Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/16/2020 in Posts

  1. HI a new acquisition, a type 98 with a shinto blade and a partial two body saiden mei
    4 points
  2. Hi Marco, Usually fukure in the yakiba (hardened area of the blade) can't be repaired but even if the fukure is above the yakiba it is an expensive repair and is warranted only if the sword is very good quality or better. You don't mention what your sword is but unless it is special you should leave it be; don't go looking for a polisher. This isn't a fatal flaw but it is a large negative. A reputable dealer should have told you about this before you bought the sword. If a collector comes to me wanting to buy a sword, I tell him everything (the fukure would have been mentioned in my description; it is only fair. Not saying I'm a saint; this is how it should be. Grey
    4 points
  3. Will, your date (nengo) seems to be "皇紀二千六百二年九月日" (Kôki nisen roppyaku ni nen kyu gatsu hi). It's the imperial dating and reads "a day on the 9th month 2602" = September 1942 if I'm not totally off?! Mei not finished yet...
    3 points
  4. It is heartening to find a sword where the painted assembly number on the nakago matches all the numbers on the fittings. Ohmura describes these swords as a "last stage type" and not a "normalized form". He explains how mixed fittings were used late in the war due to shortages. Some fittings are plain pressed metal, or from a parts bin of left overs. Even the ray skin "same" is replaced by a painted adhesive tape. This example is a 1944 NORINAGA. Due to years of wear and tear, the tzuka was re-wrapped in the original colour in Ohmura's Study. These swords are not as beautiful as the 98 or normalized RS, but are non the less interesting as a much needed WW2 sword for an officer at the front, added to this is their relative rarity.
    2 points
  5. PS Some people like their old armour to be just that, old, i.e. dull, chipped and rusty. Others like it all to be bright, shining and spotless. Most of us mill around in between these two extremes.
    2 points
  6. Today I bought some flat black lacquered wooden Japanese trays from Aizu, and I noticed in the blurb some tips for keeping urushi in good condition. I am aware that chipped lacquer on iron armour is a different problem, but I thought to post here what they say anyway. 1. Do not leave lying in hot water for long periods of time. Clean with warm/hot water, wiping quickly, and remove any excess moisture with a dry cloth. 2. Avoid using coarse or abrasive cleansing powders. 3. If you leave the object in direct sunlight you may expect some color fade or discoloration, or twisting/warping in the body of the utensil. 4. When not in use, before storing away, remove any moisture with a soft cotton cloth, then with a dry cloth remove any foggy/cloudiness or oily areas, then wrap them individually in soft paper and place them in a box away from moisture. 5. If the lacquer smell bothers you, expose them in a well-ventilated place for a week or so and the smell will naturally disappear.
    2 points
  7. I agree with Dale. The sixth generation Takahashi-Kinai was named in 1809 and died in 1821. The two Aoi leaf openwork tsuba are said to have been made by him. However, there are so many tsuba with Mei in the 6th generation that Japanese collectors call them "丁稚記内 (apprentice-kinai)" mass-produced by apprentices. They include foundry products and replicas of the new era, but if you follow the rules of kinai, they don't worry about the details.
    2 points
  8. JP, not really the right approach. One should only really focus on Nakago patina with ubu swords or swords which are slightly Suriage and there is still a Mei visible or there are evident traces of the original old part of the nakago remaining. All the rest is pseudo science as even if the sword is old, if it got shortened in early Edo, the Nakago will have a patina from early Edo and so on. There are cases where old swords had their Nakago “reworked” relatively recently. For instance, I had one such sword, which bore the Mei of an Oei Bizen smith but the NBTHK did not approve of it. The Mei was removed, the Nakago - repatinated professionally by the previous owner and the blade ultimately papered to Yoshioka Ichimonji. The Nakago work was done in the last 15-20 years, before my custodianship, but I had the full paper trail. If one looked at the patina, they would form the wrong views. Nakago and patina are their own area of expertise, where focus and attention need to be paid. One needs to look at the blade in its entirety and form a congruous view with the composite picture in mind.
    2 points
  9. Well, I mean.. if they come here, at least they're taking a SMALL step in the right direction.
    2 points
  10. Another was posted recently:
    1 point
  11. Could be saka choji but I’m not too sure. By the way, Happy Birthday!!!! 💥🎂
    1 point
  12. Takehisa was one of 8 smiths whose blades often have the W/M stamp: Research from collectors on the Nihonto Message Board (www.militaria.co.za/nmb/19390-the-mysterious-w-stamp/) have revealed ‘W’ stamps on the following blades: Type 19 sabre; Type 95s made by Ijima for Kokura & Tokyo 1st Arsenal; Mantetsu; Kaneoto (with Seki stamp); Haruhisa; Kokima Kanenori; Tenshin; Takehisa; Yoshiharu; and Yoshitani. We don't know why it just shows up on these blades. We believe it is a "midway inspection".
    1 point
  13. Hale, The numbers on fittings, like John said, are put there by the fitting shops to keep all the parts together for a particular blade. Each blade has different curves and thicknesses, so the fittings are customized, filed to fit nakago, etc, for a particular blade. The numbers keep those parts together when not on the blade, like for polishing. If you have all matching numbers, it simply tells you all the parts were original from it's making. But many gunto have parts without numbers at all, or have a mix of numbered and unnumbered parts.
    1 point
  14. A clearer image can be found at the link. According to Mr. Wakayama's encyclopedia (P262), if the head family of the yoshioka, then bungo-suke is Shigetugu (1569-1653). http://www.sword-auction.jp/ja/content/af18209-縁頭:吉岡豊後介-fuchi-kashira-yoshioka-bungo-suke
    1 point
  15. Wait a minute and they'll come looking for advice on here...
    1 point
  16. That is a tricky conversation....I doubt that too many blades are restored and end up worth the cost; however, as the caretaker of a piece of historical functional art, sometimes it is worth doing something to restore them to their proper condition.
    1 point
  17. Oof. That is rough that you were not informed of such a cosmetic defect. Perhaps if you're not in too much love with the blade, you can seek to return it and find one without?
    1 point
  18. Chris, they both look like reproductions to hang in the bar. The excessive wild hada is one sign, but also they usually have cheaper tsuka ito of a different weave, plus the binding crossover is usually all one way, and not alternate overlap. Mal
    1 point
  19. Over time, I tried new light sources. I only share for enjoy. Jirotaro Naokatsu ko-wakizashi One of my favorite blades
    1 point
  20. Michael, yes this is Echizen Kinai very late design, but the mei looks a little "clunky" (quickly cut). On website Nihonto-no-Bi is a comprehensive summary of Kinai group for comparison http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=TsubaIII Mal
    1 point
  21. As David wrote, Kinai, left side reads Kinai saku (made), right side Echizen (no) Ju or 'living in Echizen (province)'
    1 point
  22. I took some pictures this weekend with my new camera and just want to share them. Im still new to this whole camera hobby (i had to downsize them for nmb) 1 2 i think i need some more posts and i hope u dont think this is a waste of server dataspace 😄
    1 point
  23. 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
    1 point
  24. 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
  25. Hi Jiri, As per Steve's translation apart from the bit about the two body cut which reads "Ryou kuruma dodan barai" (these characters: 両車土壇払). The "two wheels" cut (through the body at the hips) and entering the earth mound (below). This drawing illustrates the test cut (number 10):
    1 point
  26. 0 points
  27. This one was sold one hour ago for 847 EUR - around 1.000 Dollar. 🤣 https://www.egun.de/market/item.php?id=12776366
    0 points
×
×
  • Create New...