huntershooter

Recently purchased a blade by Shibata Ka. Quite impressive actually. I find very little on this smith in any of my literature. I've read he was a respected for his jigane, was a "renaissance man", formally educated, studied under Myaguchi Toshihiro and collected swords. Would anyone have anything further on this smith? My thanks in advance.

I've purchased fuchigashira and tsuba from Zen Gallery. No problems whatsoever.

Hey Bob; I assume this blade is for resale. I've noticed some gunto's on ebay under your sign in name. It is GOOD FORM to make this fact known when seeking help here (not to mention, THE RULES). A lot of us spend untold hrs. translating mei, with great expense in reference material. I would respect a request for translation (for resale purpose) if that were known in advance. If however, this is how you make a living (antique sales?), I have a problem with that. My apologies in advance if I am in error here. Regards;

The blade is shortened (suriage). The horimono was done prior to the shortening as evidenced by a portion of the horimono now being located on the nakago/under the habaki and the location of mei on nakago/additional mekugi ana. Your photos don't show anything of the jigane/hada or hamon, may be from the lack of polish. I have no idea on approx. value.

This same seller left negative feedback for MikeY on a "Fujiwara Hirotaka" Wakizashi:"Kissaki was re-shaped and pictures were @ angles hiding this fact" (Looked ok to me). If this National Treasure blade becomes available you might want to be aware of this.

I was not aware swords have a sexual preference. According to this seller "more swords are coming out!". I guess it is our lucky day.

Nice blade. Great "first" photos. I love the sunagashi.

That would be the 23rd generation Kanefusa. I have a blade by him that is quite nice.

What is it about this mei that is "questionable", or "appears gimei"? I compared it to four references and fail to see what may be obvious. Would love to learn how the experts arrived at their conclusion.

Never occured to me to check the package itself for indicated shipping charge. The two books certainly did not weigh 10 lbs. Thank you for your input.

Purchased English translation of Koto and Shinto Hen from this seller. Shipping charges were $88.00 (Germany to USA). I've purchased Katanas from Japan with cheaper shipping charges. Was not advised of charges prior to "Buy It Now". Caveat Emptor.

Nice blades. I agree with your assessment of Mike Yamaguchi. I have bought several swords from him. He is a straight shooter.

I'd contact Moses Bacerra in NYC re. polish. He may provide you with some insight as to blades worth as well.

Thanks to all.

See a tachi on ebay (item # 180240666482, sorry I don't know how to provide link), 33"+ nagasa. Seller is "finearts29mv". "Buy It Now" of $4500.00. Granted the photos are not the best. My question, In one photo looks to be a portion of hamon visible, nothing I can see in the following photos. Any comments?

It almost appears the hamon runs off the blade near the tip of blade. If it does, that would be a consideration.

That's what I thought. Thank you gentlemen.

Is there a Shinsa scheduled anywhere in the (continental) USA in '08? I haven't found anything listed. Thank you.

I seem to be one of the original "buy high, sell low" guys. Good news is, I seem to have accepted it. I did find a lovely maki-e jikiro, in perfect condition, for $60.00. That may be as good a deal I get this time around.

Was hoping the experts could give me some insight on rather this blade is gemei. Thanks.

Apologies. It was 4:40 am and had just rolled out of bed. Brian, of course, is correct. It is "Nihon Toko Jiten", Koto vol. Not reading Japanese, one thing I find helpful is having Fujishiro's (original/Japanese text) for the oshigata and the AFU translation to READ the text.

Fujihiro's "Nihon Koto Jiten" (Japanese text) has oshigata and text. I believe it's still in print. I find it a good reference. An English index is available.

Historian 333 has a Yasunori blade on e-bay that looks interesting. Mei appears to be (Kotani) Yasunori as listed in Sloughs. Although the mei is located below the ana on the e-bay blade and above the ana in Sloughs, I did find an example in "Yasukuni Swords" with the mei below the ana. The plate (pg. 16) in "Yasukuni Swords" looks VERY much like the e-bay blade. Does anyone have any thoughts or observations regarding this? My thanks.

Photo's don't show much of blade. Garish kosherae screams CHINESE. My money's on fake. Never seen a Nihonto like this.

Lovely blade. Since you asked, here's what I think: I would not buy this blade as an investment (at this price). Buying an item at high retail and expecting to turn a substantial profit is folly. I would buy this sword because I was in love with the sword-if I could afford it. I would look elsewhere for an investment.