Bugyotsuji

Mitsumoto on one side, and Naito on the other

Now there's a man with an angle! You lost me in the first sentence with the word 'ductile', which I had to go and look up. What you have said has moved the game forward. Thank you very much for your observations, Alan. Would it be true to say then, that the maker of a long thin spear blade would, in an ideal world, want the point to be a perfect mix of hardness and toughness, but might slightly prefer the point to bend or contract somewhat on the battlefield (rather than snap), as it can always be hammered out to some extent for emergency re-use?

Nagasa? It's at the shop. Will collect it tomorrow and measure the blade length. It's short enough not to need a toroku-sho, about 12 or 13 cm from memory, but it's ryo-shinogi which is expensive...

Jean, you are a true diplomat! Don't forget this was without any overall polishing. Answer. Thinking this was quite reasonable, I took him a different fukuro-yari spear on Monday which was half polished. About 18 months ago I had paid 25,000 yen for a togi, thinking I would get a super good deal.... big mistake. The guy had painted the saya and sleeve black, and after getting most of the rust off, coated the blade in some kind of clear lacquer. What a mess! So, having already spent 25,000 I didn't expect to have to pay too much more. To clean the other fukuro yari and make it perfect the togishi is now asking .

Free of charge I wish! :lol: Both my friend and the dealer tried to stop me from having it done, as I mentioned earlier. Don't you think that's weird? I could simply not imagine leaving it in that state with a bent tip. They, on the other hand, could not imagine anyone so foolish as to actually spend money on having it straightened. (Nothing to do with the old question of whether to 'repair' an antique or not.)

Now you have to guess how much it cost to have that done!!! hahahaha...

Last attempt. Fading natural light this evening on the car bonnet/hood.

Well, for a start there was no 'Tokyo' back then! Can you post a clear picture of the calligraphy, Joel?

I prefer silk less subject to retain dust It seems to have been bent back, it is hardly visible from your shots. You mean that you think the blade has been 'bent' back into place, rather than any other method? (PS good idea about satin vs velvet.)

The photography was almost a waste of time. No combination of lighting seemed to work. I may try once more by daylight, but this camera takes only polite shots!

This is the paperwork. Not quite sure what the old categories meant. Edit. Found here that this straddles present-day 'Hozon' and 'Tokubetsu Hozon'. http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/nbthkshinsa1.htm

Jean, it has already been done. Yes, less than 4mm I would say, although I don't have it in front of me. The whole blade has not been repolished. The tip seems to have been straightened (but not perfectly) by beating? ... possibly a little thickening?... then filing and smoothing back? The guy repairs Nihonto blades for a well-known sword shop on a regular basis, apparently, and is said to do a good job. I haven't yet made up my own mind. Watch this space for a close-up shot of what the guy did. Will try to get a good shot of it this evening when I get home. (Now beginning to wish I had taken a proper 'before' shot of the tip, too!)

What do you see in here? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rorschach1.jpg

Wanna buy some magic saya, mista ? reinhard Yes, a sword dealer said this to me the other day. Not quite sure what he meant, but he mentioned people inserting a bent iai sword back in the saya, and hey presto, ... presumably after some time, when they removed the sword... lo and behold... :lol:

................. I would, however, like to put this question to the forum. Choose one.... or maybe I should start a poll? Should the point of a spear or sword a) bend, b) buckle or c) snap under stress? Several arguments have been put forth. Here are some I have heard recently. What do you think? 1. A spear has to be super sharp; strong enough to penetrate armour/armor. A bendy tip is unthinkable and proves the spear is no good. 2. Many dealers like to explain that the troops sometimes used their spears to adjust logs in the campfire. The heated tips were then either allowed to cool naturally, or dipped in water, depending on the circumstances, often affecting the yaki. 3. Nihonto chip and bend naturally during iai and get sent off for repair. Some bending sorts itself naturally within the saya. Twisty bends tend to be difficult to remove. Bending, in and of itself is not necessarily an indication of how well or badly a blade has been made. 4. Some spears were made specifically to be stabbed repeatedly into castle gates in order to gradually shred the wood and destroy its integrity. My thoughts. A long thin blade with a fine point would be fine for artistic appreciation, and sticking into animals or a lightly armoured enemy, maybe. For real serious armour/armor penetration and long-term blade integrity, a short stubby yari blade with ryo shinogi might be best. What other theories/stories/illustrations are there?

Apologies for the temporary diversion, Jacques, :lol: but the phone just rang to say the yari has come back from the polishers with the tip "sorted". A fierce argument has been raging over whether, in general, a spear tip under stress should bend, or snap. Two schools of thought prevail, and I am yet to be convinced either way. Be that as it may, I am now eagerly getting ready to go there, and then, having seen the repair, make the final decision on whether to actually purchase this yari as I did originally promise I would. Please watch this space! :D ... (Three hours later.) Not that space, this space! (Better leave some space for you all to watch... ) Well, as with many things, the answer was not quite what I was expecting. It has been fixed, yes, but not what I would call perfectly. That is, I can tell it has been straightened and polished out. It's now at home in its yari-bukuro, and when the wife asks about it, I shall follow the advice of this forum and say, with perfect truth, that I sent a yari for repair.

Congratulations! I hope you will treasure your father too!

You're right Piers, my apologies to all. Apology accepted! My apology for mentioning it.

OK, so.... It's a Tanto. You are considering buying it. You have not touched it. You have photos, taken by yourself (or someone else)? James. Please give this kind of information in advance! People here can then judge how seriously to undertake such work. Lack of background can make translation unnecessarily heavy and stressful. Even with such information, it can take hours of cross-referencing, consulting, etc. Many

What, the whole lot?

Surely this thread hasn't stopped here? It was just getting interesting!

Someone once mentioned shooting in the shade, and not in direct sunlight. You could try 10 shots at different light angles and post the best two or three of those. (Sounds as though I'm trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs.)

One has to take into account that by following this policy, There is a big risk to be in a graveyard before starting collecting/buying... Jean, just sometimes you say the right thing.

Carlo, very good! I have a funa-tansu and had a set of keys made for it, so I think I can guess what you are saying! Actually if you include the little black makura yari I now have 5. They're pretty things, but... the poor man's katana? Brian, thanks for the warm words. The opposite could also be said, cf Reinhard on previous page; one of my closest Japanese friends has already chewed me out over this yari and the holes in my thinking.(= taken me to task.) Long lecture! Shades of: "Study and wait for ten years. Smear the glass panes of showcases in sword museums with the sweat of your forehead. When you can truly judge a sword, that will be the time to buy. Until then you are... !" This is one of the things I like about this world. You collect conflicting opinions, sometimes harsh, and allow them to sharpen you up! (Frisk?)

I love it! Yup, it carries enough truth to pass as fact! Hahahahahaha.... And yet, we guys think we're being very naughty and very clever, but she's somehow getting the attention she craves into the bargain... All's Well that Ends Well! hehehehe It gets a bit harder when you buy a yellow sports car on impulse though, and then wonder where to put it and how to explain it away.