Ichi

These are high quality katana racks. FYI http://www16.plala.or.jp/katana-iimura/ ... ord%20rack http://home.a01.itscom.net/ryuken/main.html

Mutsu no Kami Fujiwara Kanenobu, a Mino smith in 17th century.

Hi Stephen, You made the best choice available on the market. You will be hooked into Connoisseurs.

Do you know them? Fairly large number of links too. http://www.swordlinks.com/

Hi Jean, and sorry Milt for hi-jacking your post. Jean, that's the point. Why no one's jumping on to this Nobumitsu? The nagasa looks perfect, and even Tsuruta-san endorsing for a juyo candidate... beats me ? P.S. At last Dai Token Ichi, I saw a signed Ichimoji going for 4M yen. It was a first time seeing this dealer so I passed by. Regreted for not going back to him.

Koichi-san, You must had a hard time with thatclassical Chinese poem translation and with bonsai scissor query. I admire all your efforts. Hope the temperature will cool down a bit in Tokyo tomorrow. It's too damm hot. I look forward seeing you again at the next NMB meeting sometime in the fall . Gambate. All the best, P.S. My fingers are itching to see that "almost" ubu Nobumitsu at Aoi, but I think it's a bit overpriced.

Like someone in this forum you can pick up a signed tachi for $40 out of a barrel of sabers. (although it needed to be polished for $1800) Just have to be patient and keep reading books. There are some recommendation on this forum under "Suggested Reading" page. Good hunting.

Hi Brian, Maybe this website might be helpful. It could be Kokura arsenal stamp. Sort of inspection stamp, but then it's engraved in nakago ... http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_033.htm

it"s a hototogisu ! Lesser Cuckoo in your language

agreed with Bungo for the first time :D It's a hawk. During the peaceful Edo period many daimiyos conducted wildgame huntings using hawks. It's called taka gari and was used for training retainers to make them battle ready. I think perhaps this bird singing image gave abstract concept on some samurai flicks. Just an opinion.

Hi Brian, The interviewer is asking various questions on the 2nd floor of Kunihira's workshop. This room is use for the final mei engraving, etc. Kunihira shows his recent blade just came back from the polish. He tells the 3 most important factors to judge the sword. 1) Sugata to judge the period 2) jihada to judge the school or province - blueish or white to tell what kind of satetsu was used, and look for any kizu, etc 3) hamon to identify the smith Kunihira, being 65 years old, can produce any style and copy any school, but he's saying it's boring. In his early years, when he came up with a particular type accidently after trial and error it was more enjoyable. Anyone can become a swordsmith. It only takes 10 years of apprentice. There are three types of qualities one can produce. The highest quality stuff(which everyone aims for), average and poor blades. The more he aimed for the higher the more he makes mistakes. He ends up making average swords. The peak of swordsmiths are in their 40's and 50's. They are at their best. Sorry I am at work and can only recall these.

The Choshuya's monthly magazine, Ginza Jyoho, may be translated into English. Portion of its contents, I presume, will be translated and accessable thru their web magazine at extra fee. http://www.choshuya.co.jp/0706/index.htm

The mukansa swordsmith Kawachi Kunihira's interview is found in youtube. FYI, just in case you missed it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM0uBLzoxVw

Thank you Brain, Rich and all others concerning the recent quake. Koichi-san and I'm still hanging around here, and hope other Tokyorites are doing well. Over at Niigata, lots of wasted sake bottles, capsized train and a minor nuke leak. Thanks again all. http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/photospec ... nal/1.html

papered? suriage?

Juho-token-rui-torokusho (The certificate/license issued on Firearms and Sword ) issued in Nara Perfecture No. 24132 wakizashi length: 38.6cm sori (curve): 0.6 cm mekugi ana (holes): one mei: mumei Issued by Nara education Board submitted date: Heisei 19 (2007) April 20

I think Guido's article will thoroughly explain the registration system in Japan. http://bushidojapaneseswords.com/SwordLawLetter.pdf

Humm...., I don't understand why Tsuruta-san wants to show this Kiyomaro only to the gaijin market. No Japanese page was created for this one. I presume this Kiyomaro is on a consignment basis from an another Japanese dealer who wants to expose to overseas. Or maybe perhaps too expensive for the Japanese market?

Guido, You were only few miles away. If you have come to Ginza on that day, you could have seen it with your own hands. I don't recall the price, but I think it was reasonably priced, unlike Aoi.

I got both of them and they are very nice. Lots of pics and charts and relatively cheap at yen 2,100.

Thank Darcy, got my copy today. I was surprised to see my name printed. I will treasure it. Looking forward to the Soshu den. Thanks again! All the best,

Welcome onboard, and to one of the most expensive hobby. :D You should invest more into books, before you decide what to buy on your first nihonto. Be carefull buying it from the net, and make sure you know what you are buying. Good luck.

Any high quality tissue will work, wp40 lubricant instead of choji oil and benzene instead of uchiko. Here's a clipping from Aoi Arts homepage... 1. Generally, Chyoji oil has been used to treat Japanese swords. This is a sticky vegetable oil traditionally used in cleaning swords. It promotes ozidization of the blade that will result in rust in the future. In our opinion, and based on our experience. We not advise you to use chyoji oil. We suggest that you use high-quality machine oil on your sword. This is the same type used when maintaining guns or sewing machines, and it is the only oil that we use with our swords at Aoi Art. 2. A kind of Japanese paper called nugiu-gami can be used to wipe off the swords, but we find that high quality tissues work just as well. [Make sure if you are using tissues that they are free of any sort of additive (such as scented, aloe vera, vitamin E facial tissues, etc)]. 3. If you appreciate the same sword frequently, it is not always necessary to repeat this entire process. The Japanese sword does not rust easily, so it is not necessary to apply uchi-ko too often. In fact, using the uchiko too frequently could result in slight scratches and over time the texture of the jitetsu will lose its brightness. Please realize that the uchi-ko is made of a fine powdered whetstone known as uchigumori-to. Occasional care and caution when maintaining your sword is good. Excessive cleaning however, will cause damage, so please be careful.

I talked to the seller. This Gassan is on a consignment basis without paper. He also felt the hada was very unfamiliar and boshi lost. I asked him if I could see the tanto, but declined because he doesn't have a shop. Only thru the net, I guess. I asked if the signature was geniune. He didn't comment. But as Brian mentioned, he's a reputable seller. FYI

A Japanese friend once told me that he used nihonto to cut woods for his family when he was young. He had a dozen or so swords to play around with and they were literally left out to be rusted. He's from Fukushima and probably from a samurai class. Those swords were obviously unregistered, and I presume there were lots of them like these lying down after the WW2. What we are seeing in the market may be just a small tip of the pyramid- the one that survived the action and kept in mint condition.