Hi, everyone! I'm a little out of my element here, being mostly a collector of muskets and an American Civil War historian (or, if you prefer, the American Sengoku Period). I've always had an interest in Japanese history and swords going back to when I saw the 1980 adaptation of Shogun as a teenager (on DVD, I'm four years younger than the miniseries). I also took Japanese as my language in college.
I plan on establishing a very modest collection - one or two pieces - and tend to want to learn everything I can possible learn about a topic when I start. My collection currently sits halfway complete at one, a wakizashi I somewhat impulsively placed a bid for on eBay. I'll have photos taken and posted hopefully this weekend and I'm quite eager to hear what the forum can tell me, both good and bad (and to start: Yes, I know, I know. eBay was probably not the best place to start considering I know nothing. Like I said, impulsive).
Of course, just because I plan on a modest collection doesn't mean that's what's going to happen. I never planned on getting more than one musket either...
I'm happy to take book recommendations, I can never get enough book recommendations.
As mentioned in the new member thread, I purchased this on eBay last month. I never did get the time to photograph it myself but I decided that the photos from the auction are better than what I could have taken anyway. Can anyone tell me a little more about what I got? I have a complete album of images here: https://imgur.com/a/DkZW99M Thanks! Oh, quick note: The blade doesn't actually fit in the koshirae, the hole for the mekugi is too low on the tsuka. That was a fun surprise. Or I just didn't put it together correctly, that's a distinct possibilty.
