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Why would i pay to have someone else's sword polished This is nonsense, you are comparing this sword with Juyo swords? Ive had enough of your elitist **** now Rayhan, this is all ridiculous, troll like egotistical BS As said a number of times now, IM NOT JUDGING AN OUT OF POLISH BLADE from PICTURES and for God knows how many times said it needs to be seen in hand to confirm whether it deserves a polish or not. I said that because like a few others, think it deserves a bit more scrutiny than what we can give it here. And something you don't know, i presume. I know how much Eric paid for this sword, very little in fact and "IF" a polisher says its worth restoring and "IF" he can get it done for a reasonable price then i actually feel he could make a profit when its time to sell. Though many "IFS"!!!. At the price he paid most here would have bought it. Think if he did nothing he could make a profit. Folks are always interested in horimono, even if not executed to an high standard. For many they add interest though its not for everyone. Nakago could be re-patinated, Shirasaya repaired/cleaned up. Hes not a child, so stop treating him like one. Now ive had enough of dealing with your over inflated ego to last me a lifetime, you need to get your head out of the clouds. Feels like an exercise in "blowing ones own trumpet", so to speak. As said, really impressed at how you judge out of polished blades from poor images, amazing. The END.

The menpo of Uwe’s picture is added later to this armor.

Thank you Steve, and to the 2 or 3 others that also took up a membership. Really do appreciate it. I'll be going through more of this over the weekend. I did add the month to month option in the subscriptions section, let's see if that is an option for anyone at $6/month. All very good feedback from everyone, and I'll consider every comment carefully.

Ok so I take it that is a firm NO on paying for the polish then. I am always surprised when experienced collectors cannot just say, yep mistake, sorry. Anyway let us have a discussion on the actual sword since the OP is asking for opinions and saying "Its not your sword, or mine, its up to the owner." is a blank statement as he is literally asking. I will explain what i see as my reasons for the non quality of the sword and Bohi vs what you see, I would like to know what you see that makes this viable. When we look at the 48th Juyo Oshigata that Markus gave us permission to post here in the NMB we have many wonderful examples of how Bohi should be positioned and cut. In most instances (there are a few 2-3 maybe, that are not good representations of Bohi even in the 48th Juyo.) But, in most cases you see the Bohi cut uniformly hugging the Shinogi Ji and at the Kissaki side ending uniformly and symmetrically. There is no downward dipping. At the end of the Bohi (Nakago side) you see it gracefully leave the blades base and allows for the whole sugata to be complimented. On this sword here you will see that at the Kissaki side the ends of the Bohi are not symmetrical and they are not uniform in positioning, they sit above the Shinogi line and at the end they dip downward. These errors happen when Bohi are not cut well, cut by less trained artisan and done on cold hard steel much later in the swords life. There are areas in the Bohi that are good, but most of it shows divots and undulations that should not be there. The end of the Bohi is not leaving the sword in a uniform, elegant fashion, on one side you will see that there is a crack in the nakago at the end where is it was suriage, but the Bohi looks to unaffected by this Suriage leading me to believe it was added later. On the Ura side the end of the Bohi end is crudely cut into the sword and on the Omote it is well above the Suriage line so this must have been added crudely after. Another factor is the Kasane. You have asked for the Nagasa kasane and seen it is 0.65CM and omitted the Nakago kasane which looks considerably thicker (unless it is a camera trick?). If the nakago kasane is thicker compared to the Nagasa we can safely say that the sword has been polished way down to be something it is not. It also indicates that because the Bohi has not been affected in this process of change that it was added later and escaped most of the modifications. If the Nakago kasane ends up being considerable then the Shin Shinto theory will be more than plausible. I still think it is mid Edo. "As said, there are many good swords with questionable engraving." The engraving is part of the sword so then a bad engraving makes a bad sword, the two are not exclusive, this a singular object. "Think maybe folks past mistakes haunt them." Yep, I think mistakes like this sword should haunt all of us and I am sorry that @Eric187 has been another victim of a shitty dealer, there are good dealers out there who are not collectors or charlatans.

Thank you for sending pictures of the map and going out of your way to locate the smith's name! I am curious where this map came from/how it was produced if you have any more information.

This is another Hideshige? Do you have any more information on this particular example and/or image of the mei? We are trying to compile as much information as possible on our kabuto, and this would be extremely use for comparison! I am also attaching image of the hanbo that was acquired with the helmet. There was no visible mei on first inspection. Do you have any ideas where one would be if it existed on the hanbo? Would mengu/hanbo have traditionally been made by the same craftsmen? Once again, I am sorry for so many questions! There will probably be more as we attempt to document both sets of armor in our possession. Thank you so much for all your help!

Thank you for the information! I am not very well versed in this so I am sorry if my questions seem basic or redundant. Do you have any sources where I may find references to Hideshige of Bushu Province, or more information about him? I do not have pictures from all angles at the moment, so I am attaching what I have on hand. I will photograph from all angles tomorrow and post them to this thread. I am unsure if I will be able to photograph the inside of the helmet tomorrow because the shikoro is very poorly attached due to degradation, and we are trying to avoid causing any unnecessary strain or damage. We are looking at methods to properly document the interior of the kabuto without damaging the shikoro, and I will send pictures when this is achieved. Your help is greatly appreciated! Your information regarding the mei has made my week!

Tadanori literally means getting a ride for free. It's actually his official rank, 'Satsuma no Kami', which became a reference for getting a ride for free. I haven't seen anyone practically use this ダジャレ in the modern world, but surely people would recognize it if they know who Tadanori is.

Grab it

Hey folks.. looking for a Satsuma Motohira kogatana to finish up a set. I have a motoyasu waskizashi with a Mototake signed tsuba. The kogatana is missing.

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately, no photos which show the overall koshirae- just close ups of the 'individual bits' Haven't got access to many photos, with the best already being shared. I do have the below, for reference. Bit it's not the subject of the photo

Roger that. Thanks, Steve. There is another famous poem referring to this koan by Zishou Miaozong (資壽妙總; 1095–1170), perhaps the most famous woman Zen Master: 東來黠兒落節 為法求人自作深孽 賴遇梁王是作家 有理直教無處雪 及乎隻履復西歸蔥嶺 無端重漏泄不漏泄 分明弄巧反成拙 Going east across the sea, the clever boy loses his discipline. Looking for followers, he himself commits offences. Only because of meeting the emperor does he emerge a founder, Directly teaching what is right, nowhere to sweep snow. Then he goes to the Pamirs with only one shoe; For no good reason, the secret of non-leaking leaks out. Skillfully manipulating but turning out to be clumsy.

Looks good from here. Do you have some overall shots?

Stand corrected, thank you Moriyama-san.

Thanks for the menpo ‘Hideshige’ Mei example, Uwe. Here is the map. I have a final printed version of this, but not here at the moment. See 1. the whole of Japan, then 2. the Kanto section and finally 3. the block of names attached to Tokyo/Musashi/ Bushū. Your smith is between the points of the caliper. PS 函人 ‘Kanjin’ is an old word for an armourer. Notice this unusual Kanji is used in the description 武陽函師 Buyo Kanshi master armourer, under the bell photo above. 1630 seems reasonable to me. 1. 2. 3.

但州 - Tanshu

Hi All, Im hoping I could get some general opinions on a set of koshirae im being offered. Whilst I have some foundational knowledge on Nihonto, I'm struggling with identifying authentic Tosogu. Matching set of tiger & bamboo themed fittings (fuchi-kashira, koiguchi, kurigata & kojiri)- I'm conflicted on whether these are correct, period fittings or reproduction? I'd love to learn more. My initial observations: Tsukamaki is more elaborate than most, being jabaramaki wrap- and the seppa/kozuka/kogai also look above average quality- which makes me all the more confused whether it's genuine, as I've seen nothing like these before. Thanks all, any advise is appreciated - I'm trying my best to better understand how to tell reproductions apart.

Dear All. Just to add a little to the theme, search for 'Hirata Donin' and more results will emerge which very much affirm the idea that this tsuba is not from that school. In particular there is a reference on an earlier NMB thread by Guido to this link, https://archive.org/details/cu31924023433349/page/n139/mode/2up Turn to page 102 for the school. Still interested to see where we go with any attribution for Jake's tsuba. All the best.

...just stumbled over a specimen out of my archive: Guess we can be quite sure!

She has misread these two; 只雁 should be 隻履, which is part of the 4-character Buddhist idiom I mentioned. 歸 is the old form of 帰, which is the one used here in this scroll.

Charles, sometimes you can find remarkably diffrences in the way the kanji were executed in a mei. It depends on the person who carved the characters. You can run into simplifications, abbreviations, sôsho (grass script), or a mixture of all. There is still a lot left to explain.... However, I attached a picture of another example that might help! This single picture is not telling much. Can you provide images from the front, sides, back (all with the same angle), top and bottom?

This is a high-quality, healthy and flawless Muromachi period tanto in very reserved and tasteful aikuchi tanto koshirae. The blade is done in gunome-midare in nie-deki, with a bright yakiba and deep ashi. The jihada is itame with a few flowing spots, ji-nie, chikei and is beautiful forged with no flaws. The blade is in very good and intact polish and resides with the koshirae. The aikuchi saya and tsuka are done in kuronuri (black lacquer) with a copper kozuka and black sageo. The blade has old NBTHK papers to kodai Kanefusa. $2,500 + shipping.

Have a look at this thread for what Hirata shippo looks like. As Mauro mentioned, Hirata used iron, shakudo or copper base metals. Also, the cloissons are gold or silver with gold or sliver leaf inside. Some of the glass is transparent so the gold or silver shows through. The glass used is high quality pure colors, with few bubbles.

What a gorgeous tea bowl to cap off your wonderful and heartfelt sentiments. I have found myself naturally drawn to women poets of Japan. There is something very delicate, keen, and enormously life affirming in their observations of everyday life. And I agree with you that with highly prolific artists, their work can be uneven. It’s important to look at hundreds, if not, thousands of their works to get a sense of what a quality piece is actually comprised of. The poetry is central, but for me the accompanying paintings add an enormous new dimension to their artistry. I missed out on one of Rengetsu’s paintings with inscription related to tea ceremony. She had such a down to earth and egalitarian sensibility.

Thank you so much for the reply and the additional information! The reference to the armor smith on the bell is very cool and could potentially be very critical in my research. I was under the impression that the kabuto was much younger than 1630, and I have attached a picture of it to this message. Do you think it could fit the date range that would be provided by the bell? Also, is it possible to share this map of armorers? Thank you! This is very exciting!