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佐藤兼住 - Sato Kanezumi He was one of WWII swordsmiths in Seki.

Hello, The Count is the model collector archetype, and amongst the ones I most admire. He lovingly invested into every single of his blades to leave them in a better, more complete state than when he bought them. Polish, Koshirae, habaki, name tags, tsunagi - he had an entire system, and these artifacts are precious today and add value to the whole. Here is one of his swords that just came out today, with wonderfully and tastefully created koshirae. https://nihontowatch.com/s/493024?v=1781928271 Best, Hoshi

Yes, we have a lot of languages in Europe. English understands the most people.

The way that all images have been photographed at angles and cropped, partially cutting of sections of the inscription make readability difficult (like trying to read a sentence that has been fragmented into a number of separate images with words randomly cut off). It is best to provide a single vertical image that shows the entire inscription in one photo. The sword is a Seki made showato arsenal blade, not fully traditionally made. I believe the smith is Kanenobu ( there were several individuals using that name working during the war). Best regards, Ray

The suikan (3) is a top that had collar and wrist ties, worn as under armor-attire by samurai during the Heian Period (794–1185). The Shitashimo of Suikan is a hakama with ties at the ankles (4). During the Kamakura Period (1185–1333), it transitioned into standard formal wear for middle-ranking samurai and younger military nobility (buke). By the Muromachi Period (1336–1573) its popularity rapidly declined as samurai aesthetics shifted toward the simpler, more mobile hitatare. By the Edo period, it had largely fallen out of common use. The igote is worn over the left arm and upper body to protect the forearm of the bow arm from being hit by the string (tsuru). The wrist tie hitatare is fastened on the right sleeve to keep the material out of the way when manipulating and shooting the arrow (ya). The same American seller on eBay of the Ayaigasa will be selling me a new custom-made hitatare outfit that has a matching top and hakama along with a left-arm sleeve called an igote. This is the only seller that I have found who is supplying yabusame-related clothing. I also acquired a horse-whip (yumi-guchi) that is fashioned from broken bows (yumi).

カ = “Ka”, perhaps? I have never seen that one on a gunto tsuba. Very interesting. -Sam

Recently, I have been researching the traditional equipment (specialized bow/arrows, saddle, horse whip) and outfit (clothing, swords) related to the practice of yabusame. Here, I would like to document what I have learned as well as what I have personally acquired over time in order to both be able to train at home in yabusame on a wooden horse, and to experience the feeling of wearing the traditional "hunting" outfit along with swords. Here is what yabusame looks like and the equipment and clothing that is traditionally worn: Let's start with the outfit. Enouboshi (1) is a traditional samurai fabric hat, which is not practical to wear except for under a kabuto helmet. For the style of Ayaigasa I will be using, the Enouboshi is too long and trailing in the back. I managed to find a modern reproduction fiberglass Kimen Ayaigasa (2) custom-made in Japan. This highly specialized hat is the traditional headwear of yabusame practitioners. It features the iconic, menacing red Kimen (Demon/Oni face) mounted on the top, which is detachable. The interior features a fully adjustable suspension pad system and secure chin strap to ensure it stays firmly in place during movement.

SOLD @Scogg please move to archive thank you!

Tsuruta-san offers a suigetsu-Yagyu: https://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-mumeiunsignedyagyunbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-tosogu/

@Takezo Swords continued to get longer throughout the 1500s and Tenbun era sue bizen generally ranged from 65cm to 68cm and reached 70cm + from Eiroku up to the Momoyama so I think it s just due to the general time period trend. That Yosozaemon was recently on AOI earlier this year. I made a post about it. It s interesting that a sword this level it would re appear so soon. It did go for well over $100,000 USD. The sayagaki from Tanobe sensei noted it as being Shodai Yosozaemon best work. Which is saying quite a lot

Attached is the catalogue entry for the Sa Hiroyuki / Kunihiro daisho . Also a couple of others being a ko Aoi Kanetsugu which was a National treasure at the time and also the Meibutsu Hocho Masamune which was Juyo bijutsuhin at the time and is now Kokuho.

Here are some Naval officers belts . The top one is a senior officers ( Lt Commander to Captain ) full dress belt for Medical officers . The central one is another full dress belt for senior line officers and the bottom one is the standard service belt .

You can check the size of the circular punch marks making up the background, at the time the guard would have been made the punch would have been hand made [possibly by the same smith as the tsuba itself] if the punch marks are identical size it would not be surprising that both guards were made by the same tools and at least possible the same person - of course the tools could be handed down from one smith to another. Getting back to your first guard I just noticed it has a "Fukure" - a blister in the metal surface where the folding of the metal has failed to adhere and peeled up. Not uncommon. A "fukure" guarantees the guard is not cast.

Smiths_Soldiers_Diplomats_Block_Sesko-FINAL.pSmiths_Soldiers_Diplomats_Block_Sesko-FINAL.pdf Markus Sesko and I used to talk about how much we knew about Horikawa Kunihiro's life and travels compared to virtually every other smith before 1600. Then I came across Koyama Kanami's 1977 study of Akamatsu Masanori and his associates Katsumitsu and Munemitsu, I realized Kunihiro wasn't the only pre-Edo smith hiding in plain sight in the historical record. Markus and I began talking about a deep dive, and the result is the attached paper, which I hope stands out in a field where we know far more about the metallurgical features of great swordsmiths than about the men themselves. I am sharing it here with you guys first. It could not have been written without Markus's translations, discussions, and editorial judgment, which are evident on every page. I Hope you enjoy Smiths_Soldiers_Diplomats_Block_Sesko-FINAL.pdf

Hi all; for reference here we have a Takayama sword made by the smith Ishihara Masanao. She regroups all the common features of these blades, such as compact nagasa (62 cm), short and thick kissaki (2,9 cm/8 mm) and long nakago (28,5 cm). The nakago has also a second mekugi ana, which is aligned with the sarute hole on the tsuka. The tsuka itself has a peculiar shape often related to the Takayama swords. The koshirae is, I think, an expensive upgrade, with 8 seppa and texturized saya's laquer. The dai seppa are finished with gold paint. About the steel... It should be some kind of anti-rust one, just the nakago differs from the shining, silver-like ones made in the IJN arsenals. Oddly, the mei doesn't bear the name Ishihara, just Masanao; the togishi should be Kizaemon (anyone could help on this?) Thanks for watching.

Chikuzen (no) kuni Katsutoshi.

謹作高山刀　Kinsaku Takayama-tō. 刀匠 Tōshō　正直 Ishihara Masanao. 研師 Togishi　吉左衛門 Kichizaemon. @SteveM

Feel sorry for the guy trying to draw the Oshigata. He did not stand a chance. Quite possible one of the worst Oshigata drawings I have ever seen. He even shades off the sword. This guy was struggling to keep up with Norshige's insane genius poured into this sword.

Juyo 10, TokuJu 10. This Hada gives me goosebumps. Absolute cracker of a sword! Designated Juyo March 10, 1964 Designated Tokubetsu Juyo November 11, 1987 Tachi, Mumei, Norishige Owner: Tateishi Katsuhiro Dimensions: Length 74.6 cm, Side curvature 2.3 cm, Base width 2.7 cm, Tip width 19 cm, Base thickness 0.6 cm, Ornament length 1.8 cm Tang length 19.3 cm, Tang curvature 2 types Shape: Shinogi-zukuri, Iori-mune, greatly shortened but with a slightly high sori, chu-kissaki Jitetsu: Itame grain mixed with mokume and nagaru-hada, with good ji-nie (small crystals in the ji), and frequent ji-kei (patterns in the ji). Hamon (temper line): Mix of choji and gunome (clove-shaped) midare, deeply nie-deki (crystals) overall, with a subdued nioiguchi (misty effect), yubashiri (snow-like patterns), ashi (legs) and ha (leaves) well-defined in the middle of the blade, sunagashi (sand-like patterns), and frequent kinsuji (golden streaks). Boshi: Midare Komi, sweeping, with kinsuji (golden streaks). Nakago: Greatly shortened, Kurijiri (wavy end), yasurime-katte sagari (downward-sloping) shape, three mekugi-ana (peg holes), unsigned. Artisan: Norishige, Etchu Province Period: Late Kamakura Period Provenance: Kishu Tokugawa Family Description: Norishige was from Gofuku-go, Etchu Province, and studied under Shintogo Kunimitsu of Soshu Province, making him a fellow disciple of Yukimitsu and Masamune. While there are relatively many short swords among Norishige's existing works, two long swords designated as Important Cultural Properties are known. His style resembles that of Yukimitsu and Masamune, but his forging is distinctive. The grain pattern, a mix of straight and wavy patterns, with a pronounced grain and thick ji-kei (patterns in the steel), is called Matsukawa Hada "pine bark grain." Ancient texts describe him as "skilled in iron preparation, with a non-uniform grain and masterful sunagashi (sand-like patterns)." Norishige's hamon (temper pattern), like Masamune's, shows influence from Anben of Hoki Province and old Bizen swords, giving it a unique antique feel. This sword also clearly displays Norishige's characteristics in its ji-ha (steel surface) and hamon, with strong nie (martensite crystals), ji-kei, and kinsuji (golden lines) demonstrating the extraordinary skill of a master craftsman of the Soshu tradition. This blade has been passed down through the Kishu Tokugawa family. This is Peak Norishige.

I would expect to see more masame/nagare in a Shizu blade, as well as a more active hamon. Also, Shizu is generally considered a higher attribution tier than Soshu Masahiro so putting a gimei of Masahiro on a sword that could pass as Shizu doesn't make sense from an economic perspective.

Most academic presentations are in English here. I live in Germany and even in groups where the majority are native German speakers, they use English.

Talking fantasy swords there is a certain TokuJu Norishige Tachi (only 3 Tachi remain and the other two are JuBu) - I am just enamoured with it. I personally think it is the best thing Norishige ever produced. Once owned by the Kishū Tokugawa. If the universe conspired to make things happen that sword is without a shadow of a doubt my pipedream fantasy buy.

One of my all-time favourite dedication swords is by Kozuke Daijo Sukesada, another of those genius smiths of his time. I am sure this 1664 blade has been covered by me and others on this NMB site, but it is now on display with some other shrine swords at the Okayama Prefectural Museum. From the Kibitsu Hiko Jinja, restored and polished by the local branch of the NBTHK. The hamon expresses through three stages the ability of (the) God/god(s) to pacify the troubled hearts of the people. This Shinjin-midare 神心乱 starts out as midare, changing to notare and ends in suguha through the monouchi to the kissaki. NB The word Midare, (verb midareru) also means turbulence, trouble or confusion. Change of angle

Thanks Adrian! Yes, that "KA" is in the location where we see shop logo. So, I would say we are seeing an unidentified shop that made these fittings, or at least the tsuba. So, the "23" of your fittings doesn't match the "44" of your blade. A couple of options: 1. The "44" is from the original fittings shop, but the blade saw a fittings change either during the war or after. 2. The "44" was put there by the smith or the arsenal, and the fittings shop used their own numbering system, not caring what was on the blade. We see plenty like this and there is no way to know the significance. Thanks again for the photos!

Hey Nazar, Looks good and the price is also good. My opinion!

@Takezo I was just looking at them 😆 While I ll always prefer Gorozaemons signature suguha works, he was indeed skilled at hitatsura and this is a beautiful work. I do think however that hadori is a very poor choice for this blade ( or any hitatsura works ). Judging by the oshigata, this sword would look magnificent in sashikomi. And a beautiful sugata and signature by Magouemon. One of the pro s of Magouemon over Gorozaemon for me was that swords became longer during the Eiroku and his works are consistantly 70cm+ while Gorozaemons work are generally in the 65cm to 68cm range. I generally try to avoid bo hi ( except futasuji hi ) bc of the asthetics and I always dread seeing blades where the soe bi is polished off in places over time. Both beautiful works overall however and I certainly would have a hard time saying no if I had the $$$

I did consider that as well, however Sudo-san does not ship outside of Japan so I did not want to put the broker of this deal through too much trouble. It would be awesome if NBTHK would fly a team to USA occasionally for a Shinsa session...

And another video https://www.facebook.com/reel/2743769552662258

SASANO-SENSEI used pointed tools made of antler, bone, ivory or bamboo to scrape off red rust on iron TSUBA (see below). He also exposed TSUBA to humid air by hanging them out on a string. After some time, he rubbed them with clean cotton and carried them for a long while in the pockets of his trousers. He said the moisture evaporating from the body and the very light rubbing of the fabric resulted in a good and natural patina. On the other hand, Mrs. SASANO was angry with him about that method as she had to mend his worn-through pockets ever and ever again! He also recommended to handle iron TSUBA with bare hands while soft metal TSUBA should be handled with cotton gloves.

Oh, interesting. I read that some were honestly mistaken so I thought bc of that people would make gimei. So even though Masamune and some of his famous 10 students stayed pure Soshu, while I know 1 for sure combined Soshu with, I think Yamato. I guess I just thought bc Masamune was Soshu den that would make them top tier. But over the last few years I've personally found most notable daimyo seek Ko Bizen. Just glad I'm already learning things. Although I've said before, I find that with this interest I will seek the answer to something only to than have 10 new questions hahaha. Cool Andrew.

Much appreciated Ray; we are blessed to have you around. That was fast! Thank you again. -Sam

Need more information to make a determination. The link below shows the ito wrap used on some of the Indonesian made swords. Hope this helps. Identification help

Perhaps 相模守源則(廣) - Sagami (no) kami Minamoto Nori(hiro) The last kanji is cut off, but look into Norihiro as a possibility.

I've been traveling a bit away from home and am checking in on this thread late. On this laptop, I thought tsuba #1 looked rather realistic and wasn't sure. The others, as @Manuel Coden has the right of it that there has been a steady stream of these for years and they have been getting better. Also, @lonely panet cited a good work and the truth that the early ones often (not always) have a nice filo dough layering in the mimi. Then in the 2nd period some do and some don't. If it is a unique seeming design that strongly represents the philosophy of the school and the iron is correct, you don't always expect the mimi to have those layers. It happens for a variety of reasons. The kodai ones are often of famous designs and yet lack the full feel of the earlier ones, or their tell tale elements. Yet the late Edo Norisuke ones are something entirely else. They are like 1st period ones on steroids, but usually under 5mm of thickness. The Norisuke ones aren't trying to be deceiving, as much as retro-revivial. They really are their own thing, and I've long hoped to find one of the signed Yagyu waveform ones. Either they aren't for sale, or the condition is poor. The good ones are almost as rare as the originals. I've previously posted a good image of the filo dough mimi from my best 1st period one. I'd bought it unpapered from a private collection, so YES sometimes real ones do pop up unpapered. Though I didn't think it needed NBTHK papers, I eventually submitted it for Hozon. Whether agent error or some confusion in our communication, it ended up going TH. I didn't want the extra expense, but -hey- I'll live. Still, good earlier period Yagyu and of either provenance or published such that they don't need papers. The first tsuba is curious. The rest are heavily -Nah... avoid-- Everyone be nice. Yagyu can be a confusing school to know what you are dealing with. I think it took 15 years before I really got into them.

Just a follow up…..I ended up picking this up, it was cheap enough and I’m curious about the finish. When it arrives I’ll share what I find and I’m certain I’ll have additional questions. Thanks for the input from everyone, tsuba and their characteristics are a new endeavor for me.

Well shoot! Now that you say that, I had to re-look, and how about that tsuba?! It's the 'pine tree' tsuba @IJASWORDS and @Bruno brought to light: What initially bothered me was the Like-New canvas cover, then the wrap, then the like-new nakago with wavering shinogi. But now, with this tsuba, it very well could be late-war, made in Manchuria or other areas.

The mystery remains. The sword was either well-maintained or never used because, barring one ding, it's in really nice condition. The blade is quite shiny, although it doesn't have a particularly sharp edge. If it were one of the European blades I'm more used to seeing, I'd say it was never in the field.

Thank you both. No, it was just pocket change. Darn, I’ll try to do better next time. I thought maybe an occupation piece. Oh well.

The name kata tsumami maki. It is a mixture of both examples (the bottom ito is "folded" and the top ito is pinched.

Must have been still more impressive when new with a NAGASA of around 85 cm!

Robert, To clear up the confusion USMC swords made in Japan are all post WW2. In my previous post I was speaking of the colleciabilty of USMC mamelukes in general. The earlier the better, as the USMC was very small prior to WW2. Post war swords are very common.

Is this or has this transaction been resolved or has the request to post the original, full, unedited sales description been ignored?

I can't clearly take side here. But I as buyer demand only one thing from seller - exact dimensions. I bought here from many of You guys, from many countries and I had claims only for measurements - and Yes couple cm shorter or nagasa measured from tip to tsuba is an obvious fault. Kizu are easy to miss. I would like to know If this rust spot is only at one side or is this already structural through entire blade. I bought from Mason already, all was good. maybe restoration of original offer would be helpful here? Marcin

Learn history of Shodai Tadayoshi... Konuka hada is a variety of ko itame...

Have a look at this two from the 8th generation of Tadayoshi, sold from Samurai Museum with NBTHK certification. Both mei 5 characters look tottaly different even it was signed by the same person. So saying a mei is gimei because of the signature is baloney. One could be made when he was young and one could be made when he was older ( or drunk , sick ... ).

According to this article here http://nihonto-museu...blog/soshu-tsunahiro apperently the first generation Soshu Tsunahiro signed like that minus the 作 at the end.

Re why would anyone produce a gimei. Basic answer is to survive. For example Naotane and Naokatsu were both highly regarded Shin-Shinto smiths who made copies of earlier work but also, according to some authorities, were not above making copies and putting a false mei on them. They did what the market asked for to survive. Re your blade, I re-read what I and others had written and I didn't see anything that criticised the blade, quite the opposite, most prefaced their comments with the fact they thought it was a good piece. No one here has sufficient confidence (or at least they shouldn't) to say whether a blade is genuine or otherwise. All they can do is look at all the elements they can see and express an opinion. that is very different from seeing it in hand and people are, quite rightly in my opinion, cautious. The only real way to progress this is to submit it to shinsa. I think it is a good sword. Roger R is the go to person in the west for Tadayoshi and if he believes it could be right his opinion is worth far more than mine or anyone else's here. However I do think it valid to ask why a blade in such good condition has come out of Japan without papers. Was the seller ignorant of what they had? had it been submitted and failed? we will never know but until you submit it for shinsa there will always be a niggling doubt. Otherwise accept it is a nice work and enjoy it for that.

There's no need to take this 'personally' imo, it's not an attack on your person or character after all. When you ask for opinions from others there will always be those that you disagree with, unless you just want everyone else to validate your pre-formed opinion on the matter. Unfortunately with really big names like Mutsu Tadayoshi in good recent polish, you have to wonder why it doesn't have papers? You would expect any previous owners to have attempted a shinsa especially if they went to the trouble of polishing it. This does looks like a good blade with konuka appearing hada and an active gunome hamon but questions will always remain in its current state. The signature is not a 100% match to papered Mutsu and the nakagojiri seems different to other ubu examples? Without seeing it in person no one can really say for sure. I would suggest the only to put it to bed would be to send it for shinsa. My two cents

There may be more to having a shinobi-ana than just "peace of mind". I say this as it is well known that in WWII, when the Type 98 fittings were meant to be superseded by the Type 3, there were a number of criteria given for the change. As well as "minor" changes in the decoration of the saya, a simplification of the fittings and a dust cover at the sayaguchi, The following points seem to point to battle experience providing evidence of a need to strengthen the nakago and tsuka. 1. the nakago was lengthened and two mekugi were used. 2. the binding was changed to katate maki type and was lacquered for added strength. I think this feature was more to do with "added security/strength" in the hilt area than any "cosmetic" or "psychological" consideration. My comments are based on the known record of these changes (see Ohmura's site) and also observation of Type 3 specimens compared to the usual Type 98 with one ana. I am referring of course to the gendaito versions of the Type 3 but it also applies to the mass-produced version, except that these rarely had lacquered maki. From this known information it seems reasonable to say that some swords have a shinobi-ana because of their intended "hard combat" use. Hope this helps, Regards,

A while back (13 years ago?) I was considering a very heavy daito by Enomoto Sadayoshi. It was a blade with a thick Kasane and had a shinobi-ana. When I asked why, not having seen this feature on other works by Sadayoshi, I was told that the smith made this particular piece for use in tameshigiri and wanted the extra reinforcement. Best regards, Ray