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Hi Lance, Not much to add from Geraint other than I've taken a stab at translating the mei on the signed fuchi - I'm not very confident in it as I can't find a similar name elsewhere on the internet so I may have misread a kanji or two, but it may get things moving and give the better linguists a prod to correct me. @SteveM I have: 古河住千氏冶作 - Koga ju Chishiya saku. Made at Koga by Chishiya. Koga city is in modern Ibaraki prefecture so that could be the place of manufacture, ju = residing at, followed by the artists name and then "saku" meaning "made". The part which I think is the artist's name, 千氏冶, I have down as Chishiya but again, it can be read in more than one way so wait and see.

Looks like カケヌ kakenu, something which has been seen on other saya, but the meaning of which is unknown. A few years ago I speculated that it might be a name, but I don't think its a name anymore. Interesting to see it repeated so often. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/28924-tsuka-mei/ https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/52775-tsuka-kanji/ And... @Nicholas didn't we already see this sword from you a few years ago? https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/46754-type-98-mon-translation/

His swords are usually NOT 100% traditionally made. I suspect this is halfway between Showato and Gendaito. The paperwork is no longer a reliable indicator.

Both are unfortunately tourist junk

Download is in the downloads section, so it is always available

Hi Davo, Have a look in the dealer showcase section - there are a number of USA based dealers there. Also, at the top of the forum there's a "Nihonto Info" tab, then look at "links," then "Commercial" and there's a quantity of links to dealers worldwide including the USA and Japan.

Yesterday I got to study a TJ Aoe with prominent multi-layered utsuri unlike anything I have seen as well as the TJ Niji Kunitoshi that did not sell in the Davidson auction. Both are outstanding blades worthy of their status. The TJ Aoe will be part of the NBTHK-AB presentation later today.

Great place but getting one in paper is really good idea too. After overuse of screen either PC or smartphone I got the feeling Im going blind

@Rawa Here is an example: Small Seki and star stamps. The large seki stamp is the one associated with showato. The small seki is an arsenal inspection stamp, like the 名- na stamp.

@Shugyosha Assembly numbers make sense. All the seppa and tsuba are stamped 0652. Thank you for your help. The sword is a custom order by Yoshihara Kuniie for Mr. Miyawaki in blackened type 98 koshirae and shargreen saya.

Thanks, as always… The one in the MFA seems to be the one that the modern Chinese copies come from (given the obi position), while the one for sale on Jauce looks more like the one on the tansu. I wonder when the different looks seeped into the fake market.

Yes, I also thought this… What threw me was the lack of other copies. It feels cast or stamped. The huge bidding war seems a bit worrying too…

Hey, I got into possession of a Kyu Gunto Army officer tassel from the Meiji or Taisho jidai. It is Black colored, looks like really dark navy blue under certain lighting. I believe it is from the Russo-Japan war. It is in reasonable condition, the fabric is frayed in a few places, and the copper braiding has some damages, but everything is holding together without any issue whatsoever. I wager it would be a nice addition to anyone's collection, or be pretty nice for any reenactor out there. Also giving three buttons from an uniform with it since I do not have use for them. If you're interested, please feel free to contact me. $265 with free shipping from Japan. I am of course willing to discuss the price.

There is 1 Kokuhō, 2 Jūyō Bunkazai, 2 Jūyō Bijutsuhin and 2 Tokubetsu Jūyō swords. The difficulty I personally see in Miike swords is that extremely few of them are appointed to the founder. I think the vast majority of Miike swords are actually from Late Kamakura - Nanbokuchō period. There is the legendary founder and later Mitsuyo smiths but the school apparently ran until late Muromachi period. However other smiths than Mitsuyo generations are very unknown. I have seen this JūBi Mitsuyo two times in the museum and it is a wonderful sword, however I believe this one is late Kamakura - early Nanbokuchō sword: www.touken-world.jp/search-noted-sword/juyobijutsuhin-meito/14360/

Complimenti Manuel! Congratulations Manuel! Regards Luca

Hi Geraint, Of course this helps a lot! If I would own the books, I would check it myself but I don't have them unfortunately. Now I know, the quotes in the Blogs/Forums were more distorted than the truth. So okay, I have to accept, that this is more a dead end in this case.

First time I've seen the burnishing process of the shinogi-ji using a hard steel rod. Now the polishing lines at the machi make total sense. Kudos to Akita san for demonstrating his technical approach of the different steps and in closeup detail.

Seems like a nice sword, unfortunately cannot see the details in the video too well. Swords in overall got bit longer during Tenshō period so it is not too uncommon to see these bit longer Sukesada swords during the period. One negative thing for me personally would be the red lacquer stripe on the saya. Dragon fittings are not my thing either. I think you got nice overall package, as for the value you can search Sukesada swords from Japanese dealers and get some reference prices.

Seems to be an amazing show! Thank you for the pictures Thomas. From the pictures the absolute highlight for me would be the Yoshifusa tachi even though I was way off by first glance, thought it would be something later.

Sorry Justyn, it is a modern copy - There is a few of the "originals" getting around utsushi made by hand but most are in museums. One in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston https://collections.mfa.org/objects/9935 One in the image [left] is from Musée des Arts Décoratifs - the one on the right is another modern fake - side by side there is little doubt. https://www.zacke.at/auction/lot/221-toshinaga-a-superb-suaka-tsuba-depicting-shoki/?lot=31121 - I have my doubts on this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/236224456422 shocker from ebay - yuck https://www.ebay.com/itm/145101641124 Eyebrows from hell! ebay https://www.etsy.com/listing/1785329101/Japanese-antique-katana-tsuba-samurai I can only hope the bidders on the one at Jauce can back out of their bids. $800 AUD is way too much for a few grams of alloy! One done in Makie on a tansu - very popular design for a long time. Check the position and detail of the belt/obi in the seppa-dai area.

Dear Dennis. Moving somewhat away from the Sukesada but to address a point from your summary above it is certainly inaccurate to assume that Shinto swordsmiths reverted to shorter mei. Nagayama Kokan in 'The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords' states what most would recognise, that nagamei were a feature of swords in Shinto and after. Examples will be easy to find but mei such as Echizen ju Harima daijo Fujiwara Shigetaka, Hoshu Takada ju Fujiwara Sadayuki and others should make the point. Marcus Sesko has an entry of mei in his Encyclopedia but it simply says 'signature'. There is singularly little in Kanzan Sato's book about mei so the blogs you are referencing seem to have confused the issue. Hope this helps. All the best.

Dear Justyn. My vote is trust your instincts. The question I would ask is, 'Does this look like the work of a great craftsman?' Compare here, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamano_Noriyuki_-_Tsuba_with_a_Chinese_Immortal_-_Walters_51267_-_Mark_B.jpg I would call this muddy, sort of out of focus and lacking the crispness you would want to see. And don't get me started on the design! I am sure others will chime in here. All the best.

Many many thanks for your help Piers D San this is fantastic May I wish you all the best Daniel

Many congratulations, Manuel! All the best.

I found this listing on Jauce: https://www.jauce.com/auction/f1193696272 It rings alarm bells, but when I did a reverse image search I could only find similar pieces (that could be copies of this one), (see here: https://pcdetail.taobao.com/TXdRamNqMmVLQTNoYnB6U0djbCtMQT09.html) and the two in the second picture which are from LiveAuctioneers. The listing has disappeared from that site, which is also a bit suss... Am I wrong? Is this the original, made by a master, from which all others flow? Put me out of my misery…