estcrh

Mark...more pics...very fine tight hada.

Brian, I also am amazed at how long certain delicate items have survived, when you hold it in your hand and think that someone actually used it and it survived for so long, what do we have today that will last that long and be collected? People sometimes cant figure out why I collect some of the things I have laying around so I shouldnt talk.

Tom, I will have to see that one, the end of the world must be near!

Tom and Brian, your absolutely right, and I did not mean to insult any collectors, I was just shocked, but that particular sword was in incredible condition. Tom, I did not notice the stamp before, I will know what to look for in the future.

Peter, thanks for sharing your pics, you just made me want to see more, Im sure your polisher would agree with me that you need a beter camera :D

Ed, your tanto is a beauty, good pics , what I meant was....sometimes people have a tendency when they see a relatively uncommon Japanese or samurai weapon, tool, armor etc to call it a ...novelty..or made for the tourist trade..etc..and that may well be but just because an item is not well researched or popular does not mean it was not actually used at some time. The kama pictured has a head that looks a lot like a Tomiguchi or firemans axe. I have seen a few with that same size and shape, just not so well made.

Curran, that an interesting item, its probable that the guy that had it made knew what he was doing but since we do not understand it use its easy for us to say its more for show.

John, the butted mail would have been weaker than the riveted mail, its strange that the Japanese did not adopt the cross bow or maces, battle axe etc. They seemed to purposely restrict the use of certain types of weapons. When it comes to Japanese weapons and armor such as the yoroi doshi, yari tanto, cane swords, chain and armored clothing etc that are labeled sometimes as being ...novelties....I have wondered if we just do not have the proper information on why they were actually made and used, it has always seemed to me that for the most part the Japanese did not waste resources on weapons and armor for no reason. A link to a lot of Japanese chain and armored clothing pictures. http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz238/estcrh/samurai%20chainmail%20and%20armor%20samples/

So thats one of the Chens you mentioned, much better quality than most of the Chinese blades I see, I guess the word Tamahagane means different things to different people.

John, here are samples of the two types of chain used in this type of armor. That piece originally had a cloth exterior concealing the chain. If you notice the iron splints at the wrists for defense against slashing attacks, fire fighters outfits I have seen from that period were very thick and could be soaked in water to help keep them from burning.

Thousands of Japanese swords came here with vets after the war, both ww2 swords and old antiques so there are a lot of authentic swords in the states, plus now there is a steady stream of real swords coming here from Japan every year through the internet and dealers with connections in Japan.

Bruno, it was in good condition, but its almost an insult to see whats basically an over sized letter opener going for more than a handmade blade. I have been seeing a lot of nco swords lately selling for huge amounts also. I was just wondering if there was something rare or special with this particular one that I was missing.

Can anyone explain this selling price? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110483193006 US $1,746.99 Am I missing something here!

John I agree, heavy armor was not used much by that time, but there was a lot of light weight chain mail such as kusari katabira and other kinds of armored clothing being used by different factions towards the end of the Edo period, I think that yoroi doshi and yari tantos would be the perfect weapon for dealing with this lighter kind of defensive armor. ........Edo period 1800s kusari katabira chain mail jacket and hitai-ate helmet

Stephen, I saw that to, and it made me wonder, except for the tang looking so new I could see some people being fooled by these. With a little more work who knows what they could accomplish.

....John, did you look at the pictures of their swords, they look a lot better than the average Chinese ones I see, but you can still see a Damascus kind of look in most of them. I was just wondering if they were actually using tamagahane or if that was just b.s. and if its not iron sand from Japan it would not be considered tamagahane I would imagine.

Maybe the increased popularity around that time had to do with the increased use of chain mail and other armored clothing instead of traditional armor. Sounds like an interesting tanto, if you take any pics I would like to see it.

This site in China claims that they use Tamahagane in their blades, has anyone heard of them? http://www.zu-ben.com/zuben/swordsmith.htm

.......Dated 1865 and signed Yoshiteru, .5 in thick at the motogasane. I would like to see pictures of other ones that anyone might have. http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz238/estcrh/Antique%20samurai%20yoroi-doshi%20tanto/

Could the Showa stamp instead of Seki stamp be a clue to date the blade (I understood that seki stamp was established in 1942 but it's also seem that smith making non traditional blade can choose it since 1933)? If I'm right, even when "eastern steel" is used, we can see a clear hada if it's water tempered? A "mill steel" gendaito is expected to have a hada, am I wrong? Hi Stephen, Dr Stein database is a great source of information indeed, I'm very grateful to him for lightening my ignorance so many times! Do you think that the little stamp on the end could be the smith’s personal seal or ‘kokuin’? Thank you very much, Mathieu. Mathieu, sorry I cant be more help on this, maybe some one will have an answer for your questions.

Are you cleaning up your whole collection ? : http://samuraiantiqueworld.com/antiques ... mor36.html Frome the description : "1600-1650 certified by one of the leading experts in the field of samurai armor". Would you like to elaborate which type of certification this Katchu has ? Carlo...do you know who Trevor Absolon is?

I know just enough to get into trouble...usually..every once in a while I get lucky.....this is a good site with some pictures of ashigaru armor http://hirasefamily.com/antiquesyoroi.aspx

Here is the best link to tang stamp information I have found yet, it is a must read!, not all tang stamps are created equal. http://ryujinswords.com/shostamp.htm Beautiful looking blade!

Sanjuro, it came from Trevor of Toraba, a very well known and respected name,.... a good lesson...do not start an ebay auction for a valuable item at a very low price thinking that people will understand what it is and bid it up to its real value...actually this armor would have been rather expensive at the time since the chest armor or dou is actually made from around 100 small individual scales or iyozane, less expensive armors used a kind of faux iyozane. This armor is more like what a real samurai of the time would have worn even though it is not flamboyant, in fact many of the more ostentatious armors were worn by higher up samurai while the average samurai who would actually be in battle wore armor more like this. Ashigaru or the lower level retainers from what I have read did not usually own their armor but would use armor from the stock pile of the person who employed them, their armor was even more plain and basic, the funny thing is...good ashigaru armor is very hard to find, it was kept stored and because it was not owned by an individual and seen for many years as having no value they were left to rot. I passed up buying a beautiful full matched set of Ashigaru on ebay a while back and regret it now.

I just learned something new, I had no idea that people might have changed fittings to fit the mood. Interesting!