Advice On Buying For A Newbie

[mareo1912]

Hey guys,

 

so this time for real a blade that I like. There's also a very nice koshirae with it but I know a lot more about tosogu than on nihonto themselves. 

My thought is of course for the signature, also the to me strange seeming file marks on the nakago. Sadly the blade has the green paper virus.

 

Any help and opinion is highly welcome,

Marco

[ROKUJURO]

Marco,

possibly BISHU KUNI no JU OSAFUNE HIKOBEI SUKESADA, but the photos are not very good. Please compare

 https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-bishu-kuni-ju-osafune-hikobei-sukesada

[Dave R]

 Pretend there is no signature, pretend there is no paper. Do you like the blade at the price........ 

[seattle1]

Hello:

 If you could rotate the images of the nakago so a trip to the chiropractor isn't needed I'd appreciate it. At first glance it looks promising and there is no such thing as the green paper virus, at least in the enthusiastic sense that would call for burning them all up! I wonder if even 1% are wrong?

 Arnold

[Tokaido]

Hey guys,

 

so this time for real a blade that I like. There's also a very nice koshirae with it but I know a lot more about tosogu than on nihonto themselves. 

My thought is of course for the signature, also the to me strange seeming file marks on the nakago. Sadly the blade has the green paper virus.

 

Any help and opinion is highly welcome,

Marco

Hello Marco,

if you do not mind the hadaware in the hamon, go for it if you like it and the price is ok for you. The name is a "big name" in Osafune, so consider it gimei, when judging the price.

 

Concerning "strange file marks": it is hard to make out, since the pics do not show the full length of the nakago, but observed in the full blade pic. I guess I can see a "machiokuri-job" e.g. the machi moved up and therefore new horizontal filemarks added to the otherwise older looking nakago surface.

Maybe it is a matter of the (black and white?) fotos, but the kanji look "sharp" considering the overal weathering of the nakago. Needs futher study

 

Greetings

Andreas

[Jim P]

Hi Marco, Right way up and the Bishu Kuni Ju Osafune Hikobei Sukesada Jean posted from aoi what do you think ?

[mareo1912]

Hey,

 

Well in comparison the general nakago work, as well as the signature is pretty questionable i think...

Need to overthink the whole package though.

[Stephen]

I wouldn't count it out, send to chi town shinsa

[Vermithrax16]

Someone make a Post It note:

 

- Only buy 1st or even 2nd sword from a known dealer (or NMB For Sale section) that has been doing this a long time

- Even at low price range, papered, trusted blades can be found

- STOP responding to deals that sound too amazing to be true by private contacts, if it was a great deal, they would advertise it

- Consider for real what the price of restoration is for blades that have serious issues. Time and price (year or more, big bucks)

- Ask before you buy something. Too late if you already have it in hand

 

Ok, I am done.

[TheGermanBastard]

Well said Jeremiah!

[Stephen]

Devil's Advocate

 

Buy anything and everything that strikes your fancy, find out it's a big piece of ****.

 

Then the learning curve is very very fast!

[TheGermanBastard]

Soemtimes the more expensive a piece of advice, the better it is remembered

[NihontoNewbie]

I think more than a few people start out learning the hard way as Stephen suggests.