celt72

Thank you Hoanh and Sebastien! I greatly appreciate your help. Agreed but lets get to the important stuff. Islay and Laphroig, good man! I raise a glass of Laphroig to ya'll in salute!

A friend of mine has an older sword in type 98 mounts that he would like translated. He sent me pictures of the mei for me to translate, but I'm failing miserably. It is a six character mei in which I've only been able to figure out that the second character is "Shu." So, I know that the first two characters are for a province, but I can't figure out which one. I've been using the book Japanese Art Signatures book along with the kanji tables here on the sight. After much frustration, I turn to the learned members of this site for help with this signature. http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx26 ... 1ce9f6.jpg http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx26 ... 055b78.jpg http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx26 ... 00a636.jpg Thank you in advance.

Did any of our members acquire this Okimasa shrine sword? I noticed that it ended pretty quick. http://www.ebay.com/itm/281316734300?ss ... 1423.l2649

I was hoping to get the sword for $2800 or less. If I had $8000 to spare, it would be a tough choice between the Shibata Ka on Ricecracker or your Okimasa John.

A Shibata Ka in civilian mounts just sold on eBay for $7800. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIG-WWII-Japan ... true&rt=nc I was hoping to get it, but some other bidders realized what it was and had a lot deeper pockets than myself. Oh well...

Congratulations! That is a beauty!

I was trying to figure out the mei for this sword also while the ebay auction was going on. I wasn't able to match it to any smith in Slough's book, and it was bugging me. I'm glad you asked about it.

I also missed the poll and would like a copy if possible.

I also just bought my first book from Gray, and it won't be the last! It was a great experience from start to finish.

I always love to see examples of the amazing work that Brian does. I've been lucky enough to have him make one habaki for me, and he's currently making a second one. Of course, they're simpler ones than the beauties above. One day I'd love to have a blade worthy of one of these.

Hello, I've always had a love of swords and martial arts and have been casually collecting Japanese swords for a number of years. I've mostly had showato and gendaito. Recently, I've become a little more serious about collecting nihonto and have decided to try to increase my knowledge. That is why I've decided to stop lurking and join the site. Thanks!