Emil

There's a dojo in Japan that I've visited in the past to experience some Iaido and tameshigiri. I'm going back there next week. I was informed by the staff that we can't do tameshigiri unless I use my own sword this time. They told me that it's a new sword law that prevents them from renting out swords. So no more tameshigiri for tourists I take it? I tried to find more info about this on google but I couldn't find anything. Anyone here with more insights on the topic?

This is the same explanation as I got to why kiri bako are used to store swords. When the air is dry, the wood release its moisture and when the air is humid, it absorbs moisture. This way, it's creating a more stable climate for the blade and Koshirae stored inside the box. On top of that, paulownia wood used for kiri bako have the additional benefit of natural pest reppellants and having one of the most thermally insulating properties of all woods. These additional benefits are not necessarily same for shirasaya, as it is made of Japanese magnolia.

Sword polishing comes in different levels based on purpose and budget. A basic "tameshigiri polish," focused solely on sharpness, costs around $600-$1,000 USD, while a high-grade "art polish," aimed at enhancing the blade’s beauty, can exceed $2,500 USD. If you plan to cut with your sword, expect scratches and minor bends, these are unavoidable and should be handled by a professional polisher. For practitioners outside Japan, use a chinese made reproduction sword for cutting. .

Unless you're living in Japan you shouldn't follow the Japanese example. It's totally different circumstances due to their laws. If you want to cut tatami or practice Iai with a Shinken inside Japan, you're bound to use Nihonto. For many, an old sword will be more affordable than a newly made sword. I've personally talked to Japanese Togishi who were totally unaware that we can buy shinken from China for as low as 100-200 USD. Whenever you read anything from the Japanese you have to keep in mind that it's likely said from the viewpoint of having little to no alternative, and most of them are unaware that we have better alternatives. If they had a choice they would likely do things differently.

Beheadings, on the other hand, I fully support. It will only increase the value of the sword 😂

I actually agree with this, to a point. If anyone were qualified to use a Nihonto, it would be someone with over 10 years of iai experience, skilled enough to draw smoothly, and avoid damaging the blade. That said, I still think using a nihonto as a regular training tool would be risky, occasional use for a significant demonstration might seem more acceptable, but there are two major drawbacks: 1. As an experienced iaidoka, you’re setting a standard for less experienced practitioners. Using a nihonto could inspire others to follow your example. 2. The sword you train with should be the one you know best. Only using it on rare occasions goes against that, adjusting to its unique shape would probably lead to unnecessary wear. In my opinion, the best approach would be to have a custom shinsakuto made for you. And as a bonus, when your custom Nihonto is passed down generations, your contribution to keeping the art of nihonto craftsmanship alive would live on with the history of the sword. That is something to be truly proud of.

If this is a repetitive question here I understand there might be some built up frustration coming out here. Otherwise I think the question was asked in a good manner. And from someone who has spent a considerable amount of his life developing his sword skills. There are a lot of people out there who will ask nobody before they use Nihonto for backyard cutting until the sword looks like an old rusty saw. I myself have cut tatami with a koto blade, but that was in Japan and not on my own initiative. I wouldn't dream of doing it outside of Japan. My position is that we have to keep in mind that we are only the caretakers of these historic swords for a while before they continue down the history. Our lives are just a blip in the history of the sword, and if every blip wants a piece of the sword, it won't last very long. For each generation of users, the finite pool of antique katans gets even smaller. In the future, prestine katanas will be very rare. By using this katana, you are not doing your best to preserve it for future generations. Previous owners throughout history did not take this well care of their swords and pass it on until it reached us, so we can start putting miles on them. There is something beutifully humble about viewing yourself as the caretaker and not the end user of a sword. I'd still say that after 15 years of Iai you probably have the skills to not do much damage, but I'd rather not anyway. For the Japanese the blades serve ritualistic and even religious purposes. They are believed to expel evil and protect the house from bad spirits. Maybe adopting a similar mindset and start viewing it as your lucky charm will make it feel more like it has a purpose?

What kind of sword do you use what steel is it? I've seen people reference to iai and samurai for this in the past as well. They claim if you use your sword often enough and just wipe it every time after use, it will be fine. Which technically must come down to airing the saya and wiping of any built up moisture from the blade once a week?

I agree with you, it's probably a better idea to display an iaito. Just out of curiosity, some Japanese sword shops that I've been to, display their blades in open air all day long, every day. This one for example displays probably a hundred blades outside of both koshirae and shirasya, some of them with a pricetag up to 2.3M JPY. They have a rack of 10-20 Shinsakuto sold only in Koshirae, you don't even get a Shirasaya. And they are also displayed in open air. I was curious to how they manage to maintain all those swords while customers are free to walk around and breathe on them.

I recently gifted my father a Showato in traditional Shirasaya and Koshirae that I bought from Aoi Art along with a kiri bako for ideal storage. He wants to enjoy this sword by storing it in Koshirae on a wall hanger at up to a week at a time. As I've mentioned in another post it already has some tiny rust spots along the blade and I don't want to make it worse, but I do understand his desire to showcase it for a few days occasionally. Any advice on storing a katana sitting in its Koshirae on a wall openly? Should I tell him it's better to just display the Koshirae with the tsunagi? Or is one week at a time in Koshirae fine? I already told him not to put the wall hanger close to the fireplace or windows to save the lacquer from rapid changes in temperature and direct sunlight. Any advice would be highly appreciated

Hi Paul! Yes that's the book I was looking for, and any references to Swedish steel in it. I believe Bruce got me everything in there already. Thank you!

I'll try that, thanks 👍

I think I'm over oiling the blade, but since there are a few rust spots already I'm afraid to leave it too dry

Here are some close ups of the hada and hamon that I managed to take with a 30x and 60x magnifier along with some photos of the blade in direct sunlight @John C @Gilles

It looks like this every now and then when I open it

I managed to take some close ups with 30x and 60x magnification

Thanks for the advice @French nihonto and @Matsunoki How concerned should I be about the Shirasaya leaving wooden residue on the blade?

It has actually crossed my mind, if it would be possible to shave of a tiny part of the tang for the purpose of historical analysis, I wouldn't be opossed to it. The problem is I have no idea who or where to turn to for metal analysis. It's not a common service.

That sounds fantastic Jean, I hope you can do it! I'm really looking forward to see if you can get any results. If your railway steel is pre 1860, it's a very high chance that it's puddled steel. The bessemer technique was invented 1856 and gained popularity during the 1860s. As I understand it, the first railroads were laid with puddled steel in Japan. However, very early on they switched to the more advantageous bessemer steel. For the best Showa-to swords, only puddled steel would have been used as bessemer steel were too homogeneous to produce any hada. It's claimed that the best showato made from railway steel were commonly water quenched, which produced the finest tier of Showato, not easily distinguished from Gendaito, hence the nickname "Mill-steel gendaito" this even resulted in a problem of having wartime smiths selling these showato as traditional gendaito at higher prices, some smiths were actually jailed for it. And as I understand it, this later led to the introduction of showato stamps. I'm not entirely sure if my blade falls into that category of top tier showato or not. Since the blade lenght of my sword is 69 cm / 27.2 inches it's already a strong indicator that this was a special ordered Showa-to. And even for collectors it might not be the easiest sword to distinguish from a traditionally made one. However, the concensus in this thread seems to be that my sword is probably oil quenched. But I'm guessing that since the wartime production wasn't always an exact science it's very possible that a special ordered showato could be produced with the "finer" puddled railway steel and still be oil quenched. Prehaps the source claiming that railway steel blades were water quenched is not entirely accurate or it just wasn't always the case.

Thanks @Brian, I tried it but without any luck. I think the problem is that the toothpick is larger than rust pits and they felt very sturdy.

Here's where my prehaps biased speculation comes into the picture. Because the blade obviously has some kind of hada, however not necessarily what you'd expect from tamahagane it points to some of the steels that were known to produce a similar pattern, like puddled Swedish railway steel

Upon closer examination of a katana I recently gifted my father, I see small dots along the blade. 2 months ago, when it first arrived with at my brother’s, he sent me pictures of it. I saw the small grey dots but assumed it was just dust. So it doesn't appear to have worsened in the last two months. Mostly they the spots go unnoticed, but I can see that they have a yellowish tone if I look really close in some light conditions. I advised my dad to keep it well oiled at all times. However, every time it's pulled from the shirasaya there are small wooden flakes on the blade. It's probably been stored in this shirasaya for many years already, judging from the aged look of it. What is my best course of action to prevent further oxidation? What would you have done in regards to blade and shirasya? Now that this licensed Showato has left Japan and the torokusho has been returned, there are no guarantees that it will pass inspections and be let inside Japan ever again. Let alone the price of a polish, I'm quite concerned that if left as is, it might get worse?

Now that I do have the sword in hand, I tried to look at these. I believe I can see the martensite crystals but in some lighting conditions (see my photos) it also looks like a shadow. I'm not confident enough to draw any conclusions

After a very long wait, I'm finally able to take my own photos of the sword. I tried to vary the light conditions to capture the hamon's different appearances. I hope these are better to determine if the blade is oil or water quenched? @ROKUJURO are any of these photos good enough? For a Showato, I believe it has a pretty well grained hada and in the sellers own "appraisal" document it's labelled as Nie deki.

Wow, thanks guys! This is great information Interesting to read that they dissolved the steel and mixed it with the Japanese steel, that's a rather odd thing to do.