Curran

I agree. With US$ so strong, seemingly a good time to buy. But Yahoo!Japan borders on a desert right now, with little supply. Most things tempting have a hook or quicksand about them. Watching a lot of the non Japanese flippers get scissored by the current rate spike, but it also dissuades me from listing one or two tsuba I'd thought about selling. Sort of a sit-n-wait period. Curran

Yes... I know those strange looks well. I forget who it was that taught me that it can mean spit, but it was a Japanese woman who had asked me if I had any hobbies. I guess I told her, "my favorite Japanese hobby is the [artistry] of spit". I remember a very perplexed look and wondering what part of the sentence I had butchered. Probably a language teacher I had in NYC, who relayed this information to me as politely as possible in front of other students.

It happens. If we poured a pint and raised a toast to every good NMB member we've lost here in the last 20 years, it would be a month long bender. Just smile and remember them well. They all gave us some enjoyment and some f@cking funny moments. --Save somberness for Monday.

For >$1000, must have been something interesting. I've had that experience too when something is very sparsely bid up (4 or 5 bids), I put in my max bid at maybe 2x the price at the time. Say 45,000 yen for something at 22000 yen when I bid. About 5 to 10 seconds later, the item has 25 to 30 bids more... right up to my maximum. Yeaah! I barely one?! Or did I just get stuffed by an algorithm that ping me up to my max bid? Pretty sure I got stuffed. So, other than that Miyamoto Musashi tsuba and one other, I haven't bid above 100,000 yen on anything Yahoo!Japan in a very long time. Way way way too much shilling and other games. Worse than Wall Street these days. Curran

Dan is correct. Dr. Lissenden passed. I enjoyed corresponding with him and that he had the heart to get his PhD so late in life. Now that I am back at a university, I am considering the same. Just to be clear: https://jitenon.com/word/13451 While I was half joking here, when conversing with someone in Japanese outside of this area: be careful.

"Tsuba" can mean [hand guard] or [spit] depending upon the kanji used. If not used in context, Japanese that hear you using the word tsuba probably think you mean [spit]. In that regards, a "tsubaologist", might mean an expert in the art or science of spitting. So, with a snort and a hock of a loogie, bring on the tsubaologists. Just be sure to avoid the line of fire.

*sigh* Yahoo!Japan is a shillfest these days.

They are fine. Dependable for a steady stream of fairly priced items. Having been on the other side of the equation, having listened to my fellow USA citizens sound impossibly rude in another language... stomping all over any sense of decorum... AND this was in Europe- give them a pass for their bluntness in English. After many years studying Japanese, I am still embarrassed by how (intermediate at best) is my communication level. That East-West divide is particularly tough with Japanese. Even Korean feels like a walk in the park vs trying to really communicate in Japanese.

Kubikiri ? http://www.shoubudou.co.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=216 花押 ---> A hananata. Flower cutter / chopper. My wife uses a smaller one of these. Kept wicked sharp. She doesn't want me to shave with a straight edge razor, but she flings here hananata around quick enough that she could cut the testicles off a gnat while it is mid-air.

Most likely that it was added later.

Thank you Mark and Raymond for handling these inquiries with the depth and honesty that you do. The amount of information you and others provide might be hard for outsiders to grok. Significant background knowledge required in this particular corner of the art world, most often given for free simply to help.

Yes, it was an interesting one with very clean asayugi hada. Very rare I would try and buy something like it, but it was too interesting to me.

Oh yes: The theme: 12 Kens, right? The magical #12 for the Buddhists. Theme comes up as the "12 Generals" or the "12 Stars" or the "12 Swords". I will have go go digging in my notes. I ran into the explanation within the last year, thanks to a dealer's website in Japan.

The one you bought from Steve is probably mid Hoan. Maybe kodai Hoan. I thought about buying it. Very good bargain compared the last two of that design that I saw. --I had to slap my hand away, and only bought one of Steve's listings. There is another very wallet friendly Higo Kamiyoshi up that someone should do me the favor and buy. I'm really trying to save up for something and have to pass up a loud (maybe not screaming, but loud) bargain.

Start with several books. See the list Marius gave, --> or a more economical start would be the Translation of TOrigoye by Bob Haynes. It is printed n sold by the Northern Carifornia Sword Club and incredible bang for the buck. Text heavy and light on pictures, but you will use it for years. Also, Markus Sesko's translations of TOSOGU CLASSROOM #1 and #2. Worth every penny to me.

An interesting one for the books: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k1064432519 Full disclosure- I bid on this one. The seller pulled the auction, and seems to like to do it. Sometime of these dealers seem nuttier than squirrel poop. Anyway, a Sadaichi (or Sadakazu #2 if you want to read the second kanji that way). Nice gendaito.

Shaaaa.. Here, a shotgun reply and the cops understand. Especially in Kennesaw.

That is a very good list. After selling off our old house and many of the possessions in it, I also sold down many of my Nihonto books. Your list above is a list of many I chose to keep and enjoy. Some like the one you pictured are full of best examples, for a sub $100 pricetag. I pop that one open at least once a month.

I was going to say, those Florida Token Kai represent a LOT of good reading from the NBTHK and other sources. Lots of value for $50. I'd been re-reading my set recently.

HI Steve- Email sent. Curran

As Jean said, my opinion is that most are Nata romanticized as kubikiri. As Reid said, cutting of a head isn't like cutting through SPAM. It is a lot harder than it looks. Sometimes you make a muck of it catching a bone wrong. Knackering a pig or cow can be done with a fairly modest knife. Personally, I would prefer a non forward curved blade. --- Wife was taught to use a small similar knife in florist and ikebana studies, usually reversed in a way that was more of a pulling action and required only slight forward hook with the blade slightly larger near the tip than from where the pulling action starts low on the blade.

Kamakura-bori style tsuba have little to do with the Kamakura period. The "wood carving style of the Kamakura period" tsubas do not => tsubas from Kamakura period. Careful with that. RKG's tsuba is actual Kamakura<->Nambokuchu.

Just for you: https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/22309.html Like the blade. Hate the koshirae.

Very hard to get Ko-Mino papers these days. I'd dare say they are more rare than Ko-Goto. Nice.

Great reply by BaZZa, and great older thread by Steve W.