saipan59

Good idea ( :-) )!. Around 30-some years ago I did an article for the JSSUS Newsletter that was titled something like "Translating Flags and Banners". It showed examples of the most common slogans, such as "BU UN CHOu KYUu", "HISSHOu", etc. Pete

Thank You everyone for your insights and helpful comments! Pete

Hi Jussi, Thanks for your comments! I agree with everything you said. I have not been an active collector for some years, and I no longer have my reference books, so I rely on Google... My wife (native Japanese, with a family background in literature and art) feels that 'X' is probably not KUNI. The bottom of that kanji may be missing, which would help clarify it. She read NAKAMURA as the more archaic CHUuSON, but perhaps in the Nihonto world NAKAMURA is more likely. As you know the actual reading of names and such is sometimes not certain, because it would require asking the person from that time. For example, I still have a blade by an obscure smith, GEN32 in Hawley's book, which Hawley read as GENJOu (an ONYOMI style of reading), but it could actually be HIROKIYO, or something else. Nobody can say for sure. I have chosen to call it HIROKIYO. About 30+ years ago, I am proud to say that I was the author of the "ToShoW" smith database program, which was well-known to the experienced Western collectors at that time, when there were no "online resources" and most of the reference books were in Japanese. ToShoW allowed doing searches for arbitrary strings such as "Izumo no kami" or "kinzaemon" -- that was a very valuable feature at that time, since every book was only indexed by the 'art name'. But if you couldn't read the art name, then you were stuck... The early version of Stan's Nihontoclub.com swordsmith database was based on my ToShoW data, but of course now it has gone far beyond. Pete

Thanks - that's a good suggestion. But *assuming* that the last visible kanji is the first half of the name, my wife doesn't think that anything matches. I suggested that it might be a 'fancy form' of ARI (i.e. ARIMITSU), but she thinks probably not... She also has doubts about the middle part of KINZAEMON - it's not quite clear enough. Pete

The reading of this seems to be IZUMO NO KUNI JUu CHUuSON KINZAEMON [?] . But those keywords are not leading me to anything. The last kanji is unknown to us (and perhaps not complete because of the SURIAGE). Thanks for any help! Pete

Hopefully it is all "civil discourse", but I think it's valuable for relative newbies to hear about the realities (my opinion?) of things like "expert", "best", kantei, kanteisho, polishing, legendary cutting ability, ninja, seppuku, "museum quality", etc. These are all things that are often distorted in various sources, especially online. This is why I was cynical about "top 10" in my reply at the beginning of this thread. Fortunately, this thread has included good info such as some proposed ways to measure "top 10". Pete

Well said. The Nihonto field (and perhaps other fine arts) includes a large dose of favoritism, money, politics, ego, bias, etc. The top experts would become mostly irrelevant if objective measurements were the criteria. The experts are good at kantei (I must assume), but there is never a way to PROVE that they're reliable, especially in the determination of shoshin vs gimei. Related: My first trip to Japan in 1985, I knew almost nothing about Nihonto, but I had a couple of blades. I brought a photo of the signed nakago of one. When I visited the NBTHK museum, I asked an attendant if there was someone I could show my photo to. She fetched a fellow from a back room. We had a big language barrier, but I asked him to write down in Japanese whatever he could tell me about my blade. After returning home, I would ask my Japanese language teacher what it said. He wrote a nice paragraph praising it, and said it was maybe 200 years old. Later on that same trip, I visited a dealer in Tokyo - he spoke some English, and I showed him my photo. He immediately said "Ah, Showa Kanewaka" - he was not impressed... A year or two later I had learned enough to know that he was correct, of course. So, the guy at NBTHK told me what he thought I wanted to hear, and even wrote it down. Pete

OK, that's reasonable. Given that, and without any further definition of "Top 10", here's some (with plenty of my opinions included :-) ): - Various Mishina-ke, such as the obvious Tanba Yoshimichi. Why? Because I like the flamboyant hamon style, and I used to own a couple from the Mishina group. - Hirokiyo (an obscure Kashuu smith, aka GEN32). Why? Because I have one, and it's always been my fav older blade, even though it's in rough condition. Perhaps my point here is that if I were still actively collecting, I would NOT care about what someone else thinks is a highly-rated smith. I WOULD highly value a specific blade with an interesting provenance (without regard to who made it), because I love the history aspect. If I could buy any blade I wanted, my choice would be one with a clear provenance to a famous historical figure (for example Sakamoto Ryoma). Smith rankings feels mostly irrelevant to me, other than the impact it has on resale value. Similar to folks that feel the need to "paper" their blades, even though they will learn little or nothing from the Kanteisho. Pete

IMO, It's so subjective and biased, I don't know how it could have any meaning. Your term "Top 10" needs a careful definition of what it means. And of course, the 'bias' part is rooted mostly in money, status, and politics. I would suggest modifying the question to something like "highest $$-value smiths based on actual sales over the last XX years". It's still pointless, but at least it might be measurable. Pete

Another approach: If you have a particular location in Japan that you know an object or family came from, and if you're able to visit in person, then go to cemeteries (and their associated temples) and ask around. Nihongo fluency is probably required... But like others said, if you don't have some provenance details to start with, matching a kamon with a name is very unlikely. Pete

Yep. I'll decline to repeat any compromising stories about his 'early period'. And his Dad (my brother Duncan) appreciates being called "God, the Father" . Pete

A new book that may interest some folks here. https://www.headstamppublishing.com/swords This video discusses the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY1vH10e8yQ Full disclosure: I have NO financial interest in the book, author, or publisher; but my nephew Ian is one of the Principals of "Headstamp Publishing", and he is the one speaking in the YouTube video above. He also owns the forgottenweapons.com site, and is often referred to on social media as "Gun Jesus" . Pete

Thanks folks for all your comments. I have certainly learned not to use GSP to sell anything "sharp". I found a GSP info page that says Prohibited items include "Weapons (including firearms, knives, etc.)". The mystery (to me) is why they don't consistently block the GSP option up-front - it is so easy, when the listing title says "fighting knife" or "sword". It seems that the enforcement is manual and random, rather than a "change in policy" as I had first suspected. If they actually re-sell confiscated items, then that's a good thing at least. Grey wrote >I have never once written a weight on a customs form; the postal clerk writes the weight of the package and that is sufficient. My process has been to do the customs form online at home, which requires me to fill in all the details. It makes it quick and easy at the P.O. - I just hand them the form that I printed. But maybe that's not the best process... Pete

I would be interested to know an actual example of what GSP charges on a specific item to a specific country. As a seller, I can't see what the buyer is charged, beyond the U.S. shipping portion. I just know that nobody has complained (to me). Anyway, the point of my post was not really to debate the merits of GSP, but rather to point out that *maybe* they had recently had a policy change that would prevent swords from being listed with the GSP option (my Iaito and bayonet are possible examples of a "new" policy). Pete

Yes, Pitney Bowes handles the actual re-shipping out of Kentucky. Not so sure about the "anti-weapons" thing, since just in the last 2 weeks I shipped a bayonet to France, and large double-edged fighting knife to UK, via GSP. That knife should have caused a panic - just a 'weapon', not historic... All clearly described, of course. Maybe they just do random checks for things that they don't like? There are other online posts by people calling GSP a "scam", but when you look closer it's just that they don't like the extra shipping charges, when they found out that the Seller *could* have shipped it direct for less. And there was a post a few years ago where a guy claimed that GSP auctions off things that they confiscate, to recoup their losses. Pete

Hi Grey, It's a bit more than that, in my view. I've sent many international packages over the years, mostly to Japan, some to Europe, a few to Australia and Canada. I've been using GSP for eBay sales since January. Some issues are: - Every item in the package has to be called out on the Customs form, with weight, value, and quantity. The weight and value have to add up to the total that you already entered. This means making a list in advance, assigning a weight and value to everything, adding it up, etc. I know that lots of folks "fudge" this, and take a chance. - The Customs form has a declared value. In various countries, the recipient will pay a tax/duty based on that (such as the VAT in Europe). This leads to buyers giving me "instructions" about the declared value and the description of the item. Typically, these instructions are dishonest, and I don't want to participate. Meanwhile, I would like to add appropriate insurance, but insuring for more than the declared value is an issue. [Tomorrow I am shipping something to a friend in Netherlands. To minimize the VAT issue, he gave me a "Tariff Code" to write on the outside of the package.] - Sometimes a foreign address is unfamiliar to me, so I spend time online figuring out which part is the Province, which is the City, etc. - An item can be refused by Customs (either at a U.S. port, or a foreign port). Then it is a HUGE HASSLE to resolve it fairly, and it wouldn't be free. - Accurately predicting international shipping costs can be "challenging" in some cases. ALL of the issues mentioned above go away if I use GSP. Last week's Gunto is the first negative experience I've had. But I have to say it was "easy" for me, because I didn't have to do anything (and there was no option for me to do anything). Pete

Hi Barry, the GSP shipping fee (to the buyer) seems to vary greatly depending on various factors (but I don't know what those factors are). Many folks seem OK with it, and of course they know what they are paying. A few months ago, I was selling a bunch of vintage (collectible) computer hardware, and on a forum I explained that I didn't want the hassle of international shipping. Folks on that forum urged me to enable GSP (I was skeptical), and it worked out great. Pete

Perhaps eBay's Global Shipping Program has changed some policies in the last couple of weeks? I sold a Gunto to a fellow in Canada last week. After it arrived in Kentucky, eBay said it was "restricted", they would not forward it or return it, I keep the money, and the buyer gets a full refund. [This is apparently GSP policy. Anybody know how they dispose of things that they confiscate?] Last night, I heard from a fellow in Australia, saying the same type of thing happened to him (as a buyer) just last week. I can't verify what he said. I have another Gunto auction that finishes in a few hours - so far, the GSP option still seems to be there (listing says "Ships to U.S. and many other countries"). The item number is 233695495982, signed Masazane. Can someone outside the U.S. verify that you see it as available to you? Just curious. I have a listing for an IAITO that starts in a few hours. From my side, the GSP check-box is on, but the listing does NOT show "ships to many other countries". It will be item 233703884003, in about 7 hours from now. A couple of weeks ago, I successfully sold a WWII Japanese bayonet to a guy in France. No problem. Today, I tried to list another bayonet of the same type, and eBay said "NO" until I removed the GSP option from the listing. A couple of weeks ago, I successfully sold a large double-edged Boker fighting knife to a guy in the UK. No problem. Pete

You're not dense. Nobody knows what the question is, until Tom explains it...

If you do make your own SAYA, I would suggest Poplar, as sold in places like Home Depot (for furniture making and such). Poplar is quite close to the traditional Japanese wood (HONOKI), and easy to find. It is soft, closed-grain, etc. I made a wakizashi saya years ago - it came out "OK" (I'm not a serious woodworker). Pete

I would infer that the OP was talking about a "Ningen Kokuho" (Living National Treasure). Pete

Bill (Yoshimichi), my story is very similar to yours. In about 1995, Frankie called me out of the blue, because he had seen my name and address in the JSSUS newsletter (I had written an article). He said his band was playing in town that night, and he wanted to get together to talk swords. He came to the house by taxi, and left the meter running in the driveway - I told him I would take him to the show venue after we were done, so he could let the taxi go. Over the next few years, he came to the house one more time and had dinner with us. In 1999, he put me on the Will Call list for their show at the Colorado State Fair, headlined by Ted Nugent. Me and a buddy went, and after QR's performance we "hung out" with the band backstage. Kevin DuBrow (vocalist, he died some years ago) was quite the "class clown" type of guy. Rudy Sarzo (bassist) was a super nice and down-to-earth guy. When at our house, our daughter (age 4 at the time) saw Frankie's heavy-metal hair and his tattoos, and said in front of everybody: "Daddy, is he your *friend*??". 🙂 Frankie lived longer than his prognosis. He did at least *19* rounds of chemo, and was still posting updates of his battle online until about a month ago. Pete

Thanks Ray!

Never mind - it is "Masazane/Masasane". My wife found it... Any comments on this smith would be welcome. Pete

Hi, Can someone identify the first kanji in this MEI please? It is dated 1944. HAMON is TOGARI. Polish is NOT high quality, but is in good condition. Full disclosure: It is going up for auction soon. Thanks in advance, Pete