Markus

for your order Klaus! And thank you for the tip with the picture. I will add the cover pic on the first side of my next eBooks and on the preview/description.

Maybe this gets a little off topic but does anybody has a transcription of the "Kaihô-kenjaku" mentioned by George? I ask because I translated an article about the setsudan-mei of the Yamano family recently and therein the bakufu tameshigiri accounts (御様一件) were mentioned. It is stated that all cutting tests ordered by the bakufu were just of the so-called "ichinodô" cut, the "first body cut", which was a rather "easy" cut going horizontally across the belly just below of the lowermost ribs, cutting through no major bones except the spine. I am now curious what exact cutting tests Yamada Asaemon performed to come up with the wazamono ranking. So if we know what standards Yamada had for his list, we might be able to make a better comparison to the RJT testings. Just my 2c.

Hi everybody, I would like to announce that the English version of my recently published book on Koshirae - Japanese Sword Mountings is out now. I quote from the blurb: With this publication I try to systematically and comprehensively process the subject „Japanese sword mountings“. It was not my goal to depict as many extant interpretations of sword mountings as possible but to deal with the different forms of them. With this publication the reader should be informed in which way Japanese swords were mounted over the time, where were the origins of the various forms, what changes did they undergo and it should also serve as reference material to classify extant specimen. In this sense the descriptions were embedded in an explanation of the historical context rather then listing them just by their interpretation or in an alphabetical order. As the main focus lies on „koshirae“, an explanation of the sword fittings – the tosogu – was omitted, because descriptions of them can be easily found elsewhere. Also the military mountings – the gunto-koshirae – were left out because there are excellent publications available which deal with them in great detail. Paperback, 202 b/w pages, 6.63" x 10.25", Price 49.15 $ http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/k ... 66513.html And the eBook (PDF for Adobe Digital Editions) is available here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 66537.html Thank you for your attention.

Hi Klaus, I got a mail today where they say the code is "JEKYLL" for 20%. It ends October 26th. I hope this works.

I think Thomas is correct. It is a little odd that the character for "Saka" (坂・酒) in "Sakao" (坂尾・酒尾) is missing. The inscription on the other side is the name of the yari I guess. I have no clue about the beginning but it ends with "no kame no yari" (の亀之鈛).

I think OCTBOOKS12 should work.

The German eBooks are now available here: Part 1: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 58945.html Part 2: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 58954.html

This is IMHO a very good excersice provided by Chris to calibrate our conclusion drawn on the basis of some pictures provided on the net, regardless of the showato, star stamp, traditional nihonto discussion going on. I think that 90% of all the blade and fittings discussions going round here on the NMB start with - let´s say - unprofitable pictures. But that is the only chance we have here anyway, so let´s face it. At a real sword meeting and if you are in that hobby for a certain amount of time, a rotation of some degrees under a good light and having the sword in hand are enough to see if a sword is traditionally made or not. So let us use this thread to see what conclusions we draw from seeing only "the tip of the iceberg". From that point of view I say all are showato and maybe 8 gendaito. I´m looking forward to the solution. :D

Thank you Klaus! I will upload the German eBook towards the end of the week because I am busy with other projects at the moment.

I think I have pretty the same info on Yoshiyuki (吉幸) in my Index (see preview PDF) BTW. What book is the scan from? It says the old entry mentions Keichô but gives also the information "maybe Genroku". I listed this Bungo Yoshishige according to the entry in the "Arami-mei-zukushi" which says Keicho and which is referred to your scan too. Yoshishige (吉重), Keichō (慶長, 1596-1615), Bungo – „Bungo no Kuni Takada-jū Fujiwara Yoshishige“ (豊後国高田住藤原吉重) Yoshiyuki.pdf

Hi Jean, I´ve uploaded an eBook version of the first part: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 48983.html

And here we go for the eBook. http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 44420.html

@Jean: work in progress :D @Drago: Yes, the German version is already out was announced a while ago: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13591&p=118162&hilit=geschichten+rund+ums#p118162 @Gilles:

Dear Members, I want to inform you that part 2 of my "Legends and Stories around the Japanese Sword" is out now. Once more I try to bring the reader closer to the Japanese sword and dig deeper into the matter by the means of legends, stories and anecdotes about famous swords and their swordsmiths. Like in the first volume, I introduce several famous meito or meibutsu, for example the Kogarasu-maru, Yoshimoto-Samonji, Takemata- Kanemitsu, Kuronbogiri-Kagehide, Tsurumaru-Kuninaga and many more. And the stories deal among other things with the greatest swordsmiths in Japanese history like Masamune, Muramasa, Samonji, Kiyomaro and Kotetsu, to name only a few. It can be ordered via Lulu.com but will appear in some weeks on amazon too: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/l ... 43723.html Paperback, 192 pages, s/w, 6.14 x 9.21", Price: 27,90 $ Thank you four your attention.

saba-yônin (側用人) was an Edo-period office at the bakufu. It was an official close to the shôgun who forwarded orders to the rank of elders for example. A saba-yônin received a standardized rank- and office-based salary of 10.000 koku. PS: There were also "smaller-scale" saba-yônin fulfilling this function locally at various fiefs, i.e. forwarding orders of the lord of the fief.

I fully agree! That is why it is sometimes hard to understand for beginners why they can´t learn from the cheapest blades available.

The face on the water, its lines, the hair and the hinted kimono are very impressive (as is of course the entire piece).

@David: We are actually trying at the moment to get this entire series translated from the beginning to the end. We need to have the agreement of Fukushi-sensei or his son respectively so that we can use the pictures from his enormous archive (and the text of course). Let´s see. I am not in Japan this year. So this might take a while.

Hi David. I quote the two Seki-based smiths mentioned by George of that time from my "Index of Japanese Swordsmiths". Kanemitsu (兼光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – „Kanemitsu“ (兼光), civilian name „Gotō Shōzō“ (後藤松蔵), student of Kanenaga (兼永), born July 20th 1887, he worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō and died on March 18th 1957 Kanemitsu (兼光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – „Kanemitsu“ (兼光), civilian name „Ogawa Mitsuo“ (小川光雄), born January 20th 1922, he worked as guntō smith and fell in World War II on July 8th 1944

[edit]wrong reply removed

Thank you Brian. I am very much relieved that it works without problems because it is my first try to make one of my books available as eBook. BTW, the German version is of course also available: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 14203.html

@Matt: I´ve uploaded some preview pages in the course of the announcement for the original books: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13154&hilit=index+Japanese+swordsmiths @Brian:

Hi forumites, My "Index of Japanese Swordsmiths" published earlier this year is now available as eBook (PDF for Adobe Digital Editions). It contains all two volumes (A-M and N-Z) of the printed books and has thus 840 pages. The eBook can be ordered via lulu.com for 79,00$. http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 12677.html Thank you for your attention.

Thanks for the input Brian. The "price on application" is already changed at the German site. So the actual prices should be updated also on the English site too (I will forward this for an update). I will check that with the fee too and report back.

Thank you for the update. I am planning to attend too next year. Can´t wait to meet some of you (US guys) in person.