Bazza

Modern??? BaZZa.

I know him well from many decades - many decades ago. Bendigo is where I last heard he was 'at'. 'at' I know know not what and the emojis don't exist for me to comment further... BaZZa.

Many decades ago I had a polished and papered katana in shirasaya so signed by this smith. It was lovely and I wish I still had it, but such is life that it needed to go to buy a more desired item. Sigh... BaZZa.

Signed BUSHU JU HIROSHIGE. BaZZa.

I'm a newly minted 80 year old, started collecting at 20. I empathise with the member who said he felt under-qualified here... Oh, and it makes me an 'estate-in-waiting'. BaZZa.

OTTOMH, I recall that yodareba means 'cow dribble' hamon??? And also that it was/is a characteristic of Kiyomitsu?? "yodare" means drool: https://www.nihongomaster.com/Japanese/dictionary/word/1210/yodare-涎-よだれ BaZZa.

Looks like lacquer to me... BaZZa.

Decades ago I read somewhere that the Jingal was a Chinese wall gun. This one appears to be percussion. BaZZa.

And if I remember correctly there are NO extant swords bearing a genuine mei of Sadamune. BaZZa.

G'day Tyler, A great 'sensitising' thread is the one by Bob Morrison over a couple years or more showing his collection of over 300 pieces - right here on the Message Board. Comments from Board members are very illuminating. This thread should keep you busy for quite some time and help to 'get your eye in': Best regards, BaZZa. Melbourne, Australia.

> it remains to be seen whether traditional polishing is really worth it. Christophe, maaaaate, yes it is - BUT - it all depends on the blade in the first instance. In the second instance it depends on who does the polishing, a legend in his own lunchtime wannabe or a fully trained in Japan person who has put 5 to 10 years into in-house study with a teacher. Then there is the wait time in the queue and the cost. This is a BIG topic that you need to get your head around. There are no shortcuts, none. As you are in Japan you should have it much easier than anyone in the West. BaZZa.

Piers san, even being aware of the radical issue didn't help me. Maybe I put it abck to front! I'm grateful for the help. Thanks. BaZZa.

Dear Folk, I have tried to translate a kanji in a NTHK origami without success. I have trawled nelson until I'm blue in the face without finding it, which suggests I'm missing something very obvious... Can someone please tell me what the last character reads after the era MEIREIKI?? Here is a photo. Thanks and best regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

I've known a Brian or twenty in my 80 years of existence... No shame in the name... BaZZa.

YASUCHIKA. The finish is I think ishime. They look good, very good, but above my pay grade to say whether genuine. BaZZa.

Franco wrote: > Yamanaka describes one type of utsuri, the name (???) slips my mind at this time, where tired over polished steal on nihonto can be mistaken for utsuri. It is tsukare utsuri. https://markussesko....i-2-jigane-jihada-3/ BaZZa.

Here is an interesting read about Nobuo Shimada from 2016: https://www.hse.ru/e...earch/149898155.html BaZZa.

And the nakago, both sides, please... BaZZa.

Victor,yes, the 'white line' should be straight. In this case I'm guessing it is a fluorescent tube refection. You can do the same thing with any straight line, like a door surround, running it up and down/along the blade. Any deviation in the shitaji (foundation polish) will show up as 'wobbles' in the geometry of the blade. BaZZa.

Didn't see a price, just a request for a kanji read... BaZZa.

13 or so years ago at the Sydney TAIKAI I remember a HOAN tsuba that either Gordon Robson or Jim Gilbert had in a display. If I remember correctly (I am now 80+!!) it had a distinctly silver sheen, quite remarkable I thought. BaZZa.

Oi loiks it very much and IMHO this is not only genuine and old but very unique and more than interesting with pleasing contours. I would give it house room. Looking forward to more research on this one. I speculate that it might have bean the head gardener's defence... Now Justyn, can we please see the blade?? BaZZa.

On the polish, this discussion suggests as well as the swordsmith we also should ideally know who the latter day polisher is. The polish is the lens through which we see the sword and there is as much or more in understanding the polish as there is in Kantei Kai guessing the who and when of the swordsmith. It was Albert Yamanaka who said "If a sword does not have sugata then it has nothing". I attach a cropped image from the above OP photos that to me shows that the shinogi ji is not flat, as it is required to be. The original description given says "One thing to note that the current polish is not one hundred percent traditionally done, though this doesn't affect enjoying the blade." True, it all comes down to price and the happiness of a potential buyer scoping the sword. Its all part of our great lifetime journey with the sword... BaZZa.

This most interesting discussion wandered around the theme of "What is Art" in general and trawling 10 minutes or so ago I chanced upon this link that approached the theme in far broader terms. I found it very interesting: https://www.boredpan...m_campaign=professor BaZZa.

I have just discovered the same character on a NTHK 'paper' and it had me stumped for awhile... BaZZa.