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Posted

Hi, I have been collecting since 1999, when I first bumped into Dr. Stein excellent web site. It took me about 6 month to make my first buy. Mike

Posted

I've been collecting vintage and antique cutlery since I was 8 years old,

that's nearly 60 years ago :-) Got into Nihonto in 1971 with my first

sword, a shobu-zukuri Bizen Osafune Sukesada dated Bunmei (1400's)

in full buke' mounts with Shoami ensuite fittings. Paid the huge sum,

at least for then, of $140 for it at a gun show. That got me hooked.

Been into Nihonto, tsuba, etc ever since. I guess that makes me one

of the dinosaurs of the field.

 

Still collect and study other types also: 19th bowies, Bronze Age

knives and spear heads, Finnish puukko (which I also make), old

butcher knives, English pocket knives and most anything that strikes

my fancy. Just like any fine old cutlery. Probably about time I got

rid of some of this junk :-)

 

Rich S

Posted

I have always wanted to collect Japanese swords since i was 16. Its only recently (after 10 yrs)that I managed to save up and found out that nihonto can be imported into my country that I got my first pieces, a Komihara katana and an Ichimonji this year.

Posted

Same for me Daniel, old swords in general always fascinated me but one day i discovered the nihontos ( long ago) and swore that one day i'd own an original one.

Got my first one only a few months ago after reading around ten books on nihonto and Japanese swords craft.

 

I made a few mistakes, as i think we all should, but i could have made bigger ones if i werent informed!

 

Remy

Posted

How long have I been collecting? Not nearly long enough :D

If I had another 20 years of study behind me, I would be a bit more confident in this field.

As it is, I am only into this for the past 7 years or so. So I am still a complete beginner.

I was always a serious firearm and edged weapon collector with a reference library of a few 1000 books. Oneday I found myself with a newly acquired NCO shin gunto, and as always, went to my books to see what I had on Japanese swords and learn a bit more about it.

Well..once I started reading, I was hooked. Everything else took a back seat, and I soon found myself looking for a forged blade.

I skipped the "buy a fake on eBay" stage, and bought my first wakizashi from a very nice dealer overseas. The rest is history :)

 

Brian

Posted

Hi,

 

Collected bayonets since I was a lad and swapped my collection (about 40) 6 years ago for my first Showa gunto :(

 

Have made a lot of mistakes along my short journey, would have made a lot more if it wasn't for the kind help from all on this and the previous message board.

 

Spent a lot on books, gone to various shows and have been swapping and adding to my collection ever since.

 

Regards

 

Mark

Posted

Don't believe I do the term "collecting" justice. Perhaps more accurately I have been "acquiring" nihonto for the last year and a half. My background was competitive shooting and firearms, marshal arts. Have had a deep interest in Japanese swords and culture for years. I too, have made several mistakes in this learning process. I have discovered some minor treasures as well. It has ALL been most interesting, most rewarding.

Posted

I acquired my first nihonto when I was 19 or 20 years old (25 years ago yikes) it was a gift from a dear old friend that I new my entire childhood and he had brought it back during WWII. Being young and stupid I did some things with and to it that I now regret and am going to rectify regardless of cost. My second nihonto came to me about 5 or 6 years ago from an antique mall, Gunto mounts on a family blade, mumei , o suriage but with very tight grain, hope to post pictures someday. I did not purchase another until this year from of all places eBay.This one turned out to be Hizen Tadayoshi wakazashi that I am still researching, hopefully a hidden gem. I am sort of learning and purchasing at the same time but with reserve. Regards from Missouri Scott

Posted

Well glad to hear that I am not the only one that is still a beginner! For all those that have been collecting for a while all the stories are very cool to hear! I am thankfull for all your work to futher the intrest of newbies like myself with info and you have/are sharing to help us learn.

 

Brian I wouldn't consider you a beginner since you know WAY more then I do, and BTW thank you for the time and hardwork at keeping the forums up and running!

 

Dr. Stein your site is just full of info and I am reading all the info you have on it everyday and it is helping me a lot!

 

Strider, where in MO are you from?

 

I take it from some of the stories I am a youngster on here a whole whopping 26.

Posted

I'm only 27 ;-) But although I've been studying for more than 6 months now, I'm still waiting for my first blade. It's ordered though !!! (nice Tango no Kami Naomichi wak from Zenon Van Damme - cosignation, he's making me a nice shirasaya to put it in, should be ready in a few weeks)

 

I learn about it every day, and strangely enough, besides books and websites, I learn from ebay. I watch the prices and if something goes for a huge sum, i try to figure out why someone would spend so much money on such an item.

Posted

Hey Dirk,

 

So what got you into Nihonto? I have only been studying now for about a week so........I will try to wait a while before I get my first blade probly about a year. to make sure I know what I am doing. That way I won't make a costly mistake. What I would really like to have is a Gassan Sadatoshi, but I have a feeling that, that might just be impossible! For right now I am just trying to learn as much as I can on the web till I get my first books in a couple weeks.

Posted

Well, a friend got me hooked to be honest. First I was only into Japan and it's culture (my friend studied Japanese and Japanology and we got talking, his enthousiasm was contagious to say the least). But I've always been very interested in finely crafted antiques, so one thing led to another. At one time I happened by this forum and bang ! Now I'm hooked ;-) I read and learn loads on this forum, and there's a lot of info out there on the web. The great thing about this forum is that you can follow discussions so you can see how people come to certain conclusions, which helps you learn a lot faster. Also bought me a stack of books, and I thought "this will quench my thirst for knowledge" but alas, I was mistaken. The more you learn about it, the more you want to add to that knowledge...

Posted

Yeah, I am realizing that myself. Evertime I learn something else about nihonto I just want to learn more about it. Yesterday/early this morning I read about the diffrent type of tanto's on Dr. Stein's site and found that they had the single shot pistols and I never thought about that even being made.

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

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