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I got informed that the tsuba i submitted to the 2026 NBSK tsuba contest ranked Nyusen. It was my first time attending this competition so overall it's a positive result. Let me introduce my work: The omote depicts plum blossoms, traditional symbols of resilience and elegant beauty, as they are the first to emerge at winter’s end, often pushing through the lingering snow. On the ura, I have engraved the haiku: 見らわても 見らわなくとも 花は咲く Mirawetemo / Mirawanakutomo / Hana wa saku (Whether seen or unseen, the flowers bloom) This serves as a gentle reminder to the bearer: one should act with integrity not for the sake of recognition, but because it is one’s nature—just as a flower blooms to fulfill its purpose, regardless of an audience. The intentionally naive, almost childlike rendering of the blossoms and calligraphy creates a deliberate juxtaposition against the raw strength of the iron and the tsuba's martial function.

I have done a three book set on the subject, along with five others centering on specific collections from the 19th century and early years of the 20th. Plus a few related design references - the books mentioned concentrate only on tsuba other objects from those collections are not included. Total pages 934 1924 100 pages 1894 > 1902 88 pages 1916 98 pages 1911 68 pages 1884 and 1898 82 pages I did the Wrangham collection along with the Hartman collection for my own study source. A thick book of 415 pages [I guess it is a "pirate book" as it is the only one in the world ] The Georg Oeder collection was translated from German to English - the original German is here: https://archive.org/details/japanischestichb00vaut/mode/2up Willkommen bei NMB, Alexander!

Hello, Which school for this Tsuba ? It looks like Ko kinko style but ... Any opinion welcome Thanks Sebastien

Both Aoi's Japanese and English websites are mistaken. The Japanese website claims the sayagaki and polish were done by "the famous Hon'ami Kōkei", but Hon'ami Kōkei died in 1800 or thereabouts. And...I don't think he was particularly famous. He seems to be a bit obscure. The English website is completely lost in translation, as it says the sayagaki and polish were done by Hon'ami Kōson. Anyway, the sayagaki has a date of 1990, so it couldn't have been written by either Hon'ami Kōkei or Hon'ami Kōson. The sayagaki isn't signed by the author. The sayagaki does say that the polish was done by "Kōkei" (光敬), who I presume refers to the living national treasure sword-polisher Ono Kōkei (小野光敬), who died in 1994. No idea about the condition of the blade. Looks OK from the photos. Ubu, signed, published in a very old book (Muromachi-era "Ōsekishō" 往昔抄), validated by the NTHK in 1980, and by NBTHK in 2020. One worth looking at in hand. The timing of the NBTHK papers makes me wonder if this sword maybe never quite got the approval of the old guard at the NBTHK.

Hi, I recently purchased this Kashira & was surprised to see this on the side! I instantly knew it was special! Looks exactly the same as an earlier post & pic of a Tsuba. In all the years I've been collecting & studying Japanese Swords I've never seen anything like it before. If looked at in detail it has Christ on the cross which has been etched in gold with the cross outline etched in silver. The etching is very detailed & you can even make out the eye's ? The Kashira appears to be made of iron for the banding & copper/brass for the face. It appears to be Edo period?? When positioned on the handle the hand definitely covers the symbol hidden at all times. It may have been etched on after the ban on Christianity was lifted at the end of the Edo Period??? But I still think it's Special & is a welcome addition to my collection & a great conversation piece!? Any information would be appreciated. Cheers. Shawn.

Hi Markus, Yes; cleaning the nakago can remove patina, which is important. Don't do it. Your nakago has been shortened but it is much more likely that the rest of it was lost centuries ago when last shortened than that it is stuck in the bottom of your handle. Get an ice pick and see if you run into metal or wood when you tap it inside the handle. From what I know about your sword, I can tell you that it is somewhere between hopelessly compromised and an important, valuable relic badly in need of competent restoration. No body can know for sure just where it falls from a few photos online. Seriously, it may be much better than it seems. I repeat: you would be smart to find honest, knowledgeable advise from in-hand examination before doing anything to change the sword. Grey

Congrats Manuel! Being recognized even with Nyusen means your work is accepted as traditional and of a certain standard. We all wish you congratulations.

When I look at this, I get an immediate feel of wartime Showato, the nakago emphasizes that. It's not so much a "because of this and this and this..." but a general gut feel you get over time. I honestly think this is wartime and oil quenched, but could be wrong. The thing to look for is nie and activity. That said, oil quenched still comes in many forms, there are hybrid construction methods that are in between, forged and folded but from mill steel, or semi handmade or a bit of both etc etc. So it could easily be one of these, and lately it is not unusual to find them in Japan, with torokusho...sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing that is becoming more prevalent.

Deleting the pics renders this thread pretty useless. It would be nice if you would upload at least 1 or 2 pics of each here directly. Not because anyone thinks any less of someone with fakes, but because it may help someone down the line looking at something similar. We have a nice reference library growing here, and I am sure we have saved more than a handful of people from wrong purchases.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/137238358374 looks like top of the range!

In the auction it will go higher... However the prices of signed Ichimonji in suguha-like execution, tired - were never super-high. This one is not really suguha, there is definitely plenty of choji and activity but its probably still not the most active blade in hand. It may sound conspirational but I was always surprised by how large percentage of signed Ichimonji blades are actually less active compared to an average suriage one... or is it just my impression. I am not sure its a great Juyo candidate, could be, but it looks like a nice blade anyway.

Brian that is a good point, I didn't think about the reference aspect, that was selfish of me. I have replaced the original link in the katana post and it seems to be working and here are the other 2 links to the albums. Officer sword NCO sword I hope these can help others in the future! Cheers, Gregg

very very nice Brian rarely found a Gunome choji hamon like this one for a Gendaito looks like a shin shin to blade

I absolutely love my Norisada. Some excellent work, and I remember reading on a site somewhere how highly regarded he is. Definitely one of my keepers. Unfortunately my nakago took a lot of rust or wear at some point, as it almost looks Koto, but enough remains that it was readable.

The blade looks like a good reference for a Yoshimochi signature but the blade itself looks quite tired. It looks like a lot of material has been lost on this blade near the motohaba which at first may appear as funbari, but I believe it is just lost material due to a lot of polishes. But as a historical piece, if you can live with the tiredness, you do get an ubu, zaimei tachi that is almost 800 years old.

I thought maybe it was 貴良作 (Takayoshi-saku), but I couldn't find anything online that might corroborate this. I did find one 貴宗 that has a similar chippy "taka", but it is just a wild guess because yours doesn't really look like mune. So... I ran out of ideas at that point.

double publication of a blade by Moritsugu Norisada Besides the illustration in John Scott Slough's Book "Modern Japanese Swordsmith 1868 til 1945 Oshigata Book on pages 137 u. 138 here in in Fuller&Gregory Oshigata book 106 Oshigata from 1985 on page 113 u. 114 an interesting oshigata of a gift sword to the governor of Burma

another great early book by Fuller&Ron Gregory with an interesting categoriziation of significant signatures 106 Oshigata Gift signatures information on materials unsed and production processs location's Miscellaneous saying and phrases Awards special orders Tameshigiri ect

One of the earliest german collections: the Alexander Mosle collection. From the Baden-württembergische Landesbibliothek: https://www.transfernow.net/dl/20260419JxVfaYEM The whole catalogue Verlag E. A. Seeman, Leipzig 1914 Btw: don' the forget Gustav Jacoby, Otto Kümmel, Oskar Münsterberg...

盡忠報國 on the tang

Love it. Congratulations!

Hizen (no) kuni Tadaaki saku kore, dated 1943.

Oh man... I hope the old man was better at his main line than he was in his trades! Thanks for your time guys.

Kyō-kinkō?

The sword was part of the Tsukamoto Sozan museum collection and had an historical attribution to Go. The excerpt you highlighted gives some credence to that possibility. The more I study the few early Go pieces with Yamato (Senjuin) and Soshu influence, the more I think it has a chance.

I find it interesting when Tanobe sensei deviates from his normal format. For example, his kao is normally at the end of his commentary. In some cases, his commentary takes up the entire omote of the shirasaya and continues to ura, so his kao is on the ura. On this Yukimitsu sayagaki, it first appears that everything is on the omote since it includes his kao. But the bulk of the commentary is actually on the ura. I suspect he did it this way because the blade and the koshirae are together on the same NBTHK origami, so he used the omote to reference both and then he used the ura to describe the blade.

Hi @Lukrez, your post put this book on my radar, and after reading the other reviews here on the forum as well, I decided to buy it too. Since I’m based in Europe, the easiest option for me was to contact Dmitry directly and get a copy from him that way. He was very kind, and the whole process was a pleasant experience. And what can I say — this book really is one of a kind. I’m already looking forward to diving into it properly. Best regards, Faustus

Same elongated habaki guys. Same ware. It sold for 950$. Bruce You killed it right away.

Everyone’s talking about the recent Haynes auction and the high prices a lot of the tsuba went for, especially the Tanaka school tsuba, which went for €5000 and €12000 respectively. This is your chance to own a wonderful Tanaka-style tsuba for a fraction of that. This wonderful piece has the characteristic sekigane and the wabi-sabi style iron and nunome-zogan. In hand, the surface treatment looks so smooth I first thought it was kinko, but it is in fact iron. It also has a great theme of a dragon, and a very good size (85x80mm). Comes in a delux kiri box with trim around the edge. £1200 ono If you wish for additional images or a video, I'll be happy to email them to you

Yes! Ask for original auction pictures, Eric did great job. You got nice example.

Just a mediocre yari I picked up for cheap. Nothing too special.

I’m in for $20 for Book 1 - Ro No Cho

Another book I really enjoy is the “One Hundred Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Walter Compton. Japanese Swords, Sword-Fittings and Accoutrements.” Well bound and beautiful photography. The dust jacket is extremely well done. Not an ‘educational tome’ but a beautiful book nonetheless. Only downside is, it is easy to get fingerprint smudges on the pages with the photographs. Not to hijack, but regarding the Sazerac. Just got back from NOLA a few days ago (birthday trip) and did the Sazerac Distillery tour. A bottle of the full proof Sazerac, a Col Taylor, and 4 bottles of my FAVORITE bourbon ever… Eagle Rare… followed me home. All at MSRP and about half the price I can get it for anywhere near me.

I even tried to resist but it came in nice,cheap and well preserved company.

I was around then :] thx for all possible info.

Waki from Marius was nice. 30$ for both: 5. Sotheby's nihonto auction catalogue from 1979 - no one wants it until now. 6. Japanese Swords and Fittings in the Western Australian Museum, George Trotter - 131 pages of great pics! Some saving for shipping and customs :] outbid me guys!

Ben fatto Manuel! Complimenti.

脇指 無銘 = wakizashi, mumei 藤原高田 = Fujiwara Takada

Hello, I've named this wakizashi "testamentary blade." The nakago (handguard) is signed and dated, as is the shirasaya (handguard). Ama Hide, 8th month of Bunsei 7. Suishinshi Masa Hide passed away on the 27th day of the 9th month of Bunsei 8. Here is a modern translation of the engraved text: The principle of sword making is clear, and I am not afraid to measure myself against the swordsmiths of old, but that doesn't mean I despise them. This art simply consists of bringing the iron to a perfect state by eliminating impurities through forging, and there's no point in obsessing over the temper line (the hamon). There is no doubt that the harmony of Yin and Yang makes the blade pure and sharp, and difficult to break. I've attached another photo found online of his signature, Ama Hide, placed in the same spot and truncated by the mekugi ana (handguard). It would be interesting to learn why he made this (these) blade(s)..

Have you looked at the Tomkinson collection? ….or the Edward Wrangham collection? (See Bonhams past auctions for this one)

Do you have any examples of oil quenched showato that look similar to this? I have owned one before and it quite literally looked nothing like this.

Hi Markus, Don't try to fix the sword yourself; leave it be until you can show it to someone. Never clean rust from the nakago; never. Are you certain there is a bottom of the nakago stuck in the handle? If you can lower a small magnet into the handle, if it doesn't stick to anything there probably isn't a piece of the nakago inside. Any case, don't be in a hurry for anything with the sword. It will be fine as is until you can get help (it isn't going to fall apart tomorrow). Grey

Suya shoten with marked seppa. Blade [Emura :/] looks like cleaned with acid. https://www.ebay.com/itm/135090391434

Glad it's not yours or that you did the cleaning. And it really isn't critical. I'm just sitting with nothing better to do at the moment. Look at the 2 ware on the edges:

Spider web in the rain habaki! Where is the spider?

I would like to add 2 more NCO typology as this thread is becoming leading one. I know that first is covered by another but description give more value.

Here a quite common religious theme (well, it takes a little bit of explanation...). The theme is obviously 茗荷 - myōga (Japanese ginger). But 茗荷 is perfectly homophonous with 冥加 (myōga) meaning divine protection or divine blessing. This kind of pun is not uncommon (e.g. budō meaning both grape and martial arts).