From The World Newspaper, Coos Bay, Oregon
By Jo Rafferty
Michael Bell started up the electric motor on a gigantic press he uses to shape the blades of Japanese swords.
“Bam! Bam!” The dies clanked together on the approximately 3-foot-long flat piece of steel, turned red from the heat of the forge fire.
“It’s 1,500 degrees, but it will [...]

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This article is also available in PDF format with photographs.
I met Michael Bell on August 26, 1984 at a knife show in San Jose, California. It was a momentous meeting which I recall vividly. There were some star players at this show. Of special import was Bernard Levine who introduced me to Michael Bell and, [...]

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This link to an interactive tour by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has some very nice detailed photos, mostly of tsuba and other koshirae fittings.  We especially love nice Higo openwork iron tsuba.

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Someone sent us an email with this link from an episode of Antiques Roadshow on PBS.
Dessa Goddard is not qualified to judge Japanese swords.  The prices also seemed very high considering the lack of information on the blades themselves.

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An article and photos from 2005 by Kathryn Ortland and Justin Speyer. The article is in PDF format and was previously available online and can be read here.

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