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I don't think this is Nobu (信). The two angled strokes at the top of the character inscribed on this nakago are sort of floating in isolation to the rest of the strokes. The left angled stroke needs to have a vertical stroke centered directly underneath it. The right angled stroke needs to be more or less centered above the other horizontal strokes. And there would be a very boxy-looking set of strokes at the bottom of the character. None of these are present, so even giving a lot of latitude for artistic flourish, this character could not be 信. I don't think its 兼 (Kane) either, for similar reasons. Unfortunately, I can't offer a plausible candidate for what it might be. It doesn't look like anything other than some random strokes. I mean it kind of looks similar to 金 or 全 or even 年, rather than 信 or 兼, but none of those options look right either. So I'm at a bit of a loss. Random strokes by someone? An abandoned attempt at forgery?

Hey Bugyotsuji, sure, and thanks for the question. I'm a newbie so it's been quite a challenge so far and always looking for feedback Here a few pics from the lab in Japan working on the habaki, koshirae and fittings. I'm adding a picture of the sayagaki, seems like signed by Hon’ami Nisshu I decided to ask for a new habaki in silver satin the blade is authenticated also with a Tokubetsu Hozon Token here below the measures: Blade Length: 69.2 cm (27.24 in) Curvature: 1.7 cm (0.67 in) Mekugi Hole: 1 Width at Base (Motohaba): 3.14 cm (1.24 in) Width at Tip (Sakihaba): 2.00 cm (0.79 in) Thickness of Rim (Kasane): 0.74 cm (0.29 in) Sword Weight: 780 g Signature: Bizen Kuni jn Osafune Kiyomitsu saku kore

Hi All! I'm from Ireland. Passionate about nihonto. I've been in Japan a few times and eventually I decided to take the big step and buy my first nihonto. It's a Kiyomitsu (Osafune) dated and signed I decided to go for a dedicated koshirae project, a new habaki and papered fittings. The whole project took a long time to select all the parts and now I'm waiting a few months for the koshirae. Looking forward to have it and study it. cheers

I echo Piers here, if you want a cool piece of history in your mancave, this is a perfect old item. The condition is too poor for a collector, and a decent restoration will cost you an arm and a leg. Enjoy it as it is, it is genuine after all, and better than a replica.

チヤ (Chiya) Chiya is the name of a city that had a tatara furnace in it, and it is where he produced some swords.

Good evening NMB, On offer today is a classic example of Shino by an artist that works in the mountains of Gifu, the home of Mino ware. Kazuji Sato founded the Sawarabi (Early Fern) Kiln in the late 1970s following an apprenticeship with Shino great Hayashi Kotaro, and that influence is clearly seen in this work. Featuring a beautiful gray Shino glaze that is whiter in thicker areas and shows subtle blue tints where it gets thinner. It perfectly compliments the reddish iron rich slip and the spontaneous, scraped away design of bracken ferns that rely on the natural warm color of the clay. The shape allows the bowl to effortlessly settle into the hands, while the thickness and weight distribution allow for a perfect balance. In excellent vintage condition with no flaws. Measures approximately 11.5 x 8.5cm and comes with its original signed box, hand signed cloth and paperwork. $160 shipped to the USA, international buyers please contact me for a quote. 🙇🍵🌿

I feel the 珎州 that Piers posted would seem most resembling the last picture, however I have never seen that before, so my guess might be on 筑州住国重 (Chikushū jū Kunishige). In my personal feeling there seems to be different feeling between the first 2 and lower 3 kanji. Your sword seems to have very unusual blade construction as one side seems to be flat (hira) and another side ridged (shinogi), at least that is what I am seeing from the pictures.

Yes, blade has sold. Mods can move this to the archive channel. Thank you everyone

Update: Yamanaka Newsletters Volume 5 Issue #2 available: Yamana V5 NL02

Hi Adam, and thank you. Goto school I am not sure, but the quality is on par with some of the top kinko schools of the age. I agree that however they are mounted, they should be seen, because the carving work is so good! Having said that, they can be enjoyed as is. I have hung onto them for fourteen years and enjoyed studying them in the box with a magnifying glass. Now is the right time to find them a new home. 100% confident they will paper to an Edo kinko school. For their level, they are priced to fly away rapidly and I’m a little surprised they haven’t already done so.

Completely agree with this!

Thanks @klee I have something special in the works right now

One thing I noticed is that, in many of the photos, the chape is resting on the ground. Makes me think if I saw a pristine chape, I would question the originality of the paint. John C.

Do I hear $300 (shipped CONUS) for these triumphs in antique Japanese traditional miniature carving? Dime for scale.

Thanks, Jean! Regarding the title: I think I'm a bit too old to get my 'Dr.' now, so I’ll just stay with Faustus. As for the 'presenting' part - I might be taking your museum comment more literally than expected! I’m currently in the middle of preparing a dedicated room for the collection (see the 'blank canvas' attached). It’s a lot of work, but I want to create a controlled environment where I can focus on proper storage and study. I’m especially looking into getting the lighting and humidity just right. Maybe it'll end up being a 'private study' rather than a museum, but I’m enjoying the process of building it from the ground up. Best regards, Faustus

Most likely one of the various print issues of the monthly Me-no-me magazine, to which Tanobe-sensei has been a regular contributor.

Thanks Rohan; Paul Martin mentioned it being in an article, so I had wondered if it's online somewhere. I really like that book. I was a little disappointed when the Yamashiro edition didn't have an extra section at the end like the Yamato book did with Saiha. I'm spoiled I suppose Thanks again. -Sam

I believe the article has been included at the end of the Yamato volume in his Gokaden series, with English translation by Markus Sesko (https://ringringdo.com/products/9784907211325).

Definitely. It is also a bit hard to grasp the current state of some of the items from the photos, in terms of polish, damage etc.

@FrankF, Thanks for sharing your sword with us. I could be mistaken, but your sword does not appear to be wartime to me, and may be older. I will move this to the Nihonto section to get more eyes on it. We can always move it again if necessary. Best, -Sam

Hi, Very nice indeed, Goto school (I'm still looking for Tsuba BTW) perhaps? I think these are way to nice to go under wrapping and would be ideal (if one wants to put them 'on') for Aikuchi Tanto. Like this:

@Bruce Pennington Unfortunately this was the best photo I got. I think it might be a partial Showa stamp, but very hard to tell

Nice find Bruce... another picture from a different angle your auction 'find' ...nice sword!

Years ago, don't remember what conversation, someone said something similar in that he claimed studio photographers likely had a bundle of swords that he'd give the soldiers for the photo shoot. So, all of that is possible, especially the privates. The reality is that we are probably seeing "all the above" with some guys holding their own swords and some with 'props'. The sword in the original post, with the surrender cloth is a prime example. Added to possible real ones is the Sgt Major photo I posted as it is exactly in line with the OP sword. Also, you'll see in the first Superior Private photo that his Type 98 has an NCO leather tassel. In the end, we will never know. The more things pop up, like the OP sword, the clearer the "picture" (pun intended) will be.

Sam, sorry the late reply I just saw your post. Thanks for you and Grey taking the time to give me some input! Again, completely new to Nihonto , I was told by a well known expert that the tang Nakago was burnt , then just doing some reading on the internet and using AI I read about burnt blades being retempered. I need to take better pics on a black background as Grey suggests to help analysis. I’m just enjoying researching and trying to learn more about this rough study sword.

Send an email to yourself?

Hi Bruce, I agree with Charles. In my younger days I built exact replica American Civil War Cannons, carriages, limbers and caissons. (ergo my user name) The Civil War was one of my passions. I've viewed hundreds of tintypes, especially from the beginning of the war, where soldiers would have their pictures taken with long guns, pistols, large knives and swords, even though they were privates and certainly not authorized to carry a sword or pistol. I imagine that that same martial spirit was prevalent with Japanese soldiers as well, so they would "borrow" a sword just for the photograph. Tom

could be Ise (イセ), he used Katakana for this, regards Oli

This is a for sale post, create a new thread if we want to discuss data.

Sword is on hold pending purchase

I have a nagging memory that I posted these already somewhere, but cannot recall where that was, but in an article written by Richard Fuller, he's included several pictures of enlisted men, some quite low in rank, with Type 98 swords. Here are a couple from his article: Superior Private 1st Class Private 1st or Superior Private

I don’t understand an attribution based on WHO OWNS a blade? Doesn’t make any sense to me. You evaluate the blade, not the person. And there is a huge difference in attribution between Koto and Gunto. Not sure how that happened. Gunto is not a “worse attribution” if that is what it honestly is… unless of course you wanted him to say Masamune. An attribution is what it is. Our expectation is what makes it ‘good or bad’ in our minds. And there is always the possibility that in some cases a really good Gunto is better than a really poor Koto depending on who is collecting what.

Another interesting practice: sarute positioned to the mune side of the sword.

I understand your position on comments and links in sale posts, it's perfectly reasonable. The NMB is just the platform and buyers are responsible for doing their own research before making a purchase. But, please dont be coy regarding this sale as if there is any question what happened here. It isnt about WHO is right or wrong, it's about someone using words to describe something, it is not. No forging flaws....No kite-ware and No kizu are absolute statements, PERIOD. The structure of that statement says very clearly that the blade has been inspected and those attributes are absent. The damage to the kissaki and the rust can both be explained beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why I can ignore them. However, 10cm and 25cm obvious flaws in the mune are impossible to miss and everyone who has ever oiled or maintained a blade knows it. NMB may not be able to sanction or step in on private sales, nor should it, but it CAN decide not turn a blind eye to obvious misrepresentation and dismiss it as something lesser. That is precisely the type of oxygen shady sellers rely on to continue selling irresponsibly unencumbered. Remember, all this seller had to do was NOT make an absolute statement. All he had to say was, "minor forging flaws" or "no flaws visible, but IM BLIND and cant see anything under 2.5cm in length". He chose NOT to do this which clearly shows either extreme carelessness or an intent to deceive. Either one, IMO, is contemptible.

The Hasebe Heshigiri has been o-suriage and still maintains ~1cm of sori. Shallow yes, but I wouldn't call that "almost completely straight". Apples to orange comparison. There are a myriad of nanbokucho o-suriage katana out there with around 1cm sori. One other important point of the Heshigiri is you'll see the hi falls off of the nakago mune showing that sori has been deliberately removed in the o-suriage process. Looking at more ubu examples of nanbokucho blades and we start to see a different shape emerge. Here is the Karakashiwa. Made by Hasebe Kuninobu. If you cut off the bottom 16cm of this sword (essentially the entire nakago) and moved it up, you now have another quite shallow blade.

I only use the long dash in formal writing (like in my Type 95 download). Only becasue it's a part of the Chicago Manual of Style formatting requirements in certain situations. To use it casually on a forum is a huge AI red flag. Like you say, it's not a convenient or natural hotkey to use. -Sam PS. It's not inherently wrong or even against the rules to utilize AI. But when it's seemingly 90%+ of a users content, it raises many of my moderator red flags; asking myself "is this a bot?".

I actually do use it on occasion—mainly because I had a super-strict English teacher who stressed the proper uses of each kind of dash—but it's mostly in my formal writing. When I'm just typing on a forum or texting someone, ain't nobody got time to hunt for the special character I want each time – the default dash key on the keyboard is good enough to get my point across.

I’m certainly learning from all the thoughtful responses by our generous members. That said, I do have some concern that many of these detailed replies appear to be directed toward content from the OP that seems heavily AI generated. Using AI as a translation tool is one thing, but in this case the posts across a couple threads now read more like fully generated responses rather than translated personal communication. I do appreciate the expertise people are contributing, and I only mention this because every “thank you” reply so far appears largely copy-pasted from an AI prompt... For a purchase of this caliber; I would personally feel a more sincere form of engagement would go a long way. Sorry if my views toward AI are a bit strict; but all this just gives me cause for concern... When this happens; it can be really hard to distinguish between what could be a bot, versus what could be a sincere inquiry. -Sam

Undeniably, I am a craftsman from China who carves netsuke, yet I prefer to call myself a bone carver. My master has been creating bone carvings for decades, and people of his generation knew nothing about the concept of netsuke. I’d like to share a small piece of my work here. The main body is the skull of an ancient Homo sapiens. An umbilical cord extends from the eye socket of the skull and connects to a modern infant lying sound asleep atop it. The piece carries profound symbolism: the protection of ancestors and the dawn of new life. It depicts an encounter and reincarnation spanning millions of years. Generation after generation, humanity thrives and moves forward through the cycle of life.

Here you are Time span to 1340, Soshu school Short blades separately and long blades separately

Just as an example JuBun Fukuoka-Ichimonji Tachi ubu nagasa 77.1cm and motokasane 0.6 / Sakikasane 0.3 I would take it without a second thought

城州 住 國重 Joshu Ju Kunishige

Hello to all. Just joined the site and am looking forward to learning more about Japanese military edged weapons.

Bump and substantial reduction to $325 (shipped+insured CONUS) for this unusually well-carved pair. Note the double exclamation point on the attribution remarks, unusually emphatic. 5% of the sale will be donated to NMB.

Here's a significant find - A sword surrendered by Capt Endo in Borneo with a purple cord wrapped through the haikan. Note the photo. The cord was there when he surrendered it! Hard to see in my photo of a photo, but it can be clearly seen wrapped just the way it is, in hand. Owned by @Ian B3HR2UH Ian Brooks. The photo is taken from a video of the surrender which shows the cord in place must better. In the future, I won't be dismissing such cords so easily when they show up on gunto.

John, now that you have finished your nice SUZURI BAKO, you are well trained and ready for serious tasks! Could you please come over and finish my TANSU? There are still three long drawer fronts not pictured. It would be easy work for you as most of the wood is KIRI; some is KEYAKI. Awaiting your soonest reply,,,,,,

Thanks, Jean. Glad you think so! Once the basic construction is a bit further along, I’d love to share my plans for the interior and get some feedback from the community. I’m sure there are plenty of tips here that could help me avoid some beginner mistakes.

Came across this war trophies photo at this Gunboards thread. While it's possible the cord was added by one of the G.I.s, it seems unlikely that guys in the field, like this, would have had this kind of gold/yellow cord laying about to stick on a kaigunto. Its straight-forward appearance presentes the idea that the cord was there when captured.