Mark

buy it right away, worth much more

showa 18, 8th month Sukemitsu

sorry to say this looks like a Chinese fake, a copy of a Gunto

tsuna

Stephen has it, good job. Mondo (no) sho Masakiyo. very famous smith. Hos swords are worth $10-50,000 and more

Rick when you fill out the registration form it asks your preference for day and am/pm. As i recall you get a confirmation in advance and it has the day and time on it. so you bring the item at your appointed time and they tell you about when it will be done (maybe 2 hours). it has always been easy and smooth for me

Dawson's book http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b510-swords-imperial-Japan-1868-%E2%80%93-1945-cyclopedia-editionPresentation Grey is a great guy to deal with, he has plenty of other helpful books and if you come to the Chicago Show next year you can attend his that covers etiquette and handling of Japanese swords and is great for beginners

ebay sword 68 cm, a bit short.... Darcy's sword 75.7 cm unusually long a big difference

if anyone mislaid a small wood box and contents please let me know, an exhibitor found an extra item when he got home (left on his table), identify and it will be returned

i will try a brief review. Bear in mind i am the promoter but i will do my best to be neutral, others can correct it or add to it......... Friday morning-- dealer set up starts at 9am, dealers arrive, some right at 9, some between 9 am noon.By noon most are set up but a few are still arriving as flights and travel delays some. If you are a serious buyer you want to be in the room at 9am, as i mentioned in a previous post one dealer set up and was basic ally sold out in an hour so some of the early birds got some good worms. The show is active with buying/selling during the afternoon. One thing to consider (sort of a negative) is a lot of the dealers are dealer/collectors and many old timers come to buy sell but also visit and enjoy going out with friends so at dinner time maybe 6:30-8 a lot of tables are covered with people are out to dinner, that is not the best time to arrive or come if you are spending just a short time. Saturday-- is display/exhibit day. It has the most attendees and highest public walk ins but at 10 am Grey gives his presentation, at 1 pm the NBTHK-AB does a display/presentation that usually lasts and hour or so, then at 3 pm Bobby and Markus did their presentation maybe an hour or so and at 5pm there was an Aikido demonstration. These are all great and educational but the sales room is a bit quieter during these as many people attend Sunday-- starts a bit slow as many people were enjoying saturday evening, by 9:30-10 it gets going, i was surprised how active it was this year for a Sunday. It is a good bargain shopping day, the show closes at 3pm but some have flights and have to pack up a bit early, but even so a good deal can be found even up till the end So if you attend--- if you are looking to find a deal Friday morning and sunday are good. If you want to see a lot and learn a lot Saturday is best. Sunday is a bit slower so you can spend time and ask questions of dealers. If you are planning on only spending an hour or so at the show don't come 6-8pm friday or saturday. The show has 90-100 tables all but one were sold this year but there were a couple of last minute family issues that caused cancellation. A couple of tables were used for a display (see my post in this thread http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/22436-midwest-token-kai-chicago-show-tsuba-display/) a couple of dealers used an open table to spread out. So if you attend there are a lot of tables that are full of swords for sale, some tables with tsuba for sale and other items. A few people put out a little display and some sales items. Some people from the public bring swords in for sale. i think that is fair

Sunday and still going strong

here is a picture of some of Grey and my tables before the show opened and then a picture of the last of our tables with Grey siting behind it

here are some general shots

I would like to thank Fred G and also Chuck G (Chuck was representing the NY Token Kai) for they generous offer to display a GREAT group of Goto fittings. I had a last minute table cancellation (due to family emergency) and when Fred heard he got with Chuck and put out a display that was fantastic. They even allowed some careful hands on examination (with permission). It was a treat! I did not take specific pictures of items but in my general show pictures i have 3 so am posting them here. They should give an overview of what was included (note the cards showing the generations)

i have some pictures, i will get them organized in a day or so when i get home. There were great things to see. Fred G and Chuck G put out a fantastic display of TOP end Goto fittings, i am thinking maybe all generations of main line masters , many with orgami that were issued hundreds of years ago. I am not a fittings collector but they were impressive. i heard some collectors comment that it was a rare opportunity to see such a display and even in Japan it would be hard to see anything like it on display. With permission the owners they even allowed a hands on examination. Thanks to the generous owners. Mr Nick N had a display of 4 VERY special tsuba, a Nobiye that is one of the top examples, a great kinko tsuba with provenance back Nobunaga if i remember correctly, also a very early Ko-Tosho. Again thanks to a generous owner to share such examples freely. The display/presentations very excellent this year. about 30-40 great tsuba, there was an informative lecture and then hands on examination was allowed. The other presentation about Owari swords had a visual presentation and lecture followed by a display of several great Owari blades, three of them Juyo examples of the school masters. Where can you spend an afternoon seeing and handling such an array or such treasures. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge and items with the show attendees. On the sales end it seemed to me that there was a lot of action and things moving. One dealer told me he set up and just about was sold out in an hour., he is an older collector who is downsizing and was willing to put some great prices on items and it was clear he managed that as they were all snapped up. Another dealer was walking out with a couple of gun cases and i was going to say good bye but he said he was taking empties out to his car, he had sold quite bit so did not need the cases when he was going to pack up later. It seemed there were a lot of happy buyers at the end of the show having found some good deals. Maybe some other attendees will comment and i will organize some pictures in a day or so

looks a bit like 4 4

yoshichika 1944 so late war. machine made. painted number is to keep parts together when assembled in a factory looks like 246, check the other parts they may be stamped with the same number. real sword, take care of it

i remember some years ago (you can guess how long), i passed up a mint mantetsu with a generals tassel that was priced $1000. Instead i bought a shinto katana from the same seller for a bit more that that.......... strange how things work out, that Shinto katana is probably not worth much more than i paid and the Mantetsu/tassel is probably worth 6-8000 maybe more....

nearest i remember would be Long Island, New jersey, Philly

where did you post the pictures? I don't see them here?

i was able to get the Hyatt to extend the room reservations a few days. You should be able to book until April 7th, there are only a few King rooms left, if you want one book now. https://aws.passkey.com/event/15141567/owner/4631/home Getting close, see you there!! Thanks

late nanbokucho SoShu maybe Masahiro

today is the last day the hotel has to honor the show rate. Sometimes they take a day or so to take the rate off their system. Last i looked there were 2 rooms left, both KING bed rooms. If you need one try to grab it now.

Joe good eye. i had thought either Nori or aki for the second kanji but it was hard to be sure, so i went with my first thought

looks like Kanenori. hard to be positive but most likely it is "showato" meaning not made in the traditional way, it may be oil tempered or made with western or processed steel. you can, and should, replace the "tang pin", you can get guard parts if you can find ones that make a good fit