jeremy

What do you guys think of this flaw? Looks like loose grain opening, about 2 inches away from yokote. Serious or nor? Besides the chip, does the opening seem serious? http://s201.photobucket.com/user/jezah8 ... sort=3&o=0 http://s201.photobucket.com/user/jezah8 ... sort=3&o=1 Kind regards, Jeremy

Jason, As adam has said flaws such as hagarami has to be taken on case by case basis. My swords hagarami isnt as bad as the ones depicted in the photos, however it is there and visible and close to the edge. However, the nlade itself has alot of niku surrounding the cutting edge which reinforces it somewhat, making it suitable for cutting. Tired blades shouldnt be used for anything other than collecting, regardless if it has flaws such as hagarami. Hope this helps. Kind regards, Jeremy

I also have a blade which isnt tired and seems to have this kind of hada-ware near the edge. Been cutting bamboo and wara for years with it and not problem. Like other blades mentioned here, it is only visible on one side of the blade. Kind regards, Jeremy

Thanks for the clarification Paul. :D Thanks for the chart Jean. :D Regards, Jeremy

Hi Paul, Tensho period is in koto or shinto period of sword history? 1578 for the second sword would make it koto or am i missing something? Kind regards, Jeremy

From what ive read Kiyomaro and Koyama made swords with slightly flat niku also. Kind regards. Jeremy Hagop

Hello, Is there is a construction method called kofuse gitae or is it supposed to be kobuse gitae? Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Most likely between 1650's to 1680's. Cheers, Jeremy

Id agree with Echizen Seki Edo Shinto as i have a Hirotaka Echizen katana with identical hamon, hada and mihaba and kasane. Wouldnt be surprised if it were a mumei Hirotaka katana. Kind regards, Jeremy

My Okamoto Kazumune katana is also made in sanmai construction but doesnt have any obvious lines demarcating the kawagane and core steel. it does have niju-ha in the monouchi though. Should all sanmai blades have some sort of obvious line like So's blade in the link? Kind regards. Jeremy

Several years ago,i accidently chipped about1mm of my training shinsakuto kissaki and the damage looked identical to your swords. however my sword is in a cutting iaido polish unlike yours. Chris Osborne fixed mine, without polishing off too much material. at the time Bob Benson told me he could of fixed it easily for $150usd. this was a few years ago though. drop em each an email and see what they say. Best of luck, Jeremy

This law must be a recent change. Me and my other sword swinging buddies took our Okamoto Kazumune shinsakutos to Japan last year in October through Osaka airport, and even though it took us four hours to get through, we were issued with temporary permits to keep the swords in Japan until our taikai was up. When it came time to take the shinsakuto out of Japan, we showed these temporary permits to the flight officials at the airport and we just checked in our swords as normal baggage. I would like to know more about this as well.......... Kind regards, Jeremy

Thanks for the reply. Do you or anyone else know, if this smith (Echizen Hirotaka) has any signed blades out there with a nambantetsu inscripion? Kind regards, Jeremy

How can one know if a blade is made from nanbantetsu? Did shinto swordsmiths always inscribe this on their nakago when they used this steel? How can one tell if a sword is made from nanbantetsu just by looking at the characteristics of the jihada? I bought this sword recently and wanted to know if there is a possibility that this sword is made from nambantetsu? http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2011/1110_1083syousai.htm Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

As promised, Im going to update you guys on how we got our swords through Kansei airport for our taikai. We arrived at Osaka airport (4 of us), 3 shinken and 4 mogito in total. We all got pulled aside by customs officials and put into a waiting room. Our iaido instructor was with us, who speaks enough Japanese to get around, debated with the officials about why we needed our swords, and we showed our letters from our sensei. They called Osaka police, after an hours wait, two police officers turned up and took photos of our sword, recorded the lengths, didnt remove the tsuka to check for mei, and we were all given a similar temporary license which is depicted in the photo in the post above. The whole procedure took about 4 hours. When it came time to leave from Kansei airport, we had to show the lady at the checkout our temporary license in order to be allowed to take the swords into checked luggage. Not sure if I wanna go through that ordeal again! i think I might just buy a sword in Japan and leave it with my sensei and use it when I go there! Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Found out his teacher was a man name Okubo who passed away about 10 years ago. Does anyone know of a smith by that name who passed away about then? Cheers, Jeremy

I recently acquired a sword made by this smith from gifu. can anyone give me any information about him such as his background, rank, who his teacher was etc?? I have tried googling with no luck in finding any information on him. Any info would be great. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Found a good commentary by Keith Larman on bo-hi which I read a while back, thought Id post it here. "Then there's bo-hi. I'm not a fan from a performance standpoint . Think about what it's doing. If the blade has a low shinogi and a bo-hi, you're reducing weight creating an edge on the top of the bo-hi to grab target as the blade passes through. Then if the bo-hi is grooved deeply rather than smoothly and shallow , you've removed significant material from the cross section so a poorly angled cut should snap the blade. It reduces weight and reduces strength. On the other hand, tapering the shinogi ji to create a high shinogi can reduce weight similarly but without such a serious compromise of the lateral strength of the blade. And the high shinogi also reduces surface area at the same time. It seems to be a vastly better solution. And remember that bo-hi were usually done historically for a variety of reasons. The first was to have a way of cutting out weld flaws or other "boo-boos" that appeared on the surface. This could save a blade from the trash heap. The second reason for cutting in grooves was to "correct" an old poorly balanced sword. Both of these methods work given the motivation, but ultimately both reasons are fixing something after the fact. The final reason was purely for aesthetics. Some just like 'em. This is a personal taste issue -- but it can become a safety issue if the blade is being made for tameshigiri." Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Gdaye gentlemen, Today I received this special paperwork in the mail. It is a letter in Japanese and English for me to present to the customs officials it reads like this: "To Whom it may concern, Reason for import of Japanese sword This is to confirm that Mr Jeremy Hagop is carrying his Japanese sword into Japan for polishing by a polish master during his stay in Japan. His purpose of visit is to attend a special training and a Taikai event of Nakamura-ryu Battodo being held by Internation Battodo Federation on 23 Oct 2011. POlish master : Isamu Suzuki Suzuki Art swords 6-41 Midori Kani-Shi Gifu Pref. TEL: 090-1271-0110 We hereby affirm the above statement to be true and correct. For any enquiry, please contact to either Mr Nomura or Mr Shinbori. (Issuer of this letter) Name: International Batto-do federation President Tomoko Nakamura (address: 1-25-15 kami-sueyoshi tsurumi-ku Yokohama-shi Kanagawa - ken Personnel in charge: Tsutomu Ishikawa Tel: 080-3078-0039 e-mail: iwaharu-n@dolphin.ocn.ne.jp " Ive been told to take this letter with me along with my shinsakuto and present it at the airport, and should be allowed to take it in and out without too much hassles. Ill keep you all posted in October anyway. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hey Chris, The reason why our Senseis went through the painful procedure of attaining these "special" paperwork, was to avoid these hassles you mention. I was under the impression these papers were supposed to allow us to take our swords into Japan for the 2 weeks under the pretenses of restoration which is why our togishi had to help out to get this paperwork for us. Ive never done this before, only taken mogito to Japan, never a nihonto....Ill keep everyone posted here how it turns out... Kind regards, Jeremy

G'daye gentleman, In October I am traveling to Japan for our annual Batto-do taikai, and my sensei over there, who is Ishikawa sensei, has arranged with the authorities to allow me and my colleagues to bring our nihonto there to use for the two weeks for training and competition. What he has done is arranged for some papers to be sent to me in Australia from a togishi, for me to fill out, as though I am bringing the sword to Japan for polishing purposes. What I wanted to know is, when I have these papers, and get off at Osaka airport, will they require me to take off the tsuka for nakago viewing and hold my sword for some time, or just view these papers from the togishi and let me through without too much hassles? Kind regards, Jeremy

Thank you for helping me sir. Maybe the best thing to do would be to call them once I am there in Japan, and make an appointment to view the sword I am interested in. Thanks again, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks for all the helpful advice. If it is an online store only, does it mean my chances of viewing the sword in hand is quite slim then? I will have my batto-do instructor coming with me also, his Japanese is quite good, so I will not have a problem with communication once I'm there. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi Chris, I sent the email in English. Cheers, Jeremy Hagop

A week ago I emailed e-sword.jp about a purchase inquiry. I am visiting Japan in October and would like to visit this store and look at the sword in hand before making any decisions. I havent heard back from the store owner, does anyone know whats the story with this shop/website owner? Can anyone please translate the store address in English so that I may visit in October. The address that is posted on their website is in Japanese and finding it hard to translate. Thanks for any assistance. Jeremy Hagop