e_v

Did not see the incident "live", but website defacement is usually script kiddie business: they usually just scan for easy, technically vulnerable targets, not for a meaningful one. Often the defacer includes a political or philosophical claim, but, just like what happens in random political graffiti on urban walls, the location of the claim (hacked wesite or wall) is often just an opportunistic one. And yes, in any case, we all disagree with the vandalism, but agree with the message.

After looking at local suppliers, a few EU based websites and even hunting for it at this year's S.F. Token Kai, I ended up ordering from Japan: http://sanmei.com/contents/en-us/d23.html 2 sageos + shipment + customs costed less than 1 similar sageo in Europe, so I felt less guilty when I opened my parcel and my wife asked why I received fancy silk cords...

Well, a new sword can be much more happiness for sure, but an unexpected new sageo on an average wednesday can put a smile on your face too. I just received a Japanese made silk nakafuji sageo, to match the ito on my wakizashi koshirae and I thought I'd share a picture: I've been looking for this style of braid for some time with no luck, so I'm really happy I finally tied this cord to my saya (the knot is not perfect, but it's the best I could do myself). If anybody has a favourite sageo style and wants to share it, feel free to post here

I can add a bit of information regarding the countries I have experience with: - Italy: don't send it there. Customs would seize the parcel and you'd have trouble, because recently they decided any Japanese blade is a weapon (fun trivia: the italian law states clearly that stilettos, bayonets, switchblades and double edged blades are the only bladed objects needing a licence, but for some reason nihontos get seized too) - Switzerland: no problem, just specify it's an antique object as suggested above.

I only have one wakizashi and, since I also have only one katana kake, I keep it over my iaito:)

I can only agree with James: overwhelming for a newbie And I'm happy I wasn't caught in the video: my wife dragged me in a 10 miles walk under California's sun and I had an embarassing sun burnt red face

Due to a series of lucky coincidences, it looks like I'll be in SF during the show: I cannot afford a shopping spree, but it would be a heresy to miss it. Cannot wait to be there!

I have to say that I find it cute But yes, at 45k yen it's somehow expensive.

Last year I was welcomed by the ladies too. And, by the way, Aoi proved to be the most gaijin friendly sword shop I visited

Thomas, I'd be a liar if I'd say I did not curse your name reading your story Jokes apart, congrats for the great find! I bet it will inspire a few treasure hunters to burn some hard earned money in romantic, mysterious auctions

I'm patting on my rookie back: Edo Heianjo zogan was my guess too

So today was a lucky day and I had some time to play with my sword, so here's a couple pictures of the tsuba that came with it: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3n295s392e108ka/IMG_0565.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/c6z2yg36drvalmq/IMG_0566.jpg?dl=0

Like most of us, I'm already an avid reader of Markus' books: I think I'll get also the tosogu one. I'll post a picture of my tsuba as soon as I spend an evening at home!

Thanks for all the good hints: my curiosity towards tsuba accelerated, because I recently bought a wakizashi that came with a complete koshirae, so I found myself holding my first antique tsuba and realised I had no idea what I was looking at. With your help, now I can say my blade mounts a mumei heianjo tsuba. And my book wishlist grew a little, and my wife is a little bit more anxious

Kevin, Please keep us updated on your kumihimo adventure: I wondered a few times how steep the learning curve is and following the experience of someone who is just starting would be interesting.

Thanks a lot: that's exacty the "quick start" guide I was hoping for. "Better spend $400 on this excellent book than on a few crappy tsuba that you will soon regret having bought ;)" This is why I'm not allowing myself to look at tosogu ads until I have learned enough to understand what I'm seeing

I imagine this is a common question, but I could not answer myself searching through the old posts, so: how do you start studying tsuba? I guess there is literature and online resources that can point a newbie in the right direction and give him a rough idea of periods, traditions schools, but, until now, I could not find a good "entry point". I am more interested in blades and I don't plan to invest a huge amount of time studying tsuba, but I'm starting to feel uncomfortable when people makes technical comments about these beautiful pieces and all I can say is "look at that really cool tadpole theme. I like tadpoles"

I try to add my half a cent (2 cents is probably too much ): I remember well a moment, in the first phases of my nihonto infatuation, when I wasn't sure of how much time/effort/money I would invest, but I really wanted to find a way to put my hands on a Japanese blade. The so-called "project blades" seemed like an interesting shortcut: cheap, in poor condition, but original! I could imagine the story: a humble blade, worthless for everyone, but potentially a great experience for me: if only I could remove a little rust, just a little touch-up, without doing damage... Then I learned a little more and realised that the problem with my fantasy did reside in that "without doing any damage": if you're not trained properly, whatever you do, you will ruin something unique. I agree with Ed: my suggestion is to grab a copy of "The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing". If you are here, you'll enjoy the book and, along the way, you'll understand that you don't really want to try things on your blade. At that point you'll have a few options: - enjoy the blade as it is - ask a trained polisher to open a window If the book will increase your desire of working with wet stones instead of sedating it, you could also look for someone willing to train you: in that case "project blades" would probably become your training ground. But this is only a confirmation that for now you should not touch the blade: even the humblest of the blades could become a training tool for someone who's investing an important part of his life learning old skills. I think this kind of story sounds way better than "Damn! I did my best but now it looks like a weird butter knife..."

Thanks for sharing: Muramasa always always radiate a particular charm. I agree with Greg: the hada is awesome.

Geraint: an oshigata is in my plans: definitely an experience I want to try.

I know nothing about photography: I like to fumble with any kind of instrument, trying to figure out how it works, but experience suggests that I will never be a decent photographer I spent some time with a LED flashlight and a macro lens, but those pics are the best I could do. If I manage to get my photographer friend to spend a luttle time on the blade, I'll probably be able to post something better.

The choice of pictures does not scream "I'm a sober, serious professional" either. The geisha holding the "sword shaped tool with a lumberjack sized tsuka" will haunt my dreams for a few days.

Yes Ken: I'm recording all my findings on a notebook (the old, analog and paper-made type).

Thanks everyone for your kind words Alex: I did not take a full maintenance kit, just a mekugi nuki. Based on what I read on old posts, I got the feeling that uchiko is pure evil in powder form and that, in my climate, oiling is going to be needed only in humid summer months. My maintenance kit is composed by paper, microfiber cloth and white mineral oil. If I'm doing it wrong, please correct me. Jean: from what I can understand, the papers point to Owari Nobutaka and I do not dare to add any of my personal considerations. By the way I discovered that my books are a lot more fun to consult while holding a sword in my hand, alternating my gaze between their paper and the steel with a focused expression, trying to look like someone who knows what he's doing:)

I've been lurking the forum for a few years, trying to absorb informations like a sponge, but always felt too newbie to contribute in a constructive way. Actually I mostly thought that my interest for nihonto would find enough relief in reading, visiting museum and occasionally spending some time with collectors: swords are expensive toys and my freelance coder pockets aren't very deep Anyway this january I was in London, I visited Don Bayney's shop and, as soon as I touched one of the wakizashi he had, I knew I was in trouble. My wife noticed my reaction and told me "it's a really nice sword. I think it's time to do it"; 24 hours later my bank account was a little lighter and I still had butterflies in my stomach. The sword is a shinto mumei wakizashi in mino tradition with a large gunome midare hamon and itame/mokume hada. It's suriage and it came with NTHK papers attributing it to Nobutaka (sendai?). It's not a juyo luxury blade (which I could not afford anyway), but it closely looks like the image summoned by my own mind when I think about the concept of "Japanese sword", so I instantly fell in love with it. Here are a few pictures: I did not have a mekugi nuki with me when I took the pics, so I attached the oshigata of the nakago. For more higher resolution pictures, you can have look here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gdatmdvltavc1yj/AACx54_gUorbPWw8PvuKrxBaa?dl=0 The main reason for this post is just celebrating something special for me; any comment about the sword is more than welcome, as I'm sure it will help to train my newbie eye.