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Dear All I hope this finds everyone doing well? 48 hours ago I was greeted with the wondaful news that the NBTHK Japan has given us permission to share the English Versions of the NBTHK magazines from series #1 to #58 (ONLY) here on the NMB for educational purposes. Conditions are: - The Magazines cannot be sold to the public or board members. They must remain as free educational material. No profiting under any circumstances. - There must be a stable record of how many members are downloading the magazines (we already track the download numbers) - These are for the English magazines from the late 1970's and only numbers 1 - 58. - The NBTHK Japan must be acknowledged as the original publishers. This has been weeks in the making with 2 close contacts in Japan lobbying on our behalf and they really have come through for us so I have a lot of making up to do for them when I am next in Japan. I shall send everything to @Brian and allow him to upload them when he has time. Thank you for your patience everyone and I hope that the materials will help your education and collecting journey as much as it has helped so many in the past.

Flamingo Tsuba by Ford Hallam. I acquired this in 2017 from a Finnish collector who had bought it from mr. Hallam. You can still find photos of the item in Hallam's Facebook page "Following the Iron Brush", go to photos and scroll down. Kinko 80mm x 76mm Mei is the one he used before going to Japan, so it's a combination of "F" and "H". As this is his old signature, I guess you might call this one a Ko-Mr.Hallam I have been inactive in this hobby for quite a while now and I think this tsuba would be better served in an active collection - to preserve his memory. Comes with a nice pouch! Price: 1500 USD / 1343 EUR + shipping. I'm based in Finland. If you need more photos, just ask! I have forgotten some of the terminology, so hopefully I got everything right.

Afraid one of the requirements of the NBTHK permission was no bulk downloads, so this is the best compromise.

https://www.gazette-drouot.com/en/lots/28349420-Japan-meiji-period-1868--- You really need to look but there is a rat in the pumpkin on this one. One of mine - either the rats are huge or the rice bales are very small? Carved wood grain Ji - I never could work out why the rats had multicolured fur? Pets?

A little back story -These swords are my father in laws. He getting older and hasn't looked at these in a Quite a few years. So i have been pulling them out to clean and oiled which he has enjoyed -So now when I go over I pull a few out and take pics to post on here to learn what they are.Thanks to everyone here I am able to share information on each with that he does enjoy.Was there today and will post 4 more but we are almost threw all of them I am still amazed that i could be holding a blade that is so old and still in nice condition

Watches are just mass produced things that some people will pay a lot for, no comparison to this blade.

Rat color genetics is quite interesting per se...

Manchuria aka manchuko occupational sword. Appears very strongly a original piece

Rob, nothing wrong with your sword. The 115,000 to 117,000 serial number range is intermixed with both Kokura and Nagoya manufactured swords. I have a Nagoya, serial number 名117950, recorded from a 2020 eBay sale. This sword is pretty close to the one you own.

You've got the stamps correct : Seki Corporate Logo, Nagoya 名 , and the Kokura four stacked cannonballs. The kokura stacked cannonball stamp changed in September 1942, so your sword was presumably made prior to that date.. My cataloging and knowledge is far from complete; but your serial number and stamps stand alone on my list - making it difficult to compare to others. That being said, it looks good and in nice condition. A nice looking example, Thanks for sharing! -Sam

Thanks for those photos Steve, While I am no expert, and being able to identify Mumei blades is challenging for me. It REALLY reminds me of a Type 98 Sue Bizen (late muromachi period, bizen school) blade that I once owned. Below are photos of the one that I had. I sold it a while back. Therefore, I'd put my money on Sue Bizen, . https://nihonto.com/a-brief-study-of-bizen-blades-of-the-muromachi-era/ Other, more experienced opinions may vary, -Sam

Yip...awesome work by Rayhan, and a huge thanks to the NBTHK for allowing this. I will be uploading them into a special section in the Downloads section over the weekend, and it will likely take some time to get through all of them. Really excited about this. There will be a disclaimer to agree to when you download, to prevent commercial use etc. The downloads section is for members only, so hopefully this will also encourage some of the lurkers to sign up. Only requires a free membership, no subscription needed. Info like this is invaluable to collecting, and I am grateful to be able to facilitate this. Thanks again to the NBTHK, Rayhan and those that worked to make it happen.

Excellent blogs by other people, first and foremost Markus, have inspired me to being releasing a newsletter. Three topics each issue, each something not well covered by books. In this one you can find articles about: Kyushu nihonto Saiha and yakinaoshi - same of different? The true meaning of NTHK scores https://www.historyswords.com/news1.pdf

Tony, the TOSOGU look quite nice (TSUBA photos are upside-down) and should be kept in good condition. The blade is always the most important part. Take photos of it (orientation always tip vertically up) against a dark background. The signature is somewhat unusual as it is on the URA side. Orientation of the NAKAGO should be vertical tip-upwards, and photos made with light from the side). An expert should see this in-hand for a better assessment.

Several different kinds of mekugi were used over time on the Type 95. What you need for your Type 95 is a steel one. Contact Don Schlickman and see if he has a reproduction available for sale. This is the same Don that Conway mentions above.

Thank you sincerely for your dedication and effort. Your selfless contribution is truly enriching, and we deeply appreciate the value you bring to us. Would it be possible to download all the files together, for instance as a ZIP file ?

Other guys might have a different value range, but my earlier opinion is my best guess, $600-900. Showato with stains, missing fittings. Some one will want it, though.

Excellent! Those are inspector stamps KO - Kokura Army Arsenal Supervisory Section HO - 1st Factory of Kokura Army Arsenal 3 - We don't have a known explanation for these. Usually 1, 2, or 3. Possibly a particular inspector or inspector section?

@Brian Thanks, thats it. Hit 10 downloads limit.

@Lewis B, to prevent hammering the server and costly bandwidth charges, the following limits are in place: Regular members - 10 downloads a day, 25 per week Gold Membership - 20 downloads a day, 50 per week. Max of 2 simultaneous downloads at the same time. If you had downloaded some without issue, this may be the cause? If not, drop me a message and I'll look into it. Sorry to have to put restrictions on downloads, but at this stage can't afford to pay any more for hosting, and even uploading these and editing every single title screenshot and details is killing me I think I've managed 30 uploads so far. Rest will likely be on Monday.

In the upcoming auction at Zacke, Vienna there is a golden pair fuchi/kashira. And according to the description this pair is from the Mosle collection. Funny thing is in one of the best documented collections you can't find this piece. Not in "Sammlung Mosle" from 1909, not in "Collection Mosle" from 1914 (you can find this book as a download here) and not in the auction catalogues from Parke-Bernet from 1948. Can't find the Hartmann collection at the moment but I will check this later. There are other pieces with a questionable provenance...

Ditto. On my 2 stick ones, no amount of work, heat or oil has ever allowed them to come out. I gave up. Good work.

Like these:

Or maybe try to contact this guy: https://www.nambuworld.com/donspartslist.htm He was still active in 2020 according to a GunBoards post I found. Occasionally they will come up for sale here on the NMB or eBay.

I never would've figured all this out on my own. I came to the right place. You guys know your stuff. I'll scope Kiipu's page out, but I barely know what I'm doing lol . all new to me. I guess the screw fell out since i've had it.. no! Thank you tons Sam and Kiipu and Conway -Rob Meek in Ohio

My apologies, I see now that was a rather cryptic statement on my part. Nothing to worry about, in my opinion. I recently started cataloging type 95 swords that I encounter. I don’t have any others that have those three stamps in that general serial number range. Most around 117k that I have listed have stamps from Tokyo arsenal and Suya sword company. I believe it’s simply because my list is not complete or all encompassing. Your stamps indicate that it was made in nagoya arsenal by the seki sword co. Kiipu’s warrelics link helps explain that a little better then I can. It’s a rabbit hole of info learning about these. I see these swords sell between $750 and $1500 lately. All the best, -Sam

This sounds interesting, Robert. Would you be willing to assuage our curiosity and discuss this some more in one of the Izakaya car threads?

Well done! These will be fascinating reading.

A nice detail that makes a neat finish when Egawa edges could look “uneven” or “rough”.! …I love it 😁👍🏼 And adding it to some of my “upgrades” to my own armour. Thank you Uwe 🙇🏼‍♂️ For "水引" (Mizuhiki) water. Wave? 🤷🏼‍♂️

Amazing! @Rayhan Thank you so much!!

And today:

I've never not been able to get one out. Great job on your pin and other rebuild efforts!

photos

Poncetton book ISBN data: https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=ISBN%3A+9798349900983&i=stripbooks&crid=150CY31FWQS2G&sprefix=isbn+9798349900983%2Cstripbooks%2C767&ref=nb_sb_noss Why they show the back cover eludes me! https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=SearchF-_-NullResults-_-Results&isbn=9798349900983&kn=9798349900983 &sts=t shipping fee to Australia is ridiculous! I can get the soft cover with shipping to the US for $30 AUD and the hardcover for $42 AUD Softcover ISBN: 9798349900983 Hardcover, ImageWrap ISBN: 9798349900969 An original in French: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Gardes-Sabre-Japonaises-PONCETTON-Francois-Albert/30105846993/bd

Well, that just about does it. These buckets of cold water work wonders! Both guys want me to buy from them as they probably cannot get the same price elsewhere. To be honest to myself, much as I want them, I am pretty sure I would not get the same money back, not here in Japan anyway. In addition, trying to export these would be a labo(u)r of love. And no, I will not regret not having bought them when I had the chance! You heard it here.

Ditto with what's already been said. No right or wrong answer, up to you. Just if you sell it on, be sure to mention the tassel has been added. (Some of the better repros are difficult to tell from nice condition originals.) Personally, I like having tassels on all my guntos, and almost always add one on if it's missing. To me, they display better that way.

Cleaning and honing the barrel was been slow going so I decided to dare to attempt pulling the breech plug. With the barrel firmly clamped I gently heated the breech area with a blowtorch and pretty quickly some stinky black ooze started bubbling up around the edges of the plug. No idea what it was but it smelled like burning tyres and it didn’t catch fire in the flame of the torch, it just dried up. Using an adjustable spanner on the square while keeping the heat on the barrel I was quite quickly able to tease the plug out. It’s in remarkably good condition. The face is a bit pitted but that is easily cleaned up.

That is a shame, i think i will experiment with the saya at least. will give me a decent project and hopefully a more respectful resting place for the blade and perhaps I'll look into getting the tsuka rebound. Thankyou again, Colin, for all your assistance and words of wisdom / affirmation.

@GRC I have since cooled down from my above posts and need to address a severe problem in my life that cannot be ignored. I hope to get the problem resolved sooner than later and I can get back get back to this hobby. PS. @Curran Love the great tsuba(s) you are sharing and providing positive posts to this topic.

A quick update, next on the list was the 4 barrel lugs of which only one actually aligned properly with the stock holes, another factor which made me think it is a composite gun. The aligned one I left alone (1st pic). One of the others was partially detached so I could see that they were soldered into slots cut into the barrel. I therefore used the same method for the three new lugs in their proper positions. Now I need to finish honing out the bore and prep it for a reblue.

Jose, I think this is a personal choice. Some of my swords came with tassels attached, but who is to say who put them on. I have added tassels to other swords that I have that didn’t have them on when I purchased them. I like mine with the appropriate tassel attached. I know other fellow collectors that will remove the tassel and sell it as they don’t like them. While others that I know remove them and keep them separate from the sword as they don’t like the way they look. So I feel you should do what ever You think make the sword yours. No right answer here as long as it is a ORIGINAL Tassel and an appropriate one. MikeR

The fittings are from an NCO Type 95 and might sell around $150 separately. Overall, I’d guess $600-900.

Interesting interpretation,Piers! I wasn’t aware of this. So the red/white piping is not fusegumi in a common sense?!

Re Piping. Red & white. Auspicious? Maybe this piping also incorporates the Japanese idea of harmonizing opposing sides, like the amalgamation of Shinto and Buddhism. It is said that the reversible red and white caps that elementary school children wear reflect the tradition of the Genpei wars, between the Taira/Hei and the Minamoto/Gen. A subtle statement of neutrality, of respect for both sides?

Well, as a complement to the discussion here is the Hikozo utsushi I bought from Ford some years ago. Passing time has not diminished its immense appeal to me. BaZZa.

One more, similar. My taste revealed!

I usually take a bunch of photos, but only ended up with a few this year. This was the best, but way beyond my means- so I’ll have to up my skills with an accurate utsushi.

Just see them in person. Your opinion might change. There was an Isaac Asimov short story about a scientist that wanted payment in the form of a certain tea cup, in order to prevent certain catastrophe from happening to Earth. The govt agents thought he was nuts. When they actually acquired (*stole*) the tea cup and saw it in person, one of the agents considered breaking the deal-> the Earth be D@mned. I never thought much of the original Kaneiye tsuba, though the books all go on about him as Best of the Best. Then I saw maybe 10 of them in a special display room at one of the DTI. Nearly 180 degree flip for me? 15 years of looking at tsuba and I suddenly understood their appeal. $70k worth for the Ito-san Hikozo? Maybe aggressive. I'd rather have one of Fred's. I'd slightly prefer a certain type of used sports car over the Hikozo, but I get closer and closer to selling down 5-10 tsuba and just buying one of the Hikozo. Not there yet, and don't know if I ever will get there.

Agree with Thomas completely. For twice that I'd have snapped it up in an instant. Hirata Hikozo's guards are the ultimate in Tea-Culture soft-metal tsuba. And it must be remembered, Hosokawa Tadaoki, in addition to being a very active and successful military commander who saw dozens of battles in the field, was a very serious Tea Man. This mattered -- a lot -- in the times in which he lived.