Bill Marsh

Great song! I was around in those romantic, nostalgic times.

We plan to be there. Staying at the Airport Marriott where the show is being held. Maybe we could get together and meet at Fred Weisberg or Bill Miller table. Would be good to meet some of the people from here. So who else is coming?

I am certainly not disagreeing, but want to know more. How can you tell it is Hozon and not Tokubetsu Hozon? Is it the paper color? Japanese characters? I read somewhere it has to do with a number made of dots?? I realize that there are several boxes around the Japanese characters and that means "questionable." Does some of what you are saying refer to this? I am here to learn.

Here are some of the pictures of my paperwork. Overall Watermarks Back of paper Envelope Close-up of main info (sorry about the color shift) Seal

I think what appears to be hada is noise also. The background is red, but I raised the shadow detail in the pictures. Unsatisfactory. Not satisfied with it. Pictures are also unsharp. Need to disable the auto-focus and go to manual. Should work better. May get a microscope digital camera. Been wanting one anyway. Going to try some more exposures tomorrow. Hope to get the origami. Will post. Thanks for the comments.

Thanks for the info and compliments. My first Japanese sword! I am picking up the paperwork soon and will post it. I suspect the sword is what the seller says.

This is the hardest sword I have ever tried to photograph. The 6 pictures you see here are from over 60 exposures, and I am still not happy. I have some other ideas about lighting. It has some very beautiful and subtle details that I can see, but have not yet been able to photograph. Polish is modern Japan. Here are some interesting features about this katana. I am very new to collecting Nihonto and would appreciate your comments. This smith is from "Satsuma" province in Japan. He is the 63th generations sword-maker. His ancestors estimated start forging sword in 1306. The smith is working on a Tachi style from Koto period. One side is signed "Namihira Yukiyasu" and the other side is a date when he forged this sword. 1861 in our calendar. It is awarded the paper by NBTHK "Tokubetsu Hozon" in Showa 60th year. (1985, our calendar) As I understand it, there are three kind of papers: Hozon, Tokubetsu and Juyo. . Hozon means "Worthy of preservation". Tokubetsu hozon means "Especially worthy of preservation". Juyo means "Important worthy of preservation". With NBTHK, you must pass the Hozon before you can submitted to Tokubetsu hozon paper. You must pass Tokubetsu hozon before you can submitted to Juyo paper. Will post some more info on the basic features, later. I am just learning Nihonto. It has suguha (straight temperline) with Ara-nie majiri. The hada (grain structure) is Muji (pearl skin) with ko-itame. The sori is curve at the waist level like Koto style. The boshi is Ko-Maru (small turn around).

Just beginning to make a katana-kake stand. Believe it or not, I am making this from oak salvaged from a pallet. Free with some concrete blocks I ordered from Home Depot. Stephen C got me interested in recycling, looking at something and wondering what else could it be? I pulled the boards loose and ran them through a Ridgid 13" thickness planer. The absolutely hardest part is getting the nails out first! I finally wound up taking a hand held circular saw and cutting along the inside edge of the pallet, leaving the nails embedded in the 2x3 oak that makes up the supports. The carving is from eBay and cost $10. To give you an idea of scale, the posts are 9 inches high. Nothing is glued together, yet. I am not sure where I will go from here, but the boards in the foreground could be cut like this Here is some of the other oak pallet lumber. The wood has an interesting grain though I just stained it to see what was going on a little better. You can still see the center nail holes in the upper right corner. and I buy a lot of building materials from Home Depot and have been trying to get rid of the pallets. This seems to work. The wood is dry and well-seasoned. When I finish the stand, I may make some shogi screens.

I would be glad to help. Here is a picture of a Moro kris with ivory danagan pommel. I also like photgraphy. Just wanted to post some test pictures. Hopefully I will be posting some nihonto, soon.

Hi Stephen, I thank you for your support as I learn about this fascinating hobby/lifestyle. I look forward to deepening our friendship. AND beginning a few more! You have been incredibly helpful with your email and phone conversations.

Hi Brian, Yes, that was me. My wife and I like the little creatures. We don't do this anymore, our new pets are a pair of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

I have looked for an appropriate sub-forum for new members and guess this is as good a place as any to say "Hello." I am a semi-retired real estate investor living in Atlanta Georgia USA with my wife Anne. We collect antique ethnographic artifacts, arms and weapons. I began collecting Chinese and some Tibetan, moved into Indonesian. Primarily Javanese keris. Also Balinese, Sumatra, Borneo, Nias and Timor. Also have a few pieces from Africa, India, Nagaland and Nepal. I recently have been collecting Philippine weapons, mostly Moro, but some from Luzon, Visaya and Negritos. My focus has always been on the blade. This is unquestionably the soul of the weapon. I am also very interested in the religious aspects of these weapons and artifacts. Recently I attended the 2007 Atlanta Blade show where I met Paul Chen. We had a delightful conversation about antique Chinese swords. I have been interested in martial arts for about 40 years and saw some interesting moves and cutting contests that caught my attention. These involved katanas which I have studied from afar. Since my antiques would never be appropriate for cutting, I bought one of Chen's better katanas with a folded blade. Though a modern production sword, it still got me interested in Japanese blades. I connected with Antonio Cejunior and Rich Stein on another forum, mentioning my burgeoning interest in Japanese swords. Rich sent me a link to his site and I was hooked! I am amazed by the HUGE body of knowledge on Nihonto. My previous frustration with the areas I collect is that there is so little information to study, and often few accurate historical texts. I do not believe the study of weapons can even approach any depth without a study of the conditions surrounding the weapons. While the metallurgy is important, certainly, the history, art, political structure, sociology, art and religion ALL influence the weapons. I am excited about learning more about Nihonto. While I have a passing interest in modern blades made by top people, my real interest in in antiques. I am reading and networking and having a great time. Hope to get to know more members on this board. If you are ever in Atlanta you would be welcome at our home. We live in what was once the "Cox Foundry and Machine Shop."

Hi Brian, Should I bring my marsupial? :lol: Regards, Bill

I was seriously considering bidding on this, but with the advice of a couple of NMB forum members, have decided not to bid. Thanks for the input!