Alex A

with what you own in this hobby? Ive yet to hear of it. People say thats it, ive done with buying, then six months later there is a new sword in the post If you have managed it, be good to hear how you kicked the habit.

Whopps, Bizen, not Kaga, was on autopilot, sorry Darius, ignore that.......

Edit.

Hi Darius, what ever you choose to do, now or in the future, try and look for sensible deals were you are more likely to see your money back when you come to sell. Sometimes though, when you see something good that you really like, you may end up paying over the odds to get it, but I suppose that goes with any kind of collecting hobby. Johns correct, your taste will change when you learn a bit more, the good news is, learnings a lot cheaper than buying!

Good news, forget your gold and silver shares, the futures nihonto. I must say, some of the book prices have shot up too, buy whilst you can, boom times a coming!!

Mike, heres a few pics of what your looking for, the fuchi are iron or soft metal (not easy to find one short in height), the kashira is usually made from horn. Tsuba, ko-katchushi, ko-tosho, ko-kinko to name a few.

I see, thanks Mariusz.

That's the plan Darcy, going from old to new. I started with early tsuba, ive been looking at iron plate tsuba with simple sukashi and also bronze, yamegane and nigurome tsuba with simple decoration such as hari-ishime 針石目, kebori 毛彫 etc. I like these simple early tsuba, they are from an era that I like to study, but its not been easy to know what is considered top notch from those times. I see simple iron plate tsuba (plane jane, dare I say it) going for big bucks and then tsuba that seem more intricate going for a lot less, I guess the "history and rareness" factor has a lot do do with it. All got a bit confusing, but at least now I have some direction. I suppose I'm following the same path, simple to more complicated, easy learning program Cheers.

^^^ Great book, and you wont find many (if any) at that price.

Thanks gents for the pointers, appreciated Mariusz, fitting that you mention "some", Ko-Katchushi & Ko-Tosho, spending a month trying to get my head around them eventually led to this thread. I get what your saying, all utilitarian, but fair to say that some are more so than others. From then on, ive moved onto Onin, then Heianjo. (bit like the above, but jazzed up with brass inlay and prices seem more affordable) Il get there, cheers.

A simple question (I think), from a Tsuba simpleton. In terms of quality and skill, which tsuba from the Koto period do you think are the best, and why? Cheers.

Watched this in full last night, totally agree, jokingly said to my lad "i wouldn't last a week", lad replied, "wouldn't last a day" A point made about the number of unskilled polishers being a "dime a dozen" ruining decent blades, so true. The sensei didn't hold back with the criticism, old school training, reminds me of my first job, how times change. Interesting documentary, thanks.

I'm agreeing with you, going to say Late Muromachi, Katateuchigatana (one hand strike sword) ,now suriage. Had a few koshirae since then. Someone with more knowledge may say I'm talking nonsense, or give you more details, but your on the right lines. Your pics could be a lot better, killing my eye lol

Hi Chris, I'm thinking its suriage, original mekugi-ana just off the end of the nakago. Just as an example, look were the bo-hi ends (slight machi okuri on this example) , that's why I think suriage.http://new.uniquejapan.com/a-bizen-1514-sukesada-wakizashi/

Pm sent.

My rule of thumb for nihonto related special ops is to simply remove a zero Enjoy the restoration!

Good luck with that, perhaps bending the truth a little wont hurt as much

Hi Ben, according to JW Bott (the sword of Japan book), a groove cut by the swordsmith who made the sword, will usually run the full length of the sword, including the nakago. (maybe others have a different point of view?) A groove cut at a later time, known as "atori-bori hi", will normally stop in in the vicinity of the habaki to preserve the signature. Yours was cut later, how much later I dont know, a few months?, fifty years?, who knows, sometimes ware gives you an inkling. Look into your sword, look to see if Horimono was common to the school. How common horimono were on mass produced swords is a good question, I can only assume not to common, taking into account the 1000s up on 1000s made which were considered disposable. It was expensive for the Ashigaru and possibly low rank Samurai. Saying that though, there was money to be made on and off the battlefield, so who knows maybe the odd horimono was paid for with loot or by the reward from a severed head of an opposing big wig I'm not too clued up, be good to hear other views. Ps, I would save money on the koshirae idea, and stick with the shirasaya idea

Hi Ben, looking at your latest pics, with the one mekugi-ana, looks Ubu to me, a lot of these type of swords are Machi-okuri, with two mekugi-ana. I see your mekugi-ana goes through part of the mei, someone was none to fussy in the fittings/mei department, see that from time to time. In this case, I guess less care was taken with the non-custom made swords during those times. (sengoku) Its not an arty-farty sword, but a sword made for battle, reminds me of an Uda tachi I own. The Bo-hi is a nice bonus, someone at some time felt the blade was worth it. Looks a decent sword, not Kazu-uchimono, as a lot get labelled, in some of the cases I think unfairly.

Cracking pics!

Hi Darius, have a read of this for starters http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba.htm

Looks like late Muromachi Uchigatana, as used by the Ashigaru (foot soldiers). Plenty of Sadatsugu,s, as mentioned. Had a quick look for any using Suguha hamon (looks Suguha), one crops up, Tenbun 1530-1550, Satsuma, Suguha or Suguha mixed with Ko-notare Now, I'm not saying this is who made the sword (just an example), just having a quick look. Ben, that's what you need to do, look at all the kantei points, and see what comes up. All fun

Thats the one Jean. Reading my last sentence, folk could be forgiven for thinking im talking home decor, takes a while for the brain to fire up in a morn.

All depends what you want Darius, a wall hanger?, or a sword with some interest?. Folk soon get board with wall hangers. Best.

Darius, I think the price rules are with regards to stuff in the "for sale" section. If you wish to say how much you have to spend on a sword, that's fine. This is a good place to buy, so who knows, name your price and someone may have something. You could place an advert in the "wanted" section. If I were you though, id put it off for a short while, until you get a clear idea of what your looking for, and what price to pay. Learning for a short while will help you spot deals, and spot junk (there is lots out there). Remember whatever you buy, you will one day want to sell, so choose wisely. No rush, stuff always pops up, sometimes better stuff comes along after an hasty buy. One last book recommendation, id buy it whilst its still affordable, probably a great investment https://www.amazon.co.uk/Craft-Japanese-Sword-Leon-Kapp/dp/1568364318?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0