help finding a nihonto

[LucyD]

Hello,

I'm here to ask for assistance in finding a katana for my husband.

I suppose I should start with some back story, my husband has had an interest in Japanese swords and spears most all his life. He has been,saving up to buy one for as long as I have known him (about 7 years now) but we have ran into some,issues over the years and were forced to use what was saved. The biggest issue now is my husband is going blind. He has a tumor that has caused some complications and he is now loosing his vision. His parents and I have been getting some money together and we are hoping we can get him one by Christmas. We currently have a budget of about 5000 USD. So my big question is what do we look for and where should I look? My husband has lots of books but only one is in English. He also refuses to tell me what to look for saying we don't need to spend the money right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated

thank you

Lucy

[Brian]

Hi Lucy,

Sorry to hear about his health. I hope we will be able to assist you in what you are trying to do.

What everyone is going to ask you is for some idea of what you think he will like. I assume, like most beginners, he would prefer a katana to a wakizashi (shorter sword)

From what you know of him...are the fittings important to him, or mainly the blade? In other words, would it have to be in full fittings..or a plain wood resting scabbard?

Also...is age important to him. Would he like a fine sword from the 1800's/1900's...or do his tastes run to the 1500's or around there?

I think your budget should find you a reasonable sword. But we need to try and get an idea of where his tastes lie.

 

Brian

[hxv]

Lucy,

 

You are a wonderful & understanding wife...I think before plunking down $5k, you need to find out what kind of sword your husband is looking for: old (Koto), new (Shinto), new new (Shinshinto), modern (Gendaito). Of these time periods, what tradition of forging does he like:Yamato, Yamashiro, Bizen, Soshu, Mino? Of the forging tradition he likes, what school/sword smith does he admire? There are a lot of things to consider. Not all Japanese swords are the same. If I were you, I would talk to him first.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[LucyD]

Hi Lucy,

Sorry to hear about his health. I hope we will be able to assist you in what you are trying to do.

What everyone is going to ask you is for some idea of what you think he will like. I assume, like most beginners, he would prefer a katana to a wakizashi (shorter sword)

From what you know of him...are the fittings important to him, or mainly the blade? In other words, would it have to be in full fittings..or a plain wood resting scabbard?

Also...is age important to him. Would he like a fine sword from the 1800's/1900's...or do his tastes run to the 1500's or around there?

I think your budget should find you a reasonable sword. But we need to try and get an idea of where his tastes lie.

 

Brian

Brian,

I'm not 100% sure as when he used to talk about it I would tune him out or no pay full attention lol. I have ran into issues about him answering questions but his father remembers alot of what he said he wanted his goal was to eventually own a sword from ever major era of Japanese history that I remember for sure. I don't think fittings matter much to him at this point. But I remember him talking alot about a type of spear that was also sometimes used,as a sword? I don't think age matters too much we usually say with him,the older it is the more interesting he will find it. He was going to school for,archeology I don't know if this matters much either but he is fairly fluent in Japanese.

thank you,

Lucy

[LucyD]

Lucy,

 

You are a wonderful & understanding wife...I think before plunking down $5k, you need to find out what kind of sword your husband is looking for: old (Koto), new (Shinto), new new (Shinshinto), modern (Gendaito). Of these time periods, what tradition of forging does he like:Yamato, Yamashiro, Bizen, Soshu, Mino? Of the forging tradition he likes, what school/sword smith does he admire? There are a lot of things to consider. Not all Japanese swords are the same. If I were you, I would talk to him first.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

Hoanh,

thank you, his parents and I have tried,asking or at least hinting (we want,this to be a surprise) and he honestly won't talk about it much anymore he has been focusing on getting several other things figured out and he for some reason feels it is an unnecessary thing at this moment. We still really want to do this for him we are just kinda wandering in the dark. And sorry for spelling and the weird way of speaking in coming off a night shift and waiting for my day shift to start

Lucy

[nagamaki - Franco]

The biggest issue now is my husband is going blind. ......

He also refuses to tell me what to look for saying we don't need to spend the money right now

 

Perhaps then you should listen to his request and consider alternatives such as books, visiting sword shows, museum displays, or even all 3 for as long as his sight allows.

[BIG]

Madame,

 

Maybe it's Not a bad idea saving the Money.

 

May the Board find any xmas Solution?

 

Best regards

[LucyD]

I understand where he is coming from kind of, I think he is just being stubborn about this whole situation, he is uncomfortable with it. He doesn't know we are doing this for him, if it was just me trying I don't think I could afford it at with time but his parents are being very generous. I really want him to be able to hold a katana especially one he owns and be able to see,all the details while he still can. I mean he won't be so blind he can't,see anything at all its just expected he will continue to loose his detail vision. I'm not sure how to word it I was never good with medical stuff. I will see if I can weasel any info out of him.

thank you everyone,

Lucy

[Jean]

Seems to be a naginata naoshi.

[Curran]

Please forgive slight divergence away from your original question.

--Do you mind sharing what state or city you live in, if in USA?

 

I respectfully have spent time with a long time collector who lost his sight. He still has his memory of the blades he has owned, and can discuss with me the various activity and other signature aspects of them as I view them and tell him which one I am viewing. We cycle through through various blades of schools and time periods. Some I know very well, and some not as well as his memory shows me.

Please judge how important it is to your husband to own a blade vs. seeing in person and getting to handle some fine blades. Depending on where you live and other practical factors, there may be some of us willing to share with him and show a few blades. A nice blade can be had for $5000, but the experience of something like one of the sword shows rampant with Juyo and higher level swords (and hands on lectures, after review lesson in blade etiquette) in the USA may be a greater memory with less cost. In some states you may even find monthly group meetings or lectures that he would enjoy and also serves to give you information as to what he may ideally want to own.

 

No promises or false hope, but some of us will help if possible to do so.

[LucyD]

Thank you,

 

I'm thinking I'm not to sure what to do I never got into collecting anything so this is all new to me. You are all the experts in open to suggestions. We live in Casper Wyoming, to the best of my knowledge there is nothing sword related not even a iaido dojo near by. I will talk to him tomorrow to see if I can get anymore info from him

[Ken-Hawaii]

Aloha, Lucy:

 

I have a former student who I trained in martial arts, & who also became a sword collector. When he started to go blind from macular degeneration about 5 years ago, he realized that there was no practical way for him to continue to study his Japanese swords, & finally had me sell them for him. But he also decided that there are other Japanese items that he could continue to study by "feel."

 

He now has a nice collection of tsuba (sword guards), bowls, one kabuto (military helmet), & an ink pot that I think is the ugliest thing I've ever seen, but that he treasures for the way it feels to him. I do suggest that you reconsider spending that $5000 on blades that he won't safely be able to enjoy, Lucy, & perhaps look into buying him a few tsuba from the members on this Web-site. If he enjoys the feel of them, there's almost nothing closer to a Japanese sword blade than the tsuba.

 

BTW, my wife & I lived in Laramie for three years, & miss the great hunting - but not the sub-zero weather!

 

Ken

[runagmc]

First, Your intentions are obviously good... but, I would hate to see you go and surprise him, and come to find out you spent all that money on something other than what he would have spent it on himself. I suggest trying to have the members of the family express to him how much joy they would get from being able to do something special for him - and then maybe (if he can be talked into going along with it), you can find out exactly how he thinks the money would be best spent (since it is HIS hobby, after all). And, if in the end he feels REALLY strongly that saving the money is more important at this time, maybe it would be better to respect his wishes? Either way, best of luck to you and your family...

[Brian]

If you do decide to buy him a sword (lucky him) I think that for that budget, you may want to find out when the next big sword show is in the USA, and take $1000 of that budget for a trip/vacation to visit the show, and then save $4000 for a sword. At these shows, I think $4K would get you something nice, and there would be many members there that can guide him and find you a deal. Would be a great memory for him, and he would come back with a lovely souvenir of the occasion.

 

Brian

[SwordGuyJoe]

I couldn't agree more with Brian. I just wanted to take a second and say that you're a special lady. If you're anywhere near Minneapolis (long shot), I'd be more than willing to bring a few swords over for your husband to view. Not as a substitute for his own, but perhaps as a guide to a certain type of sword (Gendaito forged in the Bizen tradition). Please PM me if you are interested.

[LucyD]

Thank you everyone very much,

. I spoke with my inlaws we are thinking of alternatives to swords. This is a little more,difficult than we thought. But I was able to get a little info out of him I asked a vague question while he was busy and he gave me a vague answer, he said his favorite school is hojoji but he usually is drawn to Bizen and Soshu styles I may have miss understood what he said ot how he,said it but I'm sure the names are right. Would anyone be able to point me where I can find info on these? And also info on sword shows if possible please I'm sorry if these are stupid questions. And thank you for the offer Joe but we live a ways a away in Casper Wyoming thank you so much for the offer

thank you,

Lucy

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Lucy,

Here is a calendar of next year's Japanese sword shows.

http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.c ... r-and-news

 

Grey

[Adrian]

and there would be many members there that can guide him and find you a deal.

 

Spot on

 

I'm sure many members will be happy to meet Lucy and her husband (in person, as opposed to online) at a show and offer some help in finding a suitable purchase.

[Stephen]

Lucy

 

FWIW

I like the idea of show as well.

https://www.google.com/search?q=map+Cas ... 1I7GPEA_en

16+ hour drive, so flying may be best. I pray you find resolve on your delemma, some times trying to hard just complicates the the goal.

[runagmc]

The Hojoji smiths are somewhat famous for their naginata/naginata-naoshi (naginata cut down and reshaped into a sword). It sounds like maybe that is what your husband is in to. Something like these,

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Hojoji_Nagi ... zashi.html

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Hojoji_Nagi ... atana.html

[LucyD]

Thank you so much everyone,

. This works,put,perfectly I was able to convince him to take a vacation to show me his childhood home of San Francisco in August if all goes well. I think for Christmas I will buy him some more books or something about what he told me any advice is still welcome even on books.

thank you everyone

Lucy

[BIG]

Good News,

 

Let us know what's going on!

 

Best regards

[LucyD]

Thank you every one for all the help so far! I have just one more question I think, sorry if its super lame but how much would a sword have been back in 1523 or so?

thank you

Lucy D

[paulb]

Lucy,

I cannot answer your question in detail but I think some members here have looked at such things. What I would say is that swords have always been expensive, and top level swords, i.e. by famous schools/smiths have commanded massive sums of money. There is a story of one Daimyo given the choice between a sword or a province opted to take the sword (don't know if it is true but it gives you some idea of how highly some work was valued.)

More mundane mass produced blades were obviously much cheaper but still represented a major outlay for the user.

[Brian]

Lucy,

Go to the articles section (in the members only area) and look for an article titled "Sword Prices, Origami and Samurai Income"

It may assist.

 

Brian

[Jamie]

I'm in Denver and i'd be happy to show your husband a couple swords if you guys make it down here sometime.

Hope that may help

Jamie