bobtail44

impressive isn't the word id use Id say the team that papered the blade would know exactly what they were saying, id just ask them if possible. Trent S

Very interesting, thanks for that. I have had a good look at it and there doesn't seem to be mold evidence on it. Very interesting that the first one papered. Trent S

Hi collectors, Most of my blades come in shirasaya or WW2 mounts so I have one "proper" koshire. Anyway I acquired this by accident and I don't even think that it is meant to go with the wakizashi in shirasaya that it was sent out of Japan with. On this koshire was a tsuba, and I know absolutely nothing about tsuba. So I took some pictures with my phone. It is not magnetic/Iron (I don't know how important that is) and 67mm high and 60 mm wide. Any information that you can provide on this tsuba would be of interest. Id especially like to know if it is worth anything. If it is, I MIGHT offer it for sale here for at a discounted rate for the help and donate part of the sale. I don't collect tsuba so id probably rather it went to a good home. ps. I have no idea why the images rotated themselves Cheers, Trent S

I had very little interest in tsuba until you posted that. It is magnificent. I wish that there were prices attached to some of these posts so I could learn more about what to pay for top of the line stuff. I feel rude asking though Trent S

That set is in a league of its own. Does it have any history behind it or did you put it together? One day in future my aim is to own a blade and koshire that go together so well like that even if it is the only sword that I own

Its hard to date it because the pictures are poor. Its a very basic blade which is in need of a polish but probably not worth polishing. There is also no mention of if it is bent or not, id definitely ask that question. If I could read/speak Japanese id buy it just to see if I could chase up the owner for a bit of adventure, mind you these days that tag could have come from any sword and hes using it to jack up the price. It depends what you want it for ultimately. Trent S

I know where part of it went Id love to see who it papers as. Trent

I'm interested in buying it depending on what you decide to sell it for. I thought id say it just for info but it needs at least $2500 dollars worth of polish then it will paper. imo Trent S

Id love to know who bought the Inoue Shinkai, I really wanted to buy that. If someone has it and wants to make a profit http://yakiba.com/H28_Wak_Shinkai.htm Trent S

I saw one very very similar sell on ebay but I missed the chance to bid on it because I was away. It is one of my favourite styles that I have seen. I'm jealous Nice blade Trent S

Did you just buy that off ebay recently? it looks identical to one that I just saw sell. I think it was mumei. Trent S

Just an update, he issued me a full refund and promised to stop lying to people about his sword collection. He pulled his ebay listing and says hes very sorry and supposedly won't do it again. If anyone else wants a refund for a known gimei, nows the time to contact him because he will refund you . One of my friends helped me send him a letter detailing that if he didn't stop I was going to get him chased for fraud The main reason I messed with him so much is that I didn't appreciate him playing the recently dead war veteran card in alot of our email conversations. I have recently dead and not so recent war veterans in my family and its not something that you should use to manipulate people. Anyway Trent S

That is what it went for on ebay. I don't care enough to lie, im just enjoying the conversation. Also since the nbthk papers had a photo of the tang im sure they were recent enough papers to know who it was. When I was reading through Komojos feedback a year or so ago I noticed someone bought a national treasure sword off him for a low price as well. The auction had an image of him as a bald old man but I would have no chance remembering the name of the smith. Next time I see one ill post it on the site after it ends and see what it went for. There was one on ebay like 3 months ago that was by some important prize winner and he couldn't sell it for 3k so it dropped down to 2.3k before he removed it from the site. Just go to the places dealers get their swords from, its not hard to find with a bit of research. I wish that I could read Japanese fluently, id make a killing selling stuff with low margins so more people could get hold of it cheaper and everyone could have a great collection. The best place to buy average swords from 2-7k is from auctions, collectors and sometimes dealers if they will negotiate. I'll be going to a dealer next year when I want to negotiate for my first Juyo sword. Trent S

What I mean is that if someone says "oh im selling you a blade signed by masamune" for example or "im selling you a blade that isn't damaged" then you turn it over and there a massive rust hole. Paypal will just refund you and you post it back. If they say no refund in their policy it doesn't matter. Trent S

There are a good many people, thankfully, that value and appreciate modern made blades. Most of them are as good, if not better, than most older swords one is likely to come across. There are many that will in time be Juyo as well. There is no logical reason to discriminate based on age: good swords have been made in all periods and continue to be made. One may prefer an older sword but that is simply personal preference that often times reflects nothing more than a personal bias for age, romance, and other factors that are not intrinsic to the blade, but qualities in the mind of the buyer. As far as logic goes, Modern swords will never have a cutting test. They also won't have battle scars. They also won't have ever been used to kill anyone. Plus they will never have been attributed to anyone or anything historical. Buying a story is often as important as buying the item itself. If you buy a shinsakuto you are buying an item made for commercial reasons. It may be good and a faithful reproduction but its still just a blank imo. I answered this in Grants reply. In my situation I have to combine both. Between hunting/shooting, 4wding, dirt bike racing, wakeboarding/skiing, travelling the world etc I can't afford to spend the money that I have allocated to nihonto without generating profit when I sell one or getting my money back without a loss to buy a new one. I'm not saying whats right or wrong just my own logic. Also I read your other post and I would really like to go to Japan to see smiths make shinsakuto first hand and hopefully change/evolve my perception.

Yeah, I have learned a lot more about the technical use of the word from this thread. My definitions were just what I had heard it was in the past. I Googled the word and meanings and it confirmed what I thought was right. I'm not saying you are wrong, just that it seems like a confusing word to use. Thanks for the insight I haven't sold or bought any shinsakuto myself. I nearly bought one papered by the nbthk that went up for sale last year. The smith was a national treasure who died a few(less than 30) years back. I forget his name There seemed to be very little interest and I didn't particularly like it but it only sold for around $2-3000. Since then I have notice probably around 10 sell and I have compared the sale cost of some to the return value. Many were easily below 50%. I'd provide links like a usually do but I haven't bothered to look at any lately because it isn't a field that im interested in. Plus I have a lot of hobbies and expenses at the moment so what I buy must at least retain its value. That is just my own personal rules for it though otherwise it becomes a black hole of spending I don't mean to say that everyone else is wrong I'd love for anyone in Western Australia to show me some modern blades that are of high quality and it would be great if it blew me out of the water id go and look at any nihonto to be honest :D I think that I need to spend time with a smith and see the process first hand because to me modern blades just seem like reproductions. It doesn't matter how perfectly forged they are compared to older blades. I mean when someone forged a blade in the 1500's for example they did that with a whole other perspective that can never be reproduced. Some blades were obviously produced purely for commercial reasons, but some carried far more meaning than any weapon will ever carry today. Try to find a shinsakuto with a gold inlaid cutting test that took one or more peoples lives straight after it was forged and presented. Its like producing a lab diamond, no matter how perfect it is, it was still produced in a laboratory not deep down inside the earth with incredible heat and pressure as a product of nature. Trent S

On ebay you always have a return policy. Sometimes it just isn't worth paying the return shipping and the hassle though. If its gimei just say that it wasn't as described and you want to send it back. Paypal will force a refund. I wouldn't do it without a good reason though. Trent S

Yeah I was watching the auction. I wasn't confident enough in the condition to buy it. Also the seller didn't respond to my questions about its condition so it seemed too hard. Trent S

My definitions are just what martial arts circles use in Australia. Whether or not that is technically right or not is another thing all together I can just understand the confusion because most people on google say one thing but you say another. For anyone living outside of Japan who have access to blades made anywhere it would be insane to buy a Japanese shinsakuto for the prices that you are talking about. You can buy very good actual nihonto for those prices. For $15000 dollars US and up you can get nbthk Juyo level swords http://www.aoijapan.com/japanesesword/masterpiece not to mention that you can just buy the chinese swords with a core of some sought of spring steel with a harder steel over it. That sword will never break and would snap long after a traditional sword. My point is that for those ridiculous prices you could have a perfect cutting tool from china as well as an artsword on your shelf if you are outside Japan. Another very important point that ive made before is that I have never ever seen a modern sword, even from a "national treasure" level modern smith resell for even a third to half of what it was bought for new. For me if im not going to at least get my money back then it isn't a very good business decision.

Just be careful, I had a problem with a blade from him because he doesn't list all of the damage. He also posts blades on eBay without having held them in hand according to him. Make sure you ask very detailed questions and you will get honest answers from my experience, but don't assume anything. Trent S

Sharpened/polished blade made by traditional Japanese methods (fully functional): shinken Unsharpened/blunt blade made for martial arts practice in a Japanese context: Iaito All practice blunt blades/katanas for martial arts are called Iaito but you are clutching at straws to call a shinken an Iaito even if you do practice with it. That is what people mean when the say it generally. When I looked up the word broken down into its parts you get a fluffy translation which doesn't even relate to the labeling of a type of sword. I think a specific word needs to be applied to blunt training swords because if Iaito "technically" applies to any sword that you use for Iaido then what do you call a blunt practice katana for other martial arts that aren't Iaido....seems senselessly confusing. Trent S

http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2013/13373-1.jpg This one on Aoi art has nbthk papers if you want to compare the mei. Trent S

Why has it come up for sale again: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16896 Trent S

Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but I am a little confused... For me, an iaito is often no sharp and has a bohi. It does is made by low grade material as I have already seen many of the cheap iaito no nihonto katana. It is hard for me to believe that I bought a 4500$ iaito...especially when the blade is told to be forged by Kanehide with traditional fine steel of "Tamahagane" and have good reputation as "supreme sharp" which must perform very sharp cutting result. Should I understand that those stricktly made for collectors/appreciation could not used for iaito or tameshigiri in most case? If it is the case, why are they made from better quality material? Or you mean that even if they are made for collectors/appreciation, they can also be used for iai or tameshigiri? Another thing, when you say lower grade material, do you mean lower grade tamahagane or lower grade other type steel? Because Japanese smith use high grade tamahagane for collectors blade and low grade tamahagane for iaito? I am a bit lost...If it is what you mean, I am pretty disappointed so...Was not planning to buy some iaito. I thought that iaito was some very cheap no tamahagane steel blade that used for iai as many of the european or american shop sell. If I knew this, I would not pay 4500$ for just a iaito... Anyway, thank you for your precision. Please explain me more if possible to clarify my doubt. Thank you in advance. If it has a sharp edge then it isn't an Iaito. Also as far as I was aware Iaito blades are meant to be non ferrous due to legal reasons in Japan. As to what it is made from, unless you asked the smith what he put it in you will never know. You can study the metal and grain after you get it which might help provide evidence. Trent S

Keep watching this guy from week to week. He sells some cheap lower end stuff. You have more of a chance getting lucky there than here. Also you should post pictures of your tsuba so we can see if we want to make an offer on them. Trent S http://stores.ebay.com/komonjo?_rdc=1