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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/26/2021 in all areas
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Good evening kind folks, Last night, I happened to stumble across a very interesting document which was freely offered and available for download. I had not seen anything like it which is why I'm putting it here as well, not many illustrations but the one photo that's in it I thought was quite sufficient. Its not too long but offers a lot of information. 14th-Century-Japanese-Swordsmanship-Illustrated-by-Skeletons-From.pdf4 points
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I would also advise that once you have a kozuka/kogatana or two in your collection, you should save your money for your next step on your nihonto journey. I know because I wasted a lot of money on mediocre pieces just because I could afford them. I was trying to find treasure in the bargain basement, when I really should have been saving my money for a piece that helped me progress as a sword enthusiast.3 points
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Whilst the outer layer is folded tamahagane, called kawagane, this can be made thick or thin, and wrapped around the core steel, called shingane. So the thickness of the folded outer layer can be any thickness, and is drawn out in the lengthening process of forging the blade. So Bruce, the outer layer is folded, but is the outer "skin" called kawagane, can be of varying thickness. I have had and seen Gendai-to that have been deemed "tired", where after a number of polishes the core steel shows through.2 points
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I can’t authenticate it but it reads “Bishu Osa...”. Unfortunately the rest of the signature was cut off when the blade was shortened. So this is a sword made at a place called Osafune in Bizen province. It’s a place well known for sword manufacture pre-1600 (and again a couple of centuries later) but it’s likely that this blade is one of the mass-produced blades made for the wars of this time. So probably earlier than Edo period.2 points
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I've hesitated because the pics are somewhat low res. I have two Nobuyoshi katana, one Hozon, the other Tokuho. My 'thought' about this one is that the tsuba is a dud and the fuchi shown a modern repro, which to me suggests a 're-dressed' blade for sale. I have no confidence in the blade signature at all - it looks 'wonky' and 'insubstantial'. Simply collectable as Peter says - if its genuine. I would need to have it in hand before acting on it. BaZZa.2 points
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Your translation is fine. The original is 鑑定書 長一尺七寸四分 一. 脇指 無銘 (末三原) 右は當協會に於て審査の結果保存刀剣と 鑑定しこれを証する 平成二年一月二十九日 財團法人日本美術刀劍保存協會 Kanji in blue are old style.2 points
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Just came across this one that caught my eye. Really don't know what to make of it. The brass on the handle looks too bright/new. However, the habaki and the blade look very promising. The handle wrapping doesn't look like ray skin but more like snake skin? It also has the locking mechanism at the front of the handle where the index finger would rest. The metal piece at the throat of the scabbard looks weird as well. Like I said, don't know what to think about this one. What do you all think?1 point
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It's the personal signature of the maker (kaō in Japanese), which is more of a stylistic flourish than a legible character or characters. Usually the artist signs with his name, than adds the flourish underneath. Without the name part, its a bit tough to figure out. Just for clarity, its the signature of the habaki-maker, not of the swordsmith.1 point
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Dear Joe. There are several reasons for shortening a sword and no way of telling which one applies to this sword. What is it's length now? All the best.1 point
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That's because he wants to get his grimy paws on it to butcher it for parts/tart it up. He thinks he can take advantage of people and make a buck (which he sadly accomplishes sometimes). So screw that guy.1 point
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Is it wrong to have rooted for the blade to have cut him at the beginning of the video when he is running it across his palm!?!?!?1 point
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Great entry into the hobby. -papered -polished -good condition -fine koshirae1 point
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Hate it when comments are turned off and I can't tell them what a dumbass they are.1 point
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It seems to be “渡辺天祐作” (Amasuke saku). Not sure about the pronunciation of the first two, but I guess “Watanabe”!?1 point
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Hello Johan, these emblems are called KAMON or just MON and show the KIRI-motif. KIRI were popular and appear frequently. Yours are different in size so I persume there must be another probably smaller one in the space beside the larger one but fell off. The condition of the KOGAI is not the best either. On the right side gourds, on the left side a flag and a SAIHAI, a commanding baton are shown. Best, Florian1 point
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First one is great, isn't it! Trust me, each one that comes in is just as exciting! Looking forward to more pics.1 point
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My "thought" is that this is a nice Echizen no Kami Nobuyoshi with what looks like a very early registration. Very collectable P Well, let me amend that to simply collectable.1 point
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Was anyone aware that this seller also has a YouTube channel?? I would guess this is the same guy, I have read some pretty poor things about him. https://youtube.com/channel/UCdIb1UHHSH0EziBk0xHi33Q1 point
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Absolutely, I will definitely start searching. Thanks all for the responses, I really appreciate it and am certainly learning! Now time to invest in some literature.1 point
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Pietro. Thank you for your concern. You all . I'm neither a buyer's guide nor an open classroom to grow someone into a connoisseur. It's mostly just for fun and sharing with like-minded people. Otherwise I can't continue. Especially, except for exaggerated or inadequate explanations in online auctions, images are the only clue to the decision. Anyone can do it, because if you have access to it, all you have to do is observe it. We encourage you to discover the fishy product and present your point of view here or in a new thread. "Eureka!"1 point
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Dear Neil. I can sense your excitement, now slow down a bit and start from the beginning. Your sword is signed, "Bishu Osafune Sukesada". The one you have identified is one who signed as, "Sakushu", not Bizen. (if you have clicked on the spoiler from Piers then you already know that.) As I am sure you will have noticed there are a lot of smiths signing Sukesada. A lot. Out of all of them this mei is the commonest so pinning it down to a specific smith is very unlikely. Even if you get this sword put into a proper polish and submit for papers it is likely to come back confirming the mei as Sukesada without defining the individual smith. The link Ken has given you will get you started on sugata but don't be surprised if you find this tricky, swords posted here get estimates from several hundred years apart sometimes. (You don't give dimensions which would be useful.) As the sword is out of polish you are going to have to have a good look and see what you can see of the hamon and boshi and fit those to the work of Bizen smiths. As to the combat damage make what you like of it but I should think it is as likely to be the JimmyandBen ryu school of kenjutsu when they got hold of Dad's swords and played samurai with them. Enjoy the journey! All the best.1 point
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Well as I mentioned bit earlier this year in a thread in here I have been working on a index of Jūyō items. It has been ongoing for a few years now but now I have the 1st version finished. It took some time as I originally planned to just have old swords (Kotō) in a document (as they are my own personal interest), but then I didn't want to do a partial job, so I took on all of the swords, and finally I forced myself to tackle all the fittings, attachments and kinzōgan, kiritsuke etc. As I typed probably few hundred thousand kanji characters in by hand the project took a while. Now this should have all of the Japanese characters that appear in the index pages, and I have written smith / school etc. into Western characters, followed by Japanese characters. However I am not yet comfortable enough trying to translate the style of fittings, kiritsuke-mei, kinzōgan-mei etc. as I would make too many errors so for those you have the Japanese text that I typed in. The format in this should be very simple to follow. It is the same as in my last index (Kokuhō, Bunkazai, Bijutsuhin). 691 pages, 66. Jūyō sessions and 14792 items (if I added them up correctly). Hopefully the PDF will be easily readable (it should be searchable too). Now as this has been a solo project spanning over a long time period, there must be some errors in there that I have made (there are definately some in rare fittings makers as fittings are not really my thing and sometimes I found 0 results with Google on some of the mei). If you spot some errors, send me a message and I will fix them for next release. I plan to make a yearly updates after NBTHK releases the session results. Might be bit boring stuff as it is just lots of pages with plain text. I hope some will find this enjoyable and can find some help in personal research etc. Juyo Index.pdf1 point
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No. 11 - Mokko Tsuba in style of Sugiura Joi ? Copper with shakudo and gold inlays / highlights. Subject of Bishamonten and Oni . Signed Mitsumura ? in plaque 6.95 x 6.43 x 0.39cm One of these pieces that looks far better in the hand... Thickness reduces to approx. 0.22 cm at edge , fine surface texture all over background , both sides. Much detail difficult to see without magnification. Bought this off ebay 16 years ago before it got flooded with fakes.1 point
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Stuff like that happens all the time. I received a sword where the tsuba didn't fit, the habaki didn't fit, the tsuka didn't fit, the kozuka didn't fit, the saya didn't fit.0 points