reinhard

John Yumoto's book is filled with unproven assertions. B.H.Chamberlain's book is full of fake blades. Not their fault. They didn't know better at their time. We do, now.

Not posting this for experienced members familiar with the crooks out there. It is meant to be an advice for the newbies and beginners. LOOK CLOSE AND LOOK CAREFULLY! Japanese craftsmanship is about precision and control. It has never substantially declined. 1) Tsuka-Ito should be wrapped in a symmetrical manner, i.e. left over right, right over left, left over right, and so on.. 2) The outline of Tsuka-Ito must be smooth, no bumps allowed. 3) Diamond-shape openings must be uniform and precise. Real rayskin or just a plastic substitute? 1) Real rayskin always has a symmetrical structure and is carefully placed on the tsuka. 2) Real rayskin has a natural appearce. Plastic substitutes have not. Menuki underneath Ito. Unfortunately sometimes it is dificult to check menuki underneath ito. There are are some hints you can go for though. Does it look like a thin foil of metal stamped out, as in this case, or like a proper menuki. Do the menuki appear to be three-dimensional? Are details carefully worked-out, f.e. dragon scales, or not.

I don't know wether it is easy to obtain by now, but after many years of studying Nihon-To I strongly recommend: "The connaisseur's book of Japanese swords" by Nagayama Kokan (ISBN 4-7700-2071-6) One of Japan's foremost experts and polishers gives you not only an precise description of schools and workmanships but also a short historical and geographical overview of their development. A very good point to start from. reinhard

My dear forumites, You are going nerdy on this one (once more). You hear "Tadahiro" (Oh, that must be a Hizen smith!) You hear "Musashi" (There was something with Hizen and Musashi as well!) The first Hizen master Tadayoshi acquired the title "Musashi Daijo". The mei in question only states that this Tadahiro was a resident of Musashi. Apart from the fact that the state of the blade is beyond serious judgement, you actually see a rather random assembly of objects. Especially the tsuka looks like a very clumsy attempt of repairing something that is not worth the pain and shows no signs of Japanese craftsmanship. What probably caught your particular attention is the surrender tag. What makes you think, this surrender tag has any connection to this blade? I'd expect a surrender tag together with a GunTo-mounted sword. During WWII Japanese officers weren't allowed to bring just any wild assembly of koshirae to service. reinhard

At least not to the blade described on the sayagaki reinhard

Well, "everyone around" does not necessarily include knowledge. Especially not when confusing "Ichimonji" with "Bungo". BTW "Bungo" what? Ko-Bungo Yukihira, Sadahide, or Bungo Takada school? None of them can be seriously confused with Ichimonji. reinhard

Thank you, Michael, This is exactly what the NBTHK shinsa is all about. The NBTHK might not be infallible in every case, but in general they are doing pretty well. Of course there are some dealers whining about the "good old days" when they were able to tell their customers whatever they wanted to hear, uncontradicted. I see some of them here too, on NMB, eagerly trying to undermine NBTHKs's credibility for a simple reason. They are just not good enough for this kind of trade. reinhard

Hi Tony, In this case the answer is particularly simple. The mei is on the sashi omote, i.e. the blade is signed as a katana. Famous Kagemitsu in Osafune never did that. His DaiTo are always signed as tachi, i.e. on the haki omote. There were many minor smiths signing "Kagemitsu" during later periods though. The torokusho wrapped around the saya does not give detailed information, for it doesn't have to. It is just a paper legalizing the ownership as long as the blade is in Japan. It should never have left Japan. reinhard

It seems to me that you have a limited understanding of the term "masame". Masame is clearly defined as undisturbed layers of steel as in the work of Yamato Hosho, Sendai Kunikane and some ShinShinTo smith emulating the style. Hada with a tendency to straightness is called "masake" or masa-gokoro. This is utter nonsense. No, it's not, Straight, or masame-like structures appear only near the ha or the mune. You've got a long way to go.

Hi Kirill. Are you refering to Kamakura as place or a time-period? Whatever you are refering to: Could you please explain what "atypical hamon" and "atypical boshi" mean in this particular case? Help us understand with pictures and precise informations of the blade. Thank you reinhard

"I thought I would make a new thread for the subject for not to derail that one from it's original topic." You really thought this was going to work as simple as that? Signed Yamato blades > Shizu > Tametsugu > Soshu style in no time. Wake up, Yussi, this is NMB! reinhard

Hi Barry, The mei eventually reads: MORI ( 守 ) SADA saku. There was a Bungo Takada Katana with a similar mei in the Compton collection. It was papered "koshu tokubetsu kicho token" in 1975, so the mei can be considered genuine. It was sold at auction by Christies as lot Nr.306 (Part I) on March 31, 1992. The two mei are not precisely identical, but pretty close.

I'm with you.

Brian, I really do appreciate your efforts to keep this site alive. I'm just wondering if this is going to work in a long run by celebrating links to unchecked information. I'm aware of growing popularity of "youtube-learning" in these days, but this is not how you should approach Japanese swords and fittings. A few of these links might be guidances to better understanding, but finally you have to see objects yourself, have to understand basics. What I wanted to make sure is: Do not confuse easy entertainment and breaking news for a way to understand the real thing. It will not work. Anyway, I'm watching your project from a distance and wish you well. I really do. best regards - reinhard

Do you really think approaching Japanese culture is possible by sitting at home and studying bits and bytes and pixels?

Really? Is that all it takes? Feeding you with links to unchecked information?

"Nuns, no sense of humour!" (Clancy Brown as Kurgan in "Highlander") reinhard

Just checking how predictable NMB still is. Thank you mods. I could have chosen this pic as well. No bare bottom, but the message's still the same. Sorry for the confusion, Joey. reinhard P.S. Great source for pics and wallpapers: http://www.fotomonitor.ru

Joey, You are trying a silly stunt. Don't. Keep on learning. Buy later. reinhard

Simple questions can be answered. Stupid questions can't. reinhard

How many of Masamune's famous blades did you see in hand? Let me guess. None? Well, I did. Quite a few of them. They are neither "outlandish" nor "rugged" or just "bold". They are simply the best a lover of NihonTo can imagine. Reinhard

Leave your armchairs and check reality. reinhard

Well, it will definitely not be the NTHK for obvious reasons. reinhard

Subscribe. Reinhard