Jussi Ekholm

I am not sure about the politics part as I just think the overall quality of display items will be super high in the exhibition. And as the display space will be limited in size they probably are going for the best & most interesting line up.

Thank you for the report Piers. What an amazing opportunity.

With Aoi it is best to check the Japanese page if in doubt: https://www.aoijapan.jp/%e5%88%80%ef%bc%9a%e7%84%a1%e9%8a%98-%e9%9b%b2%e9%87%8d I didn't visit Aoi (so I can't say anything about them) but I visited many good sword shops in Tokyo. And I understand now it is always best to check the Japanese page when in doubt about description.

For me the answer is easy, not to buy. In the last few days I have realized I will now change the way how I collect and it will be many many years before I will think about buying again. Instead the focus will be fully on just seeing stuff. For the last 5-10 years, I've had a top list of items which I follow that I have sorted by desirability & pricing. List has been constantly evolving as stuff gets sold, new items pop up etc. Unfortunately I've seen that my list is getting heavier and heavier and items become unobtainable to me. I've realized I will learn much more with my new decision than by trying to buy swords for myself. With my current small income level I won't be able to collect at the level I want to collect. So I will fully focus on increasing my knowledge and having fun.

I think it will be important to see lots and lots of swords. That way you will easily start to see some common things on healthy blades vs. worn down swords. However I must say that health is not everything, I would personally go for worn down sword with more historical background than a pristine one with less historical importance. It's a fine line to balance on. I have been seeing some amazing items on the last few days, and now I'll repeat the old thing that has been said to me many times. Try to look the best items you can. Here is one example that has been for sale for many years. I think it was bought for a while but then reappeared with lower price. Being a signed Bizen tachi makes it intetesting but condition is... Here you can see the difference in kasane very well http://www.e-sword.jp/katana/1610-1080.htm Also you can compare the swords to other existing examples. On some cases it is easy as plenty of similar swords are around, on some nearly impossible as only few are remaining. Darcy has written excellent posts of this subject and now I finally am starting to understand it better.

If you are buying a sword for training I would recommend holding off the purchase and buying a sword that you hold your hands first. The feel of the sword is very important for martial arts purposes. And of course I would recommend modern swords for training.

Amazing work Richard. That Sagami Yasuaki vid is just .

I am thinking it is 伊賀守藤原包光作 - Iga no Kami Fujiwara Kanemitsu saku. I don't see a Kanemitsu with this title in my reference books, and like you I would think it is more recent smith.

Reading your post I am assuming ideally you are looking for sword in good condition, in koshirae and made by highly ranked smith and possibly papered. Unfortunately ticking all the boxes will usually come with quite a large price tag. For sub 5k you can get very decent packages but you will have to do some choosing unless you get really lucky. I don't think your research on modern non-Japanese made swords is futile at all. You most likely have gotten many pointers on things you like and things you don't like. I think you will be much happier with genuine Japanese made sword either modern or antique than going with Bugei Peace (even though it is a nice sword in its own right).

I believe it is 土肥真了- Doi Shinryō

Great idea Joe! I wish you will get a good group running in the Midwest.

Yep that is really nice sword and nice deal. The unfortunate thing is my lack of funds...

Hello Stefan and welcome to the forum. Nice to hear you are living in Stockholm as NBTHK Scandinavia has many members in Stockholm and it is the place for our meetings. I will send you better private message when I get home from work. You will get excellent hands on help in Stockholm.

I don't have too many books on historical koshirae but I've got few historical examples. In Uchigatana koshirae book, both are katate-uchi with shinobi-ana. 48. Sukesada blade 1524 with shinobi-ana, koshirae is dated to been made in 1598. 63. Kiyomitsu blade 1514 with shinobi-ana, koshirae is dated to been made around 1660 - 1700 In Koshirae Taikan there is one Bakumatsu era Niten-koshirae that has 2 mekugi. Personally I am not sure about the need & functionality of this shinobi-ana. As many very large ōdachi from Nanbokuchō period survived perfectly well with only 1 mekugi that would indicate it is not necessary even for swords with massive blades and use during war times. However several ōdachi also have the shinobi-ana which is again reasonable given how large some of the swords are. I just checked the Futarasan-jinja ōdachi book that I have and shortest one with shinobi-ana had nagasa of 117,8 cm and longest one without shinobi-ana, nagasa is 133,8 cm (but the 1 ana is in lower portion of nakago) and 126,0 cm for more regular ana placement.

I've kept my eye on the one at Ryujinswords ever since it came up. That tachi blade is something I love but unfortunately for me it has the koshirae. As it is "total package" it pushes it much further from my grasp, and nobody wants to break a set like that. Well wouldn't have money for it in few years either way... I would love to read more about the blade itself but feels like in this the koshirae is a major selling point. Even though I am usually a fan of Naminohira swords I personally am not attracted to the one at Nihontoantiques. Well I am extremely picky with my taste.

Can you give use the measurements? Based on the pictures I see it is not made in katate uchi style. This one seems to have a short blade and long tang. Many Japanese swords are good for one handed use because they are so short in length even though they are often relatively heavy for their size due to thickness.

I think most collectors in here are not using their swords for cutting but I personally don't think using a modern made Japanese sword for cutting is doing anything too bad for the sword. Of course you will get so wear over time but nothing too bad. Getting a better polish when the sword is in using stage would be in my opinion money thrown in the well. It is better to get the polish only when you retire the sword from use. As far as polishers go I can't recommend anyone. I would advise looking at the worksmanship and background of polishers that you like and choosing a polisher based on those things.

Is the mei inserted on?

I would agree with Uwe - 城州

These also work very well on phones. I got bunch of these on my phone and I use them a lot while on the move. I have to recommend especially this book. You will be getting amazing koshirae reference for a tiny investment. Koshirae Taikan ..... $59.90 - $30

I think it's a good honest sword that would be a nice sword to own and study. Unfortunately it does not fit the direction where I am trying to go with my own collection so it is not a sword for me personally. However I believe it is much better value for money than several of the items on my own watchlist. I like how you put up this topic Stephen as it is important for many new people to know you can find nice swords for decent prices. There are actually plenty of good deals around for a smaller budget. I think the important thing is to be able to find them which can be difficult for new collectors. Of course different people value different things when choosing their swords so it's good that there is variance. In general I think that many dealers around the world have much better deals than the eBay "bargains". Of course there is the little excitement factor in trying to find few gems from eBay but generally I think you will get a lot better value for money from known dealers (or from forums like NMB).

I cannot speak for Darcy but I believe he means the sword has been altered during it's history like this. (Image is from old Bushido magazines)

I would think towards Uda too. You can check good reference examples from early 1400's in Markus' Kotō-kantei (which I am sure you have already checked). I think this is somewhat the rougher "style" people think generally about Uda. I have seen so limited amount of blades in hand but I happened to saw very nice tanto of Uda school at NBTHK Scandinavia meeting. If I remember correctly it was by Uda Kunihisa and had very fine jihada, bit of opposite of average thought of Uda. So I think your blade would be more "typical" Uda blade with standing out jihada.

日本刀装武具研究会 - Nihon Toso Bugu Kenkyu Kai? I do not know that organization.

Depending on the criteria I would say we have about 0-30 in Finland. I guess around 10 ish would be a good number of active collectors in here.