So…we continue with more pictures. This is the folded tachi sword of the Huanuo Forge.

A Japanese tachi is a sword which was generally larger than a katana. Usually, the blade of a tachi has a deeper curvature near the tsuba ( koshizori in Japanese) than a katana and the tang follow the curve of the blade. The Japanese tachi mount has the typical loops on the scabbard so it can be hung from a belt with the cutting edge down, where a katana is stuck into the waist belt.

Another difference between a katana and a tachi is where the mei is written, the signature of the swordsmith is written on the omote side of the nakago, while it’s written on the ura side of a katana. [Read more...]

It was a beautiful day yesterday and we decided to take our camera & some swords and try something new. When new swords are coming in, taking pictures is one of the first thing we need to do here. Because selling swords without pictures…it shouldn’t work at all. Usually we shoot inside with artificial light. Now that’s a hard job because it’s really difficult to get te right light in order to make good quality pics. I’m sure a real professional can do the job very easy but they’re not cheap and they still have no idea how and from which part to take pictures of.

Personally I do think the first results are not that bad at all…so please give some comments on how you would like to see the pictures of the swords. You like the regular pictures, taken indoor OR you prefer to see the outdoor pictures ? [Read more...]