Bazza

George et al, Here is another source that might help the discussion: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Izumi_no_Ka ... a_mei.html Best regards, Barry Thomas.

Jimmy, Do check out Danny Massey's excellent website for Mishina: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html and for Mihara: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mihara_Nihonto.html Best regards, Barry Thomas (Melbourne, Australia)

Stephen, Gavin Hougham's website offers a list of places to see Nihonto in Japan. His website in general is http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/1135/ and the link to the sword places to visit is http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/1135/sights.html. You could also check out Richard Stein's website at http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm, and in particular his links, which have numerous Japanese websites http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/sites.htm and http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/sites2.htm. Do check these fairly soon as Richard has a monthly bandwidth quota that may not last the month. I hope you will give us a report when you return. Best regards, Barry Thomas Melbourne Australia

G'day Swordy Comrades, I've stumbled upon this article in the "Gold Bulletin" on shakudo that may be of interest. http://www.goldbulletin.org/assets/file ... i_4_16.pdf Best regards, Barry Thomas.

> Yes, there is a seki stamp on the nakago. I almost didn't see it. It's basically non-traditionally made sword?? Yep. Regards, Barry Thomas.

Dear All,, I am a paid up member of a military museum and I have just received their Annual Report. It will become clear why this Museum should remain anonymous. This museum has a man who, as part of his Edged Weapons charter, "restores" swords, all kinds of swords, and brings in considerable $$$$$ (so noted in the Annual Report) from the public to the Museum for his sword restoration services outside the Museum's Charter. Unfortunately, he also "restores" Nihonto. It is abundantly clear to me that this man has no idea what he is doing, no idea at all. What is more galling to me is that I am well enough known to the Manager and others as a knowledgeable person with Nihonto, yet despite this it is also well known that the "restorer" in question is known to be a person of inadequate expertise in the matter of Nihonto. I put continued acceptance of this man in his role down to the complete lack of knowledge on the part of the Manager and the Board. Of course, I'm working to change this without treading on sensitivities or crumpling the personal image of otherwise well-intentioned and good people. It is not this I want to dwell on, but rather to ask the following question: I have two videos/DVDs on sword forging - (1) "The Secret World of the Japanese Swordsmith" from Fred Chang at swordsmithsecret@hotmail.com featuring Yoshindo Yoshihara, and (2) "Takumi" ("Artisan"), featuring Ono Yoshimitsu, a video courtesy of Paul Martin http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/3.%20articles.html. I show these two videos to whomsoever I can wherever I can to advance knowledge and appreciation of the Japanese sword as a Fine Art. Can anyone tell me of similar video/DVD material on polishing as an art?????? Hopefully, Barry Thomas.

It looks like DOI SHINRYO to me - a Hirado (Hizen) smith. Barry Thomas.

Unquestionably a gunto. Koshirae is a rebuild of some sort. Barry Thomas.

Looks like "Noshu SEKI JU Sukegawa Sadamitsu". It would appear to be an arsenal production - is there a Seki stamp to the top rhs of the nakago???? Regards, Barry Thomas.

HOORAY - AT LAST. I agree with Ford (as the apprentice to the Wizard might have agreed!!!). The mei has been analysed to death (correctly so) but Ford is the first (I think) to comment on the quality of the work itself. I think these pieces are Meiji at best and copies alluding to earlier work. To me they are uninspiring and dull. The colour of the metal is not that of quality. Also, the tagane (chiselling) of the mei lacks the control of a master hand - compare with Goto Ichijo, for example. It is wonky and all over the place. Unquestionably post-Edo and 'glitzy gimei' IMHO. Best regards, Barry Thomas (Who opens his mouth so that others may put their feet in...)

And have a look at this search result for Brinkley on NMB: search.php?keywords=brinkley&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search Regards, Barry Thomas.

Yes... Interesting thread as I've just seen a wakizashi with the hi painted a cream colour. I say "painted" because I have never seen any colour other than red. Any one else seen cream????? I think it's a gaijin amateur's work. Best regards, Barry Thomas.

A short time ago I reported the Irish police as having seized 7,000 swords. I have just found this discussion: http://nihontoclub.com/news/samurai-swo ... in-ireland The text accompanying the link (part of a discussion group) is below my sign off. Regards, Barry Thomas. ------------------------------- Talks about potential sword ban started in December 2007 after another high profile attack involving a 'samurai sword'. It is known that Department of Justice had been in contact with local martial arts organisations (Iaido Association of Ireland is particular) is order to avoid unnecessary restrictions for martial arts practitioners and authentic sword collectors. In the light of recent global trends to regulate possession and transportation of 'samurai' swords (which sometimes comes in quite narrow-minded forms) the new Irish legislation appears to be reasonable, especially taking into account the (more than modest) size of the local sword scene. Mirroring the UK sword ban which was introduced in April 2008 as one of the questionable measures to fight 'knife crime', authentic hand-made Japanese swords (Nihonto) are exempt (however I couldn't yet find any reference to whether sports equipment such as iaito and shinken is to be banned or not). The real concern is the practical side of the legislation and the way it's going to be implemented. There's been numerous occasions in UK since introduction of the sword ban when law-abiding collectors had trouble importing antique swords. It's perfectly understandable due to the fact that in order for Customs to make sure that it's legal to import a sword, some sort of certificate required proving its age and provenance. And the most common cert of this kind (if any) is the NBTHK paper hand-written in Japanese. No wonder Customs officers, sorting office workers and law enforcement authorities would not be able to take it as a supportive documentation without difficult (and costly) translation.And this is the neigbouring UK which is much more accustomed to importing/exporting Japanese collectible weapons than Irish. How many Customs officers and An Post employees were instructed about differences between replica and authentic Japanese swords or even have seen ones? Will they be collector-friendly or take an eBay approach and stop any import of 'illegal samurai-like swords' unless (with immense trouble) proven otherwise? If temporarily or permanently seized, will real Nihonto be given a proper care? There is no doubt that circulation of cheap and dangerous replica had to be stopped, even with the level or crime involving samurai swords being ridiculously low in comparison to the usage of widely available home utensils.But will the fair treatment of martial arts practitioners and sword collectors be guaranteed? Time will tell.

Dear All, I can imagine Nihonto related activities might have taken a temporary back set in the hometown of our esteemed Moderator... http://news.ninemsn.com.au/glance/92869 ... mpy-record Best regards, Barry Thomas.

Dear All, A friend sent me the following email information, which I feel bound to pass on without comment for general interest and information: ------------------------------ I came across this fellow on ebay today offering his services as Sword Polisher . The Item Number is 160374890927. ------------------------------- There are 12 photos of various swords in polish. The "auction" for a madoaki (window) ends in about 12 hours. If anyone who reads this has missed the auction and the details I have preserved the images and description. Please PM me if anyone wants this information. Best regards, Barry Thomas.

G'day All, In my early days of collecting it was very exciting to (a) find a sword and buy it, (b) translate the mei all by oneself and © find the smith was a pre-1868 man in Hawley's books, subsequently realising in some cases that it was a Showato in disguise. The first one such was a Mondo no Sho Masakiyo with aoi mon. However, the blade looked "funny". I eventually concluded it was a Showato (not a Gendaito) and passed it on. I also found another sword with a Shinto maker "in the books" that was also a Showato. Then there was a sword with a mei to a Koto Mino Kanekado that the owner had allegedly been offered a car for!!! Another obvious Showato. Friends have seen other swords of this kind. With a reasonable number of such found in our small part of the world my conclusion at that time was that these swords were indeed gimei intended to deceive. I hadn't thought that they might be regarded as "patriotic" with everyone in on the act, so I guess the jury is still out on the question??? Regards, Barry Thomas.

Ford et al, No baguettes involved - he wanted to see his Flat Mate... Regards, Barry Thomas.

Were not Golden Gourds the mon of Hideyoshi???? Probably no association, or there would be three gourds?? Barry Thomas.

Well, hooray for a moment of levity (="if Ford can do it so can I") Why did the frog cross the road??? Barry Thomas.

G'day Jim, I'll stick my neck out and say nice-looking sword. The hamon shows ashi ('feet') and a tendency to saka ('sloping' or 'leaning' and a good nioi (fine crystal structure). The nakago is nicely shaped, filed and signed. I'd like to see better pics (i.e., higher resolution) of the hamon in various parts of the blade (point, midway and at the machi) as well as a better shot of the tang. I'd also like to see more effort at cropping out the useless information in a picture and to rotate the tangs to vertical so I don't have to crack my ancient neck vertebrae looking at it sideways!!! Jim, for closeups of the tang try putting the sword running left-right and use the flash. Take a number of pics straight above, higher and lower (as in north-south not up-down) to get a pic without reflected glare from from the flash. I've attached a sample of what I mean. This image is 100kbyte jpeg which I THINK will fit here. I've also rotated and cropped your image Jim and played with the brightness and contrast a.w.a. the colour balance and attached it here as well so you can see what is possible. Imagine, blokes, how much better your images will look if you pay more attention to their presentation, which is more likely to attract the desired help from already busy people... Best regards, Barry Thomas.

Aaaaaagh, Jeez, 'nuther birfday (known in some quarters as a 'barfday'. I've just sent good birthday wishes to my two brothers and as they live a fair way apart I sent them the same card each. It went like this "For your Birthday I've sent you a Pole Dancer" (open card) "His name's Ivan and he's from WARSAW...". And what a pretty sight he was - NOT. So Brian, there's my birthday card for you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU GETTINK OLDER GEEZER. Times a'passing, swords are a'waiting... Come to Oz and we'll show you a few. Bestests, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas amongst many other things.

Mark, Can we see pictures of the koshirae please??? Regards, Barry Thomas.

I certainly agree with this statement. I notice that one of these mon (lhs) is on the kabutogane of a shingunto and feel obliged to pass on some information I was given many years ago - true or not, I don't know. I have a shingunto koshirae with a nidai Hizen Tadahiro katana in it and one of the menuki has a mon on it. I searched such resources as I had at the time and couldn't find it so sent an image to Albert Yamanaka in Japan. He couldn't find it either and commented "Many WW2 officers who weren't of samurai descent "made up" mon to give the impression that were from a samurai line". Comments??? Regards, Barry Thomas.

FWIW this humble observer concurs with the above two gentlemen - my sediments exactly... Regards, Barry Thomas.

Gabriel, Might I suggest that the hamon is, in fact, nowhere to be seen. What you call the hamon is simply the outline of the yakiba, and what appears to be the hamon is (as you know) the hadori. The hamon (as we understand it) is invisible in this lighting. The blade needs to be turned slightly in the light to "lose" the hadori and light up the nioi/nie of the hamon proper. This is (IN GENERAL) my principal objection to hadori as a style of polish. I say "in general" because I have read where some blades require hadori to present them at their best, and it is this facet of kantei that I do not yet fully understand (after 45 years!!!). All I know is from empirical evidence - I have seen many hadori polishes, yet those sashikomi polishes on my swords returning from Japan please my eye - and those of my fellow collectors here in Victoria - far more than any hadori polish I have seen over the years. A visiting polisher once said to me that "it doesn't have to be like that", but I have yet to see the proof of the pudding. Perhaps when Andrew Ickeringill comes home from Japan I might at least become wiser... Regards, Barry Thomas.