R

Replicas

Our caretaker noticed that I have an umbrella designed to look like a katana so he asked if I would be interested in buying one of the replica katana which he has been collecting and is now trying to get rid of. He left these with me a couple of days ago to consider whether I would like to buy them or not and to think about how much I would be willing to pay.

I think they are beautiful and would like to buy them, but there are a few problems. A big problem is maintenance. Our flat is very humid and salty breezes blow in from the sea. This causes rust so it would be hard work to keep these katana in a rust free condition. In fact, there is already some rust near the hand grips. Another problem is disposal, probably as the caretaker is finding. No recycle shops will purchase these, even though they are not dangerous, and it would cost a lot of money to have the council take them away in the rubbish collection. Finally, Kazuko is disturbed by the lack of authenticity. The round hand guard (tsuba) is of the type found on a samurai sword, but the smaller sword also has a shuriken hidden in the sheath, which is indicative of a ninja sword. Ninja katana had square hand guards which the ninja could stand on to climb walls (thank you, Kazuko, for that information.) I also annoy Kazuko every time I hold the katana because I don't know how to hold it correctly. Kazuko grew up on samurai dramas so she is a bit of an expert.

Anyway, Kazuko is going to return the katana to the caretaker this morning and explain that we are grateful for the offer but are concerned that we may not appreciate them or maintain them as much as they deserve, or be able to offer an adequate price. If he says not to worry about it and offers to let us have them for free, we will take them, however.

Let's see what transpires.

Replicas 

Update.

Just returned from a 22 kilometers run, 29 degrees and sunny, the swords are no longer ours.