benkyoka

I am still new to the world of nihonto and am still doing much more reading than I am doing handling when it comes to these blades. When it comes to nie and nioi, mostly I have had to go on pictures from books, and sometimes just drawings, to try and learn to distinguish the difference. To be honest, I am having a difficult time. For myself, without the ability to pick up many blades and handle them personally, I am still somewhat ignorant of the difference between nie and nioi. To quote the Connoisseur's; "Nie is the term used for individual particles that look like twinkling stars and that may be discerned with the naked eye. Nioi, on the other hand, has a misty look resembling the Milky Way, no individual particls can be distinguished in it." While this is a very precise definition, the pictures that accompany it are no help to me at all. After seeing Darcy's post with the pictures of the Go Yoshihiro blade I was inspired to create this thread. So, onto my request: Could anyone who wants to help, post pictures of both a nie deki blade and a nioi deki blade together so that I can use them as a reference for study. I would like to overcome this molehill once and for all. I feel it is greatly holding back my kantei skills (which are next to nothing). Looking forward to the pics!

The first day of the show was truly fantastic and mind-boggling as well. Seeing so many high-quality pieces was a thrill. Now if only I had 26,000,000yen! Meeting so many nice people afterward was great. Their passion for all things related to Nihonto was evident. Thanks to Robert for organizing it for everyone!

When I scanned the tsuba and first looked at the picture I had an internal debate with myself over which way was up. Not ironically, I was incorrect.

Hello fellow collectors and enthusiasts. I recently was given these two tsuba and I really would like to know more about them. Unfortunately, I am terribly ignorant when it comes to fittings (even worse than the blades) and don't know where to start. Can anyone point me in the direction of which school these are from and also what style? Thanks for looking!

The information is a listing of the lineage of the Sekiguchi Gyokushin Ryu. There is not much information. The first line 岡山辺ã«ä¼æ‰¿ã€‚　translates roughly as 'okayama area lore' and then there is a list of four names who were at one time the heads of the system. The last name is Ishihara Tsurutarou 石原鶴太郎. Googling gives me two links regarding that school. http://kobe.cool.ne.jp/ikkansai/syohan.htm http://www.bokuden.or.jp/~bunbkan/page225.html There is not much information on these pages, however. typing Ishihara Tsurutarou into the yahoo Japan search engine brings up this link. http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/~ryo-albatross/renmeisi.htm This might lead to something. I wish I had the time to look into this further (this is right up my alley), but alas...

I have included a scan from the most recent edition of the Bugei Ryuha Daijiten 武芸æµæ´¾å¤§è¾žå…¸. It is the entry for the Sekiguchi Gyokushin Ryu. It is listed as a Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu ryuha. This ryu is not affiliated with the Gyokushin that makes up part of Hatsumi's Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu organization. I have highlighted the relevant entry. I hope this helps in some way.

Read this today: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20 ... 7000c.html

I need to study more and be quicker off the mark. This post tells you everything.

You seem to be confusing the kana (hiragana) with kanji. The first part 交ã˜ã‚Š ('majiri' = mixed with), then ç· ã‚‹ (is this 'shimari'? = to tighten), with the next ?? just being the hiragana 'ã‚‹' (ru). Then æµ…ã ('asaku' = shallow), 乱れ㦠(midarete) å°ä¸¸ã€‚　鈩　('rou'), 手（'te' = hand), and 下り' (which in this case, I believe is 'kudari') are the others. Please correct me if I am wrong, anyone!

Jitsu wa... I briefly checked through sites such as Amazon.co.jp and such and found it there listed for the high price. I haven't had opportunity to check different places or sites because I lack the time at the moment. I was hoping to get a look at just this page and still plan on purchasing this book in the future for a good price. Thanks, again, for the offers of help.

Hi Martin, Thank you for another great, informative link! Yes, I do have the papers from the NBTHK and by looking at the examples and translations from the site this tsuba is designated as Hozon.

Hello fellow forumites (is that a word?) This may be a question more directed towards the Japanese members of the forum or those who speak/read Japanese well. I am sure most of us know of The Connosseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Kokan Nagayama. Does anyone here have a copy or access to a copy of the Japanese version of this book titled 'Touken Kantei Tokuhon' (刀剣鑑定読本)? I am looking for the Japanese text for the section (in english) titled "Bungo (豊後) Province" under the chapter "Provinces and Schools of Shinto Times". I have tried to find this book to purchase but the only outlet where I could find it here was selling it for 45,000yen or so. I hope not to inconvenience anyone but if it is possible for someone to post a scan of the page, I would consider it a huge favour. Thanks for your time.

Michal, Thank you so much for your reply and the link! I now have some reading ahead of me. I will try and locate the Echizen Kinai book that you linked to as well. I acquired this tsuba from a friend of the family's and it came with NHTBK (hope I got those letters in the right order) papers. If anyone is interested, I could post those as well. Thanks again!

I had posted pics of my Kanenaga katana on this board a few months back. Here's the link. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1387&st=0&sk=t&sd=a The pics were helpful. If you could post a few more pics of the hada when it arrives, I would appreciate it.

I thought that was illegal. If I recall correctly, traditional weapons like nihonto are not supposed to be listed or sold on yahoo.

I was just perusing Amazon.co.jp looking at books/authors related to Nihonto and I found this: http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C ... 834&sr=1-1 To my terrible-at-Japanese eye, it looks to be a revision of one of his books regarding sword polishing. I thought I would post here in case anyone was unaware. (it's in Japanese, btw)

Hello folks, I was hoping to get some opinions and information regarding this tsuba. I can read the right hand column, but as for the name of the smith I only come up with 'Kinai'. Is this a proper translation? Can anyone point me in the direction to information on this smith? I would like to learn more about this particular tsuba and the person who made it. Does this tsuba display any characteristics of a certain time or school. My knowledge of Tosogu is even more lacking than my knowledge of the blades they were made for. Thanks!

If you do decide to purchase this blade, could you post some pictures of it here, please? I have a katana attributed to the Sue Tegai school and would like to compare.

I was recently given a katana that was being used for tameshigiri. It is only 10 years old or so and if I can read the mei correctly it was made by Masanao. Is this correct? Could anyone provide some information on this smith. I tried googling Sekiju Masanao, but didn't come up with a lot of information. Also, to my inexperienced eye, the boshi looks to be midare-komi. Is this a good guess? I included a pic of the hamon as well. Can post more pics if the members here would like to see them.

Thank you Moriyama-sensei! I thought I recognized Mr. Shibata's name (in fact, I have that handbook of his) but was unsure why his name would have been on those papers. I will most definitely look into taking this to shinsa, but I have to get around to taking my Kanenaga first.

Brian, This sword came with some papers, although I am not knowledgeable enough to know what these particular papers were for. I already posted one picture of one of the papers and I will post a couple of other pics of the other paper here. Anyone have some free time and wish to translate or impart the meaning to me?

Thanks for the link, Brian! I opened up the Connosseur's and checked out the Mishina school. JIzo boshi: check sudareba hamon: check masame in the shinogi ji: check I am always impressed by the knowledgeable people on this forum.

Some other pics and the scan I tried. This looks to be an interesting learning experience. Now I have to hit the books. Any thoughts?

My best attempts at capturing the activity in the boshi. I don't think I took a good picture of the monouchi though. The pictures don't show it well, but the turn-back on the boshi runs past the yokote line. Also, I hope you are able to see the small circle within the boshi.

I cannot take good pictures, but I tried my best! Also tried to scan it as well.