Rich S

What ever happened to Renaissance Wax? I use it on my vintage and antique knives, but haven't tried it on my swords. It is supposed to be what museums use to preserve antique swords, etc. Has worked quite well for my knives. Rich S

I've been out of active buying of swords for a long time. No idea what type of prices these are bringing now, especially those that have been apparently remounted for iaido, etc. Rich S

Stephen - Yes, it's one of the mei of Ichihara Nagamitus. See: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/naga.htm Rich S

I also think African, but check with the folks on Ethnographic Weapons. They will get you a sure answer. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=2 Rich S

Thanks, just changed my password. Rich S

Don't forget to look for some beautiful, hand made, antique puukko while you're in Finland! Rich S

The guys are right, I did start the board as part of my site that Brian now hosts. Originally it was call the Japanese Sword Message Board. When I got tired of answering 10,000+ questions that some joker has a genuine ninja sword and other questions of that ilk. I tossed up my hands and begged Rich Turner if he would like to take it over. He graciously did and greatly improved it. Rich T renamed it the Nihonto Message Board. When he bugged out of it (probably for the same reasons as I did :-) Brian took it over and again improved on it - making it the premier forum for Japanese sword in English language and add lots of good stuff; new links, articles,etc. He also most kindly took over host my site: The Japanese Sword Index (now at: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm). My site has always been a collaborative effort with excellent input from many, many Nihontophiles. I want to genuinely thank both Rich T and Brian for what they've done for me and the Nihonto community internationally. This is without question the best forum for discussion and most importantly, education about Japanese swords and fittings. It is academic, yet fun and well run. Kudos to both Rich T and Brian for the job they have done making it so. I'm eternally greatful to both of them. I don't participate as much as I use to or want to, just now there are many MUCH,MUCH, MORE knowledgeable than I to help out the "newbies" and answer each others questions and show some really great swords and tsuba. My collection has dwindled down to about 35 Nihonto (half of which are tanto), about 200 tsuba (I prefer iron; esp. Saotome/Tembo, Nara and various sukashi schools. Also a hundred or so fuchi/kashira, some odd fuchi and a few sets of menuki. And oh yes Lacquer. I also study and collect other sharp pointy things and have for over 60 years; from old English pocket knives, to Bronze Age weapons, Kris (or Keris if you prefer), now mostly into Nordic knives, mainly Finnish puukko. I have loved, owned and passed on to others probably over 1000 pieces due that time. Still have about 700 various pieces; some English,some SAKs, some bronze, some mid-Eastern damascus swords, Khodmi, puukko, and even some modern assisted openers and flippers. I was born with a knife in my hand and will likely go out with one in it (I certainly hope so). So Kana and all the other new folks (I understand there are even a few ladies among our group), join in and learn, share and pass on what you learn. We are all students and teachers and also remember that we are just temporary custodians of the Nihonto we are priviledged to currently own and care for. We stand on the shoulders of those before us and those later will stand on yours. That is the way of the universe. Study, learn, enjoy, pass it on and hopefully stay somewhat sane :-) in the process. Welcome aboard. I will now end this rambling, overly long epistle and say good night. Rich S

Thanks Darcy, I found the mail option on Firefox and set it to use my Mozilla Thunderbird as my mailer. Didn't see it in there before. Works fine now. Still learning to use Win 8.1 (so far it's ok, but I liked my Win XP much better). Rich S

Darcy - Runs fine on Firefox on Win 8.1. Only two suggestions: First, the sword in the background of the links page makes the links hard to read. Second, the email auto connects to Microsoft mail (which I don't have an account or use), instead of allowing the user to use his/her own email software. (PS - I hate Javascript!) Nicely done. Rich S

After nearly 20 years the Earthlink version of the Japanese Sword Index will be not more. I'm dropping Earthlink and loosing JSI as a result. But thanks to Brian, it will live on on his server. Please change you bookmarks and webpage links to: The Japanese Sword Index http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto Many, many thanks to Brian for hosting and preserving the work of so many folks contributing to the knowledge of Nihonto. Rich S

Personally, I tend to be sceptical of provenance given by sellers. Too often made up stories or unproven family legends. My motto in this situation: buy the sword, not the story. Rich S

In short, collectors do it for love of Nihonto; to he$$ with the value. Investors are just delusional :-) Rich S

The radiating lines into the non-seppa dai is a common Saotome design. I have several such in my meager collection. Perhaps a Saotome plate (they made them for many other schools) with a Shoami sukashi? Just a thought. Rich S

G - Very interesting. Would also be interesting to see same y-axis vs timre (era and/or year). To see what lengths were popular during what eras. Rich S

Bruno - My digicam died a while back and I haven't bothered to get another. Besides, I never could get a decent pic of a sword that showed enough detail to be of use. Sorry. Rich

I would agree with Chris. I have two originally civilian mounted WW II swords: an Ishido Teruhide and a Kanesane. The Teruhide is gendai, the Kanesane is non-traditional. Both are a bit on the light side and moderate sori. I believe both were made for iaido/iai practice. At least that's what I used my Teruhide for (when I had legs/knees/back that worked). Rich S

Chris - I don't recall who said it originally, but the quote goes: "Never under estimate the power of human stupidity" Rich

Ken - you're much more knowledgeable than I, but I don't see the copper color on the mimi. I do see the color in the flower sukaski, but are you sure it's not just left over rust? I've never heard of a copper - iron sanmai tsuba. What ever, it is a very nice tosho. Rich

What makes a tsuba desirable? Don't forget about the collector fashion factor; that is, what other collectors consider the "IN" type of tsuba that's "hot" this month. Tastes change in any collectible market; competition between collectors also plays a role in desirability and also price. One factor does remain constant - condition. Don't collect "fishing sinkers" :-) Rich

What software is needed to view it? I'm running an old computer with a dialup connection. Can't view Youtube, etc. Rich

My home has a pretty constant temp and humidity, so I store my swords dry - no oil. I uchigo them about once a year. Never had any rust problems in over 40 years. I suspect an NCO sword would require even less in the way of care unless you live in a very humid climate. Rich

The really funny thing is these people are allowed to vote. _________________ Bob H. ------------------------ Allowed to vote! I'm surprised they are even allowed to reproduce. Some gene lines just shouldn't be preserved. Rich

Also, it was not considered proper for a samurai to use firearms; they were for the mass draftees. Firearms were beneath the level of a true samurai. As all know one cheap poorly trained rifleman could take down numerous top trained and battle tested samurai with swords. Also in a strange way a sword can be life giving when used to relieve extreme and unbearable pain. Rich

And one last one:

And still another: