ROKUJURO

Henry, a good photo might be helpful so we know what you mean. In case you had AOGAI in your mind, it is the mother-of-pearl of the Abalone shell. Lacquer techniques can be very complex and time consuming which explains the cost of a good SAYA.

Jounior, these photos do not tell much. From the looks of the NAKAGO, the blade might indeed be an older one. In case you would like to have more input, it would help to post photos in the correct orientation: - NAKAGO photos with tip (KISSAKI) pointing upwards -- no hardware on the blade - photos taken directly from above - close-ups of NAKAGO, KISSAKI, HADA, HAMON.... - with light from the side - well focused - against a dark background to get a good contrast - presented as cut-out so nothing is distracting from the item

The colour does not seem typical for SHIBUICHI. Looks more like SHAKUDO.

Never seen these before! Very cute!

Thank you, Robert! An expert opinion is always helpful!

In my opinion, this is one of several types of battle arrow-heads. The cross section can be square, but mostly it is rhombic. The YAJIRI for target practice are round and have no NAKAGO (cap type).

Brian, Thank you! It must be very difficult to choose the correct section......

Justyn, the concave shape of the TSUBA plate is not necessary a sign of stamping. There are many hand-made TSUBA which show that feature. Stamping could easily be done in any shape desired, be that flat, convex, or concave. But I agree that the TSUBA above is not authentic in the sense of a traditionally made Japanese swordguard.

If you meant YOROI-DOSHI, they usually have a thickness of 9 mm or more, so the NAKAGO-ANA of this TSUBA will perhaps not fit. The design is called ITO-MAKI in Japanese.

As we are just at it: Could anything helpful be said about this TSUBA? Does it look cast to the NAMBAN experts? Is there a way to guess provenance or age?

Justyn, that might well be the case.

These TAGANE stamps in the shape of a star or a flower (more likely) are not uncommon and often seen as decoration in filled-in HITSU-ANA on TSUBA. In your case, they were obviously used to expand the copper SEKIGANE to secure it more tightly.

Jimmy, a lot depends on the condition of the surface. If ridges (= SHINOGI) and edges have not been rounded by removal of material, a polish would certainly be possible. Please show photos oriented correctly (tip/KISSAKI pointing vertically upwards) and use a dark basckground.

Très joli! Art nouveau!

The first TSUBA might be (AKASAKA) TADATOKI SAKU, the second TSUBA says SHÔAMI, possibly KANE.....