eternal_newbie

Not only that, but in many cases now you can't leave negative feedback under certain conditions (too soon after purchase, no recorded contact with seller, etc).

Great find, and some serious food for thought. I especially liked the (academic equivalent of a) mic drop at the end, with reference to all the 'sokes' that seem to pop up everytime there's a martial arts boom in popular culture.

Came for the dragons, was not disappointed!

Best stay clear of delusions of that magnitude, especially when tens of thousands of dollars are on the line... there's only two possible outcomes: 1) nothing changes, 2) you make an enemy.

Sure, this $2000 blade with Kicho papers might be a Juyo-worthy blade that I could resell for - on average - $30,000. There are around 10,000 Juyo blades out of 2 million registered blades, so that makes the odds around 0.005. If it turns out to be a Juyo-level blade, I will need to spend at least $10000 on a good polish and shinsa to get those papers. ($30000 - $10000) x 0.005 = $100 return on average for $2000 spent. Sure, you might be able to resell the blade to some other sucker to make up for the money you spent - but then you're becoming part of the problem (and you'll lose some money in the fees/conversion/opportunity cost in the meantime figuring out that your 'diamond in the rough' is really a bit of broken glass). And of course, those with real expertise will know that the proportion of blades on eBay at the Juyo level are significantly less than the proportion of blades in general at Juyo level, so the odds are even lower than that...

Interesting section about the Kimura / Akamatsu Taro family of smiths - I have an nice iai shinken by Kimura Kanemitsu in a vibrant choji midare. If I'm not mistaken the family (especially Kanetsugu) are particularly well-known for their works in the style of Kiyomaro...

I don't know Grey, I've had the misfortune of running across a few FM 'samurai' items in the past, and I'll say that as obviously fake as these are, they're better than the average FM effort (think sanded-on sawtooth hamon and nylon tsukamaki). That price though... sheesh!

Funnily enough swords are probably the thing I've had the least problem bringing in (apart from the inevitable customs/GST dues) - probably because I get the sender to mark the full value on the shipping material, and they don't want to be the ones getting docked if it gets damaged! On the other hand, here are some things that have somehow triggered red flags at customs: A large pack of handkerchiefs. These were opened, unwrapped and rewrapped individually, and a "Customs was here" leaflet inserted. My sister's theory is that they suspected the fabric might have been impregnated with drugs of some kind... Two sword books from Japan. Maybe they were expecting naughty manga and were disappointed to see oshigata An MP3 player (back when your phone couldn't do that for you) A box of Harry Potter novels for a young cousin (seriously, why so suspicious of books...) A very short, very heavy faux-shinai for indoor suburi. This one I sort of understand, given that it looks like bamboo. However they have (thankfully) heavily relaxed the rules for food in your luggage - our tiny, understaffed airports simply couldn't cope with 4 in 5 travelers going through the "Declare" line because of a bag of chocolates or a sandwich from the plane.

If nobody bought it in the auction, they may have found an in-store buyer for it. Otherwise, it will probably reappear with a non-auction fixed price later.

My guess is that it's a clerical error on their end - the description itself doesn't mention anything about the sword being suitable for iai, which Aoi Art typically does whenever a blade is listed (and just about all such blades in the past have had koshirae included).

As always, the first and foremost rule of getting a sword for iai is "ask your sensei" A blade that might be fine for a Jikiden iaidoka who's 5' 10" might not be for a Shinden iaidoka who's 5' 10", and so on... I do agree with John and Rayhan that I'd prefer something that already has an iai koshirae. In addition, blades used for budo have a slightly different polish to those meant for appreciation - I suspect the polish on this one would be the latter. The price is also an issue - compare it to some of the swords here in the similar length range with full koshirae: http://www.e-sword.jp/iai.htm

There's also a decent range of modern iai swords in that price range here, updated fairly regularly: http://www.e-sword.jp/iai.htm The advantage (aside from being less controversial) is that these would have been mounted especially for iai, and so the koshirae would probably hold up better to repeated use in a dojo. Also worth noting, when Aoi feel a blade and koshirae is suitable for iai or batto practice, they will mention it in a note on the listing (along the lines of "We recommend this blade to you for iai"). The note isn't present on this one...

I concur with Donny - this was well done and much appreciated. Looking forward to poring over them in great detail when time permits. Cheers, Rohan

Hi Paul, I believe this is the thread you were looking for: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21341-national-treasure-swords-and-koshirae-of-Japan/ Can't wait to see what eventuates, and definitely interested in getting a copy (A3 or A4) of my own!

I saw that one too, but it was the koshirae that drew my attention - in particular, that three-piece tsuba is something I personally haven't seen before (well, either it's a three-piece tsuba or those are the most epic seppa I've ever encountered!) https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-uno-shin-15-mai-tanren-bizen-kuni-jyunin-ichiryushi-nagamitsu-saku

Steve - all I can think of is that the mei was either preserved, or fraudulently added to increase the value, when shortening the blade but the signature didn't convince the NBHTK - it would then have been removed in order to pass Hozon.

Very nice indeed. I like the koshirae too...

In case anyone's interested, I've done a bit of research on this scroll and Morita-san's very helpful translations, and here's what I've got so far (assuming that it's not gimei or a reproduction): A - Hawk, pine and sparrow by Kano Isen'in Naganobu (1775-1828) Son of Kano Yosen'in Korenobu; succeeded his father as seventh-generation head of the Kobikicho branch of the Kano school. Granted the rank of hogen ('Eye of the Law') in 1802, and was subsequently further elevated to the highest hoin ('Seal of the Law') rank in 1816, which is reflected in his mei here. More information about Kano Naganobu: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=139768 B - Family of chickens by Kano Seisen'in Osanobu (1796-1846) Son of Kano Isen'in Naganobu; succeeded his father as eighth-generation head of the Kobikicho Kano. Was a firm believer in the importance of the classics and made a great many copies of classical Japanese and Chinese works. Granted the rank of hogen in 1819, and hoin in 1834. More information about Kano Osanobu: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=145043 C - Bird (dove?) on a branch by Kano Tan'en Morinao (1795-1866 or 1805-1853*) The eldest son of Kano Tanshin Morimichi of the Kajibashi Kano. He was granted the rank of hogen, presumably sometime after this collaboration. Other than that, I can't find much about this artist at all from English sources - and that much, I got from listings of some of his paintings on eBay. * The sources disagree on the dates - a number of eBay listings have Tan'en as 1805-1853, but Louis Frederic's Japan Encyclopedia has him as 1795-1866. D - Crows in a tree by Kano Dotei Takanobu (1807-1878) Son of Kano Tokinobu. Became the seventh generation head of the Saruyamachi Kano family. His pupils include Takahashi Yuichi (1838-1894) and Iwahashi Noriaki (1835-1883). Other than that, I can't find anything online. Virtually all of the search results are for the considerably more renowned Kano Takanobu (1573-1615) but the birth dates of the other artists in this collaboration exclude him as a possibility. E - Pigeons in wisteria tree by Kano Tosen Nakanobu (1811-1871) Fifth son of Kano Isen'in Naganobu (and therefore brother to Seisen'in). Was later adopted by Kano Yusen, one of the head artists of the Hamamachi Kano, and became a goyo-eshi (painter-in-residence) at the court of the Shogun. More information about Kano Nakanobu - http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=145513 All in all, this looks like a nice little representative snapshot of the Kano school as it was in the mid-to-late 1820s (Tosen would have been 9 years old in 1819 and Isen'in passed away in 1828) - from the leading artists at the very top of the school to the promising young talent who would have just come of age as painters. I'm not sure if there's any significance as to the subjects of the paintings or the little shapes that border each painting - if anyone believes there is, please let me know your thoughts!

Looks like a most worthwhile endeavour! I would also be interested in accessing them, thanks!

Thanks for that Randy - I hadn't considered that the country of origin might be an issue since Australia is usually on the "good books" of other Western nations.

As some of you will know, I've been liquidating quite a bit of my collection. So far, everything I've sent overseas has been received OK, but one parcel sent to Canada arrived at the post facility in Vancouver almost two weeks ago and has had no further update, and the buyer is quite understandably getting a bit concerned. Furthermore, shortly after sending that parcel, I sent the buyer another one and it too has not arrived! There weren't any blades or otherwise questionable items in there so I'm hoping it's not something to do with Customs. Has anyone else here experienced problems with the Canadian Post service or experienced similarly long delays? There's not much I can do on my end other than offer the buyer a refund and hope that the parcels either make their way back to me or the buyer is ethical enough to re-pay me if they do eventually get delivered. I've done a bit of searching online and noticed a few other (non-Nihonto) complaints of a similar nature in the last few weeks and was wondering if anyone else here was affected. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=339809&tstart=0 https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.canadapost.ca

http://sanmei.com/contents/en-us/d23_01.html

There's also the Sword Buyer's Guide forum (the parent site also has a number of resources about identifying Chinese-made swords and how to handle them): https://sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/

Another suggestion - if you do want a nihonto to use for practice, there is a very nice modern nihonto in the Bizen style available on this board: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21958-bizen-masashiro-shinsakuto/ It has already been used for practice and cutting so there is no harm in you doing the same. There's also several other "working samurai" swords available at this retailer, which gets updated semi-regularly: http://www.e-sword.jp/iai.htm

One thing a few people seemed to have missed is this bit: I dont plan on cutting with it, but i want to buy as if i will. I DRIVE my hotrods... in the rain, in the snow. They are cars. Cars drive. I dont intend on cutting with a true nihonto, but it IS a sword. Its a weapon after all is said and done. I want the best i can afford. I will likely do at least some practice with it... suburi, etc. I would suggest you aim for something a little newer, rather than a mounted work from the Edo or Koto period. Speaking from a martial arts perspective, even if you're careful and skilled, accidents happen - and all it takes is one slip-up to irreversibly damage a nihonto. If you'll forgive me for being a little blunt, if you want to stay on the "good books" of most of the people worth knowing in this community, you're going to have to work out whether an older, highly rated maker (sai-jo saku or wazamono) is more important to you than being able to use the sword for practice - or be prepared to invest enough money to buy one sword for appreciation and one for daily use. One option would be to purchase your highly rated wazamono sword, mounted for use, and then have an iai-to (for example, http://www.tozandoshop.com/Minosaka-Brand-Basic-Iaito-p/016-s100.htm) customised to match the size and weight of the sword for practicing with. This way you don't risk damaging the sword in practice, but know more or less how it would feel in the hand if you were to use it that way. Other than that, I concur with Grey's advice - be patient, learn what exactly you like and why. Us newer collectors are fortunate to "come of age" in an era when information - and more importantly, high-res pictures - of nihonto are plentiful and easy to find no matter where you live or who you know. Use that to your advantage before plonking down a 4-digit sum on a centuries-old piece of history. Good luck!