Takahashi

Hi John, great blade. I had also my eyes on it but the disclaimer on Aoi Art ("signature not reliable") prevented me from buying it. I thought of doing some mei research on my own but it was already sold then and I got a different blade. Nonetheless I have two questions: 1. Which toshigi is remounting your daisho? 2. Are you considering to get newer papers for your blade to verify the signature? It seems many people around here doubt that the blade might be gimei. I am currently also looking for a toshigi in Europe and bought also a blade with older papers (Tokubetsu Kicho). I am thinking of verifying the older NBTHK shinsa by getting newer papers and I am curious how other new Nihonto collectors think about such a verification. If there is a problem with telling the name of the toshigi on the board, just pm me. Cheers,

Hi Eric, where did you get this info? Are you selling them? Cheers,

Great pics Thanks!

Dear Bazza, could you give examoles of "easy" sashikomi, hadori and "hard" sashikomi polishs (pictures). I am interested to study the differences via comparing the three with each other. @ Joe: Thanks for opening such an interesting thread! Cheers,

Thanks for your fast replies. It is really sad that Ôsumi Toshihira and Nagayama Kokan already passed away. Am I right then, that there is currently no sword polisher considered a Living National Treasure? I guess the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is going to certify someone else very soon. Are there already smiths or polishers mentioned, who might be considered to receive such honors? Cheers,

Hi everybody, I was wondering, if Yoshihara Yoshindo already gained the rank of a Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuhō) . The website http://www.samuraisword.com/nihontodisp ... /index.htm states that he is an Intangible Cultural Asset of Japan, which assumes that he was certified as such by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. Surprisingly I was not able to verify this statement via other ressources. Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Li ... 8crafts%29) still lists Akitsugu Amata, (Swordmaking), Toshihira Ōsumi (Swordmaking) and Kōkan Nagayama (sword polishing) as current Living National Treasures and is probably out-of-date. It would be great, if anybody with reliable information could give an answer to the question, whether Yoshihara Yoshindo was designated as a Ningen Kokuhō or not. Cheers,

Hi Grey! As I am quite new to nihonto appreciation, I can only support your idea. It would be great to have some kind of nihonto related FAQ on this board and would prevent people to ask the same questions all over again. Of course only if those people read the FAQ before posting questions . I sometimes get the idea that many questions might have been easily answered with a bit of research . I would even suggest to add an article on polishing and nihonto restoration outside of Japan as this information is hard to get outside of the board. Cheers!

Jason, it is not that surprising, if you keep in mind that the Japanese adapted the european style during the Meiji period. Cheers,

Thank you John for the information. I was already wondering if such a way of dating swords would be possible since looking at the jigane alone might not be sufficient anymore to date swords properly. I read that modern Japanese swordsmiths have improved their forging of jigane to such a degree that it is sometimes even for professional appraisers not possible to identify them as modern swords. The question is how much material do you need to use the radiocarbon dating method? If it causes severe damage to the sword, it would be out of question to use the method on old nihonto. Cheers,

Hi Justin, I actually do not mind the usage of smilies as long as people do not take it to extremes. On the contrary smilies may help to express feelings which would most likely not be recognized by merely reading posts (irony, shame, etc.). By the way when a thread/post is not meant that serious they can be quite funny without distracting from important information. Cheers!

Dear Simon, I can only agree with George and hope you will not get rid of the gunto mounts. I also understand your attitude towards war and militarism. As a german I know very good what it means to carry an (inhuman) historical burden of facism and militarism but IMHO it should not be up to decide by ourselves to destroy old weapons and accessories. Who actually really knows what people in the future might think is historically important or worthy of preservation? I just want to remind you that the Nihonto you are referring to as art were originally invented as weapons to kill people. This was the reason why the US forces tried to destroy them after WW2. I am fully aware that traditionally forged swords and mounts are not to be compared to standard mounts but then again muromachi blades and mounts are also considered to be mass produced. I still appreciate them - not as weapons but as historically interesting artifacts. By the way I do not believe that the production methods used to produce gunto mounts can be regarded as todays mass production methods. Cheers,

Although I am also a beginner in Nihonto, it should be mentioned that the term shirasaya refers to a wooden scabbard. :? But regarding the pics you uploaded, you are looking for a mei translation or a general opinion on this sword. Mark already gave you the translation of the mei/signature (Emura saku = made by Emura). Emura was a swordsmith during WW2 and made traditionally forged swords (Gendaito). At first glance this looks like a nice Gendaito with a Suguha Hamon. Perhaps somebody more experienced may give you more info on the sword. Cheers,

Congratulations I am happy that Brian found someone willing to take up the moderator job and I am sure you two will do a great job. Cheers,

No, it is not the same! Rubbing alcohol may consist of 100 % vol. but some manufacturers sell even 70 % vol. as rubbing alcohol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol). Therefore you should explicitly ask for 100 % vol. alcohol (I got mine at a pharmacy). Cheers,

Hi Jesse, I am not sure if you should really scrape off the stains on your sword, it could damage the blade's surface . If you want to clean it, I suggest using 100% vol. alcohol. I discussed this with chemists and they assured me that although the alcohol cleans the blade from stains, it will not react with the steel. I tried it on a wak and I am pretty happy with the results. Cheers,

A german version would be great. I bet a lot of german nihonto enthusiasts are looking forward to such a handbook. Cheers!

Hello Peter! II do not know why the link is not working but you may try the direct link "http://www.jssus.org". Cheers

Despite its shape the sword sold for almost 500 $ Isn`t this like gambling since you could not see very much on those pictures?

The video is quite funny - although I understand why the Japanese government is so strict about swords. They can be deadly weapons and are sometimes still used for this purpose in modern times. There was for example the assasination of Asanuma Inejiro (Japanese politician) in 1960. http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.ph ... dwidth=low http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inejiro_Asanuma Cheers!

for the interesting story. This shows again that sometimes single facts, which do not seem to fit together (like the mountings of the sword and the place of its surrender - a Japanese ship) make perfect sense after hearing the complete story. As a lawyer I may tell you that this happens more often than one might think. Cheers,

Although this is not my thread I have to thank Nobody for the wiki.samurai-archives link. I did not know there was something like this on the net. It is very helpful. Cheers

Well it would be a shame to postpone the shinsa but perhaps you will get the remaining 90 registrations till the end of January. I just registered an item (did not know about this earlier ) and think that with a little bit more advertisement you should get the remaining registrations quite easily. Cheers!

I just read your book Clive. It was really interesting for someone as new as me to the topic. I especially appreciate that you included the Appendix. I hope to make good use of it. Cheers!

I was also astonished by the price of 500 $ on ebay but the books are sold for even more in Germany (750 $) Therefore 250 $ sounds like a good deal although the books are still listed for 160 $ on the wmhawley website.

Thanks for the story. I enjoyed reading it and I am happy that the sword got back to the heir of the original owner. I do not believe that many people would spend money on a sword and afterwards return it without regrets. Cheers,