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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/14/2020 in all areas

  1. The Japan Weekly Mail (1888-07-21): 56.
    4 points
  2. WTS this beautiful Mumei Wakizashi in overall excellent condition. All ensuite . Signed Tsuba: 陽斎 埋忠就昌 - Ichiyōsai Umetada Narimasa [kaō] The blade is flawless with a good polish. Nagasa 38cm Nakago 13cm Moto haba 3,2cm Moto kasane 7,2mm Kashira , fuchi , Kozuka , Kogai solid silver. Gold Menuki. Total length of Koshirae 67cm Price €4850
    3 points
  3. Dear Jewells. Wow! All those photographs and no response. Well if nothing else maybe this will stimulate some discussion for you. This is a nice find. Tamba no kami Yoshimichi is a well known name and the signature looks good at first glance. You mentioned it had been authenticated but you don't say by whom and for all intents and purposes unless the authentication is done by either the NBTHK or the NTHK it would be considered an informed guess. I am sure that you know that, as with any art form, false signatures are rife and only a proper Japanese shinsa will be believed. Hence I imagine, your desire to get such a certificate. From time to time there are shinsa organised in the US but given the current situation I don't suppose anyone has information about one in the near future. There are options to ship the sword to Japan to have it papered which others in the US will advise you about. The length from the notches on the tang to the tip is important, from your photographs the overall length appears to be around 27" and the tang around 6" so the crucial length would be 21". Is that about right? If so then your sword is classed as a wakizashi rather than a katana. This has a considerable impact on value. The habaki or blade collar is missing a piece, it should have another part that fits around the part you have at the base. The sword seems to be in fairly good condition but it is not in what would be called polish. Vital that you don't attempt anything yourself as it is easy to completely ruin a sword that way. It is probably not an economic proposition to get all this work done from your point of view unless you want to keep the sword and treasure it. If you want to sell it then probably best to do so now and let someone else invest in it because they love it. Hope some of this helps and of course it is only one opinion. Others will give you a better idea of the value in the US market as it is. All the best.
    3 points
  4. This is revised chapter 62, the second part of chapter 26, Overview of the Sin-to. This chapter explains the Shin-to characteristics and picturesque Hamon. Please click the link above to go to this chapter directly. https://studyingjapaneseswords.com/2019/08/19/63part-2-of-27overview-of-shin-to 新刀)/ Thank you Yurie
    3 points
  5. Agreed, that is indeed something spend hours staring at!
    2 points
  6. I had a traditional bladed gunto mounted sword with that very same issue.
    2 points
  7. I think it was Chris Bowen that once mentioned something to the effect of "beware of a wwll era made swords with two mekugi-ana." The day before the estate auction you were allowed to view items in which you may have been interested in bidding. The sword pictured above, I noticed was in overall excellent condition, the son of the deceased owner of the sword was not allowing the tsuka to be removed, which concerned me somewhat, but could also understand him not wanting people to assemble and disassemble and so on. I decided to roll the dice and bid on the sword the next morning. Apparently, some one had convinvced the son to removed the tsuka and I was able to take a brief look at the nakago. I immediately noticed the two holes and should have been able to translate the inscription as an Amahide, but couldn't for reasons I can't explain. Possibly due to the variations in signatures. The habaki was stuck tight and was going to be difficult to remove with out some work. I've managed to make a short story long and apologize, but I can't help but feel this is all part of an on going story of a sword which began in a Seki sword factory in the 1930's or 40's. After I won the bid and got the sword home and managing to get my eyes realigned, I realized the inscription was Amahide, which was amazing on account of my fathers bring back being an Amahide also. On to the two holes and the habaki . It took a while to gently remove the habaki , but when I eventually succeeded, the two holes were glaringly explained. This was machi-okuri due to a forging flaw moved from the blade to the nakago. I'm sure as suggested by others there are many reasons for these Showa era two hole nakago's, but in this case, as Dave R. suggested...a repair! Regards, Dave M.
    2 points
  8. This is a nice topic and they are most enjoyable items shown. Lots of character. I will throw in a modern "mekugi pocker" made by Kimura Kanemitsu of Akamatsu Taro Tanrenjo in Kumamoto. With handmade bag. The saying "ichi go ichi e" means something like "always treat someone you meet as though its the first time, as it may be the last". Mal
    2 points
  9. I'll throw in something tangential to common prospectives just for the sake of it. Nihonto is 80% hada; most of what forms hamon is just the hada that was heat treated. Yet shinto essentially all done in just one hada type and there is also sort of one dominant hamon type, we can call it gunome in nie. As a result, the difference between Kotetsu and Shinkai is miniscule compared to Samonji versus Norishige. If you like shinto, its fine, I probably do, but it does not have much if anything that goes beyond its typical "boundaries". Shinshinto can reach the level of early Nambokucho, but the average pieces tend to look forceful and glassy-plasticky. So when it comes to the best pieces, you can take shinshinto and it will be brighter and all elements tend to be very crisp and sharp, or you can go early koto and the same elements will be a bit tired, but they also be much more subtle. The early koto changes a lot depending on the angle of light/view, shinshinto tends to have certain optimal viewing angles where you can see most of the things the blade has to offer. There is this extra level of depth in good koto, and its also a very natural effect, it just what hada does, versus in shinshinto its often clear the smiths really spend a lot of effort trying to get this particular element. So when it comes to my personal favorite swords I have 2 which are shinshinto, 2 koto, and maybe 1 shinto. Kirill R.
    2 points
  10. Malcolm was recently offering some mekugi-nuki for sale; this prompted me to search around the house and do a historical shot. Five are Shinchū. The oldest one is in separate pieces and could well stretch back to the Edo Period. (The two iron ones are probably specifically for matchlocks. They can also act as a key to turn a Bisen breech screw.)
    1 point
  11. Ray, Thank you for reading and translating the tanto for me. I never knew that I have two swords and a tanto that date from the late sixteenth, early seventeenth centuries. I appreciate the history of that tumultuous period of Japanese history. The fact that I am the caretaker of these weapons that were made to be used, and may have been used, rather than being status symbols is very exciting. Thank you again for your help. Peter, great comment. Thank you. Dick
    1 point
  12. 1st 2 characters are Sawada: Sawada Kanemitsu Saku. The stamp is from the Seki arsenal; it tells us that the sword was processed at that arsenal and that the blade is not traditionally made. Grey
    1 point
  13. I tend to agree with you there, John. I would have thought late Nanbokucho, early Muromachi from the sugata.
    1 point
  14. I think I can see a hint of koshi sori which, with the o kissaki might point to a koto Nambokucho era blade...or a later blade done in that style. 🙂 Definitely worth some further research.
    1 point
  15. I wonder if it suggests a tsuka remount, as often the lower hole looks newer, as in post-filing? Mal
    1 point
  16. Sometimes I have wondered if some Koshirae makers did it, especially if they were using mass production methods and had pre made Tsuka.
    1 point
  17. Geraint covered it pretty well. Btw, it is Tanba (or Tamba) no kami....
    1 point
  18. In my humble opinion, the era is of little importance, the savoir-faire of the blacksmith is paramount. A sword of an Inoue Shinkai or a nidaiTadahiro is more desirable than the sword of an obscure swordsmith of the Kamakura period.
    1 point
  19. May I add “之”. So we have the reading of the last two kanji (作之) as “kore o tsukuru”. Not changing the meaning, though!
    1 point
  20. Thomas My friend(772) and mine(663) NCR sword both has numbered habaki. There is another NCR sword I saw with no Ser# on habaki, and a bare blade without fitting has # on habaki, owner said it's an NCR sword... That makes 3 out of 4 has Ser# on the habaki
    1 point
  21. These are all good questions. Where did they all go? Or were there never any great numbers? I very rarely see an old one, and I do trawl a lot of antiques fairs and markets. And if they were common, why are they expensive when I do find one? Dave, I have given away two of mine already. Thanks for the thought, but I think the older style were actually more difficult to use. The internal screw 'drift' is such a clever evolution. Only the two on the left in my photo above have this feature. (I have tried unsuccessfully to open the tops of the middle two.)
    1 point
  22. Yes its in NMB Downsloads https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/ Dave dwmc...thanks for the pics, I will store, and hopefully later do a "supplement". Looks a very nice blade with some good activity. I am intrigued that a number of these blades have 2 holes. Be great if you can do the other one also. cheers Mal
    1 point
  23. I think its the guy that Stephen mentions, Takenori, but the mei on this sword is (三州) 宮路山麓住藤原武則作 (Sanshū) Miyaji Sanroku Fujiwara Takenori saku The "Sanshū" bit is covered up by the habaki. Take a look at another sample of this mei at the link below http://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords3/KT326751.htm
    1 point
  24. not exact match but think your guy. TAKENORI (武則), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Aichi – “Mikawa no Kuni Gamagōri-jū Fujiwara Takenori” (三河国蒲郡住藤原武則), real name Hashimoto Takehei (橋本武平), born February 5th 1911, he studued under Nakano Kazunori (中野一則) and worked during Worl War II as rikugun-jumei-tōshō, jōkō no retsu (Akihide), Fourth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941), h
    1 point
  25. Dear Geraint and DTM72, Thank you for your reply, here are some more photos. Best regards!
    1 point
  26. They're a small item, and I suspect there are thousands of them in odd corners all over Japan unrecognised, unloved and ignored. Non of these are mine, alas, just images from the internet.
    1 point
  27. Robert Hughes may be able to help but he usually handles it for swords when he is acting as agent. Not sure as he is not in possession of the sword. Sounds like someone will have a lot of work picking it up or receiving it then getting it done then getting it back to whomever.
    1 point
  28. Some nuggets: Late muromachi, Seki methods spread and dominate during Shinto times, leading to loss of school-level variations. Brief Momoyama effort to resurect the old methods, fades quickly. Some of it lives on in Hizen in a parallel universe. Shinto peace times reinforce the non-utilitarian aspect of swords, craft is driven by fades and fashions which are disconnected from function. Centralized Tamahagane production leads to loss of regional specificity in iron Reduction in demand for swords during Shinto times leads smashes the right tail of the distribution of geniuses which would have turned grand-masters. Shinshinto Masahide revival starts from scratch after observations that swords are no longer functional. Two generation, destruction test on Naotane swords reveal that the Masahide school wasn't successful in returning functionality. Mozart Kyomaro manages to reproduce some of the beauty of old Koto but then dies young and full of debt. Sword ban strangulates the craft even further... Amongst all these, I think the most underrated is probably 5.
    1 point
  29. One of the pleasures in life is holding a beautiful sword forged over 600 years ago, not too different from how it was then.
    1 point
  30. These guys choose to make their own tamahagane, the swords they produce are described as having a dark jigane, like old times. http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=Kimura https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-higo-koku-ju-akamatsu-taro-kanehiro-saku/ Just thought it may be of interest to some
    1 point
  31. Bruce This is not mine,but is was the only one I ever saw had this marke on Gunto "工"-short verse for "工字鋼" ,means shape of the railway track.Kind of like the C.G.R logo but has a cloud shape thing in the middle.No photo for the tang. Trystan
    1 point
  32. Fred, Rather conflicting information here. From the outset I must acknowledge the research done by Dr. Orikasa of Tokyo who has written extensively on the Saotome and their origins during which he examined some 200 examples. Only a fraction of his findings is published in the book referred to above. Apart from owning a helmet by Saotome Ietada myself, all that follows is the work of Orikasa. There appears to have been 14 generations of helmet makers who began in the early Edo period and who seem to have been been based in Hitachi province - often adding Joshu in their signatures. Most use the character.家 Ie.. as the first character of their name (which inevitably caused the Myochins to claim they were linked to Myochin Nobuie but without any foundation). Ietada is considered as having been the founder of the group and to have been working during the early decades of the Edo period and he may well have been a ronin who studied helmet making as way of surviving. (I regard the idea that there were 6 generations who signed Ietada as nonsense. If that were true, the accepted 2nd generation Iesada would have a brother called after his father, the third generation with a brother named after his grandfather (and possibly one named after his father) and so on. They would have to have bred like rabbits.) So, your helmet is made by Ietada the founder of a line of helmet makers who turned out high quality products for 14 generations and it dates to about the first 30 years or so of the 17th century. Well done Ian Bottomley
    1 point
  33. Very nice indeed. I have a helmet with the same mon which I put down to the Oda / Ota family. I did a bit of ferreting into Jingasa a few years ago and was rather surprised to learn that these lacquered ones date to no earlier than the end of the 18th when they became fashionable for wear for the daimyo gyoretsu. This type seem to have been called ichimonji gasa or hira gasa and were worn by those on foot. The other type, rather like a bowler hat, are much later and designed for use on horseback. According to a Kitagawa Morisada, they were devised in or around 1843 (this info is in a book published in 1853 where it actually says they were used in 1863 - which is either foresight or a typo). This type had specified colours for the underside to indicate rank. Black being lowest, then red, red with gold flakes and finally gold. They are often very tastefully decorated items, like this, and a good low priced entry point in collecting. Ian Bottomley
    1 point
  34. Just the fitting for the 'stiff' one
    0 points
  35. This bokuto is a bit different...
    0 points
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