Nihonto Chicken

If it's something I really want, I put in a snipe bid at maybe 5% more than I really want to pay, knowing that in most cases in which I win, I won't be jammed up to my max. This way, if I'm outbid, I can relax with the knowledge that the "winner" overpaid. The real reason for snipe bids is to not accommodate a "chiseler". This is a person, often a Fleabay neophyte, who treats the on-line venue as a typical live auction (it is not, a live auction is primarily bid limited, Fleabay is primarily time limited). He or she does not enter his/her max proxy bid and leaves it at that. No, the chiseler enters a bid a bit higher than the showing top bid, and if not successful, enters a yet marginally higher bid, and repeats again and again until successful or out of gas (or time). Once showing as the current successful top bid, the chiseler will quit, until outbid, in which case he/she will crank up again. A late snipe bid by another party does not allow him/her the time to chisel away.

I have one buke zukuri mounted sword in which the saya is about four inches longer than it needs be. Given the plain horn kashira, plain black lacquer saya, upper end fuchi, menuki and tsuba as well as the quite thin and light unokobi zukuri blade, and I think it's a decent bet it could have been a court sword. Lead your compatriots to think you sport an impressively big blade, there's no chance you will need to draw it out to show proof! Carry around a feather instead of an anchor.

Not to hijack the highjack ( :D ), but in addition to Nihonto, I have interest in old fountain pens. Back when Mel Fisher found the 1715 treasure in 1961, the more severely corroded of the silver coins then had no worth above their melt value. To realize some additional income, he sold 4000 ounces of these to the Parker Pen Co., which in turn made their first limited edition pen, the Spanish Treasure Fleet - 1715 sterling silver Parker 75 Cisele fountain pen, for $75 retail (the standard edition was $25 at the time). This "limited edition" marketing of pens has now jumped the shark, and most current editions are way overpriced ripoffs. But this first 1715 Fleet pen in its original box with all the included accouterments now goes for well over a kilobuck. I happen to have one, but only the pen, alas. Here's a link to a description of this pen and its origin, if interested: http://www.parker75.addr.com/Reference/Spanish_Treasure/Spanish_Treasure_Cisele.htm [/hijack] :lol:

Just for a giggle as an aside, here are some pics of my Showa Shoshinshi Fukumoto Kumemune (same mei as on page 40 of Yumoto) showing an original mizukage, definitely not a saiha. I obtained this piece in rusty original wavy wartime polish, and, using a Lohman kit, repolished it, ironing out the waves. The finish polish wasn't quite as successful as the foundation, but was still decent enough to expose the mizukage, including an island of yubashiri on the tachi ura side (see upper end of first pic). Sorry for the poor cell phone shots, but they're good enough to show the mizukage: Note also the dark points coming off the gunome peaks, pointing toward the shinogi. I don't know that I've ever seen this before or an explanation thereof. Somewhat neat for a ho-hum Showato, eh?

Jim Kurrasch lived about an hour and a half south of here in the nice community of Goleta, just north (well, actually east) of Santa Barbara. I visited him a few times to have him evaluate the stray nihonto that followed me home. We good naturedly mixed it up a bit at times on the old forums (Cole or Yahoo?) as to whose town was a better residence. Jim indeed believed in using uchiko, on out of polish swords, at least. I sometimes risk the wrath of greybeards here in recommending a Jim Kurrasch Memorial Power Uchiko Job to newbies inquiring what to do for their rusty or gray swords. I realize this may not be appropriate for a blade in fresh Japanese polish. However, in my collecting experience I somehow have managed to avoid accumulating any of those. :lol: But the uchiko works wonders on the more readily available battered and butchered Bungo that tend to find me. Jim was a good guy, quite opinionated and a bit of a curmudgeon, but knowledgeable and ready to share of his experience. RIP.

Just for grins and giggles, here are a couple of shots of my October, 1942 Yoshiharu sword showing some midare utsuri (apology for amateurish photos). Note the chu to hiro suguha hamon (nioi deki). So the variations in the utsuri in this case are not likely due to variations in the quenching clay. Nor are they likely due to variations in the steel composition as it is either muji hada or mill steel (no Showa or Seki stamp). I would guess that this utsuri example is an incidental result rather than intended by the smith, this blade being a rather modest Pacific War effort with quite wavy wartime polish (though somewhat nicely finished nakago). Anyway, FWIW:

For those of more modest means, you might console yourselves with the following truism. "It is not only important that you have a collectible as nice as another, but equally important that you paid less for yours."

FWIW, nijuba and sanjuba in my otherwise pedestrian Bishu Kiyomitsu:

Okay, not menuki per se, I had concerns re the back side construction. Still, the workmanship doesn't appear to be all that bad on the front side, rather passable to my eye at least. Thanks for the info as to the origin and use.

Almost a match, mine has an added flower motif, but at least it's facing the opposite direction: Measures 4.0 cm by 1.7 cm. Unusual construction, very thin, I'm thinking perhaps a very low gold alloy, like 9 kt, or perhaps shakudo? What do you all think?

Battered and butchered Bungo. Well, if not exactly my favorite, why do I seem to attract so many? More seriously, I have a thing for masame, so therefore Yamato. Unfortunately, given their relative scarcity, I'm limited to seeing them on monitors and book pages, and have no hopes of obtaining an example of my own.

Given the current state of polish apparent in the photos, this blade looks like an excellent candidate for some concerted uchiko work to bring out the hamon and hada. Link below to numerous posts on this consideration: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/search.php?keywords=power+uchiko&terms=all&author=Nihonto+Chicken&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Well, time to give the old uchiko debate another spin. Link below to previous posts on the matter. Use good uchiko only, absolutely no Western grits such as sandpaper, micromesh, Flitz, Simichrome, etc., and use the uchiko only between the ha and shinogi (stay off the shinogi itself). http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/search.php?keywords=power+uchiko&terms=all&author=Nihonto+Chicken&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

It's been polished down some, but not a whole bunch. If the effect were indeed tsukare utsuri, that is, shin tetsu coming up at the surface, then there necessarily has to be a break in the hada pattern at the border between the core steel and the skin steel. No way is the core hada (usually a coarse masame?) going to match up with the skin hada (mostly itame here, going to masame near the mune). There is no such hada discontinuity that I can see. I took some photos as below. I could only get small portions, given the lighting and my poor little point and shoot camera, which liked to see its reflection in the picture when I got close enough to take a macro shot. And despite the loose hada, the regular hada isn't all that prominent. The ha is to the right in the below pics. Note the hada is consistent from the mune across the utsuri area in question and to the ha. To perhaps muddy the water a bit, also consider that with light from a different direction, the hamon is bright, the area adjacent it is dark and the next area toward the mune is bright. This as opposed to this

Was just reviewing my old threads this eve and re-encountered this post. Okay, given that there may be legitimate contentions as to the basis for the pictured hataraki, just how could this ever be interpreted as shintetsu??? Appears to be the exact opposite in terms of appearance. Enlighten me, please, I'm eager to learn.

If you are serious about intelligently obtaining nihonto (whether just one or many), then your first few hundred dollars spent should be on books. Additionally you might find a mentor and attend a regional show, but those options aren't always available to everyone, but the books are. Here's a link to a thread on the subject of books: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8341 Here is my meager, but I believe somewhat meaningful, entry to that thread: "I believe my first book was Military Swords of Japan 1868-1945 (Fuller & Gregory). Not the ideal first text, but I bought it only because I was simultaneously purchasing my first nihonto at a militaria antique store, and this book plus my age assessment convinced me that the kamikaze tanto was legit, as it indeed proved to be, although with a mill steel blade as it turned out. My first general text was Yumoto, and I still think it's not bad, it's better to spend a few more bucks and take small steps getting into the awfully deep waters of nihonto. From there it's a good move as many have mentioned to Sato and Yoshihara & Kapp, perhaps throw in Harris & Ogasawara and Bottomley & Hopson as well for spice. What has perhaps not been mentioned so far is a robust glossary/dictionary of nihonto terms, such has been published by the To-ken Society of Great Britain and (I think) the Northern California Japanese Sword Club (likely others as well). Very helpful when running into new terms as one's education progresses. Once one has a good start with these basics, it's time for The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Nagayama. Too much for a neophyte to begin with, this is a really good book for someone who has assimilated the other basic texts, and a branching point for more in-depth (and expensive) books (Fujishiro, etc). I have much admiration for the Nagayama text in "bringing it all together", a seriously worthwhile book, IMO."

Chinese crapper dockside Nagoya replica? Is nothing sacred? :lol:

Yeah, I'm still hoping to fund my first Natsuo purchase. Maybe something like this: I've got $500 saved up already! Won't be long now!!!

Just for grins I'll mention that my Showa stamped Kumemune blade (same mei as on page 40 of Yumoto) has a quite apparent original mizukage. Other than that, there's not much hataraki to look at. :lol:

Okay, home again, here are the numbers: 28.9cm nagasa 2.9cm motohaba .75cm motokasane (at machi, .80cm max. width behind machi) .2cm sori If not utsuri, what are the cloud-like bands? Note that they depend on the angle of the illumination, at certain angles what are bright in these pics appear instead as dark bands, the effect is definitely based on the micro-structure of the steel and is not a surface cosmetic feature such as, say, hadori. Edit: Surfing through the sales section I noticed two sue Bishu Kiyomitsu tanto for sale. Both strongly resemble mine in the hada, including the loose hada and ware. Both are indicated by the previous sellers (sword dealers) to exhibit utsuri, though neither show it to the degree of my example. Did I over-uchiko? So what to do to "tone it down" so as not to shock the nihonto greybeards?

Look at the long, thin dark line near the mune in the last two pics in my original post. No acid treatment, just a lot of uchiko work. Have to run off to an appointment, will provide these later. Just wondering whether this tanto would be worth a NCJSC shinsa lottery ticket this August (assuming there are some entry slots still available).

I have a beefy tanto signed Bishu Kiyomitsu, 1568. I tend to suspect it as kazu uchimono due to its loose hada, but then its hamon and utsuri give me second thoughts. Opinions? Here are some pics, apologize for the poor quality, the camera never seems to see what my eyes do, damned tricky to get the lighting right to digitally show what I view easily. Overall: Utsuri closer up (ura side out of focus, but still gives a decent general idea): Hada and utsuri still closer: Better pics of hamon (also note the long ware near the mune): Soooo, submit for shinsa, or use it to slice baloney? Inquiring minds ...

Any scabby red rust is bad, but some rusts are worse than others. I had two Pacific War era swords with rust much like on your blade and visually nearly identical in rust type and extent to each other. As it turned out, the Showa stamped (non-traditional steel) blade turned out to have quite shallow corrosion pits, whereas the traditional tamahagane steel blade had pits that went to China (quite the opposite of what one would usually expect). In any event, here are some earlier posts of mine that address what you might do to potentially see what's there without doing any damage to the blade (basically get an uchiko ball or uchiko powder and spend a few hours getting up close and friendly with your sword): search.php?keywords=power+uchiko&terms=all&author=Nihonto+Chicken&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search Under the red rust there will be pitting. The big question is how deep it will be. The uchiko will eventually knock off the scabby red surface rust and clarify what activity is there to see in the metal, excepting the pits, which will remain black. Just be sure to oil the blade after the uchiko work to preclude more rusting of the naked steel. Do not try to use western polishing creams like Flitz or Simichrome, they are fine but very hard grit abrasives that cut too quickly and, due to the hardness, burnish the metal as they cut, therefore hiding the metal structure rather than enhancing it. Get an uchiko ball from, say, Fred Lohman (no relation), that has the appropriate soft, fine abrasive that will not damage the sword by cutting too fast and will reveal the activity in the non-pitted areas. Good fortune! Edit: Do NOT rub the uchiko over the shinogi (the ridge line running down the side of the blade). You never want to round off this ridge line, this is the bane of sandpapered swords, the most damage that can be done to a sword by removing the least amount of metal.

Thanks for the reassurance! Re relative artistic merit, though I know little about kodogu, I had thought that the fuchi was the best piece, given that it is signed, consists of a thick gold overlay on the copper base, and exhibits much finer nanako and work in general. To me the tsuba is somewhat reminiscent of dockside Nagoya, though much better work (still not up to the level of the fuchi, IMO). In any event, unless the wolf comes to the door, I intend to retain the sword intact and divest it all in one piece when the time comes*. *"Everybody has to die, but I always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?" - William Saroyan (statement to the Associated Press, five days before his death on May 13, 1981)

In this case there are no pockets in the saya to accommodate the implements implied by the tsuba ana, so the seppa overlap has no real effect other than visual. Still, you may well be correct. I can only say that the rather well known dealer who sent the sword to Japan for shinsa opined that it was in his opinion stone dead original from prior to the Meiji era.