Kevin

A little immoderate. :-) Whilst there are sharks on Ebay (and one or two that I’ve officially complained about), there are also some honest dealers. Mike Yamaguchi (komonjo) is, in my experience, one; Kanetoyo is another. In other cases you have folks selling Japanese swords who haven’t got the faintest idea of what they’ve got, and who are unable or unwilling to do the macro photography necessary for a potential buyer to make up their mind. They are not usually sharks – just ignorant. In my opinion – I can’t speak for anyone else – it is not good business to rip off customers. It is good business to provide a good service, by having people feel that what they’ve got in exchange for their money is a fair exchange, and that the whole transaction has been a pleasure. That also means going the extra mile – finding a particular sword for someone; trying to find something that they have failed to find elsewhere; finding time for someone to come round and look at a sword (and having a cup of coffee ready for when they arrive); or being prepared, if it is at all practical, to take the sword round to their place if they are at all serious about buying it. Sure, cock-ups happen. If it is your fault as a seller, you just apologise, sort it out, and try to make sure that it doesn’t happen next time. If the customer has made a hash of things, try and help. Cock-ups happen in all sorts of ventures. From a customer’s POV it doesn’t however mean that someone is trying to rip you off. That’s general business principals as I see them. I have used Ebay in the past, and I’ll probably use it again in the future. However, it doesn’t matter whether you’re selling out of a bricks and mortar shop or Ebay, or whether you’re selling widgets or nihonto. I would imagine that all of the good dealers, whether on Ebay or not, follow similar principals. After all, you can’t buy a good name, but it is worth more than money in the bank. As has often been said here, buy books and ask questions here before you commit. :-) In the meantime, as Brian said: Mike will have paid out various fees, and may have to relist, so it would be a nice gesture. From practical experience, courtesy and politeness go a long way. :-) regards Kevin

Given the variations in sori, blade thickness, taper and length, and the variations in dimensions for the tang, I'd figure that it would be better to either make a shirasaya from scratch for that particular sword, or else get one made. The alternative is that you have a high chance of finding that the blade or tang either doesn't fit a shirasaya found at random, and it won't go home, or else it will fit (with a bit of bashing, which isn't good) but now it sticks, or else it does fit and the blade rattles around inside because things are too loose. Then again, you might get lucky and find one that fits perfectly. However, there's still the question of how clean an old reused shirasaya might be inside and whether it's going to scratch up a good polish. I've seen some brutally mucked up shirasaya that have had rusted blades in them, with rust particles rammed into the grain of the wood. Rust is a wonderful abrasive - you find it as an ingredient in jeweller's rouge. Just what you want next to a nicely polished blade. OK, with a tight shirasaya you could split it and start altering it; you might even be able to line a loose shirasaya if you're very very good, and you could split and clean a dirty one. All this however depends upon your skill; with enough skill and knowledge (somewhere roundabout good cabinet maker level), it might be a reasonable solution. However, on balance, getting a new one made is, I feel, the best solution. Kevin Jones

I obviously can't comment on these particular circumstances. OTOH, I have dealt with Fred on many an occasion, and in my experience he's a nice guy who has always been straight with me. As I recall, his email box has been spammed to hell, giving him severe problems. He advised me the other day that the best way to get in touch by email was to use the email form on his website. I think it's something to do with filters and whatnot. Further, on one or two occasions his email server has thrown a strop and refused to handle an email not sent by the email form on his site. Then again, I've had no problems when I have used his email form, though he advises that if you don't hear from him in a couple of days, send the email again. regards Kevin Jones

I would say that he is having a bad bout of typos with the Roman alphabet and English translations, possibly coupled with the odd brainfart. It happens. :-) I've buggered things up before now with typos and brainfarts, despite English being my native tongue. :-) If you look further down, he says that they are NBTHK papers. I think logical deductions probably have to start from that point. Kevin Jones

Kanetoyo, in my experience, you can trust implicitly. Haven't dealt with the other individual though. Kevin Jones