Jussi Ekholm

Amazing Markus, this will be another must have book.

We had great time, always nice to see friends and all nihonto related stuff everyone has. Here is a pic of Sengoku tanto lineup we had. Lots of other nice items too but I only took this mediocre pic.

Hawleys 1100 terms and other Hawley terminology books are very basic. I've used it a lot in the beginning but I have now better replacement for them. But there is Zusetsu Nihonto Yogo Jiten, which is amazing resource. For me it pretty much covers the terminology part. And as I'm posting pics here are 2 of Nihonto Daizen too. I just like the format of it with foldouts and great pictures and very varying information.

My suggestion might be in a bit more general book. I think Nihonto Daizen 1-2 are awesome books, and something similar to them in English would in my mind help a lot of people. I think books like these in English would be a great addition to available books in the market. The format of these books is something I like very much, and I think they are easy to approach, yet still have a lot of more advanced information too. Nihonto Daizen is titled currently as Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords in English. I think they would make a great general book to the world of nihonto that would cover wide variety of subjects and would be something to recommend both for beginners and advanced readers. I think a more general book like this one would have larger target audience than more special books, even though we as a community might be more into very specific books.

Congrats Ford, another stunning piece.

That is very nice post Thomas, it's still too hard for a novice like me in general, but hopefully when I get more experience under my belt I might actually start sending in my guesses. For those with limited Japanese reading skills like myself, you can find the English translations here: http://www.touken.or.jp/english/translation1.html And here is a direct link to issue 688, and you can look the Shijo Kantei description in English and oshigata is in that post above by Thomas: http://www.touken.or.jp/english/translation/688.htm And don't forget people that when you are a NBTHK member you can attend NBTHK meetings.

That katana is made by Masasuke from Saitama, it's signed Chichibu ju Masasuke saku.

Even though if it said flawless in the description, you can see the condition in the pics that were in auction description. More marketing hype is to be expected when browsing in the eBay. That's why eBay is a tricky place to be shopping if you do not know what you are looking for. You can see good bit of notches and scratches in the pictures, by looking at them one could assume the blade will not be flawless but in the condition that pics show it to be? If you can get full refund and just be down 100$'s of shipping cost I think that is a good deal and I think it's very fair from Eric to offer that. I would advice to look more carefully into items before buying, that is the problem with eBay auctions as the time is usually very short and potentially there are multiple bidders. Sometimes you can think about purchases very long time and sometimes you have to make them fast. When you have to make them fast do as much research as possible before the purchase.

Chinese fakes would be my call. Malcolm, Universal Swords is an Indian manufacturer that focuses on creating replicas of various military swords around the world. Their replicas are decent but lacking in quality, so they should be easy to spot for a sword collector. They are not trying to fool anyone, but of course someone can sell their swords as a genuine article. Buyer must do his research to avoid buying intended fakes or replicas that are marketed as genuine Japanese swords. I own a replica of French Hussar Sabre by Universal Swords, it's a decent made sword but even though I know almost nothing of French swords of that era, I can tell in couple of seconds it's a replica and not a genuine article. For reference here are 2 Japanese models from Universal swords, http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... unto+Sword , http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... hin+Gunto+ As you can see they generally retail from 150$ to 200$ as brand new from the factory. Not intended as fakes but as replicas for collectors. The Chinese made stuff is usually marketed as genuine Japanese military swords, and they feature the gaudy folded blades. I guess you could call them replicas too but I call them fake. Many sword sellers from China usually use false advertising when selling their products, be it regular Japanese style production swords or these fake Japanese military swords. Marc you did the right thing in asking before buying. This really cracked me up. :D

Hopefully this project will succeed in one way or another. Unfortunately only 37 hours left on campaign.

Greger, could you maybe share where you live? As you bought it from Swedish auction house and had some help from Jimi, I'm suspecting you live in Nordic countries, probably Denmark? There are many knowledgeable collectors in Sweden & Denmark, they could probably tell you a lot when they have the blade in hand and offer more opinions on it. That's why I personally like when people include their location, it makes pointing towards help easier.

Trent like others have said there might be a lot more collectors around you than you know. You might want to go to Perth Arms & Militaria fair 2014: http://www.waarmsandarmour.com/events Here is thread about last years event in NMB: /viewtopic.php?f=6&p=146818 Our Aussie forumites can direct you better than I can towards fellow collectors in your area.

Here is some info by Cox & Sesko.

Well I exaggerated a little, but that has the tendency to draw attention. I'm used to be on the defending side of Japanese swords so often, that on some forums I've been called katana fanboy. My two biggest sword loves, Japanese and Viking, have very much in common. These two being the two I've researched the most, I cannot say if there are similarities to other cultures as well (I haven't researched them enough yet). Japanese had folding and hada, vikings had pattern welding with various patterns. Swords were prized artifacts in both cultures, and most were named (in Japan at least famous ones). In Japan you had Bizen, Soshu etc. while during viking age there were Ulfberht, Ingelrii etc. Sword was very important to warriors of both cultures. "Who can separate a man and his sword? One is nothing without the other" is a passage from Estonian viking age epic Kalevipoeg. During viking age swords were handed down as heirlooms throughout generations. Vikings also had a complex forms about duelling, bit similar way than samurai did have. One of the reasons why viking age swords are so few in number (aside from their age, and evolution of the sword in Europe from those times into modern day) is the fact that many times when the owner died his sword was disposed. Usually swords were broken and buried with him, or thrown into river, lake or sea that another man could not take it. There are tales that sometimes when a famous sword was buried as whole, someone would dig it up and rob it. I think a great phrase was in Ninja Scroll anime, it was about how no matter where you go people are people. Bit philosophical aspect. Here is my favorite sword in Finland, Pappilanmäki sword from Eura, late 600's, it's in our National Museum. But I agree Denis, it's quite hard to find "affordable" European swords that are 400+ years old. And they are available in much fewer in number than Japanese swords. On the other hand you can find decent bit newer Indo-persian stuff for way below 1000$'s. But then again comes the connoisseur aspect, the 200$ tulwar that I see as a decent historical piece and I'm happy to own, the connoisseurs of Indian weaponry see as similar junk as we see bottom tier nihonto.

Hah, what a coincidence. I remember seeing that sword some years ago in Fredericks catalog and I kept admiring it. Just checked it up as you said who has it, it's darn massive sword 40" nagasa. And after seeing more pics of that tachi below it ain't exactly my taste. But that big beast looks intimidating.

I have unhealthy obsession in swords... of course nihonto are the baddest obsession but I also try to collect swords of other cultures as well. As I tread with very limited budget, nihonto are my main focus, just sold 2 of my best European sword replicas along with other cheaper stuff to fund my last nihonto purchase. Good thing about replicas is you can always get another replacement where as historical pieces are one of a kind. Now my European replicas have been reduced to only cheap replicas, but one dream is own couple swords from Finnish smiths, and I keep drooling at Patrick Barta's work. But those are lesser priority than nihonto. I have a sweet spot for viking stuff. Yataghan and those katars are pieces I like. I'll probably try to flip bayonet, tulwar and kindjal for something else. Almost all cultures have swords and weapons that are very intriguing in my mind. I don't think nihonto as a pinnacle of sword making, after all they are just swords like swords of other cultures (still they are my own personal favorite). Even though saying something like that out loud in nihonto forum might not gain a strong support. I'll encourage you all to look also into viking swords, medieval swords, indo-persian swords etc. Lots of fascinating stuff can be found all over the world, and swords of every culture were perfected for their own use.

Looked to be an awesome show. Did anyone catch what this beast in red saya was? I tend like large swords. Also the tachi koshirae under it looks very much to my taste. Thanks for posting the pics Mark.

Still at that price I see it as a very good deal on Louis Mills tanto. Wish I had the funds to try snatching it...

Spectacular acquisition Morita san.

More experienced members can explain this pic in more detail. Futo tagane - thick & large Hoso tagane - thin & small Saka tagane - right to left Tagane makura - raised

Many sources list the average nagasa of Nambokucho era around 90 cm. But just note that not all tachi of this period were Odachi of great length, "regular" sized tachi were still produced as well. And also those very large Odachi which had nagasa of over 120 cm. If you are looking for info about average blade lengths and shapes of various eras, I think Nagayama's Connoisseurs book has good explanation of them, and Nakahara's Facts book has also good explanations. If you want a small booklet about shape and size I would recommend Guide to Nyusatsu Kantei by Paul Martin.

Here is a info pic about that what David said earlier. Various types of samegawa kise:

Awesome sword, great writeup, as for beta testing part, the site works perfectly on my phone (Galaxy 2). Unfortunately I don't know my phones browser, but I have found out that many sites are not designed to work on mobile devices at least not with this one. However on your site everything worked like a charm.

Great video on a fine subject, this series will be awesome.

I would see it like John as Hiro, so I would see Hirokuni Saku.