piryohae3

I know he carves his own horimono which are outstanding. Is that what you were referring to?

Who are your modern day favorites? For what reasons?

I feel the same way. I find the hamon made by contemporary swordsmiths to be far more interesting than at any other time of history. Who knows how many polishes a Kamakura sword has been through. In my non-expert opinion, koto swords feel lighter and swifter than newer swords because of the sheer amount of metal lost due to overpolishing. And since many tachi are koshi-sori that have been shortened, it alters the shape. It's just too bad that they're shadows of their former selves. I like modern swords in that they're the original shape they're intended to be and if you have the money, you can customize it any way you want. As you mentioned, modern tosho have it hard since they can only make 2 katanas or 3 wakizashis a month but still have to charge enough to cover the cost of raw materials, support themselves and their families, and pay the other craftsmen involved in the sword making process. Adding to that I'd say that the apprentices have it just as hard since they're learning for 5+ years without pay and need seed money to the tune of $100k when they open their own shop. Not only that but the only time they get to practice making swords is after their master has finished his work for the day and they have to do household chores on top of that and not all of them will be good enough to make a living from making swords, some will have to get a second job yet they commit themselves to the craft anyway. AND there are few people in the world who have the cash to afford a new sword so their number of available customers is quite limited. Joe, from whom have you commissioned swords from? It's hard finding good pictures of swords made by contemporary smiths.

I suppose Japanese swords having a harder, sharper edge suited their needs just fine since they weren't clashing on things like chain mail or plate armor.

I wonder how swords of other cultures fare in battle VS Japanese swords in terms of durability.

What are the practical benefits of the more complex lamination types?

Then I wonder if European swords will also reveal a hamon if given a Japanese style polishing.

As far as I know the kawagane is high carbon and hard. I wonder if it could maintain a sharp cutting edge whilst being less prone to chipping than a blade that's undergone yaki-ire.

Fusahiro Shimojima (3 mins): https://www.cnn.com/videos/arts/2018/10/15/fusahiro-shimojima-samurai-swordsmith-style-orig.cnn Kimura family (4.5 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSKFuDJOzog Gassan Sadatosh (13 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa6l6bGoy6Q Matsuba Kunimasa (13.5 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4v8u1rZZ6k Komiya family (29 mins): https://vimeo.com/316262351 Fujiyasu Masahira (60 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeoLXgq3UWA

What's the issue with new kanteisho? Is it because it makes people question the validity of the old papers?

Those are the only 2 incidents in NBTHK's history?

I heard that one reason the NBSK was formed was because smiths and other sword related artisans felt that the NBTHK didn't represent their interests well. Can anyone elaborate?

I know that there was scandal in the 70s where swords were rated juyo that didn't merit it, and then later on some higher ups in the NBTHK had unregistered swords. Besides these 2, I can't find info on other scandals that caused the Ministry of Education to withdraw funding and support and the withdrawal of 2 special awards. Anyone have info on what the other scandals involved?

70% increase in stiffening? That's incredible!

It doesn't look like enough metal is cut out to make much difference but looks can be deceiving. Wondering what the weight difference is between a sword that has one VS one without.

Hmm I suppose I don't have a developed eye yet because I think both are equally excellent. Nice swords!

Koto or modern, they all look pretty darn good to me.

Are all of those shinsakuto?

I've done that but the hada looks blurry to me, both antique and modern. Guess I don't have the eye to tell the difference.

Hmmm if it's not the satetsu, then what other raw material could it be?

I wonder if koto-like swords could be made if the NBTHK's tatara used satetsu from different regions like in the past. Like if they made one batch of tamahagane from Bizen satetsu, another batch from Nara, etc

I often get vague answers like "they look different." Is it the hada, sugata, or hamon? All 3? I've seen in a number of videos featuring contemporary smiths that say they're trying to recreate Kamakura period blades but none feel like they've fully achieved it. What features of the koto swords specifically are they trying to recreate? I can find great HD pictures of koto blades that show the hada really well (as pictured below) but not for contemporary swords because they're taken too far away to see it. I want to see a side by side comparison to see if modern swords really don't look as good or if modern tosho are being modest.

Thanks for the reply Tanto, what you said makes sense to me. Wouldn't papered masterpiece tosogu of any school cost much more than several thousand? The ones that I can find online are already sold with no price listed so I'm guessing it'd be around $10k or even more.

Anyone think the price is reasonable?

The seller is matsu-kaze.Japan. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERB-Signed-OMORI-School-Wave-FUCHI-KASHIRA-18-19thC-Japanese-Edo-Antique/273489937627? hash=item3fad4544db:g:cWkAAOSwVYtbsxud With my amateur eyes, I see that it's really well made though the lack of papers and no refund policy is a bit concerning.