Lee Bray

I have a Koto tachi which is covered in old rust and nicks and looks like junk that has two very large hagire that I took to Japan a couple of years back. It belonged to my father so I wanted to get some opinions on it although I knew it was beyond repair. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11123&p=95090&hilit=koto+tachi#p95090 I showed it to a very respected trained polisher and he asked if he could open a window as he liked the look of the blade. After opening the window, he reckoned it was late Kamakura/Nambokucho jidai and probably Enju school and that it looked like a significant blade. He wanted to polish it so I left it with him. Unfortunately, life happens and it doesn't look like I'll ever be able to afford to polish it. It's still with him and I'm currently in the process of trying to give it to him; if I can't afford to polish it then hopefully he can and the sword might see some respect. Had I known I could just chop it up and make a tanto... Just saying, Joe...not all junk looking blades are junk.

Donate US$100 to Paul's project and I'll send you these menuki - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16650 PM me with your intention and shipping address and when we've verified the donation with Paul, I'll ship them out to you at my expense.

Swords to China - cannot. Swords to Hong Kong - no problem. Swords to Taiwan - ?? Swords to Singapore - ?? Check with custom officials via the internet for any country you're shipping to if you think there maybe a problem.

I'd be very wary of kicho, or green, papers. At least with regard to swords. I have a signed, 6th gen. Echizen Shigetaka with kicho papers. It is dated 1663 on the nakago. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8593&p=75087&hilit=Shigetaka#p75087 Books put 6th gen Shigetaka as working circa 1744. It is gimei. Here is a good explanation of old papers from a knowledgeable member, Kunitaro-sama. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13981&p=121322&hilit=kicho+fake+papers#p121322 Are all kicho papers false? No. Are many kicho papers false? Seems so, yes.

And just to show that folk tales have some basis in reality... This little fella took on me and my four dogs, none of them small. The worst of his fate(so far) was to be immortalised on NMB...

Yes, went in the caves and rolled around in the mud pits at the end...much fun... One of our races went through 600m of cave system in the area which had never been accessed except by a few local farmers. Spent three days underground rigging ladders and some short abseils for that race so glad I'm not claustrophic. For the race, I was marshall/tally man at the exit point where I had to wait several hours with the only English speaking local marshall, who became my girlfriend... now ex... She spoke Mandarin with a smattering of Cantonese and fluent in English. My language skills leave me struggling with my native English... After posting earlier, I tried to access some old pics on disc but they've degraded and most of the pics are gone...gutted...

Hi John. Yangshuo has really taken off with the tourist trade. The main drag is now called 'Western Street'. Last time I was there was 7-8 years ago, so probably even more so now. Was there several times as head rigger for adventure races in the area, then the last time with my girlfriend from Guilin and my brother from the UK. Stephen - looks like I've had the dubious distinction of abseiling down the world's largest tsuba, then. I like that... :D Had the pleasure(sarcasm) of having to run up Moon Hill to perform an abseil rescue on a racer who lost his bottle halfway down. By the time I hit the top, I needed rescuing myself.

More or less correct. I've watched them fish this way in Yangshuo, China, where they use a ring around the neck which restricts the gullet. The ring is removed after several fish are caught and the bird rewarded. They use a hinged metal ring as a rope would chafe the neck with the constant movement and being wet.

Hi Jon. Not unique but certainly unusual. The picture below is one I own, with a vine design in gold inlay on the sides. I'm unsure what the shape is called, I've got it somewhere but can't find it at present. I think it is Tate Kaku Gata with uchikaeshi rim, but that's not certain. Probably mid Edo, maybe a little earlier. I've seen one similar on Ed Marshall's site a long while back but it's not there anymore. Can't see the details of the mon on yours but the pattern is commonly known as 'key fret' and more properly known as Raimon, which depicts lightning bolts(thanks to Rich T - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=489&hilit=key+fret+design).

Happy to have helped. Hope he likes it.

http://www.aoijapan.com/fittings/tsuba A good selection of reasonably priced and genuine tsuba. Shop owner speaks good English and is a pleasure to deal with.

Tsuba is cast, wrap looks like cotton, fittings look like pot metal, samegawa looks like plastic. Can't say anything about the blade because we can't see it. If those are the best pics the seller provides, I'd leave well alone.

:D Chaps...I realise I'm no comedian and that sarcasm does not translate well into the written word but I did think my post was fairly obvious. I was trying to counter the opinion that this cut in Roy's sword could not be a kirikomi due to the fact that that's not how it's done in sword fighting/parrying. There are a multitude of scenarios where it could happen. Is it a kirikomi? Is it a welding flaw? Doesn't really look like either from the picture and we could speculate all day long on what it is or isn't. Is it an 'annoying distraction', like Roy says. Yep. And probably what most readers think about me by now...

Impossible, Alex. Samurai were the only people allowed to use a sword and they had to do ten years in the dojo before being allowed a live blade. Their strict adherence to the rules of Bushido meant they could only fight face to face against one other Samurai in perfect conditions, preferably in the dojo, but on a deserted beach was allowed on occasion. So, any scenario where this could happen, couldn't happen. Honest. :|

Impurities; silicates(glass), phosphorous, excess carbon. Old steel is full of them. That's why it was folded to drive them out. Modern steel has very little, if any, of them. Plus, modern has the ability to add advantageous elements such as manganese and vanadium to increase strength.

Why? Breaking is due to brittleness, which is a function of heat treatment. Plenty of good quality traditional blades have broken - hagire. A good quality modern monosteel with the correct heat treatment is where my money is going everytime if we're talking 'strength'. But for either artistic or artifact purposes, I'll take Nihonto. Probably why I read Nihonto message board and not the Crowbar message board.(thrilling place though that maybe... )

Looks more like Kanetomo, to me. Possibly late Koto, Mino school.

Those kanji look to be the ones, John, and late Edo looks right for the fittings. To me, the last kanji is mura, not koku, but I could be wrong. I wonder if it has any connection to the Murata family you mention? Cheers, guys. Fittings are a full matching set of monkeys with some kind of fruit.

You're probably right, John, odds are that it's Fujiwara. I wasn't seeing Fujiwara though, so wondered if it was one of theSukesada who signed with a first name as well. Cheers.

This mei is on the side of a silver fuchi. It is not in my possession but I have the owners permission to post this and ask for a translation. Using Self & Hirose, I get the first kanji as (1196) Sei, Jo or Mori, the second kanji as (1028) Min and the third as (838) Mura. This makes no sense to me so I hope someone can clarify the translation. Thanks in advance.

I've been attempting to translate this for a chap on another forum but I failed on a couple of kanji. I have the owners permission to post this pic and ask for a complete translation. I managed to get Yokoyama Kozuke Daijo X X Sukesada. Thanks for any help.

Had Slough's and camera at hand, so -

Read "The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing" by Setsuo Takaiwa, Yoshindo Yoshihara, Leon and Hiroko Kapp. It details the use of copper sulfate, nitric acid and enamel which are "...sometimes used on swords to save time."

The above blade is for sale if anyone wants it... http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showth ... r-koshirae "Restoration" was done by Aaron Justice, who sent it to E.Roush for 'sashikomi' polish...

Hi t1mpani When Chris says fake signature, he means gimei, not a fake blade. The Japanese have added fake signatures(gimei) to swords for centuries: sometimes to deceive, sometimes as a dedication, sometimes because it was Wednesday... Higashiyama ju Yoshihira was a high level smith that worked at the end of the 1500's, early 1600's. Clearly your blade is not from that period so it is safe to say that Yoshihira did not make your blade, hence the gimei call. As I said in the BF thread, this is likely a WW2 piece, probably shortened (please note I didn't say 'actually') from a longer sword that had been damaged or had a flaw. With the chippy mei style which is common in WW2 mei, and that it is signed on the blade itself, I'd say this is just a 'nod of the hat' to the older smith as opposed to a signature intended to deceive.