New Member Introductions

[Ken-Hawaii]

Selamat datang, Jose. People like you are what make NMB interesting.

[Brian]

Welcome, we hope you enjoy it here.

[NewB]

Hello all,

 

I am here mostly to learn the proper approach to the Japanese sword so I most likely will be reading more than posting

 

I have a few interesting examples from different eras that have to be discussed but I will do so when I am ready to participate actively rather than just ask.. 

 

Great to be here - cheers

 

John

[Stephen]

Welcome!

[b.hennick]

Hi John:

Asking is a good way to learn. There is a lot to learn in this hobby. Welcome to nmb.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome aboard, John, & don't be shy about asking questions.

[uwe]

Welcome John!

[Janrudolph]

It is my great privilege and pleasure to be associated with you guys on this forum! I started becoming interested in militaria at about the end of my primary school days. Those days interesting stuff like bayonets, helmets etc etc were very easy to come by. My parents had a three-inch British mortar bomb as a door stop in the house, which rapidly became one of my first acquisitions. As the years passed, I became a gun collector with edged weapons as a sideline. To date I have been the owner of nearly sixty historical firearms, but due to lack of funds, I had been compelled to let some go in order to procure others. I had always to "give" in order to "take". I became known initially as a Mauser collector, and later the Mausers went and I concentrated on Americana (single-action handguns). Eventually the licencing laws in SA  became harsher, which put a damper on my collecting enthusiasm. I started collecting more edged weapons than firearms. After 2000 the firearms Act became ridiculously strict and I despaired of collecting firearms. I immersed myself in the Nepalese kukri, then moved over into the Javanese kris. What a lot I was learning! But at the top of my wish list there always was the Samurai sword. For umpteen years nothing came into sight. The first one I did get hold of was rubbish: a carved bone-hilted scrappy wannabe. Then lo & behold, I became the proud owner of a shin-gunto. Still not a Samurai sword! I picked up a cheapie Chinese stainless steel replica because it at least had the appearance of the real thing. Then the opportunity to get a quality functional Chinese reproduction came my way and into my grubby paws and that's when I started to really dig deep - not only in the wide study area of Japanese culture and history, but also into my pocket. I had soon to exchange dozens of my favourite collected items in a swap for three nihonto: a katana, waki and tanto. Al last I could say I have the honour of holding a real Samurai sword in my hands!  I am currently spending hours trying to delve into the matter of art, function and history behind these three items. And I'm so pleased and grateful that there are boffins on this forum who are willing to share their expertise and experience with the likes of me. What fun!

Johan  

[stephane c]

Hello everyone,

 

My name is stéphane cleuziou , I live in france  . I'm  40 years old. I developed an interest in nihonto in a rather indirect way, so let me try to explain in a few words.

 

i m fan of manga and japanim since i m 5 years , already gone on time in Japan (1 month ) and like it

 

And the idea of buying a nihonto take his way so

 

this week end i have buy one after a post on the  translating  part and thank to help of other :=)

 

 

Have a nice day

[kissakai]

Hi Stéphane

Welcome to the NMB and I hope in can increase your Nihonto knowledge

What is your current interest, Swords or fitting?

 

 

Grev

 

 

[Shorin Ryu]

Hello and greetings:

 

Just a quick introductory hello as a new member.  I am looking forward to listening, reading and learning from everyone here that is part of the NMB.  

 

My hope is to one day become the custodian of a katana.  I live in Ontario, Canada.

 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

 

Richard

 

 

[b.hennick]

Welcome Johan, Stephane and Richard! Take your time going through the FAQ and reading some threads. The search function should get you to what might interest you. Feel free to ask questions. We have a friendly helpful place here.

[Sutraken]

Dear members of the board, 

 

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Stefan, I am 30 years old and live in Northern Germany. My interest in nihonto began 10 years ago, as I bought the informative book about sword forging written by Leon Kapp and Yoshindo Yoshihara. I bought my first real nihonto last year from Aoi Art. It is a papered Den Naoe Shizu katana with a great blackish jigane. At the moment I own four blades. In the meantime I dealt with Brano and Lei-Ray here on the board. They are very recommendable. My main goal is to improve my knowledge in nihonto and to share my experiences. I hope to have a great time here. 

 

Kind regards 

Stefan 

[b.hennick]

Welcome Stephan! You are off to a great start.

[Brian]

Welcome! Sounds like you have some lovely swords. We have many German collectors. Enjoy your time here

[uwe]

Welcome Stefan!

[Sutraken]

Thank you very much for the kind words, Barry, Brian and Uwe ! 

[noneed2hate]

Greetings All!

I am a new member on the forum. I recently plunged down the rabbit hole of learning about Nihonto and Koshirae after attending a recent seminar hosted by Mike Yamasaki.

So far I have a few Tsuba that I had acquired recently, but otherwise look forward to continued research and acquisition of more items in the future. 

 

I look forward to learning a lot from everyone here!

Respectfully,

 

George

[b.hennick]

Welcome George! Lots to sew lots to learn enjoy the ride.

[Winchester]

Hello folks, have a lot to learn and am thankful for your sharing your fellowship and insights to this new collector. 

[b.hennick]

Welcome Charles. There are several sword shows in the USA. One in Orlando in July, the next in San Francisco in August. You can see many blades, fittings etc.  there.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Glad to have you onboard, Charles. Please let us know your interests as they develop.

[Dr Bob]

Hello members!

I just registered myself with the NMB, and thought I would post an abbreviated introduction here. If anyone wants the whole thing, you are welcome to check out my profile page.

I am a recently retired veterinarian. I lived in Tachikawa, Japan from 1965 to 1970 while my father was posted to Tachikawa Air Force Base for the second time. I was fluent in conversational Japanese, but have been getting rusty since my mother passed away 3 years ago. My father purchased two Japanese swords before we returned stateside in 1970. Those were passed on to me when I graduated from Veterinary School in 1982, and I have been collecting Nihonto ever since. I live in Boise, Idaho. Swords are not that common here due to the small population of the state. I have not had the luxury of limiting myself to any particular school of swordsmiths; I am happy to look at anything that happens to surface. Since I retired I have re-engaged with the JSS/US and the NCJSC groups, and am again actively looking for Nihonto. I have purchased 3 more Nihonto since the beginning of the year and my wife is saying that now that I have no actual income I should develop something called a “budget.” I am looking forward to membership in the NMB, there seems to be quite a bit of information available here.

 

Bob Gilmore

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome aboard, Bob. I think that you're the first Veterinarian on NMB, so be sure to check out Smaller Wildlife in the Izakaya. Looking forward to seeing photos/information on your Nihonto.

[b.hennick]

Welcome Bob. You will find a lot of interesting information here. Use the search function if you want to see something specific.

[FZ1]

Evening all,

 

I am new to the Nihonto world and just starting to find out about it all via this forum, recommended books, etc.  I've been lurking for a while, but now joined.

 

I'm UK-based and looking to buy my first sword soon, I have reasonable funds, but can't afford to get stung, hence learning who are the reputable dealers (or not) from the pooled knowledge and experience on this forum.  The topic about imports & customs is very useful.  I'd prefer a private sale (I just missed out on a nice one in the "for sale" forum!) but appreciate that I might be safer using a reputable dealer and paying a higher price if I don't get lucky here.

 

I'm interested in military history, so antique blades (signed) mounted for WW2 interest me, but its early days and I'm not exclusively looking at these, so we'll see what comes up.

 

Thanks for giving me the benefit of your knowledge and experience as a lurker and I hope (one day) to be a useful member of the forum myself.  Until then, please forgive the newbie questions that will I will doubtless ask!

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

 

P.S.  I posted this elsewhere before Brian pointed me in the right direction - thanks to, Shugyosha, Vajo and Brian who already welcomed me in that thread!

[Alex A]

Welcome Jon. 

 

Great place to learn about Japanese swords and have a laugh.

[b.hennick]

Welcome Jon! 

[ckaiserca]

Hello!

 

I signed up for this site some time ago, but have not posted until now. My name is Charles Kaiser, and I am from Aurora, Ontario Canada. I have been interested in Nihonto  for many years now, but have only owned gunto blades until now. I finally was able to purchase my very first nihonto, and it was delivered into my hands this morning! I am very excited to have it, and I look forward to learning more about my sword as well as collecting more in the future. I actually have two more blades that are undergoing shinsha right now.

 

By profession I am a theatre technical coordinator, lighting designer, sound engineer, and pyrotechnician. I work for the Town of Newmarket, ON, and live with my wife and two elderly chihuahuas. I also collect books, stamps, and coins.

 

My first sword is a Sunnobi Tanto (1 shaku, 1 sun, 6 bu) but classified by the NBTHK as a wakizashi. It is a sakizori style blade signed as Kaneharu.  This blade was papered as Hozon by the NBTHK in 2011. I am attaching a photo as supplied by the shop where I bought the sword. I will be taking some of my own photos soon. I will be asking a few questions regarding this blade in future posts, but I just wanted to introduce myself in this thread before asking for help.

 

I look forward to being an active member of this board. Thanks for reading!

 

Charles R. Kaiser

Aurora, ON

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome aboard, Charles. I like your Sunnobi tanto, & hope you will post your other blades when they return from shinsa. Sounds like you're also having an interesting career.