DirkO

Yepz, just look for the nrs 1082 - 7401

Hi Stephen, I think Morita-san means these two : 1082 現代刀工銘鑑 少ｲﾀﾐ　　 　　　　　　大野正 光芸出版 昭46 \3,150 7401 現代刀工銘鑑 　　　　　　　　　 　大野正 光芸出版 昭46 \5,250

Hi Stephen, Had the same problem a while ago - sent them various mails for a book and never got a reply. Eventually found it cheaper somewhere else in Nippon (http://www.genkido.jp/ in my case)

A while back, there was an initiative by a member here which never really got going (sadly enough - looked promising) : http://www.nihontoden.co.uk/

I remembered seeing a similar hamon somewhere (Site Guiseppe Piva): It's described as : "sharp nioi-deki, with kenbo choji, koshi-no-hirata midare mixed with o-choji, with the peculiar kani-no-hasami (crab's claw)"

Nice looking sword indeed ! In the first shot, what are those indents near the mekugi-ana ? Were those done to fit tighter to the mekugi ? Similar as with tsuba ?

here's the link http://www.nihonto.ca/sandai-tadayoshi/index.html

Hehehe, good point. If that's the case, Carlo, then just consider this a little heads up for your autograph hunting !

Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords: A Collector's Guide (Hardcover) ~ Nobuo Nakahara (Author), Paul Martin (Author) Mr Martin seems to be quite a busy author/translator I came across this on Amazon : you can preorder now and save some money ! http://www.amazon.com/Facts-Fundamentals-Japanese-Swords-Collectors/dp/4770031300/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270719392&sr=8-1 Also available for pre-order : http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Swords-Cultural-Icons-Nation/dp/4805310359/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270719731&sr=1-1 edit : I just wanted to give these preorder links to save you all some money, should you decide to buy it. I'm in no way receiving any royalties or anything like that.

Hi John, I don't know where you bought it, but I recognized it immediately : http://www.giuseppepiva.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=113

Hi Mikolaj, I was bidding on that same tsuba myself. I'm happy someone from the board snapped it up. Congrats on your new tsuba !

Yes that bothered me a bit as well, but seeing your bonji look to be italic and a bit stylized, I thought them to be a match. I'm at work at the moment, but if I'm not mistaken, in the beginning of Hawleys, there's also a list of bonji...

I think you're right with the first one : http://www.mandalar.com/DisplayJ/_Year/10Rooster.html Could the 2nd one be Dai'nichi Nyo'rai ? http://www.mandalar.com/DisplayJ/_Year/09Monkey.html

Nowadays they're not called smilies as much as 'emoticons' - and that's just what they do, they convey a certain emotion.

Hey Grey, If i'm not mistaken, they need to be installed on the forum ? At least if you want to add them to the already available smilies list

Aaah you jogged my memory : I actually followed that discussion,but I didn't remember the Toppei koshirae : Thanks for the reminder, George !

I don't think it to be a locking mechanism. I *think* the bar can raise into a D shape to provide room for your fingers. If you look at the end of it, it will stop the bar from raising at a certain point. But maybe that's just a long shot

Hi, I came across this on AOI : http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/tanto/image/09617koshirae.jpg What's the metal bar placed where I would expect to be a second menuki ? I've not yet come across this and would like to know what it is. Doesn't seem to be functional at all, and I think it would hinder the grip on the tsuka ? Or is it meant to put your fingers under it, so to provide extra grip and secure it more in your hand ?

Hi John, although I'm just turning 30 this year - I already know the virtue called patience I'm not really dead set on getting this one, but finding a decent one in Europe that's even near affordable is practically impossible. So if you know of a US dealer, by all means, please send me the link.

Yes, you could do that, but I'm thinking that JAC would terminate my account immediately, seeing they would lose out on money :-) So basically what I'm looking for is someone to bid and ship for me for this one item. If that person has PayPal, I can easily transfer the necessary funds beforehand.

No it's the curios_paradise one :-) Thanks for the offer, but I'm unable to bid if not going through JAC. And if I do that, they will automatically ship it to them, no ? So I would also need help in bidding for the item I'm afraid. Any ideas ?

Hi, There's a katana dansu for sale on Yahoo Japan which I'm really interested in, but when I asked JapanAuctionCenter what their estimate on the shipping was, they told me that they only use Fedex for these kind of things and the shipping would be at least 100,000 yen. Now a Japan-based member (sadly currently not in Japan :D) told me that this is seriously overpriced. So here I am. Is there a kind Japan-based member who's willing to help me with the buying and shipping to Europe of a katana dansu ? I know some work is involved, and I'm more than willing to compensate this. Here's hoping ...

But to give you some comfort, many have gone before you : http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1919&p=13127

Hmmm so metal is equally hard as wood ? So sciccors can't beat paper ? :D Never argue with an idiot : they drag you down to their level and then beat you on experience !

Hi, I have this Mishina blade. It is signed Tamba no Kami Yoshimichi. It displays a nice sudare-ba/kikusui-ha. But the Kami kanji as well as the absence of a kiku mon lead me to Osaka-Tamba, whereas the yakidashi is Kyo-yakidashi. I've discussed this with several people but it still doesn't sit right with me. So I'm trying to place this Yoshimichi, any ideas ? I've included some pics of the mei + blade. It needs a good polish (some rust developping here and there), but this is what it looks like after some carefull uchiko-ing.