Mark

if you are asking if the nakago of that sword is shown in his book then no, it goes from Munetoshi to Nagamitsu. If you mean is a smith bu that name referenced in any index etc in the boo then i would have to look through the back for a munetsugu

hard upside down but maybe Hankei a very famous maker from later 1600's

Morita san, thank you and Steve thanks for looking and giving it a try it was way beyond me to figure that out, thought it was a name but not sure i have seen it written "Paper attached" before

i can read most of the sayagaki but this section has be baffled. My guess is that it is the name of the person writing the sayagaki, but i could be wrong. Any help appreciated. thanks!

i enjoyed the show. Bob did a great job . I will be back again next year. I hope the show continues to grow and prosper, it has a good base and promoter. We need to support all the shows, as Bob mentions it is a great, and inexpensive, way to gain a lot of knowledge and experience.

maybe a European in Japan who could wear a sword? I would think Japanese would use split wari kogai chopsticks that i see often.

thanks....... so a fork of some type. I don't think it is modern. I will bring it to Orlando and maybe get some input. It looks like the one Alex found. The back is flat and the front rounded, so if it were used in a saya it would fit and slide in but maybe it was made that way for another purpose

Please see pictures. Well made, seems quite old. I have never seen something like this, one side has a shell or snail or similar that makes it easy to grasp and slide

looks like Seki ju Kanesada to me

last 2 is the maker Kanesada the first 2 are a province and the third a title, they should be easy to find, give it a try

i have a tachi with a dragon on all the fittings. Is this a Mon? I usually see a tachi with mons on the fittings. Not sure what to make of this. It is well done. Any comments appreciated

Stephen deserves a medal, or at least a beer .... good job, saved a guy for a scam

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