Looking for a Kamakura or Nanbokucho Tachi

[Bosco]

Hi, 

 

Im pretty new to Nihonto. Somehow I really love the shape of a long Tachi with deep sori. 
 

My budget is 1.5 million yen. Am not sure this going to be enough but can someone recommend me one ?. This is my requirement.

-Kamakura or Nanbokucho 

- Healthy Blade

-With NBHTK paper 

-Nagasa 80cm+

-Sori 3.0+ 

 

Thank you. 

[nihon]

Honestly, I think 1.5 mil won't be enough for a blade your looking. And besides, the type your looking for can be found but they are a bit uncommon for what I have seen. It's best to save up and wait for one to come to the Market.

 

https://eirakudo.shop/318452

This has the sori your looking for but it is shorter and not as healthy as you would like it to be

 

Jed

[Bosco]

4 minutes ago, nihon said:

Honestly, I think 1.5 mil won't be enough for a blade your looking. And besides, the type your looking for can be found but they are a bit uncommon for what I have seen. It's best to save up and wait for one to come to the Market.

 

https://eirakudo.shop/318452

This has the sori your looking for but it is shorter and not as healthy as you would like it to be

 

Jed

I just dont wanna spend so much on something I dont even have a clue yet. Trynna learn from something at cheaper price

[nihon]

22 minutes ago, Bosco said:

I just dont wanna spend so much on something I dont even have a clue yet. Trynna learn from something at cheaper price

I recommend starting with a o suriage sword. There are many to choose from and won't command high prices than that of the current type of sword your looking for (unless the o suriage is a juyo+) but don't expect the sword to be very healthy, more decent. Not too healthy not to tired

[Ray Singer]

Hi Bosco, most of the pieces I focus on tend to be in that time range and I sometimes have larger examples like the 79cm ( 2 shaku 6 sun 1 bun ) Unju below. Please message me to discuss what might be available.

 

Best regards, 

Ray 

 

 

[Jussi Ekholm]

I can recommend Ray from the bottom of my heart, amazing guy to deal with.

 

I might personally recommend dropping the length criteria to 75cm+. I totally understand wanting an 80cm+ blade as my own collecting attitude is purely based on size and shape, I don't stress about quality or condition that much. However pre-Muromachi 80cm+ tachi are just really tough to find in general. When thy pop up you are most likely required to go for items attributed to schools that are not highly appreciated by sword connoisseurs in general but I personally like them.

 

Here are some examples that I have found to be extremely interesting over the years. Prices will fluctuate. Unfortunately I was not in buying position when these were sold, just note that few of these were sold long long time ago and would most likely priced totally different today.

 

Ko-Naminohira tachi 87,8 cm (this was an amazing sword, I am thinking it could pass Jūyō some day as to me this is historically very interesting sword) > https://www.aoijapan.net/tachi-mumei-ko-naminohira-2/

Hōju tachi 82,5 cm (this has been sold few times in Japan, unfortunately neither was possible for me)> https://sanmei.com/contents/media/O111235_S1300_PUP_E.html

Hōju tachi 82,9 cm > https://web.archive.org/web/20200811025600/https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/N-187.html

Aoi Art had this unknown Nanbokuchō Motoshige tachi 87,9 cm for sale two years ago, unfortunately buying it was not possiblte for me > https://web.archive.org/web/20230812005640/https://www.aoijapan.com/tachi-motoshigenbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/

[Bosco]

43 minutes ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

I can recommend Ray from the bottom of my heart, amazing guy to deal with.

 

I might personally recommend dropping the length criteria to 75cm+. I totally understand wanting an 80cm+ blade as my own collecting attitude is purely based on size and shape, I don't stress about quality or condition that much. However pre-Muromachi 80cm+ tachi are just really tough to find in general. When thy pop up you are most likely required to go for items attributed to schools that are not highly appreciated by sword connoisseurs in general but I personally like them.

 

Here are some examples that I have found to be extremely interesting over the years. Prices will fluctuate. Unfortunately I was not in buying position when these were sold, just note that few of these were sold long long time ago and would most likely priced totally different today.

 

Ko-Naminohira tachi 87,8 cm (this was an amazing sword, I am thinking it could pass Jūyō some day as to me this is historically very interesting sword) > https://www.aoijapan.net/tachi-mumei-ko-naminohira-2/

Hōju tachi 82,5 cm (this has been sold few times in Japan, unfortunately neither was possible for me)> https://sanmei.com/contents/media/O111235_S1300_PUP_E.html

Hōju tachi 82,9 cm > https://web.archive.org/web/20200811025600/https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/N-187.html

Aoi Art had this unknown Nanbokuchō Motoshige tachi 87,9 cm for sale two years ago, unfortunately buying it was not possiblte for me > https://web.archive.org/web/20230812005640/https://www.aoijapan.com/tachi-motoshigenbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/

Hi Jussi,

 

Thank you for your recommendation. The Nobukuni one I bought is 75.4cm Nagasa and 2.8 Sori already. That is the reason I want to acquire a decent tachi with signature in 80+cm and 3+ sori.
I will keep looking for now and maybe increase my budget depends on the piece. 
 

By the way I did enquiry one from Nipponto and it’s double my buget, what do you think about this one from Nipponto 

https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords10/NT333511.htm

 

this is my Nobukuni

[nihon]

1 hour ago, Bosco said:

By the way I did enquiry one from Nipponto and it’s double my buget, what do you think about this one from Nipponto 

https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords10/NT333511.htm

Naminohira is a decent school. Lots of blades from that school usually has suguha hamon. They aren't very sought after by collectors though. Still ko-naminohira is a good starting point for Kamakura blades in my opinion.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I have looked at that Ko-Naminohira they have for a long time. I have never dared to ask their price as I knew I couldn't afford it. I think their price is reasonable but I cannot afford it. It is in my opinion very nice sword and the best Ko-Naminohira tachi that is currently available in the open market.

 

Just remembered that here is one available Ko-Naminohira tachi that might fit your criteria (if you can live with mumei): https://toyuukai.jp/products/太刀-無銘-古波平-保存刀剣鑑定書-tachi-no-signature-ko-naminohira-nbthk-hozon-品番-ｋａ０６８

 

Now I think I have collected one of the largest private databases in the last 10+ years, currently 14,000+ pre-Middle Muromachi swords. I did some digging to show people how rare the very long old 80-90cm tachi are. I did not include ōdachi into this count, only long tachi that are pre-Muromachi period.

 

In total I found 297 tachi in length range of 80 to 90 cm in my data. However I believe 171 of these are 100% locked in Japan (due to shrine/museum/temple ownage, designation level that keeps them in Japan etc.). I found 126 of them that would be perhaps possible to own outside of Japan, however I would assume large portion of these would also be locked in collections in Japan and around the world, I just haven't confirmed their current location/ownership for majority of them. Of course the total number of them is bit higher than the c.300 I have in my data. However as I have gone through all Nation and Province wide designations, the majority of NBTHK Jūyō, the collections of multiple major sword owning shrines and museums etc. I just cannot think there would be thousands of these hiding away. Some hundreds of quite unknown old long tachi I can understand but they are incredibly rare in overall.

 

Probably crunched the numbers just to give an idea how rare these old long tachi actually are.

[Brano]

As Jussi said, blades that meet your expectations are very rare
A healthy blade with a nagasa over 80cm pre Muromachi should easily pass Juyo if it is really healthy

Therefore you will have to adjust one of your requirements - parameters or price

In the entire history of Shinsa only about 150 Juyo blades fit your expectations

And of those, I'm guessing maybe half won't have the sori you expect.

Regarding the Nipponto seller - here I would be especially careful and without checking the blade in the hands of someone I trust I would not buy anything