Adversary

Nihonto also covers gendaito and shinsakuto. There are a LOT of kenjustu/iaijustsu practitioners in Japan, the bulk of which likely use real Japanese swords... to swing, to cut with (mostly shinsakuto, probably some gendaito). Perhaps my post was confused to mean i only want an old sword. I want a real, genuine Japanese sword. Old or new, and as i said in a more recent post, i'd probably prefer a newer one, for all the reasons covered above. I'd commission a brand new one if i could.

Ahhh yes... fashion over function. Definitely not my style. Yup, i get it. I mean, aside from seeing some obviously old and beat tsuka out there (that no one in their right mind would swing around), i'd not thought of that. However, with new tsuka, i'd certainly not have thought there'd be a compromise made on quality/fit. Thats kind of (well, not 'kind of'... that IS) the whole heart of the katana obsession... the sheer and utter obsession with quality in the forging and creating of them. The very art we obsess over IS essentially a side-effect of the quality of construction. It saddens me to hear that this has been compromised so collectors can have an easier time of it. Really... it brings to mind the height of the collector car market in 2007 (before the crash) when these things were so valuable that the restorers were leaving the internals out of the engines... so as not 'risk' starting it up and hurting the numbers-matching block. They'd push them on and off trailers at shows. THAT... is just WRONG. Anyways... perhaps not a popular opinion here... but i think you can have both. Fashion and function. In fact, it would seem to me dangerous to compromise on function. Think about it this way... to 99.9% of people out there, its a bloody sword. Life happens. It could get stolen, it could get lost in an estate sale, it could simply be bought by someone with more money than brains... and it could get swung around. I wouldn't want my name on one of these 'collector-friendly' tsukas. But maybe thats just me.

That is certainly what i'd prefer to do.

I did. I may have seen one or two around there in the past couple weeks. Guessing they start around $1500 though.

Jesus. Thats nuts. Not to be irreverent here, but this is generally accepted as true? I ask because my skeptical mind (that would love to believe this) cant help but to see a link to buy... right after the article. Regardless, i'm curious. Where would Masahira rank in terms of the old rankings? He seems very well regarded. I'm beyond impressed that i could theoretically buy a new sword from him for only $18000!

I was talking about NEW tsuka, refitted to antique blades. But real ones, made by the type of craftsmen that still build the swords too. The antique stuff... absolutely. You can even SEE the cracks in some of them. Curious, are the Chinese swords THAT far off... in feel? I was only talking about getting a feel for the lengths, weights, and shapes that might suit me.

Okay, wakisashi's for that then. The one guy... with a TON of swords 'koushuya' seems to have a lot of affordable stuff? Just now saw a wakisashi with NBTHK papers for $1350. Or how about Mr 'sharp steel blade' (Japaneseswordgallery)? Long blades seem to start at $1500, with the odd one for less. Or are these not what they appear?

Interesting. All this talk of cutting ruining good swords on my nihonto thread... makes me wonder if this guy goes through swords. I'd imagine, being famous for his sword work, he has nice stuff, but i'd also imagine he does a LOT of cutting. Just makes me wonder where he gets his katana, how often they get polished, and/or replaced.

Maybe i'm just new here... but this is a pretty serious hobby, taken pretty serious by a not so small number of people, not to mention the heart and soul of a pretty serious country (Japan) known for taking things well... pretty damn serious... to say nothing of the ludicrous amounts of money that can be involved. Why has no one invented a sword case? A katana-specific hard case... like a gun-case/guitar road case, etc. Wouldn't be that big, or terribly expensive. If they make them already i've not seen one and no one talks about them. Am i missing something? I mentioned to a perspective sword seller that he maybe try a gun case, but he made a great point in that when crossing borders, people see a gun case and obviously think there is a gun in there, want to open it, and might end up touching the blade. But why not a hard katana case?

I'd seen this site sometime back too (you've likely updated it since). Great site. The legend of Muramasa has always been of utmost fascination to me. My end-goal, is to own one of his swords.

Okay, now this is an interesting point. WHY... would anyone skimp on a tsuka, to put on a quality blade? Even IF the thing's not going to cut anymore... mats, people... quality is quality. This doesn't make sense to me. If this is true, then yes, thats a VERY important point. As far as i'm concerned, a true nihonto, assembled with either antique or modern fittings, should still be the superior of even the best Bugei or $2500 non-Japanese blades, in EVERY way. Is this not so? PLEASE tell me that there is no such thing as a 'display' tsuka... not made to original standards, if not better. I would not have considered this.

The first is damn nice. But unless he gets drunk one night and offers it at half that price, i just cant swing it. (heh...) Whats this Kiyomitsu? I wont be cutting. That was never the plan. I WILL be buying a sword with a nice polish... and i dont plan on spending to get it re-polished. I've yet to see a sword thats used for cutting frequently thats not scratched.

Actually, i'd be more than happy with a nice, modern, gendaito. Despite the ratings and the praise around some of these older swords, i kind of like the nice, crisp nagako's of the newer swords, and the fact that i KNOW they haven't been messed with, cut, or polished 5 times. 'Using' (still not cutting, but using) an old sword put together around a rust-corroded nagako doesn't exactly inspire confidence. The ratings and such stopped with the newer swords did they not? How does one 'rate' them then... in terms of quality of sword/smith? I'm guessing one just has to know and memorize all the names? And your second suggestion was exactly what i had in mind. A nice, beautiful (but still useful) sword, and then a second, less valuable... perhaps 'Ebay-quality' (as someone said) but similar feel swinger/cutter. You can get real nihonto as cheap as a grand on Ebay... something that will never be papered or lusted after. I'm definitely using this info-storm to my benefit. Thats why i'm here.

Too far, unfortunately. Do they have these sword clubs/shows in Vancouver BC? I'm learning fast here. I should know pretty much all there is to know about nihonto in what... 2-300 more years? Going to try and visit my friend sometime this week. He has literally dozens of katana, from $200 Paul Chens to the nicest Chinese 2K blades you can buy. Just going to handle the lot of them, and see what i like in terms of length, weight, balance, etc. That will further narrow the search down. Yeah, they're not real Japanese... but again, should give me a feel for sizes and such. He has a LOT of them.

There seems to be quite a few with more than one box 'ticked off'... for around DOUBLE my budget. For what i have, i'll likely have to settle for one trait. Or just something all around nice with none of the cool boxes ticked off. Keep in mind (i'm pretty sure i mentioned it somewhere in that mess), i'm in Canada. 5K turns into a LOT more than 5K really quick... My pretty much 'i'd be insane to spend this on a sword right now' budget is $2200US. I had to draw my line at $3000Cdn, all-in, done, in my hands. Now... if something truly absurd happened along... i may be able to fudge that a bit more... i'm talking maybe $4000-4500Cdn... but then my car doesn't get built and i'm walking for the rest of the year. So lets just say $2200Usd tops, but because i've been sucking exhaust fumes all weekend, i'm possibly open to 3Kish US.

Okay... wow. I really do appreciate the responses. I just had to throw that out there before i went away for the weekend. Glad i did. Oh, and excuse my many replies. My computer refuses to multi-quote, among other basic things... This sword is beautiful... and even before several people here suggested i'd be cracked to cut stuff with it, there's just no way. Not after spending that kind of money, and well... its just too damn pretty. Its also well beyond my means. Someday...

Oh lovely... more reading... Just an example of my mindset here. In say, the sub-5K US range. I see nicely polished swords with Hozen papers (even the occasional tokubetsu hozen), OR with jo-saku rating smiths, OR... you get my point. Very occasionally, i'll find one with both, OR one from a jo-jo-saku smith. Saw one a while back, around 5K, looked really nice (the blade's profile/shape is very important to me too), that was from a jo-jo saku smith, polished by a "high ranking polisher" as opposed to 'just' "in good polish", plus many good/interesting things said about the smith. Cant remember where, but i saw a decent looking sword from a sai-jo smith, and it was well-under 10K. Am i wrong to put stock in this stuff? considering my criteria for a sword? Or am i missing something obvious... seeing these seemingly swell deals on sites such as nihonto art, aoi art, samurai shokai, etc.? Heh... I'll stop now.

Greetings everyone. I should have de-lurked some time ago, but a change in fortune has kind of thrown my into a spin... so here i am. Here's a little story hopefully someone here will read... I've been fascinated... no, obsessed with nihonto and kenjustu forever, and with swords since i could hold a stick (lets call that mid-70's). I've wanted to buy a real katana since the day i found the internet, and realized that you could actually buy such a thing. Back then (mid-90's?) it was Bugei/Paul Chen type stuff. I saw modern Japanese smiths taking commissions back then too, but that was quite out of my league. I'm a starving artist by nature, so i've never had a lot of money, so the big purchase has been put off... and put off... and put off. All the while... i learn. Sadly, the bulk of my research has been wasted on modern katanas, as true nihonto always seemed out of my budget. One of my many 'day jobs' is building and dealing in muscle cars, so i know how to do my homework, and find deals. I'm inhumanly patient. Well... i just sold a car, and my (first step) dream of buying a Bugei 'Peace Sword' (about the nicest Chinese smithed katana out there) is now possible. First thing i do is look around for used examples. This leads me to a forum, where i see a guy selling a real (modern Western smith) custom. Its just a little more. Well then... he's got an even nicer one... for a few dollars more (my curse). Suddenly my sub-2K (Cdn) budget has stretched to 3K (about $2200US). Well... i cant afford this... but a stack of 100's like this doesn't come around often... so i'll happily suffer for my obsessions. I'm certain that THIS site is the ONE place where i wont be harassed for wanting to blow my food money on a sword. Heh heh... Long story short(er)... he sells the cheaper custom, and he is nice enough to talk himself out of a sure sale on the nicer one. Its too big and heavy, and i'd much prefer a lighter, faster sword. Nice to find an honest guy! But now... with this stretched budget... i bring up Ebay... i check out SFI... i come back here. I've also spent days perusing the links here to nihonto dealers. And suddenly, i'm seeing a LOT of actual nihonto, in or juuuust North of my range. Suddenly, i cant even bring myself to think about a non-nihonto blade. Hmmm... . . . I'll cut to the chase. I want to buy a sword. I'm certainly no expert, but i learn fast. This money is burning a hole in my pocket (i AM patient... but spare funds do NOT last around here... they get eaten away... by life). So i have a conundrum: Do i break my rule of patience and make a semi-desperate purchase, based on what i know? or do i wait... and spend a grand less (because thats what happens) down the line on a better researched piece? I'm not one of those types that makes a blind, 'romantic' purchase, and then asks the experts if i did okay. I'll gamble with a lot of things... my future, my life, even other people's lives (when i drive... hahaha), but i NEVER gamble with money. Not in the 4-digits anyways. I know what i like. I like QUALITY. I want the best sword possible... best as in one i could USE. I'm buying as a 'working samurai' here. My criteria starts at sai-jo saku, and moves down the list. That said... i'm not at all delusional on how this works (ie: i did not sell a Hemicuda convertible... my budget is in the low 4-digits). I want the best rated smith i can afford, wazamono rating if possible (i have questions about how these two concepts mesh... more on that later...), the best polish possible... and the best condition/most unmolested (un-cut, not 'tired') blade i can afford. Papers, obviously... would be better than not having them. Having said all that, these are ALL works of art. Even the most banal can be beautiful (to me) if the rest of the criteria are met. I dont need the most flamboyant hamon, or stunning patterns. It DOES have to look good sitting there though. Many of the nihonto i see on some sites are in recent, or very nice looking, crisp (to my eye anyways) Japanese polish. That is one area i do NOT intend to spend more money... having a blade polished. It would seem, to me at least, that many of these cheaper blades are a great deal due to this alone. I dont plan on cutting with it, but i want to buy as if i will. I DRIVE my hotrods... in the rain, in the snow. They are cars. Cars drive. I dont intend on cutting with a true nihonto, but it IS a sword. Its a weapon after all is said and done. I want the best i can afford. I will likely do at least some practice with it... suburi, etc. I dont have a lot of stuff... but the few things i DO have (my car, my guitar rig, my hunting rifle, my work equipment) are NICE. I mean top-shelf, rare and highly desirable. I HATE compromise. I dont do it where i dont have to. Obviously... more than even that stuff, the sword should be the nicest thing i own. Am i off base here? Cleary i dont expect to score a juyo piece from a sai-jo saku smith in stunning koshirae, but do i have a shot at finding something decent? Or do i buy the damn Peace Sword? Heh... thanks for reading. I'll try and be less verbose in the future...