Dusty62 Posted February 2, 2008 Report Posted February 2, 2008 Hello to everyone. I just joined the forum and after perusing the the different topics I see that there is a lot to learn here. I'm looking forward to participating in some of the discussions and grabbing as much knowledge as I can stuff into my brain. I'm also looking forward to getting to know some (most if not all) of the rest of the members here. I have always been fascinated with Japanese culture. Japanese swords have held a special part of my attention for quite a while. I was really happy to find this forum. As a knife maker here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I am interested in making my own wakizashi one of these days. Regards, dus' 2 1 Quote
Bazza Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Dear All, I hardly know where to begin!!! Although I started collecting life in my teenage years as a gun collector, in the course of that I discovered the Japanese sword and have been enamoured for 45 years now - presently about to turn 65. When I started here in Australia there was no one who was interested in Nihonto, let alone any books apart from John Yumoto or Basil Robinson. It took me 10 years to begin to understand what swords were all about and 15 years before I found my first recognisably good katana - a nidai Tadahiro with choji midare hamon in Shingunto koshirae. In the absence of sensei I had to teach myself about quality and what made a good sword - still learning!! Polish is another vexatious subject - still learning there too. I first got to know NMB when my good mate Rich Turner started it some years ago. I never did have much free time to visit, then it went to Brian's custodianship. I've spent all day today browsing and I have A LOT of work to do to read every thread. My, my, a lot of people have been very active. I've joined because I believe it is the proper thing to do and I have always enjoyed sharing and making friends in Nihonto. Without friends in collecting one may as well give it all away. Also, I believe I can contribute to some threads and thought an introduction was the way to go. I will be well known to some of you, faintly recognisable to others, and a total nonentity to some. I look forward to getting to know more of you - and, BTW, I do recognise many names here. My collecting interests are eclectic and run the whole gamut of blades, tosogu, koshirae including lacquer. Oh, and teppo. I have three of those short, heavy barrelled Kunitomo guns that I have managed to find over the years. So, here's a Happy New Year to you all and let's raise our glasses to Nihonto. Best regards, Barry Thomas (Melbourne, Australia). 7 1 Quote
John A Stuart Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Cheers Barry, Glad to see you here. John Quote
Brian Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Barry, Great to have you here. I think it is great of you to post an intro, would be nice if people would do that when joining so that we have a bit of a background (although never compulsory) Look forward to hearing more from you. We have all sorts here, from tanegashima guys to armour guys and of course the swords and fittings guys. I think you will find we have everyone from teenagers all the way up to those in their mid 70's here. A good mix. Welcome Brian Quote
Brian Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 On thinking about it, I thought it might be a good thing to create a dedicated thread for new member introductions. I have taken the liberty of using your post Barry, and changing the title and making it a sticky. For those inclined, it would be great for new members to post here a short intro to give us an idea of who/what/when etc Always nice to know a bit about the people behind the posts. Brian Quote
Rich T Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 God, they'll let anyone in here. And so the rot begins For those not in the know, wait till Milt and Barry get going with their bat caves and other weirdness........ The last time I was on a forum with these two, I left LOL (just joking of course and with much luv :-) Him from the other side of the country. Quote
Brian Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 No worries Rich, in this place I am Herr General FeldMarschall, and none of that deviant stuff will creep in here :lol: Good soldiers follow orders, and Generaloberst Batmann knows well to keep that stuff far away from here I am sure Brian Quote
Rich T Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Ha, well done mate. I am sure though, there are now many many curious minds. I hope this has not opened the hornets nest ? Rich Quote
Stephen Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Welcome aboard mate, one slight due where due is do. Rich Stein started the NMB then passed to Rich T, then Brian. I'm sure you have been to his most exlant web page. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm Quote
Bazza Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Welcome aboard mate, one slight due where due is do. Rich Stein started the NMB then passed to Rich T, then Brian. I'm sure you have been to his most exlant web page. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm Hello Stephen Oyabun san, much known to me already. Only Rich Turner can answer this, but I believe the good Dr Stein has his eminent and most excellent top-of-the-tree website that was no doubt an inspiration to Richard Turner - BUT - I believe Rich Turner's NMB creation is his very own from scratch and NOT a hand-me-down from Dr Stein. Rich???? Bestest, Barry THomas. PS - Herr General FeldMarschall Brian - were you there????? It seems but only yesterday... Quote
Rich T Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Actually Baz, Rich S did start the forum, in conjunction with his site. I took it over from him, and re named it to Nihonto Message Board (I think, it was so long ago LOL) So yes, Rich S, then me, then Brian. The forum remains, the custodians come and go, a bit like Nihonto in that way :-) Rich Quote
Brian Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Yep...there does seem to be us steady stream of masochists who clearly don't value our sanity very much It has been run by an American, and Australian and a South African. Oneday it will be passed on to another insane custodian, but hopefully not in the too near future. Brian Quote
Bazza Posted December 27, 2008 Report Posted December 27, 2008 Actually Baz, Rich S did start the forum, in conjunction with his site. I took it over from him, and re named it to Nihonto Message Board (I think, it was so long ago LOL) So yes, Rich S, then me, then Brian. The forum remains, the custodians come and go, a bit like Nihonto in that way :-) Rich OK Stephen Oyabun san, my apologies to you. Sigh, failing memory failing more. My family reckon I'm nursing home fodder already!! When my middle daughter was 18 she asked me "How much is that sword worth Daddy?". I told her, and she fluttered her eyelashes at me and said coyly "Would you sell it and buy me a car??" That's what the family think of my Nihonto Love Affaire... Bestests, Barry Thomas. 1 Quote
Weidas Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Hello everyone, sorry i noted this post only now. I've found this forum appr. one month ago and logging in almost daily since then as i found it fascinating - so many experts or collectors from all around the world. Although i'm more interested in kyu-gunto, some of blades are traditionally made and i'd be grateful to get consultation or feedback from esteemed members of this forum. Short summary about me: name: Vaidas age: 35 location: Lithuania interested in Japanese military edged weapons since 2007(baby to compared with some members of NMB ) 1 Quote
John A Stuart Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Nice to meet you. What a year for you this year, I'll bet. !,000 year anniversary. Vilnius will be rocking. John Quote
Brian Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Welcome Vaidas, and thanks for the intro. My great grandmother came from Lithuania. Good to see a collector from there. Just out of interest, what are the laws around edged weapons there? Brian Quote
Weidas Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Thank you! Yes, Vilnius, as one of the capitals of culture 2009 and Lithuania, having 1000 years anniversary, started very nice You are welcome to participate Quote
Weidas Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Welcome Vaidas, and thanks for the intro.My great grandmother came from Lithuania. Good to see a collector from there. Just out of interest, what are the laws around edged weapons there? Brian they are quite OK. Earlier you had to register imported edged weapon at police(and to pay small fee, of course ), now you don't need that - just to pay taxes to customs ~2.5% tax and 19% VAT. Actually, just got back from post office - my naval kyu-gunto(not dress!!!) finally arrived and i'm sitting happy like nabob Quote
itsoverthere Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Hi, so I actually listed some details in my profile but as I read the posts a lot and have posted a few times (and will probably ask more than a few questions + hopefully in time contribute more) I thought I'd get involved in this post too. I'm actually British but living in Germany where I'm writing my PhD in archaeology + protohistory. Unfortunately my nihoto knowledge is still fairly minimal but my interest is high so I guess we'll see how that works out Regards 1 Quote
John A Stuart Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Nihonto is archeology in itself; great subjects. John Quote
Dick Tait Posted January 10, 2009 Report Posted January 10, 2009 Hello All, My interest in swords is very recent: I inherited my father's naval sword and hung it on the wall in my new house. After a while I thought it looked lonely there and, seeing as I work for the army, decided to purchase a curved (replica) army sword to create "Crossed Swords". Much better! I also bought new sword knots for both these; this meant that I was left with the original naval sword knot. When researching naval swords, I discovered that there were also "Midshipman Dirks" and I decided to find one for said sword knot. For two years I saved, and studied the ebay auctions, and finally bid and won a very nice example at a very competitive price! After my Uncle recently passed away, my Aunt, knowing I had an interest in swords, gave me the "Samurai Sword" (a type 98 Shin gunto) that he had bought back from Burma at the end of WWII. Seeking to learn more, I again turned to the internet to find out about the sword and blade. I was chuffed to find that it had a signature, and even more so that it was signed by a maker of some regard and dated 1539! So this is where I am at the moment; learning about Mei, Gimei, Hamon, Kissaki, Nengo, Nekago, Sori, Hada, Boshi, Ihori, Ko-Nei, Katakiriha-Zukuri and becoming thoroughly confused as to whether I have a "National Treasure" or an "Unusual Fake". Who knows? Time will tell, and I am very much enjoying finding out! Regards, Dick Tait 1 Quote
ironron Posted January 25, 2009 Report Posted January 25, 2009 HI, i am ron, from the uk. I have allways been interested in edged weapons. bought my first shin gunto. in the early sixties, for £ 9. seems cheap now, but it was a lot of money to me then. I have allways been a bit of a magpie collector, as long as it looked interesting i would try & buy it. Now the ban of Japanese swords has been implemented in the uk, it is making it more difficult for a genuine collector to import a nice sword that you might want to bid on. This was a bad decision, in my oppinion. a law made on the hoof , so to speak to please a few pollitically correct lobbyist! Thanks to ebays new ruling , Japanese swords are imediatley removed if a uk seller trys to list one. Enough of my rambling , although it is depressing to see how things are going for the uk collector. 1 Quote
John A Stuart Posted January 25, 2009 Report Posted January 25, 2009 Hello Ron, I am surprised to hear anyone from the UK this weekend. Fa cup and all. Cardiff tying up Arsenal right now. Great. John Quote
ironron Posted January 25, 2009 Report Posted January 25, 2009 Hello Ron, I am surprised to hear anyone from the UK this weekend. Fa cup and all. Cardiff tying up Arsenal right now. Great. John Hi John nice to here from you.I never have followed sport very much.Especially football! :D Quote
Veli Posted January 25, 2009 Report Posted January 25, 2009 Hello Everyone! Greetings from Finland! I started in early '90s with European swords, then bought a shin-gunto, and finally got addicted to Nihon-to early last year; I sold all the other blades out and started to buy literature as well as less expensive Nihon-to to start learning with. Now I have Hawley's, Fujishiro's koto & shinto, Nagayama, Tokuno, two koto and two shinto blades, and an incurable addiction. There is not much Nihon-to -related activity in Finland (sadly enough, Chinese copies are abundant), although some valuable blades may hide in here since Finland was a part of Russia during the Russo-Japanese war. Russians took the beating, but they got away with a number of Nihon-to. This is a great forum with a high level of expertise and also very well moderated! Quote
IanB Posted January 31, 2009 Report Posted January 31, 2009 Ron, Welcome to the Message Board. Don't worry about importing swords. Now that the legislation has settled in, it is no real problem providing you let the Customs have copies of the paperwork from the vendor. As long as they have something to put in their files they are happy. Also, take note on how they deal with VAT. Having accepted a sword as antique they occasionally apply 17.5% VAT when it should be 5%. Again a polite letter will get you a refund. Ian Bottomley Quote
loiner1965 Posted January 31, 2009 Report Posted January 31, 2009 Actually Baz, Rich S did start the forum, in conjunction with his site. I took it over from him, and re named it to Nihonto Message Board (I think, it was so long ago LOL) So yes, Rich S, then me, then Brian. The forum remains, the custodians come and go, a bit like Nihonto in that way :-) Rich hi rich......i joined this forum when you was running it years ago as i remember i had to keep asking you to reset my password all the time lol Quote
Surfson Posted February 1, 2009 Report Posted February 1, 2009 Hi All. Though I have posted once or twice, I should introduce myself as well. I became interested in Nihonto when I bought a shinto wakizashi on my first trip to Japan. Next I bought a book and another book and so it goes. Now I have a collection of several dozen swords, a mix of koto, shinto and shinshinto. I like Mishina blades and seem to have a few of them. I enjoy the website quite a bit and just wanted to say hi. Cheers, Bob Quote
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