Jake6500

Can't say I've ever sold anything on Yahoo Auctions but as a buyer I agree 100%, it can be very annoying. I recently thought I had won a nice tsuba with hozon papers but it was relisted at the last second for more than double what would have been my winning bid price... Not all sellers do it but when it happens to you on an item you really want, it can be very frustrating indeed.

Yeah, shipping on long items can be ridiculous. That said, if you're having modern koshirae made I believe they can be made divisible/separable to get around this problem. My next blade acquisition is either going to be a shinto katana (currently only have a shin-shinto blade) or a naginata of some kind. If the opportunity comes around, a shin-shinto naginata would be the best of both worlds. I am mainly a fittings collector but am slowly expanding my collection and my interests.

As other more knowledgeable members of the forum have said, best not to touch anything and get it to a professional. The only thing you could maybe try is removing some of the surface rust with a microfibre polishing cloth and some typewriter or paraffin oil as this is low risk and a part of basic maintenance. Do this for the blade but not the nakago (tang/handle). Interesting and coincidental timing but a dealer I know is actually selling a Bishu Osafune blade dated to the year 1492 on consignment right now... The price on it is 1,250,000 yen (About 8,000 USD) so your blade could be quite valuable after restoration and polishing. Your blade could potentially be a hundred years older than that or more according to Ray above, and in turn could be even more valuable.

That is a beautiful naginata... (I would like to get something like that for my own collection in the future!) Does it have koshirae or is this one blade only? If so, are you considering getting koshirae made? Expensive, I know... But I would say worth it

I've never purchased a blade through auction but use Yahoo auctions frequently for Tosogu. You can occasionally find some really nice, fairly high quality fittings on there (though it's a bit dead around the New Year) and if you're really lucky you might even be able to pick one up for a low price... Like the fuchigashira in my profile picture! I don't know how much you paid but assuming the price wasn't too high, it seems like a nice purchase to me. You mentioned the blade is large and I like choppers... Do you have the dimensions of it? Length and weight?

Definitely modern imo. Aside from all the other points made already, the seppa shape also seems unusually asymmetric if you focus on the right side... Though that might just be the angle of the photo messing with my head.

I can see how you thought rain. Wood is another possibility maybe. Nice tsuba, not my type of motif but definitely my type of aesthetic as a soft metal collector.

Wowww that is a breathtaking piece! I would not have guessed such an early date based on the style, an artist truly ahead of their time!

Wow! Very nice set you have added to your collection there! I will have to add the Komai school to my radar for future reference!

Just the fact someone would bid that much in the first place, and then even more so that the owner would turn it all down and relist the item lol

This reminds me of when archaeological conspiracy theorists use the line "The absence of evidence is not evidence absence..." to justify whacky nonsense like aliens building the pyramids. Maybe so, but it also isn't evidence of presence... I can't disprove the idea that Genghis Khan rode a unicorn or that he was buried in Iceland; but that doesn't mean I'm going to start a unicorn cult in Reykjavik.....

? Seriously? Whatttt

Jesus, I never bothered to check what it sold for

The very use of the term "ninja" amongst historians is highly contentious in and of itself. What even was a "ninja" and where did the concept come from? The weird mythologised blend of ikko-ikki peasant roots, espionage and what could bluntly be referred to as "magic" prompt many scholars of the period to avoid use of the term altogether. I cannot think of any equivalent class (real or mythologised) in Western culture... Maybe a DnD Paladin?

As a general rule in this hobby, when in doubt do nothing... Sorry I have nothing new to add to the discussion but Colin said all that needs to be said!