FZ1

Aahhhh! Got it - thanks Steve. I obviously overthought that Cheers, Jon

Another (probably) dim question! Note: I'm not looking to buy, just trying to learn. The sword in the following link is attributed to Yoshimasa (Den Senjuin) - 吉正（伝千手院） https://eirakudo.shop/token/tachikatana/detail/677449?ProductCategoryID=4&SubcategoryID=21&classby=Subcategory I've read Darcy's comments about the "Den" attribution in this thread https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/14760-nidai-muramasa/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-155353 so I appreciate that the NBTHK panel may have been using the "wriggle room" described in Darcy's comments. However, I can't find a Kamakura Senjuin smith called Yoshimasa in any of the usual references. I appreciate that I may not have enough reference material (or not yet adept at using it) so I might just be missing something. However, if that's not the case, my question is: Why would the NBTHK panel attribute a blade in this way? i.e. to a named smith, but one that wasn't recorded as being in the named school? Any info gratefully received. Thanks, Jon

If you're selling it on NMB, you could just link to this thread to save yourself some work!

Ahhhh - sorry Geraint, I'm not too bright these days! Jon

Hi Geraint, I think the OP included the Nihonto club link just to identify (and provide some info on) the smith. I don't think the "known examples" sword in that maker's entry is relevant to the sword under discussion. (Well that's what I assumed anyway) Cheers, Jon

I haven't made any sales, but advice received since joining has saved me from buying "unwisely", so I've sent a couple of quid out of the money I would have wasted!

Brian has provided a chart of date kanji on the front page of the site (see below). That may be of help to you. Cheers, Jon

Thanks Jussi. Its interesting that NBTHK put a date attribution on some papers but not others.

Hi Johan, I'm no expert, but I think its a superb job - well done for persevering!

Just spotted anther one - Tanto this time. https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/19610.html Although this one appears to be cut-down from a longer blade, I assume Tanto sugata varyi less than longer swords, so does that make it more difficult to pin them down to a date range? Jon

On one of the motorbike forums I'm on, you can't post or respond to wanted or for sale ads until you hit 10 posts (i.e. in the main section of the forum). I think its the same board engine as this one, so might be a possible way of dissuading this sort of nasty behaviour? Jon

Thanks Michael, much appreciated. Cheers, Jon ( EDIT) P.S. sorry, I should have used "search" first!

Morning all. As per the title, does anyone know of anyone in the UK making tsunagi, and shirasaya? Any info and/or contact details would be gratefully received. Cheers, Jon

You're right Chris, but everyone has different interests and my family are no different - they don't "get" my collecting tastes. Perhaps it's better for such collectables to go to people who will really appreciate them, rather than our families accepting them reluctantly and then not appreciating what they have.

A quick Google shows this article by Markus S. https://markussesko.com/2013/02/24/the-difficulties-of-classifying-kamakura-blade-shapes/ It doesn't answer the main question, but may add to the plausibility of "wriggle room" to be exploited for marketing purposes?

Thanks Jussi - I was hoping you might chip-in with your knowledge of early blades, so your comments are much appreciated. I think you're confirming my suspicions that the Late Kamakura attribution is indeed used quite "liberally". I'm interested to hear other views as well. @Rivkin - Kirill - Please can you explain the "Hard Reset" comment? Or point me to a source that explains it? I'm new to all this, so I don't (yet) know many of the basics. Thanks!

P.S. All these are long blades, but there are quite a few Tanto that this applies to as well. Jon

I'll preface this post by saying that I am not looking to buy any of these blades, I'm just trying to learn about the hobby and its marketing practices. In my regular trawls of dealer sites, I notice that several Japanese sites have a number of NBTHK-papered mumei blades that they list as "Late Kamakura". My question is, are they really Kamakura, or are the dealers listing them as such because earlier blades may command a premium? The NBTHK don't put a date on their Hozon or TH attribution, so if the school that the blade is attributed to covered several periods (e.g. "Hoju"), is it standard practice for dealers to list with the earliest period? Please note that I'm not accusing any dealers of doing anything wrong, I'm just wondering why there are so many mumei "Late Kamakura" blades, but hardly any "Mid" or "Early" Kamakura blades listed? I've put several examples below. Jon https://eirakudo.shop/token/tachikatana/detail/301105?ProductCategoryID=4&SubcategoryID=20&classby=Subcategory https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-osafune-yoshimitsu/ https://www.aoijapan.com/katananagamaki-naoshi-mumei-ko-naminohira/ https://nihontou.jp/choice03/toukenkobugu/katana/1269/00.html https://nihontou.jp/choice03/toukenkobugu/katana/1119/00.html https://nihontou.jp/choice03/toukenkobugu/katana/1084/00.html

Using Chrome, I get the following error: Sorry! We could not locate the item you are trying to view. The URL looks valid though: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=231893 Jon

DeepL translator gives: Norimitsu Nagafune, Bizen Province This sword was made in the 9th year of the Bunmei Era, and was made by Goro Saemon, who was 72 years old at the time. This sword is an excellent example of a relatively short sword with a fine grained surface and a gentle, medium straight edge. Cheers, Jon

Thanks Brian, that's going to come in really handy as a quick reference. Cheers, Jon

Thanks very much both. Apologies for the slow reply, I didn't get a notification for some reason. Cheers, Jon

Hi folks, Any help with this one please? For the life of me, I can't sus-out what the first character is! Cheers, Jon

Hi Mark, As a follow "new starter", here's a couple of links to glossary pages that I use a lot - you may find them useful: http://www.sho-shin.com/glossary.htm https://www.nihonto.com/about-swords/glossary/ They have most of the terms you'll come across most often (others can be found using Google, or the Search facility here on NMB) Cheers, Jon