Ken-Hawaii

Welcome, Bryan. There are many facets to the study of Nihonto, which fit well with your personal phases. Invest in a couple of good books, & you can pick up a lot of information before your trip. And feel free to ask questions.

Seiko, please post the price, per Brian's rules. Ad is this blade papered?

Welcome, Alexi. There's a steep learning curve for Nihonto, so buying a few reference books is a good use for your money. Feel free to ask questions. We all do. I used to live in Alameda, on Bayfarm Island, & do miss the city.

Darcy was already a Grand Master to many of us, Dave. Unlikely to be from a bullet, John. Knowing how a sword is actually used will give you a more-likely answer. Good job on the restoration. Lots to study.

Yes, thanks, Steve. I had assumed it was a spelling error too.

PM sent.

Okayama is right down the road from you, Steve, & it's definitely worth the trip. You might also check out Tozando's store in Kyoto https://tozandoshop....do-store-information. My wife & I mostly use them for martial arts gear (iaido, kendo, jodo, & judo), but they also have a collection of Nihonto. I would love to have yoroi, but my wife has 11 large Maine Coon cats, & armor deserves better than what they would do to it. As far as juto, I suggest contacting Ray Singer, who advertises on NMB as Swords of Japan. I only see one juyo Bizen on his site (https://swordsofjapa...en-masamitsu-katana/), but I'll bet he has access to more juto, & Ray is very trustworthy. The least-expensive (2,950,000 JPY) Ichimonji I know of is an incredible wakizashi at Aoi Art (https://www.aoijapan...ikatayama-ichimonji/.

I used to have my office in SF, & kinda miss the city. Was hoping to attend this show, but didn't happen. Just sent you & Nicky a few yen for a drink, or part of a tsuba. Enjoy yourselves! Ken

I'm also a Bizento collector, but you've set your sights (& your budget) higher than mine! I do have a beautiful Kagemitsu wakizashi, which has given me many hours of study, but that's as high on the Bizen tree as I'm likely to climb. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the Bizen-Osafune Sword Village in Okayama, I recommend putting it high on your bucket list. It's full of juto of the highest quality, & confirmed my choice of what I wanted to collect. Here is the video I posted a few years ago, after my visit: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/30100-bizen-osafune-sword-village/

G'day, Steve, & welcome! Looks like you've already dived in, so please tell us where your interests lie.

Yeah, Grev, size would be nice. Ken

Great photos, Ray. Some of the best I've seen.

The fact that your blade is signed Sukesada almost guarantees that it isn't gimei (false). There were many, many Sukesadas over the years, & no one would be likely to falsify that mei, in hopes of making the blade worth more. Do avoid eBay until you have a lot more experience - you really were lucky this time. Now that you have a blade to study, what information can you find?

Yurie, will the curator presentation be in Japanese, or English? Linda & I have been looking for an excuse to go back to Japan! Ken

Been offline for a few weeks, Brian (funerals take lots of time), but I'm pretty sure that you know what a great job you're doing, IMO.

Welcome aboard, Mike. Photos will help us to help you, even more. Look on the right side of the NMB home page, & you can download the photography instructions from the late Darcy Brockbank, that was uploaded by Brian.

Choose any unit of measure, & there's a long history of how it came to be chosen. A few of them actually make sense, like light-year...as long as you have the underlying technology.

Can you tell us who Muyan is? Not familiar with the name.

Her name is Takako, Ed. Easy lady to work with.

Interesting, Jeremy! when I try to access Wikipedia on Firefox, it doesn't bring up tiaido at all! Thanks!

Welcome, Jimmie. I've trained in iaido & kenjutsu for 30+ years, & am curious what "tiaido" might be.

Nice work, Darren. Surprised there isn't more interest.

I've found Koto & Shinto blades at several local pawn shops. In every case, however, the shops had no idea what they really had, & posted prices that were ludicrously high. I tried to educate one shop owner, who refused to consider that his information might be in error, even when I showed him several references. As far as finding Nihonto, Hawaii is a lot closer to Japan, so YMMV.

My katanadanso came via ship from Japan to Hawaii. That has been many years ago, & I recall that it came via DHL. I don't recommend them because of another incident, but mine did arrive in good shape.

He wrote one of the first English language books on Nihonto, " Nippon-To, The Japanese Sword