New Member Introductions

[FZ1]

Welcome gents!

 

[Alban L]

Good morning everyone,

 

New member from France, collecting worlwide naval swords. I have three 1883 pattern swords I just presented on this website, and willing to learn more about Japanese imperial navy swords. And maybe buy someday a Kai Gunto, still missing in my collection !

 

Alban

[Stephen]

Welcome aboard Al, enjoy your adventure on the good ship NMB.

[Captainmike]

Hi  all

 

just a quick hello to say i am new here and looking forward to learn a bit on Japanese swords and culture ,

always found very interesting and fascinating as i am familiar with basic metallurgy and blade making  although i don't have much time to practice as much as I want too 

also if there is other member here from BC Canada that would interesting to share some infos

 

regards

Michael

[b.hennick]

Warm welcome for a fellow Canadian!

[Captainmike]

Just now, b.hennick said:

Warm welcome for a fellow Canadian!

thanks

[FZ1]

Welcome Mike.  As you'll have seen from other comments in the thread, this is an excellent place to learn.  The search function is a wonderful tool.

 

I'm not Canadian, but had a fantastic holiday in BC in Sept 2018 - Loved it!

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

[gc82]

Hello,

I'm Giulio, Italian now living in Switzerland.

I've always been interested in Japanese culture and art and recently I extended my passion to Nihonto.

I had the opportunity to buy two ko-Mihara blades and I'm now in the process of studying them.

Best regards,

Giulio

 

[FZ1]

Welcome Giulio, this is a great place to learn. The experienced members are very generous to us new starters with their time and knowledge.

 

Jon

[b.hennick]

Welcome Guilio there is a never ending amount to learn. Enjoy the journey 

[ckaiserca]

Welcome Giulio! You have found the right place. 

[Matting2]

I am a 54 year old surgeon in Michigan. I have been thrust into the world of Nihonto from the death of my parents from Covid. When I was a young child, a family friend list his business and was down on his luck. My parents let him stay in out house until he was able to get back on his feet. As a thank you, he gave then 2 Nihonto that he brought back from WW2. I was fascinated by these as a young child and would want to play with them all of the time. Luckily my father warned me about never touching the blade. They have spent the last 45 years sitting in a closet in the guest bed room. When my parents passed last October, they were the first things that I told my sister that I would like to keep. Now I have become obsessed with getting as much information about the older one of the 2. I am ignorant about Nihonto but eager to learn. I would like to find out as much information as I can about the sword and the smith that made it. I have much to learn but look forward to the journey.

[b.hennick]

Welcome Mark! The journey that you have started is a long and enjoyable one. You are off to a good start B by posting photos of one of the swords.

[FZ1]

Welcome Mark.  There is a huge amount of info available in books, on the net and especially here on the NMB.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[Matting2]

Thank you all for the warm welcome

[Quinn]

Hey everyone. Quinn here from the Oregon Coast in the USA. Like many young collectors, I started out with modern made Chinese blades. Don’t get me wrong, I actually have some love for these, even if just for some of the aesthetic beauty. After buying 4 or 5 modern Chinese-made swords, I was traveling in Japan and bought an iaido sword in Kyoto which i proudly display as a wonderful work of art. 

Then about 2 years ago I was speaking to a distant relative and she said she had a katana in her possession that she inherited from her father. She offered it to me, which I graciously accepted. Since then I’ve done a little investigating and research, and through this message board I’ve found my best leads yet. 
 

Being new, I don’t know the best place/thread to make a new post (advice would be gratefully accepted), but my hope is to make a post with pictures of my sword, and all the info I have so far. Sort of a chance for those more knowledgeable than I to grade and correct my amateur research.

 

I was reading a thread here about sword polishing. It has been my hope to find someone I trust with helping me to restore the blade, if the consensus is that it will be worth restoring. 
 

Thanks all!

 

-Quinn

[b.hennick]

Welcome Quinn! If you read the nihonto section of this website you will soon see where you can post photos, descriptions and questions about your sword.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome, Quinn. My grandson attends WOU, but I haven't gotten him started on Nihonto, yet.

 

Please post photos of the entire bare blade, which will tell us a lot, including whether you should spend money on restoration. As far as where to post, I suggest Nihonto, under Nihonto Discussion.

[Quinn]

Thanks Ken! That university is out near Salem, right? I posted some pics in that thread already. I’ll need to get the handle off again tonight for better pics of the bare blade 

[Quinn]

Hey Ken, just wanted to say that my link to a Google drive folder with pics of the katana that I put in the main threat now include pics with the handle removed. Hope y’all can help me with my research!

[Voncrack]

Howdy

 

I'm Tim from Melbourne Aus.

I'm new to the world of Nihonto but fairly familiar with the world of swords having done HEMA( historical European Martial Arts) a little while ago.

I just ordered my first few books on swords to pour over, and I'm excited to try and glean as much knowledge as I can from all of you before dipping my toe in the deep end and acquiring my first sword!.

 

Apart from Nihonto I also have a passion for beer ( in particular the science and production of it)

I also love old Volkswagens , which makes Nihonto collecting seem relatively cheap by comparisons

 

Cheers

Tim N

[Ken-Hawaii]

They will only seem cheaper until you gather enough info to want the "good stuff." Welcome aboard, Tim. quite a few us have done historical martial arts training, so you're in good company. Hit those books, & start asking questions. You're in good company.

[b.hennick]

Welcome Tim. I know a few beer drinkers here. You can find good company.

[FZ1]

Welcome Tim - This is a great place to learn

 

Jon

[Voncrack]

7 hours ago, b.hennick said:

Welcome Tim. I know a few beer drinkers here. You can find good company.

I love it so much I eventually made it a career....Making it not drinking it that is!

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Tim, good to see another Australian member, there are a few of us around here.

[vtzenov]

 

Hi everyone from western Wa state. Recently I jumped from old guns to swords. My interest is mostly Japanese military swords from around WW2. I got few type 98 and 3 and I am looking forward learning more and getting few more blades. Val

 

 

[ckaiserca]

On 10/22/2021 at 5:34 PM, vtzenov said:

 

Hi everyone from western Wa state. Recently I jumped from old guns to swords.

 

 

Welcome to the forum Val. There is a special forum category just for the military swords of Japan. You might want to check that out. 

[Todd762]

Good morning,

 

My name is Todd and currently reside in North Texas.   I have been a long time unregistered lurker and finally decided to register and participate.  

 

Since my youth I’ve always been fascinated by traditional Japanese weapons. The hook was set when I visited the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth in 2014 (I think that was the year) and viewed the Gabriel
Barbier-Mueller collection.  The amount of craftsmanship on display stunned me.  

 

Since then, I have visited Japan several times for work and always try and hit a museum or the Imperial Palace.  

 

I am educating myself on the subject now as I would like to make an informed purchase in the future.  

 

I have only one katana that I purchased used. It was forged by a Michael Bell, and I purchased it used from a dealer.

 

I used the knowledge I gained here to address some of my concerns on condition and was able to strike a more than fair deal.  I figured I would use this katana to learn how to handle safely and  with proper etiquette so when the time comes to get a traditional one, I would reduce my chances of making any mistakes. Plus it doesn’t hurt to have one of the American pioneers in traditional Japanese sword making to start your collection.  

 

The primary purpose for me to acquire a traditional Japanese forged and polished nohinto would be for appreciation, educating myself, display, and one day passing to a niece or nephew that showed an interest.  

 

I will say as a new member that some of the terminology and depth of information is a bit intimidating. I do find it refreshing that there are many here that willing give their time to help people such as myself.  

 

I also tend to ramble so I’ll cut it here!  

 

Thank you, 

Todd

 

 

[b.hennick]

Welcome Todd! You are off to a good start.