DirkO

This is a Wakizashi with white sheath. It has a signature of Kanenobu. With Paper of NBTHK (The society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) And Toensya paper. Both Nakago(tang) and blade are old and genuine. The age seems in the Edo era. It seems good signature. According to the Sword Directory, Kanenobu is for Enpo(About 335 years ago) in Mino(Gifu prefecture). His sword lank is $55000 ~ $45000. There are cracks(kizu) but the condition seems good. Size : Whole Length about 24.0"(61cm) , Blade Length about 15.7"(40cm) : Carve about 0.4"(0.9cm) : Width(motohaba) about 1.2"(3.1cm) : Weight about 600g The above is what’s stated in Ebay by daimyou54eb Now I’ve checked this seller on this site and his reputation is somewhat iffy. But he does provide NTBHK and Toen Sha papers for this wakizashi. Looking at the signature doesn’t really help me, it looks like Kanenobu, but they’re loads of them. Even Enpo and Mino group doesn’t narrow it down. About 5 left. (some help with the mei would be much appreciated!!!) Sori : Torii-Zori Kissaki : O-kissaki with rounded fukura Mune : Iori-Mune Shinogi : Hira-Niku-Tsuku Nakagojiri : Ha agari kurijiri Yasurime : Kesho Yasuri or Higaki (not quite sure) Horimono : Suken Hada : Mokume Hada Hamon : Gunome Choiji (could be wrong here though) Boshi : Jizo A few questions I’d like to ask you all (being experts as opposed to my novice self) : Can anyone give me more info about the mei ??? Is it really a mino group item (all the above point to that direction) Is it a good enough item to pay something in the lines of 1200USD for ? All pics at http://daimyoubugu.web.infoseek.co.jp/A2-114/index.htm

Hi, I know there are some Belgians on the forum here as well. I was wondering what the best way is to import nihonto into Belgium as far as customs is concerned. Any info would be greatly appreciated !!! kr, Dirk

OK teach me here I'm still in a learning process. I've ordered some extra books, have a meeting next week with two real collectors. Real friendly people you guys are, I must admit. About the tanto: I mean, this guys shop could be called Fake LTD. The fact that he's from China doesn't help either. The fact that a tanto like that would cost a considerable amount of real cash neither. In my humble opinion the mekugi should be more convex and made from bamboo. The mekugi-ana is too much on the side ? The tsuka-ito looks brandnew and the tsuba is way too flashy. Also the saya is really poorly finished. You probably have far better reasons, so oshiete kudasai !

You've won me over Bernie and Darcy But when I tried to buy it, the lulu shop wouldn't let me, it kept crashing. Tried everything, but once I get to the payment bit, it kept crashing on me Ah well, I'll try later on. Together with Grey's Hawleys this should make some nice reference work... Update : finally able to order the book

Thx Sencho Although the blades are somewhat out of my reach, he also have a lot of nice books, and the one about the Edo exhibit is especially interesting to me. I'll try to go with Jean's view, that you have to look at a lot of Katanas before you can assess their true value I saw our esteemed site admin, Brian, made a post about books for beginners. I had a look at it and to my surprise I have those exact books :D Well except one, but still ... I must say, I almost struck out with the chinese repro swindler, but now my learning and passion for the katana is growing exponentially thx you guys !!!

I contacted Zénon and he was just back from a trip to France, where he was supposed to appraise someone's collection. Turned out every single one of them was a chinese knock off. Well at least I'm not the only one this happens to Zénon invited me over to have a look at his collection, and his site sure does look 100% authentic. He also asked me what kind of Katana I was looking for (end Edo, start of Meiji era) and what I was looking to spend on it. So I think I'll try to meet up at his house and learn as much as I can. Apparently he has quite the collection at home :D http://www.japaneseart.be

Aaah the Belgians are coming out of the woodwork I'm from Hoeselt, near Hasselt in Limburg. Another question I have for you guys is : Is it easy to import something like a katana through customs ? I mean, I use japanauctioncenter for loads of things, but a katana seems a bit risky, no ? Something else I was thinking about : Jean told me to stay clear of Ebay auctions, except the ones from members. But how do i spot those. If you guys would use something like "NMB" in the description on Ebay, it would be very easy for everyone to spot the auctions from NMB members.

Merci Jean, I think that this was a lesson I was due to learn, thank god it didn't cost me any money. On a bright note, I found this forum and there seems to be an overwhelming amount of expertise and info on it. This will help me gain experience and knowledge, and hopefully avoid mistakes in the future.

hmmmm Looking at the hefty reactions, I think I'll reconsider. Thx a lot guys for not making me spend a lot of money on something that isn't genuine. It's like one of you said : there's no hurry, a real katana is worth the wait. Trouble is, I'm from Belgium and there aren't too many collectors around, so it's hard to gain experience with the real deal except from books. Good thing I found these forums Saves me around 800€ !!!!

Hi all, This is my first post here Like most of you I've been intruiged with katanas for some time now. I've read some books about it (the more i read about it, the more interesting it gets) and I've finally decided to take the step to buy one. Now the one I'm interested in, is the following : Length (+ saya) : 108,5cm Length (-saya) : 105,5cm Length of saya : 79cm Length of tsuka : 29cm Length of blade : 76,3cm (blade is signed, but i can just make out the date and not the signature) Length of katana without tsuka : 93cm Length of Kozuka and Kogai : about 20cm's each (10cm blade) Now if it is authentic and the tang hasn't been added on later, it should be from the 3rd year of Meiji, being 1871. The fact that the kozuka and kogai are included is also a nice feat. Bearing in mind that I still need to go onsite to have a close inspection of the item, I'd like to ask you, as people who are more experienced with these kind of things, the following : What should I be paying particular attention to when inspecting it onsite ? What would be a fair price to pay for this katana ? thx a lot for your help !!!!