Bencld

A few more najago pictures and hada pictures of the norinaga

Are you after pictures of that particular tsuba or gunto with any civillian tsuba ? This is mine.

Thanks for the replies guys. That was just what I wanted to know. What is the horn typically made from ? Chris D.

Hello all. Just wondering what the bands on this shirasaya may represent ? Also, what is the black material used as the mekugi ana peg and the mouth of the second shirasaya ? Thanks.

Piers, apologies but no. I did not see a reason to save the original Japanese listing. Maybe I could email aoi and request the original Japanese listing ? Chris D.

Bazza and Piers, what would/could be the reasoning behind removing the mei ? Is it possible that the mei has worn out due to rust or usage over the years ? If the mei was removed, why put another one there ? Chris D

Some more photos. Alan. I use singer oil and there is no active rust or flaking on the nakago. It is stable. I am in central Victoria, humidity not an issue, snow sometimes !! No mention or obvious indicators os saiha. This is the aoi blurb on the blade.

All. Please find enclosed nakago photo. The nakago butt sort of looks kaga/ kashu.

Alan. Thank you for your input. Living in Australia. Both aoi listings had "not guaranteed" in the listing info so I bought the blades with the probablity of being gimei. Tsuruta san believed the norinaga to be the kaga one 1469, his opinion. I did have the norinaga sent to shinsa while it was in Japan and it failed so I don't know what they are looking for there and what that means. There was no explaination or indication of who made the blade, just fail. Now I have them in hand and I am very happy with them. Some very nice work in them that I can enjoy regardless of who/when made them and maybe someone here may be able to narrow it down a little when I get some better pictures. My overall experience with aoi was very good and I would recommend them. I have been an electronic gold prospector for years and I will just have to get out on the goldfields and find some gold to pay for a better sword next time ! Chris.

Thanks all. It's exciting when you get a new toy and your wife supports your passion. Ray, no, I wish. Aoi believe it to be the kaga norinaga but when I get some better pictures, I am hoping someone will have some mei oshigata that we may be able to identify which one it is. It may even be gimei hence my question about gimei swords but it has some nice work in it and a nice shape and I really like it. The advice from the gimei post was to like the sword and not the mei Chris D

My norinaga katana and yasumitsu wakizashi arrived from Aoi art Japan. I will try and get some better pictures this weekend and post them as I have a few questions.

Hello all. Just a quick question. Under what conditions would condensation form on a sword ? ie. moving from a cold room to a warm room, actual atmospheric humidity etc. I always have my blades lightly oiled with machine oil. What else can I do to mitigate the risks ? Thanks in advance. Chris D.

Helo all. I looked at a sword two days ago in IJN mounts that was a wakizashi that looked very much like it had been cut down from an older longer katana/tachi. The patina on the nakago looked quite old with one punched mekugi ana indicating it had been cut down a long time ago. Quite slender and the kissaki reminded me of the older tachi kisasski's. Could not see much of the hada but could see a very narrow suguha hamon and the boshi was complete indicating it being cut down from the nakago end. My question is, if a sword has been "re purposed" like this from a famous smith, does the cut down sword still retain any significant historical or monetary value ? Chris D.

Hello all. This may have been covered before and apologies if it has. I did do a search and didn't come up with much. I was just wondering peoples opinions regarding keeping/collecting gimei swords ? I have a couple but when I first saw them, they spoke to me and I really like the sugata, hada and hamon and enjoy them very much. I realise that some of the artists that faked some of the master painters over the centuries were very accomplished artists and I am assuming that some of the sword smiths that make/made gimei blades were probably very accomplished smiths themselves. Does this hold up ? Just wondering is all ! Chris D.

Hello all. Thank you for taking the time to have a look and comment. I live in Victoria Australia and know at least one person on here and other collectors in Melbourne so I will try and look them up and see what they think. Very hard by photos I know but sometimes something just stands out as a particular style/smith even with a less than ideal photo. Was hoping this just might be one of those times ! The hamachi is almost gone and the bohi are a little uneven indicating a number of polishes over the years. The mekugi look to be punched, not drilled so I am guessing maybe koto, early shinto ?

Hello all. Being fairly new to the game and with limited book resources, I was wondering if someone would hazard a guess as to the age, possibly school of this tanto ? Nagasa is 11 1/4 inches and is mumei with what I think is masame hada and a gently undulating hamon. The last picture shows a sort of grainy effect and it stands out and almost looks like utsuri ? Thanks in advance. Chris D.

Hello all. I was wondering if anyone in Australia could recommend someone/company that could provide insurance replacment valuations for nihonto and related items that would be accepted by Australian insurance companies as contents items or specialised valuable item ? Thanks in advance. Chris D

Hello all. I have this wakizashi that is a showato with seki stamp in half civillian half gunto mounts that are the same proportion as the blade. It looks like te whole set shrunk in the wash ! I would hazard a guess at a fairly short officer who took this to war !

Hello Neil. Thank you for the reply. The reason I ask is that I have a koshirae that appears to have silver looking fittings. Doubting that it wouldnbe the metal silver but some aluminium alloy ? I have posted some pictures under the post "show us your classy gunto".

Hello all. Just wondering if anyone knows if the fittings on gunto mounts were metals other than brass or copper depending on ranks and class ? Thank you in advance. Chris D.

Hello all. Unusual ito on the tsuka ? Has anyone seen one like this before ? Civillian tsuba and a fully wooden saya lacquered in a rough brown colour with the remains of a navy tassel. This ensemble housed a koto blade norinaga that I am still waiting to arrive ! Chris D.

I am an taxi owner operator and part of the job is to transport surviving veterans from home to medical appointments. There are not many of the WW II vets left being mostly in their nineties now so it is a privledge to have them in my car and hear some of the tials and tribulations of their war experiences that they are prepared to share with me. I had one such fellow on board today who served with the Australian 2/4 field artillery regt. 7th division in New Guinea and Borneo against the Japanese Imperial Army. He was 19 when he landed in New Guinea. He told me about how 95 percent of them had malaria and about a tiny pink bug that carried the typhus virus and insects that burrowed under your skin, very appalling conditions. Some of his mates that were KIA and some that died of disease. He was rather forward with his experiences which I was very privleged to have heard. One instance where they pitched their tents to close to the 25 pounder field artillery guns and the guns where fired ripping their tents out of the ground and some yards away. They were so exhausted that they did not even care. This fellows unit was in Boeneo when the Japanese surrended and they played a role in co ordinating the surrended soldiers and disarming them. This means swords and it was at this point that I got real interested. I sort of wielded into the conversation that I am interested in Japanese swords and that I collect swords and he pipes up and says I have one of those. Well I started to imagine one of the lost national treasure swords in this blokes cupboard ! Funny how your mind runs away sometimes. Anyway, when we arrived back to his place I asked if I may have a look at his sword and he agreed. He shuffled into his room and I was talking to his wife for what seemed like an eternity until he finally came out with it. It had the leather combat cover over the saya so a good start I am thinking. When I drew the blade, I immediatly realised that this was a blade made by Australian soldiers out of a willy jeep spring, practically worthless. This is the third one of these I have seen over the years, Australian enginuity at its best. He took the news well though !

Hello Greg. Yes I already have. Down to the waiting game now. Please see koshirae pics described as Japanese navy with an old(er) tsuba. The saya looks like lacquered timber and the ito is a little different !

Dirk, picked it in one ! The blade is signed norinaga and aoi "believe" it to be the kaga one around 1460's, no guarantees but I do like the looks of it. Chris D.

Hello all. I spotted this and instanntly liked it. Comes with full IJN koshirae. Nagasa 69.2 or 27.3 inches so must of been a fair original size. Chris D.