papers are genuine

The surprising thing about those big Saotome, the weight!, understandable should a Samurai have wanted something lighter. Piers, that website has always been a gold mine of information, and wondeful tsuba.

Just to add, very little on this smith, as is sometimes the case so not much comparisons. Id be wary.

Tough lesson Michael.

There was a late Edo Smith , according to Markus index p418 Bunka 1804 to 1818 Yamato Mikasa Sanroku Ju Sanjo Kokaji Munechika

The biggest i ever did see here Piers https://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm#saotome - tembo

Just a point for consideration. You often see items listed "consignment sale" on dealers websites. A few years ago i was looking to move a few items on so i thought i would give this a try. Sent the item away to the dealer and it appeared on the website, all good. Item disappeared off website after a few weeks, no response from dealer to me. I contacts dealer and dealer said it sold but buyer unhappy and sending it back. Month later and still not back on website. I contacts dealer again to ask him what is going on, he said he forgot to re-list and will do it in morn. The next morn its back on. 2 months later and i ask dealer "any interest"? He replied "no, very slow" A few months later i ask "any luck", he replied "no" I says "send it back to me", he replies "i tell you what, i will buy it now off you" To be honest, i just wanted to sell and accepted his offer. In the back of my mind though, i cant help thinking he sold it the first time and hung on to my money I cant prove anything, just a hunch. Not a dealer from here by the way. Will think twice before going that route again.

On the original subject. What ive learned over the years. If folk really want to get involved then they can do. For me, been plenty of opportunities.

I would find this interesting too. I get why even experts may disagree on this one.

Jussi, thank you. Once again you throw some light on this somewhat dim lit hobby. We all learn something new. I now have a list of smiths that im eager to learn more about. For some that dont understand. Its never about questioning the knowledge of those that set the rankings but trying to understand their results. When you think about it, it was one hell of a task!!. Sometimes i think the only fair way would be to line up every sword by every smith but we know thats impossible. in that respect, i wonder what may have been missed or overlooked and hence, unfairly misjudged

Good to see something positive on the news about Japanese swords! This made me laugh. Number of registered swordsmiths has unsurprisingly declined in recent years

Another factor……..money Example. The Hizen school brought in money for the Nebeshima clan. No surprise to me Tadayoshi ranked Saijo, from memory think the 3rd was too, may be wrong.

Also, dont forget there was not a research facility back then producing clones for tests. Take into account variables involved. Flesh, bone thickness etc and how the sword would have to strike the same spot every time. Bit grim, but thats how it is.

Tv show mythbusters once set up a machine with a Samurai sword. There was a myth about ww2 Japanese soldiers being able to cut through hot machine gun barrels. Might be on youtube Anyways, for me, that would be the only way to test swords with any reasonsble accuracy Too many variables Interesting history though, recommend the book Tameshigiri by Markus

Ps, Is that yours? If so, thought you avoided Chu-Jo. ?

Nice!

Cheers Jussi, interesting, and surprised.