New Member Introductions

[Brian]

Welcome! And a very good start to your collecting. Congrats.

[ZoomZ]

Hello everyone ~

In my quest to know more about real Japanese swords i have landed on this site and i must say after reading and brousing around 

for 8-10 hours it seems ive opened up a rabbit hole and cant wait to get my first Real Nihonto.

 

Ive had a couple replica's swords and now i need to step up to the next level starting with something from WWII era .

 

I know nothing about real swords but have always had a love for the art and hopefully with some help i can start learning and collecting some nice pieces .

 

I must say its nice to find a web site like this where information is real and not fake like facebook and other places .

 

First thing i need to do is find a nice blade for my son the sushi chef for his 21st birthday then i can get to collecting

 

Russ

 

 

 

[Jwrussell]

Welcome. Being in Florida (and Orlando!), check out the Sword Show forum. There is a great show coming your way in less than a month. Be sure to make it to that show, you will not regret it.

[FZ1]

Welcome Russell.

 

As a newcomer myself, I can confirm that this place is packed with good info and helpful people!

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

[ZoomZ]

3 hours ago, Jwrussell said:

Welcome. Being in Florida (and Orlando!), check out the Sword Show forum. There is a great show coming your way in less than a month. Be sure to make it to that show, you will not regret it.

Thanks man , i will be there !

Unless Im racing , haha .

[b.hennick]

Welcome Charles and Russ. I'm  sure that you will like this forum.

[ckaiserca]

4 hours ago, b.hennick said:

Welcome Charles and Russ. I'm  sure that you will like this forum.

Thank you! 

[Kaigunto230]

Hello everyone, Michael Seeley here! I've been reading and browsing this thread for a few months and wanted to introduce myself. I'm originally from IA but live out in northern WA state for now. I'm a longtime student of history, particularly military history; I focused on Napoleonic and Ancient in college, but I've always been fascinated by Japan and their martial traditions.

 

   After law school, I joined the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, and I was stationed in Yokosuka (about two hours south of Tokyo) and Sasebo (west of Nagasaki) for a few years. During my time there, I went to as many museums as possible and saw the most gorgeous Nihonto on display. I've got some pictures of some very interesting stories from out of the way museums that I should post here. For instance, Odawara had a katana that was used for a revenge killing by a son after years of searching for his father's murderer.

 

   Now that I'm back in the States and have a bit more time and money, I've really started academically studying Nihonto. My book collection includes these; I'm off to a good start but need to invest in more titles.

 

 

And here's my nascent collection of all periods/types, which includes a Type 97 Kai Gunto, a 1700s smallsword (I'm a fencer), my own Naval uniform sword, a locally-made sword cane, Kris (my leave travels in Asia), an Arisaka bayonet, and a shinai for kendo.

 

With the naval connection, I'm very interested in late-Meiji/Russo-Japanese War-era mounts, as I love the meeting of East and West with the beauty of traditional blades. I posted that I'm going to be at the San Francisco Token-Kai in August, and I'm very much looking forward to meeting you all! Thanks for all you do for the historical community.

[ckaiserca]

Hello and welcome! I have found the Connoisseur’s Book of Japanese Swords by Kōkan Nagayama to be a very useful addition to my library. There are other great titles listed in the forums FAQ section. 

[Brian]

Welcome Michael. Looking forward to hearing some stories of your time in Japan.

[Toryu2020]

Welcome Michael -

Having lived in Kamakura we used to go to Yokosuka to the movies and we did demonstrations on "Open Base" days. Youve got the right books there and I see one that I'm going to need (Meiji no Senso to Yokohama) - thank you for the recommendation!

-t

[b.hennick]

Welcome Michael! I'm sure that you will enjoy it here. Love to hear about your time in Japan and the swords that impressed you there.

[Kaigunto230]

8 hours ago, Toryu2020 said:

Welcome Michael -

Having lived in Kamakura we used to go to Yokosuka to the movies and we did demonstrations on "Open Base" days. Youve got the right books there and I see one that I'm going to need (Meiji no Senso to Yokohama) - thank you for the recommendation!

-t

Thomas, oh fun! I first read "demonstrations" as the ordered and polite protests that occasionally happen outside the gate against the U.S. Navy having nuclear-powered aircraft carriers there. On second read, now I'm wondering if you mean some type of showcasing of iaido, Nihonto, etc?

As for the Meiji-era book, it is interesting, but it probably is more general resource on the military history of the period than Nihonto specifically. It's the guidebook to a fascinating exhibit put on by the Yokohama Archives of History Museum that documented the transformation from late Edo to late Meji Japanese military. Lots of documentary history that covered uniform changes (where the tie-in to this subject comes in as the government changed who could carry what type of swords and what those swords looked like). Also, the guidebook has less English than the exhibit itself. I just tried Googling for a link to the exhibit/possibly the book with no luck, sorry.

[Toryu2020]

Michael -

Yes we used to do Iaido demonstrations at the old theater on base - different crowd than those outside the gate. Bakumatsu Meiji history is a favorite of mine so even if its light on sword related material I am going to look up a copy...

-tom

[RalphS]

I'm Ralph just signed up but have been lurking doing some reading. I probably won't be posting much as I have nothing to offer of value or usefulness to this great forum and  resource of information. It will be awhile before I'm in the position to purchase a nihonto. I've always had an interest since I was a teenager and saw an old Japanese sword slung on someone's back, walking around the gunshow looking to sell or trade his sword. I'm trying to slowly pickup some knowledge by reading here. Hopefully someday I'll be able to purchase a nice piece. In the meantime I'm enjoying the threads here with the wonderful pictures, discussing these wonderful swords.

Thanks

Ralph

[kissakai]

Hi Ralph

I hope you find the NMB useful

Always good to research first and you will some of our mistakes!

I've always found the NMB a good place to buy

 

 

Grev

 

[b.hennick]

Welcome Ralph. Enjoy the journey it is a long road. 

[RalphS]

Thank you both for replying and the welcome. Thanks for the advice, after reading I see this is a great place for safely purchasing and I have been keeping track of some sources that people have recommended and who to avoid. It does seem to get very complex with the amount of information. I'm trying to get aquainted with terminology and some of the basics. The amount of information is overwhelming and a bit confusing.

Thanks again

Ralph

[FZ1]

Welcome Ralph. 

 

I'm new to this as well and at the same stage as you.  However, I've spent a shed-load of cash on books! 

 

As you've already sussed-out from lurking, there is loads of really good info on here in old threads.  I've learnt a lot by using "search" after looking at swords on supplier sites and then researching reading-up on this forum.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

 

 

[RalphS]

Thank you Jon!

[Kenneth]

Hello from Maryland USA!

To each of you that share your info/knowledge ofNihonto  and Japanese culture I say thank you in advance. My interest is high but I don’t have much experience in the subject so I’ll refrain from commenting. I’ve got a lot of reading on this message board but I’m totally looking forward to it. Hopefully no one finds my ignorance too irritating if I ask questions!!!

[Bazza]

On 6/18/2021 at 12:29 AM, ZoomZ said:

I must say its nice to find a web site like this where information is real and not fake like facebook and other places

 

Russ, its true there is a lot of nonsense on facebook, but at this link you will find the writings of a fully qualified togishi (sword polisher) Andrew Ickeringill:

https://www.facebook.com/toukentogishi

 

Andrew spent 6 long, hard years in Japan learning polishing from Sensei Takushi Sasaki who in turn was taught by the Living National Treasure polisher Nagayama Koukan, also author of the book mentioned above The Connoisseurs Guide.  Go here for a good video

 

Best regards,

BaZZa

aka Barry Thomas

Melbourne, Australia

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome aboard, Ken. You can learn a lot by asking questions, & we welcome them.

[ckaiserca]

Welcome Ken! I know from my limited experience so far on this board that the members here are great with answers to questions.  There is a wealth of experience here, and the members seem to come from every level of experience. I think you will find any time spent here is time well spent. In this hobby, I would rather spend time than money, and a well asked question might save you a lot of grief with any future purchases!

[FZ1]

Welcome Ken.  

 

As a new starter myself....... Ditto to what Charles said! 

 

Using the search function on the forum reveals a huge store of knowledge, but if you can't find what you're looking for, the members here seem to have infinite patience with answering questions.  Like Charles, my experience here is limited, but when I've asked for opinions, I've had lots of differing ones which is really useful to get different views - it's great for learning

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

[Kraut783]

Hello all, been a lurker for a bit. Just returned from a long absence from Nihinto. I have two tired blades that I had gotten many years ago....looking forward to exploring this world again.

 

Allen 

(Dallas)

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome aboard, Allen. Feel free to ask questions, as there's a lot to learn.

[Michael Kwok]

Not exactly a new member but a wayward member back after a few years away.  Looking forward to these posts again!  

 

 

[Kolekt-To]

I'm less than 6 months in and my mind has exploded with knowledge - most of which was gained here!

[b.hennick]

Welcome to both of you. You have to learn the language in order to understand the conversation. Here are some links to glossaries of sword terms:

https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/glossary/

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/glossry.htm