
c2tcardin
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Everything posted by c2tcardin
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Shinsakuto for sale. I purchased this blade last October (2014) from eSword Japan mainly to see what it was like to import a real Shinsakuto from Japan. I highly recommend using them as they made it quite easy. Since I have no plans to have this blade mounted and the funds would be better served going to my new house that is being built I'm going to offer it up for sale. The blade is perfect, I've only had it out of the saya to wipe it down and apply Choji oil, I do not use Uchiko powder on new blades so this has never been dusted, why would you? Here are some of the details I made notes on during the whole process. Smith name: Kanehiro or Kimura Kanehiro Real name: Kaoru Kimura Signature (Mei): higo koku yatsushiro ju akamatsu taro kanehiro utsushi Kiyomaro, used homemade iron Translation: “Higo koku” is the County in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu Island “Yatsushiro” is the City “Akamatsu Taro” is the name of a mountain pass in southern Yatsushiro “Kanehiro” Kaoru Kimura’s smith name “Utsushi Kiyomaro” in the style of Minamoto Kiyomaro (from around 1840’s) *He is the third son of Kaneshige Kimura from the Kumamoto Prefecture *From 1985 he has won 5 Nyusen-sho *The Kimura family (Token) smelt their own Tamahagane from Satetsu (iron sands) collected from rivers in Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu. *The Kimura Token tends to work in mostly the Bizen and Soshu schools of influence. Purchase details: Bought from e-sword.jp Ordered 10/28/2014, paid 10/29/2014 Antique Export Inspection Proof arrived from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (JACA) on 11/17/2014. Shipped to me via EMS on 11/18/2014 Arrived: 11/24/2014, pretty well boxed but sadly the saya glue came undone from the koiguchi down about 1/3rd the length. No damage to the wood and a very easy repair, currently I have velcro straps securing it. This is actually the smiths address. Address: 1580 Ono-machi, Futami-shimo Yatsushiro-shi, Kumamoto-ken 869-5174 0965-38-9239 Kyushu, Japan Found in the Membership List of All Japan Sword Smith Association Blade: Completed: 9/17/2014 Shape: o-gissaki (large point), shinogi zukuri (blade with longitudinal ridge and traverse ridge), iori-mune (triangular back ridge). Texture jitetsu (color and pattern) and kitae: itame hada (wood grain), nie (white crystals) yokutsuku. Temper pattern hamon: gunome (waves) midare (irregular) nie yokutsuki asi nagakuhairu. Point: midare konde saki komarunikaeru. Blade length: nagasa: 76.6cm / 30” Curvature: sori: 1.8cm Width at hamachi: moto haba: 3.75cm / 1.47” Thickness at moto kasane .72cm / .28” Weight: 1045g Point temper style: boshi: midare komi (irregular wavy) Blade back: mune: Ihori (two sided, pyramid shaped) Tang length: nakago: sorry I never bothered to measure the nakago, I would be happy to get a measurement on it if requested. Tang shape: futsu: Normal Tang tip: kurijiri: Rounded Tang file marks: yasurime: Sujikai (45 degree angle) Habaki: Solid Silver with nice file marks. I'll ship the sword in the original box it arrived in from Japan along with the purple sword bag overnight and insured to anyone in the US only please no international sales as I really don't need the headaches shipping overseas. Asking price is firm at $6000.00 USD Not interested in trades or deals at this time as on the $6000 I'm going to likely eat close to $500 of the sale price in Paypal fees and the overnight shipping and insurance. Thanks for looking Jeff. *note* The really nice quality pictures of the blade were from eSwords.jp and the powerpoint slides are from Malcolm Cox (http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=Kimura) he visited the smiths and documented his visit. The information on the slide showing a Utsushi Kiyomaro blade is one made in 2013 and is not the blade for sale here though they are almost identical. This final shot is to show the opening in the saya that as I stated can be easily fixed if you know how to make rice glue.
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Nihonto And 3d Printing
c2tcardin replied to b.hennick's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Funny, several months ago I did a search for "Tsunagi" and 3d and the main issue I could see at the moment was that the size of the printers needed are industrial and very expensive. Did come across an interesting site though as one of the first hits on the search, they are making 3d printed saya for nihonto. https://www.rinkak.com/sumisaya -
I'm not at the skill level to possibly identify a maker or era for this blade but a few things I notice is the curvature seems quite nice, looks like it would feel well balanced. Some other things I'm just not sure of as they may just be tricks of the lighting but it almost looks like the Mune-Machi is missing (it seems level with the Nakago), is this possibly an indication of a shortened katana? It looks like the Hamon is peeking through especially in photo #4 in your first post, if it is it looks nice and wide. In your shot of the Kissaki the Boshi looks like it's visible and looks to me at least like O-maru. At a minimum it would be cool to see whats hiding underneath all the grime and rust by having a window opened on one side before committing to a full polish. Just my $.02, and I wouldn't be offended if one of the knowledgeable collectors on here jumped on and said I'm completely off base. LOL Either way good luck with it.
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Good suggestion George I would agree it sometimes comes off harsh. One thing that has discouraged me in the past and even to this day, is the reluctance of some sellers to use Paypal and/or the insistence on wire transfer's of $$$ only. As a buyer it makes life so much easier to send funds either via cash in the Paypal account or the use of a credit card if I'm not currently sitting on enough cash. Paypal offers the buyer some protection against fraud which is nice but I can also use a card that I keep just to earn flyer mile or other type rewards. Sounds funny I know but I have seen cards that will give a nice incentive especially when you make a $8k purchase. Another thing I've seen is the insistence on the buyer paying the seller a higher premium because of Paypal fees as a way to avoid these fees, something I'm pretty sure is in direct conflict with the Paypal terms and conditions (don't quote me on that point though). I use to buy and trade mechanical watches such as Rolex, Panerai, Omega, etc and you just learned to deal with the fees associated with Paypal, Ebay etc. I recently sold a $9k Rolex and lost over $200 in Paypal fees but that's the nature of the beast, the key thing was I had a verified buyer, immediate payment and he had his watch 2 days later. One last point about wire transfers, I'm a series 7 licensed securities trader here in the US, everything I do is watched by the SEC and the DOJ and since the Patriot Act it's become almost impossible for me (and anyone else for the matter) to financially transact monetary transfers without ridiculous scrutiny and/or disclosure paperwork. If you want to invite the new generations to the table then you're going to have to also accept there are other ways to make secure payment for a blade.
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Hey, I am right moving into your "neighborhood" soon. My wife and I will live in Wilmington NC from January on so maybe we can work something out in 2015. I need some time until all paperwork is done and I have finally settled there but I would really welcome a meeting some time later in the year. Ok, now were talking. Lets see what we can start in 2015. Perhaps some more in the area will come forward or we can look for some new innovative way to get people to connect.
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I really wish we could get one going here in the Raleigh/Durham area of NC. I find it hard to believe that there are no clubs around here, we have Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, and NC State all in a 15 mile radius! Glad to hear you had some new members though and most brought blades they own, that's great.
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My Iaido obi is white, that should sufficiently confuse the TSA folks. LOL
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Well said Darcy, I agree it's getting ridiculous. Does anyone know or has anyone run into issues getting Iaito out of Japan? I have a new one coming soon, hopefully. I'm hoping it doesn't get ruled a pointy object or something stupid like that, or that the fresh lacquer doesn't have an offensive odor!
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you mean this one... It's my favorite sticker!
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Nick, your experience matches mine, I was told that as of November this year FedEx was no longer accepting swords for shipping out of Japan period!
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Stephen, I feel the humidity is the more likely cause as well. Are they sending yours back via Fedex or EMS?
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Wow, sorry to hear. I just received last week a shinsakuto that I ordered from e-sword.jp and true to their word it took just less than 3 weeks to get the export permit but when sending it via Fedex they ran into a problem. I had requested Fedex as I've had items via EMS from Hong Kong either get lost or take months to reach me in the states. The issue e-sword claims was that Fedex said they will not take shipments of swords out of Japan, at least to the US, anymore. So they had to ship it via EMS. It took 6 days via EMS which I was shocked at but the unfortunate thing was the saya popped open a bit and my suspicion was that it was rough handling. The box was in good shape and the sword well wrapped, thankfully the blade was still firmly seated in the saya (it's in shira-saya) and was perfectly fine. Has anyone else heard of Fedex not taking swords anymore for shipping out of Japan?
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Saya coming unglued, suggestions?
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Just an update. Here is a shot of the split saya, I'll have a go at repairing it in the next week or so and do a follow up once it's done. -
Saya coming unglued, suggestions?
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Thanks Grey, your points were exactly what I was worried about. Thankfully the bottom half of the saya is tight and I took your advice and wrapped some reinforcing bands around near the bottom then slid them up to take advantage of the taper. It is well stabilized now and as I'm very meticulous and detail oriented I'll likely give it a go and glue it myself with the rice glue. The other possibility is leave it stabilized for now and perhaps early next year send the whole thing to someone who can repair it as well as carve me a saya for lacquering and a tsuka for it. -
Saya coming unglued, suggestions?
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Thanks for the reply Brian. It is the latter thankfully, I don't see any bend and the two halves go together when squeezed tightly to the point where the seam disappears. -
I have a shirasaya that has popped the seam from the koiguchi and continues down about 1/3 to half the length. I'm debating my options as I've never done Norizuke, though it looks pretty straight forward preparing the Sokui. Is it possible to prepare a little of the Sokui and just work some into the opened portion of the seam or is it best to split the saya halves completely and apply Sokui along the whole saya and re-glue the whole saya? I'm a little nervous that splitting the saya may result in an uneven break/split of the two halves and I don't have any planes to resurface it. Thanks for any and all suggestions.
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Just came across this video/documentary on Yoshindo Yoshihara last night, it's 48 minutes and really worth watching. It says it was filmed in 1997 but appears to have only been put online this past October.
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Welcome Steve, I'm not an expert on gunto blades but I have to say that one looks pretty nice, healthy too. I'm sure the resident's here will be able to provide you a lot of information on it once you get. I know they will want to see a good shot of the signature as the auction site references only a partial signature (perhaps a shortened blade) and an untranslated signature at that. As for books I say get what you can when you can find it. About 15 years ago I came across one of my holy grail books at a gun show in NH and they were asking around $300, I knew this book to usually go for $400 so I should have just bought it right then. But no, I though I would show mild interest in it then work my way back to it later and offer $200 cash and see if I could nab it for a steal. When I went back it was long gone! Took me about 5 or 6 years after that to locate another copy for sale and finally get one, ironically for around $300 IIRC.
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Yaki-ire sword bending in seethrough tank
c2tcardin replied to Robert Janssen's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Great find, I didn't realize they curved forward then back as much as the one in the video did. -
Wow, very nice display. You certainly won't have to worry about humidity in the winters on PEI.
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Buying Shinken and importing to US questions.
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Decided to buy a buy a shinsakuto from e-sword.jp, very easy transaction and really nice people to work with. I'm guessing it will be here by the end of November. I hope it's ok to include a few pictures, smith is Kaoru Kimura aka Kanehiro according to the folks at e-sword. I wasn't in the market for an art piece, I plan to have this mounted and use it in the future for Iaido and Tameshigiri, but I did want something more traditionally made. -
Buying Shinken and importing to US questions.
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Had one quick question. When the seller in Japan applies for an export permit I've read that the Torokusho is handed in and an export permit is issued. Does this mean that the buyer does not receive the Torokusho with the sword and only receives the export permit? I thought I had read that the Torokusho document had to stay with the blade at all times, though I'm assuming that's only relevant in Japan. Edit* Looks like I was right, it appears to be be replaced with the export document when sent abroad. -
Buying Shinken and importing to US questions.
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
LOL thanks for the thought though. And Lee thanks for the answer much appreciated. -
Buying Shinken and importing to US questions.
c2tcardin replied to c2tcardin's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions and yes I was referring to a shinsakuto. I had seen the listing by Widowmaker in the sale section and actually loved everything about it except for the length, at 6' tall I need a longer blade, plus I was looking for a blade with bo-hi. I've been in touch with Masayuki Hirako at e-sword and found the communication great, despite the 13 hour time difference. They were able to explain the process and time frame clearly so believe me I wouldn't be pulling the trigger on a $5k blade unless I felt 100% confident in the seller and the blade. I was able to find the smith as well on several registries, his name is Kimura Kaoru so if anyone is familiar with this smith please post. If anyone has the book "The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths" do you know if he is in it? I've ordered the book but it won't be here till the weekend. Thanks again. -
I never did a proper introduction in 2007 when I first signed up and only left one post. Now I'm back. I started studying Nihonto around 1990 when I bought Leon Kapps' book, 'The Craft of the Japanese Sword. Throughout the 90's I owned various antique blades and made friends with a few other collectors along the way. Then in 2000 I sold off my collection for two reasons, first to buy my first house I needed a good size deposit and the swords were an easy way to cover it. Second I was feeling like I was getting in over my head, I was starting to get emails from collectors offering me swords in excess of $25k! Seems that most of the collectors I knew were doctors, lawyers, or dentists and had way more disposable income than I did. Recently I've been training in the Martial Arts again, I'm a black belt in Hapkido, but now I'm focused on Aikido, Iaido, and Jodo which has re-awoken my dormant love for the Japanese sword. Now I find myself looking for a good quality Shinken as I've never owned a true Japanese Samurai Sword of the modern era, only Samurai "style" swords. Thanks in advance for putting up with my questions in the other threads regarding how to buy from Japan.