raynor

Dragons like crocodiles grow their whole life. Old dragons! On a serious note, never seen menuki that large, not even out of the crazy shops in China.

Peter, you are a master of sifting trough the majority of, well, crap found online and finding entertaining, educational content. Thank you!

Maybe a unpapered tanto or wakizashi once a blue moon. Or an unpapared katana every leap year unless you are willing to buy close to garbage.

Currently only looking for some decent menuki, but my next sword will hopefully be a good koto piece so I can learn what they were trying to revive with shinshinto blades, which is the only ones I've seen in hand so far.

There is pinned FAQ's regarding oiling and maintenance, but there are variations depending on where you live. I live in southern Florida and are playing it safe by keeping a thin layer of oil on in shirasaya. Regarding the rust it depends on photos, until those are up try get your hands on some bone or antlers for preparation

If you plan to resell it among a western audience, get NBTHK papers? If you genuinely just want a high level opinion or confirmation, I do not think it matters what mentioned organization you have examine your blade, US Shinsa is feasible and acessible for American collectors. I believe Paul is correct.. we might be influenced to pick preferences depending on past "luck". Human nature. The three Japenese organizations mentioned all have the very top experts, some of whom are blade polishers etc. themselves, not just bookworms.

I'm a complete novice still and have no doubt the NBTHK have absolute top level Shinsa experts, the NTHK director/head judge takes care of among other things the emperors collection so either organizations opinion is as good as the others I would say. They're not throwing darts in the dark at either organization. Maybe here in the west NBTHK is more popular at the moment, but I would have no worries if NTHK/NTHK-NPO judged the sword so and so whether I should also add NBTHK opinion. Buy the sword not the paper and if you cant tell why I'd buy a book or two first, that's the route I'm going and quite enjoying it. That said, with NTHK papers at 15k it's most likely going to be a decent sword.

Okissaki, horimono, popping hamon.. yep that is surely something else dressed up as gendaito.

Oh youd be surprised how many (in the west) buying papers with a sword not a sword with papers

I think western focus on papers is a lot higher then in Japan, unless a dealer specializes in the western markets the lack of papers might not mean as much as someone non Japanese might percieve. That said papers from NBTHK and either of the two NTHK incarnations are a valuable bar for not so experienced collectors against the steadily improving scammers.

I agree, those photos are better but I am also at fault. Currently live in Miami where the sun is a lot whiter then back home in Norway. I still think sunlight, probably not in the tropics, and a decent angle gets the job done bar a professional setup.

Outside of a professional setup nothing beats sunlight, the challenge is the angles and getting right focus. Here's a quick shot with sunlight through my window.

Both his twins will sell for around ~$200 each. :D Who are these people spending that money on this obvious junk? I'm as green as they come on Japanese swords still and all my red flags are waving furiously. A fool and his money are easily parted.

Not an expert at all, but get the impression they're cast? Hint of a mold rim, and the details seem "soft". I might be wrong.

No trace of yokote?

Sure beats all the reality crap on TV these days, I'd watch that documentary. Some collector or museum will be very happy and a lady in Virginia wont have to worry about rent for her home. Swords like this are treasures but if the outcome is a son able to provide his mom a home, that beats owning all the swords in the world.

I assume there was/is a lot of big name swords kept quietly under wraps as unless you were Shogun you did not want people to know what you had.

Uchiko does not make sense unless one actually cuts with a blade, since it is tiny stones - an abrasive. Tho I've read somewhere polishers can finish a polish with uchiko use in mind from the owner, probably not common now in modern times?

People are getting their Tampa origami already?

I firmly believe good things come to good people. Do not think you could have come to a better place with your sword, the seas are full of sharks. Enjoy!

Mainly directed to experienced collectors but any fellow whippersnappers are welcome to chime in. For example does anyone know how long a well stored blade stay in polish before it starts fading? Must be decades. I know blades will settle down some over less time (how long?) after a polish but have not found any info on that either so far. In addition I am curious as to how peoples tastes changed over time, be it on hamon, hada, fittings, eras et cetera. As a whippersnapper I personally appreciate all good work, nothing wrong with a hamon that looks like a blazing fire but find my preference for now leaning heavily towards subtlety. When it comes to hamon I prefer suguha for that reason and it is apparently one of the harder ones to get right, plus I would assume sensible from a pure function or blade integrity point of view. The same currently fits for fittings, plain shakudo with rather modest well executed inlays or carvings look more appealing then overly shaped, shiny or decorated work. I will have to say there is apparently a LOT of Edo stuff out there compared to older actual wartime items to study.

This thread is so much better then the newscycle of the day. Smiles and swords all around. Coincidentally I am driving to Virginia as I write for spring break. Got a house in the Appalachians where we will relax in quiet and nature for a week. Any suggestions where I could go sword hunting :)

These proved to pose quite the mystery! John, I've seen my share of misunderstandings around Asian tables by westerners and probably partaken in my fair share, I dont think yours go high on the list.

A daikon was what I thought as well. I'm versed when it comes to Buddhism and Taoism, but quite blank on anything Shinto.

Hi, I wonder if anyone could tell me what these menuki are showing? Suposedly a shinto motif of some sort? Thanks!