AlexiG

Very sad to hear! I only knew him from his posts here. I share his obsession with masame hada. His post of the Norikatsu tanto made me start paying attention to the Mito smiths. It is a loss for the community. Alexi

Hi Hiadir, I will offer an oversimplified answer based on few references. Carbon content varies in tamahagane. Part of the mastery of swordsmiths is to separate the pieces based on carbon content and select the appropriate pieces that meet their needs before they start forging. There are methods to both increase and decrease carbon content during forging to get the desired results. I have seen good descriptions of the process in English from Yoshindo Yoshihara's books published with Leaon and Hiroko Kapp. (The Craft of the Japanese sword) If memory serves me right, he starts at about 1.2% carbon and wants to end at 0.7 % at the time of quenching. His brother though, supposedly preferred ~0.6% carbon. My guess is that these values refer to the outer, edge steel. I assume that varies from maker to maker and school to school. How to the smiths "know" the carbon content without modern gadgets? Great question. I think how brittle the tamahagane is initially gives some indication for sorting. Beyond that I imagine it is about experience and how the steel responds to forging. I am speculating here I hope this helps. Alexi

It all depends on the composition of the steel. There was a video of working on a billet of tamahagane steel and it is malleable and foldable at a given Japanese forge temperature, while western steel was very brittle with the same process. Bugei use a mix of T-10 and 1055 steels for their swords and they are managing multiple folds OK. Many Japanese smiths have forged pieces with western steel successfully. Not sure how they managed it but my suspicion is that they worked at higher temperature. Some of that is in this thread:

@Peter Bleed @Vermithrax16 Checking if new information has surfaced regarding the mid-Kunikane generations since 2010 (the date of the quote from Peter below). My specific question is as follows: Does anyone have examples of papered blades from Kunikane 4-9? The books I have do not list any (Sendai Mekan and Sendai Han no Meicou Kunikane 仙台藩の名工 国包), yet Sesko lists signatures for gen 4 and 5 (奥州仙台住国包). I have only seen papered examples of Gen 2 with that signature. If in your research you have seen any papered examples of gens 4-9 please share. What information did Sesko find that allowed him to list signatures for Gens 4 and 5? The context for this is another "Shinsa story" but that is for another thread. Best, Alexi

As of late I have become fascinated with Norikatsu's work and while looking for information I found this article which I personally found very interesting so sharing here. I used google translate mostly so apologies for the poor translation. It seems that the construction is 3 plates (high carbon in the middle, and two composite plates on the side). At first I thought it was kobuse but does not seem to be. Also fascinated to read the 4 levels of testing to demonstrate suitability for practical use. Happy reading, Alexi Link: 水戸の豪刀・勝村徳勝の刀身構造

Hi Kim, I have had similar learning opportunities Make the best of it. I should have noticed the kanji in the signature was "友" Best, Alexi

The koshirae may be legit navy gunto with poorly re-wrapped tsuka. Example. The one I have is identical to the example. There are flags with the sword and unfortunately Nobody is likely correct. There are more knowledgeable folks here that can chime in but my 2c are below: The steel of the sword looks "wrong" for lack of a better word. It is very gaudy and atypical for nihonto but commonly observed in Chinese swords. There are Japanese sword makers that make flashy jigane (Nakayama Yoshimitchi, for example) but it still does not look like the sword above. The file marks on the nakago are slopy and inconsistent. the signature is not well executed. I cannot find a reference for Ishida Yoshiichi (石田由一) swordsmith. Sesko lists 由 as "Yoshi" and there is no "由一" that I can find in Volume III of "Swordsmiths of Japan". Google search for "石田由一 刀工" also does not give me any credible hits, let alone papered swords to compare your sword to. All of these observations lead to increasing suspicions that the work may not be Japanese. I hope this helps, Alexi

Here is another sword with the same signature but arguably different execution (strokes look different to me): link (藤原大道直房入道). No papers so take with grain of salt The google translation from the site: "This is an introduction to the sword made by the renowned blacksmith Fujiwara Daido Naofusa, who was the official swordsmith for the lord of the Higo Kumamoto domain, Hosokawa Tadaoki. It measures 2 shaku 2 sun and is a rare and precious sword with a signature that resembles an ancient work. Fujiwara Daido Naofusa created a remarkable copy of the famous sword "Horikiri Morimitsu," which was owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and is now housed at the Izumi Shrine, featuring intricate carvings of Kurikara. The sword "Wakizashi, signed Daido Naofusa" was displayed in the second chapter of the 2022 early spring exhibition "Gathering of the Famous Swords of Hosokawa - National Treasures from the Eisei Bunko -". Although Daido Naofusa was highly valued by the Hosokawa family, existing swords made by him are extremely rare. This piece, responding to the request of Lord Hosokawa, is an unknown masterpiece that resembles an ancient work. Dimensions: Base width: approximately 3 cm, Base thickness: approximately 7 mm, Tip width: approximately 2 cm, Tip thickness: approximately 5 mm, Blade weight: approximately 686 g." Another example, suriage, again no paper. Link to smith page: NAO6. I Think JohnC also pointed to the same smith.

I got mine from amazon Japan (Amazon.co.jp: THE Japanese SWORD - THE YAMATO TRADITION (English edition) : Tanobe Michihiro, Markus Sesko: Japanese Books) They also have the Bizen one (Amazon.co.jp: 日本刀五ヶ伝 備前編 長船鍛冶の黄金期 : 田野邉道宏: Japanese Books) Alexi

Yes, they did unblock the book for me after I contacted them. They were quite fast about it (less than 24h). Good to know that approach generally works. Best, Alexi

That worked! Found it under books and bought it. Better price too. Not sure why that listing did not show up before. Thanks, alexi

Thanks for the suggestion! I just sent them an inquiry. I will update if I hear anything. Alexi

Hi all, I wonder if someone has figured out a work around this issue. Some books on Yahoo! Japan are listed in the "Katana & tachi sword" section. When I try to purchase/bid through Buyee it tells me "You cannot bid on this auction because it contains a prohibited item." Example: 仙台藩の名工　国包　國包 令和２年　鹽竈神社博物館④ /【Buyee】 Buyee - Japanese Proxy Service | Buy from Japan! Apparently books are as dangerous as swords.... Has anyone figured out a way to deal with this other than have someone in Japan buy and ship for them. Thanks for any suggestions. If anyone finds this book on regular bookstore websites, please share. I have not been successful. Best, Alexi

Thanks for sharing! It was nice to see this at length and compare to what others do. Would have loved to see the blade after proper polishing. Not sure the sword pieces add much but it is also done in other crafts. Some bonsai potters also used pieces of antique broken pots in their clay mix. Alexi

My baseline expectation is that I would not recover the cost of purchase most of the time, let alone the cost of polishing if needed, saya, tsunagi, and shinsa expenses. But that has not stopped me yet from buying I guess that is what makes me a hobbyist rather than a professional trader. Much like others have stated, I dont like selling so I buy to keep. That being said, I do try to be reasonable and not sink way more than what a sword could sell for. I do shop around a lot and do try to build a good sense for the cost of a piece. After all, money does not grow on trees (in my garden at least) Happy collecting, Alexi

I think it is called "The Practical Theory of Swords" or something like that. I did a search and all I find are small sections (for example Suishinshi Masahide and the Functionality of Nihonto), but curious if I missed something. If anyone has read it in Japanese, please share your thoughts. Does he discuss the forging details of various schools and their merit, or is it just about convincing folks to move towards making functional not just beautiful blades? Best, Alexi

Hi Roger, I have used Wally at shining moon 13 (Shining Moon 13) for tsukamaki. Turnaround was rather quick but the sword he worked on was not one of my best. Josh at CottonTail Customs does not seem to be taking commissions but he seems well regarded. At some point I was bored and tried tsukamaki, learning from videos at cottontail customs. It took significant prep to get the grip ready and to make and cut the little wedges from the right type of paper and I had to start several times to get it mostly right but I did complete a project with one of my Chinese swords. To be clear, it was not an amazing quality job as I was learning, but it looked better and felt better than the original. The take home from the experience was that I'd rather have a professional do it since it will take them less time and they will do a better job BUT I was also not intimidated to think I could never become proficient in it should I spend the time practicing.......Kind of like most things in life. Best, Alexi

I picked it from Jake at the San Francisco show last year. Best, Alexi

Not sure about a reprint but here are few links for less than £175. I may be in the minority, but really like the discussion in the book and strongly recommend it, with the caveat to understand the context of the statements in the book. the book definitely changed how I look at Japanese Swords. Amazon.co.jp: Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords: A Collector's Guide : Nakahara, Nobuo, Martin, Paul: Foreign Language Books Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords by Nobuo Nakahara: 9781568365831 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords a Collector's Guide - AbeBooks Best, Alexi

Hi Jonathan, this is a complex question with lots of possible answers. Fundamentally it depends on the quality, the smith, the rare/desirable factor. TH for some schools sell at juyo prices for other schools. Peter and Jussi's answers give you some direct comparisons. Here are few more data points: To keep it apples to apples, comparisons is for the same school or smith. Hosho school TH recently sold for 2,650,000 yen in the same week a Juyo Hosho school blade sold for 6,500,000yen in the same store. The juyo blade was less tired/higher quality so > 2x the price. I am following 4 blades from Naotane (student of Suishinshi Masahide). TH at 3,500,000 yen; TH at 3, 200, 000yen; Juyo at 8,000,000 yen; Juyo at 6,500,000 yen. On a personal note, I like to pay for the sword not for the papers, if I can. Beyond Hozon, (as Peter said above) you are paying for the opinion of experts that is a very desirable/special sword (helps when you want to sell it). I chase specific schools and smiths and value having a validated signature more than the level of the papers, assuming the sword "speaks" to me. I see many Juyo blades that I really do not care for and some I cannot stop drooling over Recently I saw a signed, nearly ubu, kamakura, blade with TH papers (likely never submitted for Juyo) that the price was hidden (likely >8 000 000 yen). The sayagaki suggested Heian, but I have no reference for bizen smith with that name from Heian so I assume it is Kamakura, just to be conservative. 古備前 銘 行真 生茎太刀 特別保存刀剣 | 日本刀販売の両国 永楽堂 (eirakudo.shop) I wish we all had blades like that (signed, old, mostly unaltered) in our collections Happy collecting, Alexi

At Aoi-Art. Link Makes my eyes hurt but interesting nonetheless. Bold! I wonder if someone showed the jihada only, how many here would think it is of Chinese manufacture. Alexi

Hi Aaron, we options come to mind, if you'd like to display the blade. 1) Ron's idea above to get/build a display case that controls the moisture and protects the blade from dust 2) display for short periods of time and let the blade spend most of its time in the saya, well protected. Rotate your display blades. 3) meticulously clean/oil the blade (wipe off excess oil as it attracts dust) few times a week, depending on your weather, and monitor closely. All of these are risk/cost/benefit calculations that only you can decide what is best for you. Folks here may have other suggestions. Best, Alexi

Hi Aaron, just sharing personal experience here but displaying a bare blade over long period of time may require a much more frequent care to keep pristine. My experience with a cheap blade I kept on a stand bare (since I did not want to invest in a proper saya) was that after ~ 5 months it developed very light speckly rust, although it was cleaned and oiled every two weeks, no exceptions. Relative humidity and temperature in the room plays a major role. For me it can vary from 30% to >60% humidity. None of my valuable blades stored in a saya and storage bag have a problem being kept in the same room and being cleaned and oiled with the same oil. This unplanned experiment leads me to believe that the saya does an important job Sory if I misunderstood your intent. Alexi

Hi Yves, I may be stating the obvious, but So Tsutomu passed in 2015 so commissioning new sword from him would be a bit tricky. If you like the blade, go for it. Should be able to get Hozon papers (if it does not already have them, like the one currently listed on AoiArt). I also feel that commissioning new swords keeps the art alive. If we collectively ONLY bought old swords, which are much cheaper on average, the current smiths will go broke, and the art will be lost. This is a recurring worry, if one reads the interviews in "Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths From 1868 to the Present". Wish I had the $$$ to commission from Hokke Saburo Nobufusa. Alexi