DirkO

I bought these menuki a while ago to be added to a koshirae. They are Goto (Manzai theme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzai) and the seller(Imazu-san) thought even maybe Renjo. The koshirae I'm having made is a roiro koshirae with simple white samé and black horn kodogu. Obviously I know these aren't perfect menuki and they have some flaws, but I chose them because they look dynamic and offset nice on the white samé. Any insights or remarks on these menuki are very welcome seeing I'm not that big on fittings.

Here's a Echizen no Daijo Fujiwara Kunitsugu I used to own (sold it a good year ago, sacrifices must be made if you only have a small collection) - nagasa 53cm, but I especially liked it for it's unusual shape

Hi John, You can find more info here: http://www.jssus.org/nkp/japanese_sword_laws.html It's a very informative article by Mr Guido Schiller (also a member here).

:D well I got the date, that's a start...

Just a quick lunchbreak attempt at the date : 文政五年九月日 so a day of the 9th month of the 5th year of Bunsei? Could be well off though

A good week ago there was also a Sadakazu tanto for sale, with original box and everything. Sold for the buy it now price of 6600 USD within 24 hours....

He also has a newsletter to which you can subscribe. I personally am really envious of his Norishige tanto

Welcome! PM sent

A flying horse (Pegasus) doesn't really count in this

Worthwhile initiative I've already ordered my copy!

Hi Jason, I've you're looking for a recommended reading list: http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/faq.html If you scroll down a bit, you'll easily find a list of books recommended...

Hi Clive, I merely copied from the auction house :-) and yes, I also found some info weirdly put. Here's the link (it's item 336) http://www.cordys.co.nz/html/catalog/113.pdf

Here's the full description : A Japanese wakizashi by Harima Daijyo Fujiwara Tadakuni, Hizen school circa 1664. The blade (511mm) with ko niedeki suguha midare hamon. The tang with single hole and engraved signature Kawachi Kami Fujiwara. Additionally engraved to the opposite side of the tang and inlaid with gold is a Kinzogan mei (cutting test) performed by Yamano Kauemon Nagahisa, the official tester for the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The test was performed on 11 june Kanbun year. In black lacquer saya. The hilt, silk bound rayskin covered, with Mogarashi school shakudo/gold menuki of samurai on horseback and in a boat. The fuchi carved as woven basket work overlaid with gold and silver blossom.... Overall in saya 710mm. Estimated price : $22,000 NZD so about 11000€ (so for people with reasonably deep pockets)

Hi Roy, is this what you're describing ?

My thoughts go out to the people in Japan that are affected, as well as the people who have relatives, friends,.... over there! Take care - 気をつけて

yep, I'm also getting that. Maybe he took it down to update it ? It did work yesterday ...

hi John, Pictures of the blade might help. Although I can't read the whole mei, it doesn't seem like Yoshimichi. I also doubt it being Kyo-Tamba Yoshimichi simply by looking at the kanji "Kami" Also read here : http://www.ricecracker.com/info/yoshimichi.htm

Hi Bernard, Can you give an asking price as required in this forum ? Also posting some pictures is always a good idea, people tend to be lazy :-)

Yep, my point exactly Keith. If someone gives an opinion on a blade it's just that, an opinion. But opinions are too often taken for fact ...

Jason, This is quite a borderline thing. If let's say you discuss an active auction here and a few members praise the item, then the price might be higher because some people might act upon that information and vice versa if they dislike the blade... Now I think the function of this forum is to educate people, but discussing live auctions is something I'd steer clear from, simply because every collector is also a seller at one point, and if you try to sell your blade and an online discussion is affecting your endprice, you wouldn't be too happy either... Now you'll say "it's better to have everything out in the open" so this won't harm. But what if some members talk down a blade because they're interested in it themselves ? Or praise it because they know the seller ? I'm not saying it's the case, but it's a possibility one shouldn't overlook. @ admins : please correct me/delete this post if I stepped out of line or something.

I know some people buy old keys (come up now and then on eBay) and adjust them to fit...

Hi, Some of us already heard of shill bidding (bidding by zero feedback users to drive up the price) and know what to look for in an auction, but here's a small explanation on a real live example where the winner in the end possibly paid a lot more than needed. (all the seller's info has been removed to protect this forum) So let's start here. The bidding has ended and with 8 bids the total was 2850. So far nothing special. But if we click on "bids" some small warning lights should start to go off. We see that the 2nd highest bidder has 0 feedback. So someone who has never bought anything on eBay suddenly wants to splash out 2800 USD ? Weird ... If you click on that zero feedback bidder we see this : So although he has no prior history on eBay, he did bid 12 times and all on items from the same seller. So what are the odds of an unknown being interested in both Nihonto and Scuba gear from the same seller? Although this isn't direct proof, one could/should make his own conclusions if you see this kind of behaviour. So if you're bidding on eBay, please be carefull and do your research.

Yes, this forum is a daily stop for me (even several times a day) ! To all newcomers out there : this is a good free forum, but if you sell something through the forum, please donate a small percentage for the maintenance of it, or enter the yearly price draw by buying tickets. It's a great informative forum, with some very active and knowledgeable members and I'm very gratefull it exists because it was the catalyst for me to get into nihon-to in the first place.

Merci bien, Jacques ! Although I considered 義 I never thought I'd be 3 strokes off in my count I'm glad I got "tada" right. But still it was a good lesson - I got 4 out of 5. Can you maybe tell me how you count 13 strokes in the picture, I can only see 11 at best ? here's an example to compare it with

No problem,Thomas. I already thought the bottom 2 strokes of the kanji didn't fit, but lack of a better kanji led me to KANE. So maybe lets start at the beginning : counting strokes Kanji #4 : 10 strokes ? (Kane is still my best guess ) Kanji #5 : 8 strokes ? First I need to get the strokecount right, then I'll try and hunt down the correct kanji.