Ignis

Certainly that must be for 10 bottles of 4 Fl.Oz. otherwise it'd seem a bit unrealistic EDIT: http://www.katana-samurai-sword.com/uk/break-free-collector-oil-p-744.html this is a dutch site wich is also selling it for 11.95€ depending on shipping costs and location might be cheaper for the european people looking for this. Nvm, just check their shipping options only one available and it another 19.50€ shipping costs so not very worthed

Okay, that was sort of what i expected. Thanks again.

Hey, thanks alot for the quick response. Realized it wasnt the smith the guy claimed it was after a quick compare was just curious about the mei cause i couldnt make sensr off it. Im wondering, does the lack of stamp indicate it was traditonaly made? Or does it just indicate it wasn't made by an army smith?

Recently came across a ww2 blade wich to me was said it was made by Kanenori. The blade is in horrible condition (think someone tried to sharpen it themselves or god knows what, its full of deep scratches). However i took some pictures of the signatures but I cant make any sense out of it. There is no stamp on the blade, and all the little spacers inbetween are numbered with the same number. Ive included some pictures hopefully you guys can help me out with figuring out the signature.

Has anyone enquired at dhl (if they even ship from Japan altho I would assume they do). When i take a look at their webpage I see the following link: http://www.dhl.co.uk/en/express/shipping/shipping_advice/prohibited_commodities.html#non_account_holders For non account holders it sais: Antiques, works of art and fine art with an individual value in excess of £5,000 But when you check account holders i only see the following under restricted goods: Antiques and works of art with a shipment value in excess of EUR 500,000 Nothing under prohibited. Might just be an idea. But then again i dont know if they accept swords at all and if they are based in Japan. Was just thinking it cause they website didnt specifically mention it.

Funny thing this chojo oil cause most ive read about it is that people seem to be divided on it. Saying that it may have been used for so long but that now there are better options, when asked wich the response usually is gun oil or light machine oil. When asked for specifoc examples for light machine oil there comes no specific answer. So as i said i went out and got what seemed best suited to me. I know and have a little bit of choji oil but didnt wanna use it cause so many referenced to it being an outdated thing.

Added some additional photo's quality is not as good as i wouldve hoped was still struggling alot with the lightsource and the fact that i have just a crappy camera wich has trouble getting focus at short range. Add to that the fact that (i have to be honest) i still have no clue what im looking at inside the sword, i hope these pictures are any decent EDIT: added another one of the kissaki first one too blurry second one too shaded bit of a shame.

Hey just something i wanted to confirm. This mei belongs to 2nd gen Hojoji Masahiro correct? Cause i had a little bit of doubt over this when buying it cause it seemed advertised as 1st gen but when i googled about i sorta figured it was 2nd gen, just wanna make sure i got the right idea And a little side question, went out and bought me some oil for the sword when needed, got some "Mineral, acid-free household oil. Suitable for many applications in and around the house.", least thats what the description sais. Hope that is good? Even tho i dont think its really needed where i live if i see other members here who live relatively close to me mention they have no need to oil it due to dry climate.

After spending quite a bit of money reading books and looking at pictures, keeping an eye out here n there i decided it was finally time to have one to have a closer look at. So after a lot of consideration i went took the plunge, when i bought the sword it had no papers so i opted to have it send in for shinsa aswell, since the papers arrived today i figured i'd make this post. Ill add the pictures here, cause it seems like you guys like pictures As I only have a mobile phone to take pictures with i decided to just use the pictures from the seller, most if you will most likely recognize the style i suppose. Only the NBTHK paper is a picture i quickly took with my mobile. Guess ill have all weekend to start figuring out what they wrote altho most if it i already deciphered using this link: http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sw ... se_sword_5

Thanks, not sure on how i could miss that glossary explanation guess that happens when switching between books for looking up stuff constantly I end up forgetting what i checked and what i didnt So i guess the 34th compilation just refers to a revision of the book. But since it isn't very common im guessing there is no translation off it published anywhere?

Hey, i was just wondering about something written about him in Fujishiro. In the english translation done by Harry Afu Watson on page 160 & 161 there's a little passage about father and son, and he mentions zokumei and Shonosuke. I was wondering what these terms meant, for zoku i noticed in the foreword zoku is said to mean extended family but i have no clue what Shonosuke means. It also refers to an article in the 34th Compilation of Meito Zukan, "Corrections to Hojoji Masahiro father and son", i was wondering if its a book bundled of articles and if they perhaps would be available in english somewhere cause a google search hasn't turned up much yet. I am just curious since my first nihonto i bought bears that signature ( Omi no kami hojoji tachibana masahiro) so i'm trying to read up as much as i can find on him till the sword arrives (it's still to be entered for shinsa in Japan in July). Thanks alot in advance.

It seems that alot of these codes are valid only for a certain localization off the lulu.com website. There also seem to be a list of coupons available on the homepage, on the dutch version i came across TRESACE and it give you one book for free if you buy 4, the cheapest one is for free. So i happily used it to buy 4 nihonto books and get a 50€ discount

Hey, bit to new to nihonto in general to add much to this but i had to post cause similar thoughts have crossed my mind several times on the changing off the handwriting etc. The other day i was looking at Oumi Kami Hojoji Tachibana Masahiro and when googling him you find quite some pictures off swords he signed and looking at them always made me sort of wonder about the difference in some of the mei: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Larg ... 70215x.jpg http://www.sho-shin.com/hojo1.html http://www.nihonto.us/HOJOJI%20MASAHIRO%20WAKIZASHI.htm http://www.aoijapan.com/katanaoumi-kami ... a-masahiro Anyway, im gonna stick my head back into the connoisseurs book and read up a bit more about basics before wondering about more complicated things make my head hurt

Hey, thanks for the feedback about the book, it is indeed the one in the link altho on my copy the monograph thingy was a bit worn off so couldnt make out for sure what that said. I guess it is worthed getting into then probably go for the 'easier' books first tho cause i still notice when reading these kind of books that i still have to turn back and look up certain terms to know what they are always talking about.

The topic about the suggestion of books perhaps yes but the topic about The Book of the Swords is a bit harder to search for since every word is either too short or too common and thus excluded from the search. I just thought it being weird the book consisting of a bundle of different papers and notes and was wondering (partly considering the age) how relevant these notes still are present day as well as why these particular papers where bundled by the author, do they have a certain significance etc? Perhaps im overthinking this book... It just got me wondering.

Hey, i posted a while back about a sword i was considering to buy and after some advice from here i ended up not going for it and grabbing some books first, so while back i was walking through town and came across these 2 books in an shop with old books (the fact he had these books in itself already surprised me since i dont live in an english speaking place ;P). The Samurai Sword: A Handbook by John M Yumoto Wich ive seen mentioned here a few times so i figured it was a nobrainer and grabbed it right away and read through it quite fast aswell. The Book of the Sword by Randolph B Caldwell? Now this one made my think a bit longer if i should grab it or not but i ended up taking it anyway altho it seems a bit harder to read and is more a collection of different papers and articles and notes. I havent completely read it yet but read the "random thoughts from Yohn M Yumoto" that where included in this book and 2 nice sections called "Let the buyer beware" and "on investing in Japanese swords". Now i was wondering if anyone read this book and what their thoughts on it would be? Today i also received Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords (Nobuo Nakahara) and The connoiseurs book of Japanese swords, was just wondering (you probably get asked this alot) but if there was anything else you would suggest as reading material to the newbies?

I have had a quick look at both his brother and his father (his brother seeming to be a better smith and resulting in a lot more hits when googling) but I came to the conclusion to it being the same smith because of the information given by the sellers of both swords who both refer to http://nihontoclub.com/smiths/NOB592 especially the personal name Takai Kinsaburō returns in both places. However given your advice i will try and look up some pictures of swords done by the father and see if perhaps the information about the smith in the original posting is wrong. Thanks, Kenneth B.

Hey, done some googling and i came across this: http://www.sanmei.com/contents/en-us/p1403.html The sword is signed "Shinano-no-kami Fujiwara NOBUYOSHI" Looking at the 2nd character (Kanji?) it appears to show quite some differences, also according to the nihontoclub.com link they only have 3 signatures of the smith and the one in the first pictures isnt in there (it is with the Fujiwara like in the link on sanmei). I probably wont be acting on the add for now altho id still be happy to hear any other opinions (as to see if im going the right way with my thoughts or not

Hey, as many people here i'm a new person looking for some information for an item im considering to buy. Having been intrigued by all things long gone by for quite some time now I decided a while back it was the time to start looking for a nice katana with some history. Now recently ive noticed one for sale wich sort of sparked my interest a bit. According to the seller it is made by Shinano no Kami Nobuyoshi. However in the ad he nowhere mentions papers or anything about the NBTHK. So I'm assuming (havent asked him about it yet) that the sword is not papered what seemed a bit weird to me it being a signed 330year old sword... So i'm wondering if this is common or not? Also here are some pictures about it, the add has very little information about the sword itself more info about the swordsmith (http://nihontoclub.com/smiths/NOB592). Any help and advice will be very well appreciated, Kenneth B.