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This was the first time I had a hand in sending anything to an NBTHK shinsa. You would be shocked to learn I was fond of a rabbit fuchi/kashira set (shocking!), and wanted an NBTHK opinion on them as non-tsuba fittings are really not a strong area of knowledge for me. Tokubetsu Hozon judgement for Owari was the result. As always, in hand they are better looking and richer in details, but I did the best I could with some pictures. This was the July shinsa, so physical papers should come some time next year.

Final set of pics

I would guess, Dave, simply a matter of exposed metal rusting and painted metal being protected. Because there is often original paint underneath the 95s and the application quite crude, my suspicion is that it is a crude 'field fix'. Type 32 were never painted, so they should be a neater application of the black paint. Some of my 32, all with leather seppa. Top to bottom: Black paint Light metalic blue Deeper.... blue? In the white These are great swords too. Under rated to collect but very well made and relatively cheap. The stories some of these swords could tell. As we were discussing arsenal refurbishment, I've included a couple of photos of number 3. The saya has undergone re-matching twice before. Just an interesting thing to see.

SOLD on Facebook

It looks like 造兵刀 Zohei-To to me.That blade is in very poor shape.

Well I'm sticking with Tenbun but it hardly matters. What you have Andrew is a lovely package in this sword. Good Shingunto mounts in nice condition with a family mon, the silver badge on the hilt fitting. An earlier blade signed and dated. There were an awful lot of Bizen Sukesada smiths in this time and pinning it down to one will be almost impossible. The time frame is fascinating because in most people's eyes it's very early however it corresponds to a time when a lot of swords were being made and not all of great quality. If all this is getting to you then a look here will give you a bit more to go on. https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-bishu-osafune-sukesada/ If one of our members in your area could look at the sword in hand they could tell you bit more but this is a nice sword. Congratulations! Is this your first Japanese sword? If so most of us would wish that out first sword was as good a find. All the best.

To me the signature of the smith seems to be - 備州長船祐定作 - Bishū Osafune Sukesada saku

南蛮鐵聖綱　Nanban tetsu Kiyotsuna

Two owls!

Hi members I just wanted to let you all know about an eBay seller that is my Sensei's wife from Japan. I recently bought a katana bag from her and its the best bag I've had. Please check out her items. Regards Greg

On a small percentage of '98 tsuba, there is an appendage that is a small loop of brass, that is always in the same place. I doubt it has anything to do with a locking mechanism as all the swords have a lock of some kind. The examples here have a push button lock, the other an Iida lock. Can anyone help with identification?

Jeremiah, excuse my ignorance, but are these two really a set? I would have expected similar materials!

Hello Howard, this type is called ressei-men (mask with fierce expression). Most probably mid Edo and primarily from the Nara region. So we can assume, it might be a work from the Haruta school of armorers... More info available 😉

Thank you. I agree, the blade is not looking good. The price I paid reflects this though. In a way, I like the corrosion, pitting, patina etc. on wartime items. It gives me a feeling of respect for the age of the thing.

It is indeed my first sword of any kind! Been passed down to me by my father who received it from his. Appreciate all the help thus far from everyone! Definitely want to try and find someone in my area (on the east coast) to take an in person look at it and give me as much info as possible as well as a possible appraisal (just for curiosities sake)

I’m in the Tenbun camp. Niju something nen?

Tensho dated. 1580?

Thats a very nice sword!

Steve, After seeing your "blued" sayas, it made me think about one of my 95s. It's the one with the mottled green paint that I assumed was a bad Bubba post-war job. I had stripped the greens and what remained was a darkened "blue" finish to the steel. After seeing your 32s with that same finish, I'm starting to think this was a regular finish done, for some reason, on some saya. Apparently it wasn't done to all saya, so why just to some? Maybe it was needed for a particular type of top-coat paint that in use for the moment? (I still regret stripping that green paint!) Dave, sorry for taking your thread off-topic!

Hi Alex, our famous Nagamitsu: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/naga.htm Is this blade for sale?

In the past, ancient dagger that had been handed down to ordinary Japanese houses have appeared. The name was "三寅剣 san-in-ken" engraved on the blade. "A gold and silver inlaid sword handed down to the Hatakeyama family of Matsubara Suwa Shrine priests. Blade length 25.4 cm Weight 151.72 g. The inlaid pattern is the four heavenly kings of the Buddha world (多聞天 Tamonten, 持国天 Jikokuten, and 広目天 Komokuten and 増長天 Zochoten), constellations such as the Big Dipper, and the nine-character Mantra. The name of the sword is inlaid in silver on the ridge." 三寅剣 - 信州の文化財 - 財団法人 八十二文化財団 (82bunka.or.jp) I believe that ancient swords are enshrined in old Japanese shrines as the object of worship in a Shinto shrine. It is a sacred thing, so even a priest cannot usually see it.

And although less than two Shaku it says 'Katana'.

What a gorgeous sword Edward! And that hamon, wow! Very interesting. If the sword was in Europe I would buy it in a heartbeat haha. Cant be bothered with international shipping and +21% import taxes at the moment

It says mumei (Shimosaka) ニツ胴但一(...) futatsu do tadashi ichi(?) (following is been cut) Seems a tameshi mei of two torsoes cut

I also think the design is owls, however, as both hitsu are shaped differently there may be another interpretation of 'masks?' You really must admire the tsuba artists for sometimes keeping us guessing - good art.

Dave These two Type 32 do look nice but they are not mine. I use to have one refurbished 32甲 still has the leather spacer but no finger ring loop.Here you go.

Just imagine its claws hidden by plumage.

Hi Mark: Rotate the tsuba 90 degrees and then to see the other owl rotate a further 180. I did that and cropped the photos so that you will see what I saw.

“Nōshū jūnin Kanetsune kitau kore” (濃州住人兼常鍛之)

Very nice, thanks for the info Greg

Hi Mark i have no idea, but i want to say that the picture is very good. A nice tsuba!

Hi Dan, In 2018 I unsuccessfully tried to purchase a katana in full koshirae- dragons ( love 'em!) This had kogai and kozuka and was papered- NTHK. Unfortunately the blade was very poor quality and gimei- also NTHK- last Sydney shinsa. If not for the blade I would have paid the sellers price. They do exhist! Cheers Mike

Genuine made in longquan from masterswordmaker Mr. Sho. You can go on the website of the longquan swordmaker society and download the genuine papers for this sword.

Dear Dick. What to say? One argument would be that it's Shinshinto, mumei and therefore a waste of money to polish and paper because you will never add the value of the work to the value of the sword and what are you doing collecting this sort of thing anyway?. My approach would be that it is a fine looking sword in very nice and complete koshirae that is probably the original for the sword. The smith, the koshirae artists and the samurai who commissioned this sword had no idea that their age was passing and this sword is representative of the culture that we all admire. I would want to keep it and enjoy it as a complete sword and I would want to get it polished, fit a new kurikata and cherish it. I should declare an interest, my best sword is a mumei Shinshinto piece in very nice koshirae. A lot of collectors would dismiss both but I have enjoyed mine for forty years and it is probably the very last one I will pass on. If you don't feel like that then I bet that there are quite a few others who would be happy to take on the problem. All the best

Bonus peep shots of a Habaki made to order by Mr Katayama, one of the pillars of the sword community in Bizen today. (Also from Saturday’s NBTHK meeting.)

Agreed, in full. There are just too many dimensional elements to try to fit an existing set of koshirae & tosogu to a blade. Many moons ago, I managed to kluge something together, but, looking at the assembly a year or so later, it was obvious that I'd wasted both time & money.

I know I always say this place is free and will never have a charge to sell or interact here. And I really resisted saying this. But seriously..... I am seeing many sellers who move thousands of $'s of goods through this place regularly, who have never contributed a cent. Or who won't even consider a $30 Gold membership for 6 months. Guys with multiple $2000+ sales who don't even say thanks. There are multiple ways to say thanks in the STORE section above. And then we have others that will send even a single dollar if they do even a $10 sale...and will contribute every time. Those guys...these small handful...are allowing these big sellers the opportunity and privilege to sell. Because those few guys are keeping this place running. Thank you again to the few who are always so generous. To the others, be thankful I don't institute a charge to sell here. And I don't refer to the small guys who sell a tsuba or 2 occasionally or one item a year. or the reputable dealers who contribute a sum every few months or annually as a thanks. I am grateful to all of you. But those who have sold thousands of $'s and never contributed a cent......don't thank me. Thank those that are covering the costs here for YOU so that you can benefit. Just needed saying.

Hi Gordon, It isn't difficult to find tsuba to fit a sword but habaki and tsuka have to be made to fit the nakago and the craftsperson will have to have the sword in hand to do that. Trying to find existing pieces to fit, especially the habaki, is a waste of time. Grey

It can be exceedingly difficult to find existing Koshirae to match a blade, considering each Koshirae is custom fitted to a sword. Have you thought about having Koshirae made using existing antique fittings?

Justin, It's not so much about covering costs. The new server and hosts increased costs greatly but we are in no danger and I think we will cover costs long into the future, especially if the gold members renew or we get the occasional donations. I don't want anyone to think this is an appeal for funds. I paid the costs for 6 months in advance to give some breathing room. We are not in danger and people needn't "make a plan" to donate if things are tough or even if they don't want to. Yes..it bugs the hell out of me that some think this place is a money maker. Seriously? Some months we don't get $150 in total. Other months we get a few hundred. I'm rolling in cash. That's why it has been 10 years since I had a holiday. Seriously, if anyone think that, you are delusional. And selfish. What does bug me is the people who contribute ZERO in the other forum sections, don't give a single word of advice to anyone, yet list stuff for sale, sell it here, and then just assume that they are performing a service to someone. I am on 3 different other forums (knives and other stuff) where I PAY for the right to ask questions or post stuff for sale. That is COMMON on forums nowadays. If I had any business sense, I would charge a small amount to use the translation section (and would then maybe be able to give gifts to the guys that help so much like I have wanted to do for years) and I'd charge to list stuff, charge a percentage of sales and do paid advertising all over the forum. THEN this place would make some money. But yeah..not going to do that. About twice a month I use my PP account when I order UberEats takeout..since it is the only thing in SA I can pay with Paypal. So yeah, maybe I profit from a Chinese takeout once or twice a month. I don't feel bad about that. Funny thing is there are probably a bunch of people thinking this is aimed at them, who aren't even on my radar. TONS of deals going on in private here, LOTS of stuff moving. It's a convenient market. Some of you don't know how good you have it.

Nice menuki. Your nakago says 阿州住道正

I think the mon is a kiri mon

Looks Kanbun Shinto. No doubt that the at least parts of the tsuka aren't kosher, but can't really tell on the tsuba.

Gordan, while the blade looks like an authentic Japanese (long) WAKIZASHI (not WWII), the TSUKA is not Japanese. It may be from a cheap decoration sword. The TSUBA is probably not old but also from a IAITO or even decoration sword. To say more, we would need photos of the complete (naked) blade from above and detail shots from the NAKAGO. If possible, it would be nice to see the HAMON as you describe it. Is there any HADA to be seen? Might be difficult in that state of polish.