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Wise statement. Can definitely identify with that.

I mistakenly overlooked this piece. It’s the absolute top end of my budget. I actually prefer the blade details of this however it has been cut many times. https://www.aoijapan...kubetsu-hozon-token/ It’s better to spend the money on the blade and forge quality over getting hung up on originality and signature, correct?

Going for Shinto blades because everywhere I’ve looked (10 pages of classifieds here, and 6 recommended dealer websites) Koto blades are out of my budget. $5000 usd.

With all that being said, is this a good blade to start with? Too much?

Ha! That’s a good one. I’ve said the same about watches. However I’ve only got space for one blade to display (as per my wife).

Hey folks, I’m new to the forums but I’ve been deep diving for the last few weeks. Been reading books a lot and spending a good amount of time googling questions I have which always lead me to this great forum. I’ve been looking a quite a few blades that fit my modest budget. In doing research I always seem to come back to one particular blade. And I’m wondering if it’s worth jumping on. I’m not looking to make it an investment, and I don’t plan on collecting more than one blade. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just something worth owning and preserving, and to admire when cleaning. Here is the blade in question. It ticks many boxes for me. Budget, trusted dealer, papered, condition, time period, blade signature, not shortened. https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-shinano-kami-fujiwara-nobuyoshithe-2ndnbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/?_sft_category=katana&_sfm_era=古刀(平安〜文永)-,-新刀(慶長〜宝暦)-,-新々刀(明和〜明治)&_sfm_paper=特別保存刀剣&_sfm_price=100000+800000 Not looking for members to tell me to buy or not, just wondering if this is a good fit for a good quality first and potentially only blade. thanks for your input.

Good to know, thank you. This will not be an investment to gain money with. I’ll leave that to my actual investments. This is just for myself to display and admire.

Along with discovering preferred books for research I’ve found forums like this to be of great importance. I’ve been a watch enthusiast/collector for many years and plan to use that experience in my new journey here. I have learned waters can be very murky with anything “vintage”. And said waters can be filled with sharks.

And if a Gendaito for sale comes in only shirasaya mount, is it appropriate to mount the Gendaito blade in katana koshirea? The reason is I’m not a fan of the Gunto aesthetic.

Informative write up. Thank you.

Thanks for the recommendation. Was just looking at that one on Amazon.

Any recommendations? I saw Facts and fundamentals of Japanese swords mentioned but it’s out of print and very expensive. Not sure if it’s worth the out of print pricing or not.

Hi everyone. I have a few questions about acquiring my first Nihonto but I’ll introduce my self first. I’ve trained a few different martial arts over the last 25 yrs primarily being Kempo and Kung fu, and 6yrs+ of off and on training Iaido. I live in Canada and am a professional firefighter for the last 15yrs. My primary interests include watches, cars, and of course martial arts. Most of my life I’ve admired the beauty and craftsmanship of Japanese swords. I find it fascinating that something so effective at killing and taking life can be a beautiful work of art. My collection consist of a Japanese made Iaito, and a Hanwei carbon steel katana. last year I purchased the book The Art of the Japanese sword by Yoshindo Yoshihara. So after a long winded introduction my first question is about acquiring my first nihonto is about Gendaito. I had the understanding that swords made around WW2 were of low quality compared to previous generations. Is this true? My second question, is it appropriate to mount a gendaito with a more traditional Koshirae as opposed to the WW2 appearance (sorry I don’t know the name). I ask this because I see most blades in my price range ($3-5k) being shirasaya and no koshirae. Appreciate your input, thank you.