DirkO

Hi Henry, I can but applaud this initiative But I'm unable to register ? First I though the birthdate was the snag, but it wasn't. My pwd and username or 6 characters or more. Any ideas ?

Hi James, Here's a good starting point about flaws in the blade : http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/kizu.htm

Something tells me Jean is showing off here

First thoughts : I'm somewhat hesitant about these 2 kanji, for me the left one (so the one with red squares) is the shoshin one. The left mei is more squared and concise whereas the right one doesn't seem to portray the same attention to the mei. I'll check my books at home later to provide more support to my opinion. Edit : I checked some books and for me the "blocklike" printing on the left one (kaishotai ?) seems to be the shoshin one. But seeing this is quite obvious, I'm probably wrong :lol: Also the butt of the nakago seems a bit off compared to shoshin examples.

From my Yokoyama Kozuke Daijo Sukesada wakizashi, also with Tokubetso Kicho Origami

Rich, I'd be more than happy to host your site at no expense for you and without any popups or adverts. FTP access isn't a problem either. Please PM if you're interested to work out the details.

Don't forget the auction-premium you have to pay

Ian, I think both those paintings originated were inspired by Jan Brueghel the Elder (father) which is currently at the Prado: http://www.museodelprado.es/en/ingles/collection/on-line-gallery/on-line-gallery/zoom/2/obra/touch/oimg/0/ Jan the Younger was known for copying his fathers work (although he supposedly only did the background of this painting). Could be he picked up the idea or image of the Japanese armour while travelling in Italy (which he did after his father's death in 1625). David Teniers in turn was married to the daughter of Jan the Elder, Anna Breughel.

Hi Ian, What is in Antwerp ? The armour or the painting ? I work there, so I might be able to get you more info about it, if you need it.

I'm at the lower end of the group with 29 coming on in May. Started out wanting to buy a 'samurai sword' on eBay. Then I decided to do some research -> wound up here and was saved from an -now- obvious fraude. They directed me to a legit seller and I've been learning and collecting ever since. My pride an joy is still the 1st piece that I bought (about 2,5 years ago) : a Tango no Kami Naomichi (Kanemichi) wakizashi which is mukizu. Paid a lot more than intentionally planned (about 3x the amount I think ) but it's been well worth it. Currently I'm selling some of my pieces to invest more in my ever expanding library and I notice that I've become more and more demanding regarding possible buys - which is a killer for my budget, but better for my collection.

If I'm not mistaken it's Yokoyama Kozuke Daijo Fujiwara Sukesada / Bishu Osafune Junin. I have a papered one with the same mei. Yours seems a bit off to me, especially the kanji for Osafune. The strokes don't match up to mine nor the one in Fujishiro's (which is almost the exact same as mine) Here's another shoshin example http://www.nihonto.us/Yokoyama%20Sukesada.htm

Yes, I heard it in the news as well. My thoughts go out to all the suffering families. Some things you can't be prepared for.

I don't have this book personally, but I'm guessing Nihon Kamon Daizukan has already been checked ?

Probably someone put in on hold and failed to pay the deposit in time ? Or decided not to buy after all ?

Here's a follow up : This is about 2 blades which were signed Tango No Kami Naomichi (same smith, different mei) http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3563&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=tango+no+kami+naomichi Article from NihontoCraft http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html

If I'm not mistaken, this habaki is for sale on the site of collectorsloot. I've tried to find the exact page, but was unable to :-)

Hey guys, I came across this site: http://www.daisho.pl/index7.php?dzial=omnie I think especially the articles give a very visual impression of how-to... Just thought I'd share it!

Hi, There are various sites for that which you can access by following the above Links shortcut. Here's a good one : http://www.jssus.org/nkp/index.html

Typical case of overreacting The reaction is greater than the action. Really regrettable for you islanders I guess you can always use ebay.com untill they start filtering country IP-ranges ...

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/origami.htm There's some info at Steiner's great site :-) Is this what you mean ? (look at site for example of origami) NIHON TOSOGU BIJUTSUKAN ORIGAMI The NTB (Nihon Tosogu Bijutsukan) was an organization dealing primarily with sword fittings (tosogu or kodogu) - tsuba, fuchi/kashira, menuki and full koshirae. The NTB operated a museum, now closed, in Tokyo dedicated to the study and preservation of sword fittings. They also issued origami for swords. Even though the NTB is no longer functioning, its origami are still held in high esteem. The NTB rating system was: Bunka Shiryoo - "Cultural Item" Tokubetsu Bunka Shiryoo - "Worthy Cultural Item" Yushu Bunka-zai - "Important Cultural Item"

Sorry Guido, that wasn't my intention! I just thought they had good close-ups of the tang, so I thought I'd have a go at the translation...

domo arrigato gozaemasu !

Hi, I'm having some problems translating this mei + date : This is what I think I have : 備州長船 Bishu Osafune and then it goes a bit hazy. I'm guessing Nagamitsu ??? I'm also having problems with the jidai : I think it starts with 永 - Ei Date and month are easy :-) Any help please ?

Brian, it's my own hosting, so I'm 100% sure they'll stay up, I also have local copies, so no risk of losing them ! I'm also curious about those hinges ... seeing they can never open, why not just weld it to the rest ? And just like you I'm really looking forward to maybe learn the story behind this tsuba :-)

Ford, alas it's not my own tsuba, but if it were still for sale, I would definitely go for it :-) Also, this is the first time that I see that the ana are bordered by non opening hinges. Are these real functional hinges or just mockups ? @ Ted Tenold : I bow to your numismatic knowledge. All I wanted to show was how the coin would look in full effect. I also noticed a few differences. But although I could find that exact coin, the quality of those coins was a lot worse than these 2