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If anyone is interested in doing a little prospecting it looks like there are a few katana and a wakizashi up on a North Carolinian auctioneer's site: http://bit.ly/cEEQjc (URL Shortened for convenience) Interestingly to me it looks like the two blades w/o koshirae had some sort of window polished in them. There is a fuzzy picture of the mei on #2 down a little ways in the pictures. Minimum bid only $100 :D

were these mass produced blades generally seen as a particular size (ie: katana) or did they span the range of popular sizes during the mid Muromachi period? I find this a particular confusing period as it seems that both tachi/tanto and katana/wakizashi were produced (as well as uchi-gatana?). Can anyone shed some light on these types of blades? Thanks,

I guess $500 is a bargain compared to the $886 on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=new) Thanks again for the sale Craig, Im looking forward to receiving my copy of Shinto Bengi Oshigata. For those of you that havent taken a look, there are some great deals to be had.

These went for ~$500 Does the fact that they are the commemorative edition justify the cost?

Yep, keeping an eye on those....

Flipping you'd have to get $370/per to recoup the starting bid (who knows what it'll actually go for) - looks like a pretty rough lot but would be fun to go prospecting! If I were closer to the east coast Id be tempted to hop on a flight.... short notice (next week) flights from seattle to raleigh are just under $500 for a 1/21 departure - looks like they are much more spendy from IA though.

Ditto - no offense to the seller intended, just looking for what others thought to reinforce (or not) what I think Im seeing

For your consideration, up on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/MURAMASA-ORIGINAL-A ... 852wt_1165 Is this tanto o-suriage? Im interested in the shape of the tang and location of mei (which is tough to make out in the pictures, at least for me) as well as the large mekugi-ana and the way the hamon abruptly ends just past the ha-machi (especially noticeable in one picture). Gimei? It seems reasonable that if it is o-suriage that the nakago was reshaped to a 'fish-belly' shape and the mei added around the same time. Just trying to sharpen my skills and eye :D

As a topic derail (Brian/Mods feel free to move this thread) how does the mei look to you? I dont have Hawley (yet) but have only found a few references to Kazuyoshi (and none to Ichiyoshi) in the online references I've come across: http://www.sho-shin.com/smiths1b.htm http://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KAZ76 But no existing mei images to cross reference with. It would surprise me if this blade dated back to the Eisho era based on the condition of the nakago (but I know very, very little)- Opinions?

That looks like a great resource Doug. I was using this one too - not sure how it compares (not quite as pretty) but the ascii kanji generator is pretty cool: http://www.gokanji.com/cgi-bin/j-e/kanj ... e/kanjidoc

Thanks guys, I wasnt completely off track with the easier kanji but certainly wasnt close :D

Ive made very little progress on my own (and based on the recommendations PM'd Grey about a flashcard set) - could I ask for a translation of the kanji in the first couple images at the top of the post? Thanks in advance for your time and assistance!

Great feedback, Thanks. I was under the impression that the skip method was in wide usage but apparently not (at least here on NMB). Ill keep looking - Ive been cross referencing with the pdfs here: http://home.comcast.net/~bladeshark/pdf_tables.htm but so far havent been able to identify much.

Hi all, Im giving a first time go at kanji translation and am having a difficult time (no surprise here). Ive been reading up on the skip method but am not confident in my stroke counts. Any translation assistance would be appreciated and even better stroke count critique (see the third picture with my best guesses). This is a tanto that I do not own - another question that I have is the placement of the mekugi-ana in relation to the mei. Is this common on tantos because the available nakago real estate is so limited?

If you guys cleaning things out by hand, Id be more than happy to volunteer some time doing manual cleanup. I have a basic but functional knowledge of ms sql and my sql and can probably manage my way around postgres

Hello NMB and Happy New Year, A belated & brief introduction. Ive been interested in Japanese culture since I was young (my father traveled to Japan several times in my youth which sparked my interest) but my interest in Nihonto started while studying Kashima Shinryu Kenjutsu. Sadly, life forced a move away from my dojo & sensi and my study of Nihonto was put on the back burner. Ive recently made time to pick up the books I own, purchase some new ones and begin studying again. Im quite excited to have found NMB and appreciate the time and experience that the members invest in furthering the education of new members and of each other. I hope to someday be able to contribute to the board. Currently Im tentatively 'grazing' for a study-blade while reading books and info on the internet.

Thanks for the suggestions Charlie, I do have a couple books in my library (and am acquiring more) and am slowly making my way this forum and it's archives. For members in the US, do you find gun shows worthwhile to go to?

Hi all, Ive been interested in nihonto for some time now and would like to begin collecting - maybe a blade or two. How did you begin? Any suggestions for a new collector? Im leery of the ebay route but then again dont have a huge pool to draw from for investment quality blades...... [edit]