DirkO

Have my copy for a week or so now, and although it's a translation, Markus went the extra mile to put in some remarks of his own(eg putting in Ito-san's view in the Higo chapter) This means he isn't just translating, he really cares about providing the full picture!

Just as Jean, Masamine is my favourite as well, love his work. Thanks Piers! Was there also a catalog?

Here's a Tosho with very similar sukashi for comparison - http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/f00263.html - look at the difference in quality and iron, and this is just a Tosho, not even Ko-Tosho....

Can only echo what just about everyone here has said. Paul will go out of his way to help you, is very knowledgeable on the subject and an utter gentleman - you'd be very hard pressed to find a better contact in JP for restoration, shinsa,....

Jean is right, my 2-3 weeks are counted from when it is actually shipped from Japan. Also seeing you're from Brugge, it would be wise to contact Zénon Van Damme, a very knowledgeable and helpfull man who only lives a few minutes further. You can always PM me for his details.

Hi Olivier, It's perfectly possible to correctly import nihonto in Belgium. A few remarks : - any weapon over 100 years old is considered an antique, this should also allow you to get the 6% import duty instead of 21%, be sure to use the correct harmonized tariff - you can use EMS/BPost/USPS as a carrier, however if you use DHL/UPS, it will save you some time seeing they do their own declarations - make sure everything is labelled correctly, but try not to use 'sword' 'weapon' or similar terms. I usually stick to Japanese Antique. - on average it will take you roughly 2-3 weeks of waiting before the package will arrive at your door.

Andrew There's a part about books in the FAQ http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/faq.html

Shinsa team can fail it if they notice it has been tampered with, even if the workmanship is there. I'm not saying they always do, but it's their way of saying 'it's been tampered with too heavily'. Shinsa isn't as black and white as we would like, sometimes a pink slip provides a learning opportunity.

Also see this previous topic on nagashi: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/15124-polishers-signature/?hl=nagashi&do=findComment&comment=158892

Book arrived today - well packed - as-new condition. All in all a very smooth and enjoyable transaction. I'd recommend dealing with him any day!

I can see where you would go with 'monkey' on this - but is it really? I think it's just a man.

Papered Myoju (TH)

Congrats on the successfull meeting and to all involved, especially Joe!

Used to prune bonsai and the likes if I'm not mistaken. Called a nata.

I think it's remeniscent of how earlier naginata developped partly from farming tools. If I remember correctly AOI had a similar one for sale from Saneo , some years ago.

Also, the reason the NBTHK fee is as high as it is, is because they fund various projects like translations of the Token Bujitsu, the Tosogu books from Shigeo, ... So it's not like like you're just throwing your money away, it's used to service the nihonto community and their membership. And as someone else put it - this is not a cheap hobby, so if you have several 1000's worth of nihonto or kodogu, it puts the fee a little bit in perspective.

I have the book at home, anything in particular you're looking for?

Hi Darcy, very educational graphs. A question if I may: your DB probably has the sessionnrs as well. Do you see an evolution there? More Bizen Juyo for a certain period of sessions for example,... This would be very usefull knowing the pet pieves of the more recent shinsa panels,or even if ones Juyo stands out for a certain period of Juyo sessions.

I remember it being brought up during a NBTHK EB meeting in Bonn last year covering Hirata Hikozo and where his inspiration came from. Being a fan of Higo tsuba, I took note.

Being fortunate enough to already have some kodogu by Ford, his photos are a great extra to the creational process!

I thought the Odawara fukurin used by Hikoso was based on earlier Kagamishi tsuba examples?

Hi Simon, Your agent should have the pink slips of the NBTHK with the submission/failure on it - the NBTHK doesn't give you any additional info as to why it failed if I'm not mistaken. Regarding the original post - I had some items in the April Tosogu shinsa which were already returned to me. Still waiting for the papers though.

Very interesting undertaking - once you have your live bidding up and running - I'll gladly join in!

PM sent