Seeking opinions on a pending purchase.

[bigjohnshea]

Hope you are all well.

 

http://www.ricecracker.com/inventory/64 ... _daido.htm

 

Any opinions on this blade? I'm about to complete a trade/purchase for it.

 

I think it's phenomenal. Really love the whole package. Still very new at this though.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

[bigjohnshea]

Apologies, repaired broken link.

[chrstphr]

my opinion is if the sword is Shinto, then i would want it to be Ubu and complete mei.

 

I would also expect it to already be papered Hozon for 9K. But that's just my feeling.

 

 

here is one for sale on here at half the price, ubu, from the 15th century and complete mei. No Koshirae.

 

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18282

 

or this one with koshirae

 

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18198

 

opps, last one is on hold now.

 

 

Chris

[Marius]

John, any specigic reasons why you like this particular sword? Is it the sword smith, the hitatsura(ish) hamon or the fact that it has original koshirae?

 

For this price there is a wealth of very good swords avaiable.

[bigjohnshea]

Thank you both for your thoughts.

 

The purchase of this sword is a combination trade and purchase. After it's all said and done, my cash expenditure is actually a few thousand dollars less than the requested price of the Naofusa. The reason is I was able to get a greater trade value for the sword I traded then what I originally paid for it. Then I put out 1000$ above that to meet the sellers requested price. So I saved some money in the long run.

 

Chris,

Thanks for the two links. The first sword I'm not that impressed with. As the description says it looks like it is a bit tired and the flaws that the last polish revealed would keep me from wanting to buy it. Also the lack of koshirae would have kept me from buying it. Just my amateur opinion.

 

The second link was really a nice blade, again, in my opinion. I'm not sure if I would have bought it over the Naofusa though, for the reasons I talk about below. I agree that I would have preferred the Naofusa to have gone through shinsa already for this price, but I will submit it to shinsa myself sometime and see what the outcome is.

 

Mariusk,

There are a few reasons I decided this was the sword for me.

 

The first is that I do love the hitatsura hamon and the muneyaki on it. I've only seen a few examples of muneyaki on other swords, and I think this really just felt like a nice execution of it. I could be wrong but it struck a chord with me. I also thought that having a sword with a muneyaki would be a nice addition to my collection.

 

The second reason was the overall shape of the blade. I prefer a more shallow sori, and I believe that shinto era blades are known for more shallow sori because this was around the time that the katana was transitioning from a weapon used on horseback to a weapon used on foot. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Koto era blades always get my attention because of their age, but I tend to like the shinto era blades because of their style.

 

The third reason was the koshirae. I don't have any swords with complete antique koshirae, and I tend to prefer the no-nonsense approach to koshirae. As my taste in sori might tell you, I prefer things to be less extravagant and more direct. I am restoring another blade right now that is a shin-shinto era sword, and while I am choosing components that are a little brighter (in terms of material) they are still very subtle in their own way.

 

Last but not least was the smith. I spent some time reading what I could about the Naofusa before buying this. There was a previous post here on NMB that got my attention. I can find the link if you really want it. The post discussed how Naofusa worked for the Hosokawa family, and actually moved from the Mino area at their request. I liked the idea that this smith worked for one of the longest running and influential families in Japanese history.

 

As an aside, I also liked the idea that he worked for the Hosokawa family during the same era that Miyamoto Mushashi was a retainer of the Hosokawa family. Something I have always enjoyed about collecting antiquities is the mystery of what life the item has lived. There is a small piece of me that likes the idea (mind you, it is just an idea ) that this sword could have been held Musashi himself. It is not the real reason I bought it, but it is a charming thought.

 

Hope you are both having a great day.

Cheers,

[Brian]

John,

All valid points, and seems you have done more that a decent amount of thinking about it.

At the end of the day, if you like it, then it gets a new home. Sounds like it has a good one. Enjoy

 

Brian

[bigjohnshea]

Thanks again Brian.

 

Apologies again for the double post.

 

Cheers,

[zentsuji2]

I am no expert but go with the sword you like,the joy of owning something you feel comfortable with,sometimes outweighs papered swords,i feel sure the looking into the smith and upgrading has given you pleasure already.

Good luck, if a blade is for profit buy a papered sword,if it's for enjoyment, and the deal is beneficial, then buy what makes you happy.

However, it is easier to sell a papered blade,and it has the distinction of being perused by experts,and you know what you have,is really made by the smith quoted,and obviously if it's an important artefact papers are best,and a better investment.

Hope to see some pictures if you get it,and wish you all the best in your purchase.

Regards. Ian bellis

[bigjohnshea]

Thank you for your thoughts Ian.

 

I doubt any pictures I take would be of equal quality to the pics that are found on the link above, in the original post. I'll try to take some once it arrives though.

 

Cheers,

[Alex A]

I like it John, unusual, first time i have seen an hardened edge along the mune, wondered what i was seeing at first view, thought it was some new kind of reflection photography :D, nice tight hada . Good that it comes with a period koshirae (uchigatana style). I would get it papered early to assist with a future sale. I can see why you went for it, nice one.

[Marius]

I like it John, unusual, first time i have seen an hardened edge along the mune

 

Alex,

 

Not so unusual

 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Tadamitsu1.html

[bigjohnshea]

I can't say how rare muneyaki really is, but I personally feel that the muneyaki makes the blade stand out, at least in terms of what is available out there.

 

I was shopping for blades in this price range for a long time. I won't pretend I know what the best work is when I see it, but I probably looked at every katana offered by nearly every merchant that NMB offers a link to and I don't recall ever seeing another for sale that had this feature.

 

Anyhow, I thought it was a unique feature, and amoung the other things I mentioned above it made for a strong component of a whole package.

 

Cheers,

[Marius]

John,

 

I can understand your motivation. It is good as any other (eg. Katana in shobu zukuri because they are comparatively rarer than the usual honzukuri shape).

 

As long as you know (and I am sure you do) that the type of hamon does not say anything about the blade's quality, everything is fine.

[bigjohnshea]

Marius,

 

Yes, I entirely agree.

 

Building on your point, I have also read that muneyaki often can be a sign of retempering of a blade, which I believe devalues it. That being said, I don't see in this blade any other signs of retempering, such as mizukage, or the hamon falling short of the ha-machi.

 

Thanks again for your insights.

Cheers,

[John A Stuart]

Something to research. Is the shinto Daido school noted for muneyaki? Is Naofusa? Is it intentional? Is it incidental? John

[Alex A]

Mariusz, ever the perfectionist, its a nice sword....

 

Enjoy................

[runagmc]

I can't hardly imagine this level of mune-yaki was unintentional... The pattern looks intentional as well as the sheer amount...

 

Also, to top a question with another - Is there any school noted for this level of mune-yaki on a shinogi-zukuri katana?

[Brian]

This was clearly intentional, and well done. I like it.

The dealer also gives a shinsa guarantee...I think this is a lovely sword, and being unusual would probably add a bit to its desirability. Nice tsuka...it all makes for a very nice package, from a reputable dealer.

 

Brian

[zentsuji2]

That really is a nice blade John,

The hada is lovely, the muneaki is stunning.

 

I too like the battle mounts to be no nonsense, I love artistic mounts,and Tsuba,but when a sword is in black plain scabbard, it's ready for a day at the office.

 

The straighter sori is appealing, I am only learning,but that's a nice looking sword all round.

Add that to the history and I think you did well,the condition is good, and smith is good,and as you say there is the possibility of the history getting more exciting, who knows?

 

Good buy imho,

Take care mate.

Best regards. Ian Bellis

[drbvac]

All great advice and perfect reasons for what you should do - the bottom line is as one said - for re-sale or enjoyment - I did the same thing with the Kanemitsumoto Tachi that was shown as at 1/2 the price and not papered and no koshirae - I traded and hopefully worked out at a no loss to buyer and seller ::::

 

HOWEVER - I bought it originally nearly 20 years ago - no koshirae as I already had several with - unpapered - as at the time none of them were. Investment - no - it was truly something to behold in hand and very impressive weapon from the 1300's. Sold it for roughly half so surely not an investment and at the time - not worth the cost or trouble to paper .

 

I do not care - I held and looked at it for 20 year and evert time I picked it up being as old as it was - wondering what havoc it caused on the battlefield because first and foremost that is what it was made for and I had it in my possession - priceless.

 

Buy what you like and don't even think of what it will be worth - I may pass away and without some pre-arranged pricing and purchase agreement my kids may just give them away - it is a collection - like cars in a way - only worth what you are willing to pay