falconj

No view of the blade at all, but then the tsuba is not correct, binding on combat cover, is not correct, fuchi kashira are not correct, binding on the tsuka is very ununiform (if that's a word? Jean wordcheck please! ) I think it is Chinese replica rubbish, a fake sword, don't buy it and send your next intended purchase here for prior appraisal as well, it may take time, but may save you money, and heartache! regards John

新年あけましておめでとうございます

Dave , when I contacted him last week, he was in Ayoama, thats in Minato Ward Tokyo, don't know that they have a goal there? I think you are right George, and I really don't think you could really offend anyone our " shiro kuma"!! regards to all John

yes, looks like it is signed I quite like it , would like to see more photo's of the blade please regards John

On the subject of polish or not polish, I thought I would attach some photo's of a sword I had restored some time ago, the sword had been stored in an attic in Tokyo, with no saya, and was kept wrapped on a muslin cloth, which had became wet over time and had rusted the blade very deeply into the pattern of the cloth, I had it polished and was very happy with the result regards John ps: sword signed 'nagamitsu saku'

Hi Mark, I paid quite a lot more than that for mine! "I paid £2300 for the sword" so if you are happy with it, great sit back and enjoy it! I know that my blade has been 'pinked' but I still really like it and enjoy it, my blade 'hamon' is nothing like yours and but you never know! one day, just maybe one day, someone might come out and say, 'gee' here is a 'kunitsuna' smith signing like this that we did not know about!!!!!!!!! don't hold your breath, just enjoy it, looks good to me! regards John

Hi Mark, Jacques, and All, I think Jacques may be right :- " About Kuni and Tsuna that can say two things: first, the smith has drastically changed his manner of signing; second, the signature is false." I to have a sword that is signed 'echizen ju sagami no kami fujiwara kunitsuna' but with the same suspect 'kuni' and 'tsuna' mine is also signed with another smith's name 'izumi no kami fujiwara kunihiro' on the other side of the tang ( ura-mei ? ) ( so maybe a joint smith signing, it was thought it maybe father and son) however my sword was pink slipped at my last shinsa for 'gimei' signature and the known kunitsuna's nakago-jiri and yasuri being different to mine, I think that maybe your sword was signed by the same smith as mine as the 'kuni' and 'tsuna' are signed in similar style. I also think if you like the sword then that is fine please see attached as always I may be wrong regards John

it is some more information for me, that I did not have! thanks anyway for putting that up nice try, Andreas regards John

Mark, any chance of a photo of the tang without your thumb covering the important 'end' bit of the tang , I have a blade signed the same but need to compare the nakago-jiri and the yasuri before commenting further many thanks regards John

Dave and Allan, 'katsumasa' don't forget page 80 of Slough's book, another example showing 'seki stamp' ( you both need looking after , I reckon :lol: ) when do we next catch up? canardly wait regards John

maybe it is such that as 'seki' smiths were that lowly rated at the time that they were not even asked to compete or the cost of entering may have been to great for these low ranking smiths to have submitted representative examples of their sword work in the Imperial Exhibit, military contests or whatever as described, and therefore 'nagamitsu, etc would not rank or even feature in the highly placed records of contests in the Tokyo contests, I do not think you could judge the results of a contest as described as the only measure of a smiths work at all, is there any record of how many of the seki smiths work was judged compared to the other establishments, I doubt it, as has been said many times before when discussion's like this come up or attribution of sword is given to one smith or another or whether it is gimei or not " that this is only one person's opinion and that he or she is not always correct, it is only his or hers opinion !" I have been told this by experts regards John ps: we might as well include " emura " in all this

No, I don't know the time limit to your question, just applied for the week got an appraisal date available , booked it and worked around that, did not have any juyo swords to submit John ( a few years later, I still haven't, but still wishing! )

Thank you Guido for correcting me, you are right again ( I may get you to proof read all my messages :lol: ) arrrr the shame! but John

Aah Guido, it is just as well you are watching, I must apologize for misleading the list, it was only 3 blades not 4, maybe I had to fast a typing finger syndrome , Jeremy, I have attached the Australian Customs information here as it is also important on the return to Australia with swords however I had the letter for permit typed out in Japanese and addressed to the Tokyo Customs Office Narita Airport Police Office Chiba Prefecture re: Temporary Registration for Japanese Swords I declared my name and Australian address and explained I had bought these swords in unaccompanied baggage to Japan for appraisal and included that information in the letter of the appraising people and their contact address and phone numbers. I asked for the temporary permit ( see attached ) for my stay in Japan for a week ( dates included ) and my return flight details to get them back out of Japan. I also included sword type ( ie tanto ) signed or unsigned and sword length. I also signed and dated the letter's with contact phone number's while in Japan and back in Australia have attached the permit for the 2000 year trip as all other later paperwork is at another location, but the procedure was the same later on, I dunno whether I just got lucky! or it was just how we planned it, but that was the instruction on, 'how to do it' from my Japanese contacts all worked well regards John

Gidday Jeremy, I have taken quite a few swords into Japan, some for polish, some for appraisal , I took oshigata of the swords that I took each time, and presented the copies of these to Australian Customs prior to leaving, they stamped the photocopy paper as leaving Australia and I informed them of my return date, which was also noted, I also took a Japanese language introduction letter to Japan Customs/Police at Narita with me which explained to them that I had 4 swords within my baggage, ( and the oshigata stamped by Australian Customs ) and that I would be presenting them for appraisal and would be departing from Japan home on the flight and departure date. ( approx 10 days ) I presented this to the officers at Narita and after waiting a few minutes was issued a temporary sword 'carrying' permit for my stay and travel around Tokyo, on my departure I informed the airline what was going on, they rang the Customs/Police they came to the departure area, inspected my bag, stamped and issued the paperwork and I returned to Australia. regards John Falconer

Gidday All, yes, I just wish to add my thanks to the shinsa team, organiser's etc and all those who gave talks and displays and help create a great friendly atmosphere for the weekend. loved the very popular oshigata school!! ( sensei said I excelled ) some of the very late night shinsa's in hotel rooms left a bit of suffering the following morning, but somehow it all seemed worth it. good location, set in the China Town area of Sydney, great meals and pubs etc, it was also great catching up with friends and meeting new people, all sharing their thought's and collection's with you, great display at the Sydney Art Gallery also, have attached a few photo's It seemed to end all to quick and we were heading back home on the plane, seemed like it was all a dream, :? regards John F

That's really IT!! Just one more sleep and a 5 hour plane trip and then we are right into it, :D canardly bloody wait, all packed up and ready to go! let's all hope for a big great weekend, if your going I'll see you there regards John Falconer http://www.sydneytokenkai.com/

Jean, (Finally, it has been pointed out that on the Sword Register, there is yet another typo! Obviously the nagasa is not 3.4 cm but 43.4 cm. I can only imagine that I got over-exited with this sword and failed to pay the necessary attention to detail when checking the text that it deserved.) you should have picked that up mate !! :lol: regards John Falconer

thanks Dave, I doubt it, but it's only 2 more sleeps and yes, I will see you there, can't remember whose the first to buy the drinks, maybe yours from memory :lol: really looking forward to this one!! regards John

aaaaaargg, you are right Jean, that of course should read sori 1.2cm or 12mm thanks John Falconer

Yes Tom, you are right, it has been far to long since our last chat, At your suggestion, I have remeasured the 'hacho' ( is that right? ) length, and it is 69.7cm not 68.00 as I first assumed the 'sori' is 12cm the kissaki is 4.0cm, ( is that chu-kissaki or o-kissaki ? ) thanks again for your help again, sounds good regards John Falconer Perth W.A.

Gidday there Chris and Tom, many thanks for the help and the reply, Tom, regarding the blade as I said I don't think the saya is original to this blade, though it all fits correctly when the saya is split. the length of blade is 68cm ( I suppose 2 and a bit shaku ) and signed 'kanemoto' and is what looks gunome with cedar temper mix, varying along the blade length have attached some not very good photo's of the blade, and a scan of the tang is at strange that the name 'kanemoto' does not appear in these kanji on the blade, maybe this is why I don't think the blade is from the saya, but as usual may well be wrong, what do you think? thanks again regards John Falconer Perth W.A.

Hi There All, can anyone help with the kanji written on the katana shirasaya I have? The writing style is a little difficult to clearly see the kanji. I think in the larger ( photo katana b ) kanji line maybe :- don't know? gaki or tsune yoshi haru or suke maybe? the other smaller line with a lot more kanji ( photo katana b ) is a bit to hard for me to work out also, likewise on ( photo katana a ) , but I would appreciate any help or hints the shirasaya contains a blade signed kanemoto, but I cannot read that any where on the shirasaya kanji pictured many thanks in advance regards John Falconer Perth W.A.

For $500 put it in your collection!!! just my opinion regards John

thanks for that Justin, will do and see you there regards John