Kantei
Beginner Kantei · for newcomers
Three blades. All the time in the world.
Kantei is the old connoisseur's art of naming a sword's smith from the blade alone. Begin here: three blades a day, no clock, and every name offered with its school and tradition (or era), so you can reason your way to the answer.
Free. On the boards you appear under an alias unless you choose otherwise.
Ryuki Muramoto: Nice to meet you. I'm Ryuki Muramoto, and I teach kantei. Let's read some blades together.
Ryuki Muramoto, kantei teacher
Ryuki is a samurai of the present day. By day he wears a suit; his evenings belong to swords. He has spent years learning to read a blade from its shape, steel and hamon, and now he teaches newcomers to do the same.
He says little and never gives an answer away, but he will sit with you through every blade.
Ryuki is an original NihontoWatch character.
Look at the blade
A careful rubbing of the blade, its signature covered.
Read the description
The published appraisal description, to read at your own pace.
Choose the smith
Five names, each with its school and tradition (or era). Near answers still score.
The smith himself scores 100; the smith's close kin 75; the right school 25; the right tradition 10. Three blades, 300 points at most.