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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/25/2021 in all areas

  1. For the first time in a while, I bid on tsuba from a seller on Yahoo!Japan. I've been avoiding it because there has been lots of hidden hook offerings and the good offerings are either overbid by a large audience or seem shilled by the seller. Anyway, the two I bid on both seemed to have a shill or an automated bid program going. I and the counter party got up to 50 bids, of which 9 were mine and probably 30 were his. No big loss losing out on that. But I did see this pop up: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d519528671 It should be mad fun.... Not sure why the seller has labelled it Nobuiye instead of Kaneiye. Grab some popcorn and watch this one.
    4 points
  2. Brian, you mean Kaifu, I think?
    3 points
  3. At $60 you know the answer already. There’s a list of dealers with genuine Japanese swords in the links section at the top of the page. Look at what’s for sale and compare those items and prices with the examples you’ve shown here. The best advice is to spend some time and maybe some money on educating yourself and ultimately buy from a reputable dealer or from the sales section on here. You’re swimming with the sharks right now.
    3 points
  4. I have to concur with Neil. That sword definitely appears to have an amateur clean up. Going by the colour, it looks like acid was used. I don't believe the sword is ruined. Depending on your budget, you could consider having it assessed by Woody Hall.
    3 points
  5. I picked up this tsuba basically for free (thrown in as part of another purchase) because I liked the simple theme. It was also something to work on without worrying about ruining something expensive. It came heavily coated with surface rust and yet also had some very thin patina in certain areas. Unfortunately, the shakudo (correct material?) plugs are very scratched as well. It almost seems like tsuba was in a drawer (or other) and allowed to slide around which made the back side patina and shakudo much more damaged than the front. The tsuba is signed Yamashiro no Kuni Fushimi Kaneiye, but I assume it is one of the many later copies of this smith/school. I have slowly and carefully been removing the extensive rust using slightly sharpened bamboo and a fiberglass pen and rubbing with cotton cloth. I’ve gotten quite a bit cleaned up, but no matter how much I work, the areas that are sunken or have more ‘grain’ just won’t let go of very dark but still red rust. When scraped with the bamboo, some areas will still come up with dusty red rust. LOTS of work still to do I think... or not? Other than time, does anyone have any recommendations to help the appearance of the shakudo plugs? I tried not to touch the silver moon, but simply rubbing with the cotton cloth removed some dirt and or patina of silver. I am sorry about that. Trying to leave remainder on it. Also, depending on the angle the tsuba is held in the light, the areas with thin patina are still ‘black’, but when light shines off them, they appear bright and shiny. I would assume this means patina is not completely removed, but has just been ‘polished’ too much? Here is a progression picture from purchase to now. If I’m doing something wrong, please let me know as well. I know we say restoration should be left to experts, but I’m just trying to stop active rust and make it look a little nicer... not ‘new’. All advice welcome...
    2 points
  6. G'day Guys, So far I have done a random survey of 83 gunto on the internet where the photos are clear enough to determine type and chuso and the results are that 95% of type 94's have a central chuso and 90% of type 98's have an offset chuso. Not definitive by a long way, but there is certainly a strong trend. Cheers, Bryce
    2 points
  7. In former (KOTO) times, the smiths had to process the local ore by themselves in their own TATARA to obtain the necessary TAMAHAGANE. In SHINTO era, bigger and centralized TATARA were built and run by specialized craftsmen, producing large amounts of TAMAHAGANE from local sources of ore (maybe a number of different ores if in reach). The TAMAHAGANE was then sold to the swordsmiths, saving them a lot of work and time, but supplying them with less 'individual' steel. To answer your question, TATARA means the furnace type, but we usually understand it also as the process. Ores of differing sources can be used, yielding a very much similar material as alloying elements which are always present in the iron ore were not reduced and transferred into the TAMAHAGANE. All iron ores contain many more chemical elements and not only iron oxide. But to reduce these, higher temperatures up to the liquid state of the metals would be necessary. With a max. temperature of about 1.300°C (melting point of iron is 1.538°C), the reduced iron in the furnace only reached a state of low plasticity. This prevented the other elements of being reduced as well and finding their way into the iron (which is the case in modern blast furnaces which cannot produce pure iron). Thus, (raw) TAMAHAGANE can have a lot of impurities, but the main alloying element is carbon, and it is otherwise very 'clean'. It is the work of the swordsmith to 'see' the quality of the supplied TAMAHAGANE and to refine it by stretching it out on the anvil, folding it, and fire-welding it again repeatedly. Depending on his work and skill, the resulting steel can have differing properties from hard to resilient, according to the purity and the carbon content. This is just a very general description, leaving out some steps and of course, personal tricks and habits of the smiths.
    2 points
  8. It says 贈相京大佐殿 大西上等兵 To Colonel Aikyō From Ōnishi PVC There actually was a Colonel Masao Aikyō in Borneo at the end of WW2.
    2 points
  9. Hi Harry, Looks like it’s been shortened from a longer blade and not sympathetically from the look of the tang. Someone has had a go at an amateur polish: the shinogi is wobbly and it used to have a yokote which has practically been blurred out. I can’t tell from the photos if the hamon is intact but whatever has been done with the polish has killed it aesthetically. Maybe an acid etch to bring it out after the buffer had killed it. Honestly, you’re better off keeping your money in your pocket. Straight enough??
    2 points
  10. Just saying this thread has motivated me to make a small contribution.
    2 points
  11. Hello friends Please enjoy some private pics of Yasunori san with me, shortly before his passing away.
    2 points
  12. An article on using uchiko on polished swords. Easy to dismiss it as advice that results in damaging a fine polish, but since the author is also a nihonto afficinado, who has handled hundreds of swords (including many important ones), his point of view seems really worth discussing: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/uchiko.html
    1 point
  13. They look like a pair to me as well. A nice rustic image. I like the set. And thanks Robert, I wasnt really aware of laws prohibiting 2 swords for merchants but it would make sense. Kind of curious if there is a place online about the laws around this time, will give it a go when I have the time.
    1 point
  14. Washing iron tsuba is fine. Strip off the oils of years, it will look a little ugly in its naked state- but that is best. Work a place with ivory or bone depending on the perceived hardness and how thin you feel the true patina is under the rust. After a soap wash, and then working a spot of rust, wash the spot again, dry, and put some oil on it to float lingering rust- leave it as such overnight before washing again and continuing to work a spot. Just be cautious. At a certain point, LESS is certainly MORE.
    1 point
  15. If your swords has ANY pits or open grain, uchiko will cause those streaks that ruin the polish. Especially with low grade uchiko and the wrong technique and pressure. It's just not worth it on in-polish swords. On rusted and completely out of polish swords...I say go for it. It will bring out an invisible hamon a little bit.
    1 point
  16. I was concerned about the moon inlay and the tiny gold/silver dew drops(?) would be polished and the high points (especially the grasses) would have patina rubbed even more? I’ve never done the back pocket thing so don’t know the overall effect.
    1 point
  17. Worth reading : https://www.hitachi-metals.co.jp/e/tatara/nnp0201.htm
    1 point
  18. Yes, but this tsuba has soft metal inlays. They will be polished and I am not sure if Mark would like that.
    1 point
  19. I just wanted to add, Barry, that I appreciate that you are worried what people can do to their swords. The best advice is "don't try to clean it, apply machine oil". I agree with that, it is the best advice for novices. But not for seasoned collectors, is it.
    1 point
  20. Barry, I agree on the pitfalls, but one can: 1. get proper uchiko (e.g. from Bob Benson) 2. apply it carefully (in fact Bob attches a document on how to use it to avoid scratches) Of course a moron will do neither 1. nor 2., but then again, a moron will try to remove a rust spot with sandpaper and possibly polish a sword himself. Hence, I do not think that your argument is valid.
    1 point
  21. The sword at the start of this thread did not impress me, and had a dodgy vibe to it..... So for a change, I would need convincing that this one is genuine.
    1 point
  22. Hi to all, I am asking for any information, thoughts, period or school, description of design. Anything. Thank you
    1 point
  23. As for the second sword - to determine if it is real, you need to remove the handle to let us see the nakago (tang). First, remove the pin from the handle (if there is any) Then remove the balde from the handle (do not do it bu grabbing and pulling the blade) Here is a tutorial how to do it:
    1 point
  24. Hi Mark, Personally , I wouldn't go any further - it is not a brand new piece and should be allowed to show some age . The tsuba might benefit from a thin coating of almond oil , patted dry or left in acid neutral tissue to absorb excess. Quite a transformation from your starting point ! Regards
    1 point
  25. Indeed! Many thanks. Excellent advice.
    1 point
  26. I don't know jack about this kind of stuff, but just out of curiosity I searched for one on eBay. There is one for sale, graded MS-63 by NGC, listed at $2250. I don't know if that guy knows any more about them than I do, but it's a data point. There were none listed as sold. Good luck to all the snipers out there that are waiting until the end to grab this one!!
    1 point
  27. Ron. What I notice about this guard, is trace evidence of once having a fukurin from the corrosion line following the rim outline. Monkey tumbler motif at the top? Nice unusual guard. The repair sekigane/ategane means it was treasured by it's original owners. Sorry I can't hazard a guess at the school.
    1 point
  28. 1 point
  29. Have a flick down this blog. Apparently Kiku Ichimonji are a firm of Japanese cutlers founded after the ban on wearing swords and it looks like they make replicas. http://vintagenihonto.blogspot.com/2015/10/?m=1
    1 point
  30. We can move the goalposts and end this thing early, or just leave it to run as set out. (?)
    1 point
  31. 1 point
  32. Found some pages on google.. https://books.google.de/books?id=KTosEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27&hl=de&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false BEST
    1 point
  33. If it's refined using a tatara what comes out is tamahagane for use in traditionally made swords. If refined via other methods, then the iron/ steel is not tamahagane.
    1 point
  34. Bruce, the book is a history of the RJT scheme in Fukushima prefecture and only lists the 10 RJT smiths working there. Regards,
    1 point
  35. Thankyou Uwe S. and John (I dont know where to start)... Firstly, I appreciate your translation. Secondly, I offer a thousand apologies. Somehow the last picture was in fact, mirror reversed and translating is hard enough without 'little' tech gliches like that (cant believe I did that 😯) Finally, anyone like to have a guess why and when an IJA Officer would have painted that message on a saya? Is it possible it was simply a valued family treasure that they wished to draw attention to in order to protect/preserve in the hands of the allies? Gerainte I love your enquiring mind ...it is a pity there is no post war mystery in terms of reversed kanji BUT.... maybe I wont leave you empty handed entirely. When I acquired the sword (much cosmoline, verdegrease dirt/dust) the inside of the tsuka was being padded out with a torn off piece of newspaper which is dated Thursday, January 17 1946 (pic attached). I have since set this aside and replaced it with a sliver of thin cardboard. But the question in my mind is who put that newspaper in there? The date and 'english newspaper' would suggest a member of the allied forces as hostilities/sword surrenders should have occured well before that..but that would be a strange thing to do I would have thought (why bother?)...leave it with you 🤔 Regards Rob
    1 point
  36. Jussi, I thinks you speak about item 34 not 24. However, here is an oshigata of this Kunishige. Mei looks good for me.
    1 point
  37. That okimono looks like it was carved yesterday. Perhaps Toshihara but to me just as likely Fu Yuan. By the way Fu 甫 can mean, ;just now'. John
    1 point
  38. Jean is right 1. 濃州関住服部正廣作 Nōshū Seki-jū Hattori Masahiro Saku. 2. 濃州住三品義明 Nōshū-jū Mishina Yoshiaki. David beat me to it. (And David is right also).
    1 point
  39. 1 point
  40. All I can imagine is “猫” (neko = cat) and probably “甫源” (not sure about the reading)?!
    1 point
  41. Michael, You have a Type 97 Navy Officer kaigunto. Stainless (their version of it) steel, in "combat" saya. The stamp is of the Toyokawa Navy Arsenal and the mark below seems to be a unique stamp tied to the smith - Inaba. Others have tried to research this smith with little luck other that to postulate that it is Inaba Kaneyoshi. You can see others by him on THE NMB THREAD. The painted numbers are "4 4 8" and are put there by the fitters to keep all the parts together during assembly/manufacture. You can read more about the Type 97 on Ohmura's site: HERE. There is no date on it, so all we know is that it was made during WWII. Rank isn't known. Even if it had a tassel, the Navy used all-brown tassels for all officer ranks, so no way to know.
    1 point
  42. Ditto. Love to see the rest of the nakago and blade; fittings too.
    1 point
  43. What an unbelievable scum bag...
    1 point
  44. Hi Les and Mark, and y'all of course. In the meantime, and experimenting with proof copies from Lulu.com, I decided to entirely redo the first two volumes and ship these new ones – at my own expense – to all who have purchased any of the them, including, of course, those who have prepaid for the entire set, and the remaining ones the same way. I know, this all is a nuisance, but I need to get this right going forward, that is, I do not want the print quality being an ongoing issue for me/us years to come. That said, I know that Grey and Barry are kicking their heels to proofread the remaining chapters –which I am working on every single day in any case, and they are accumulating on my end – so I apologize for being such a dinosaur, meaning, I suck badly at switching tasks and my reptile brain can only work off stuff in big batches. Now the broken record is being put on again, but I can promise you that as long as I am alive and not turning into a vegetable, I am working constantly on all outstanding projects as their non-completion does really gnaw on my soul
    1 point
  45. The most unusual we have ever seen!!!! A high class long Gendai Tanto, used as a mobile shrine..... The Mon side has a memorial tablet known as "eihai". It appears that the content was written by a Buddist monk and is virtually a chant taking elements from the monks name and temple, plus the posthumous name given to the deceased that must also include one Kanji from his real name,( in this case"tetsu"). This posthumous name is known as a "kaimyo". The date is the death of the officer. The other side has the rank and the real name of the dead officer, with a request, that his spirit resides in this blade. "The swordsmith is not mentioned,but presumably it was made after the date specified,according to Mr. Han Bing Siong sand and Ogasawara san's opinion, cleary made by Hori Toshihide. The Mon represents the dead mans familie. It is that of the Nakamura, Mizuno and Okudaira familie....... The tablet inscriptions read as follows.: "CHUSEIIN" (Name of the monks temple) KOYO JUNDO ( spiritual name implying the deceased was a matyr) "TETSUSHIN" (posthumous name) "KOJI" (Buddist layman) "SENSHI" (death in action. Showa 10 8 nen 9 gatsu 2 10 1 Hi (21.day of the 9. month in the 18. year of showa i.e. 21.september 1943. Rikugun (army) "SHUKEI" ( Intendance, accountant) "TAII" (1st Leutnant Kubota) "TESTSUO"( officers name) "RYU" (remain in) "KON" (soul spirit) "TO" sword, ie. Tanto. Army Intendance 1. Leutnant Kubota Testsuo, his spirit, soul, remain in this blade........
    1 point
  46. I can add these photos to the sword. Very nice work.
    1 point
  47. here is some info by Doctor Takeuchi from SFI a while ago. John However, the problem is that those lists use the tosho's real surname combined with their art first name, and this particular tosho signed his mei using his art surname (Minamoto [Œ¹]) and art first name (Kanemori[•ïŽç]). In fact, I am still unable to find "Kanemori[•ïŽç]" with any surname in the Japanese versions of "Army Ranking List" (Tosho Iretsu Hyo) selected by Kurihara, Hikosaburo and published by then Tosho Kyokai or in "Seki Tanrensho tosho" list compiled by Jinsoo Kim (on his internet site)... I was not able to find this particular "Kanemori" in Tosho zenshu (Shimizu, 1996) nor in the list of currently active gendai-tosho by Tsuchiko (1999), either. As I mentioned in my previous post, it is a common knowledge among Nihon-to circle that when you see two tosho who share the same surname (be it art surname or real) AND one character of their art first name (i.e., less common "Kane[•ï]" in this case), chances are that those two tosho are closely related either biologically/through marriage (in case of sharing the real surname) or apprenticeship (in case of sharing the same art surname). In some cases, the two tosho may actually be the same individual as some tosho changed their art (first) names occasionally while retaining one character yet replacing another in their "niji (two character) mei" for various reasons (e.g., Miyaguchi "Ikkansai" Yasuhiro/Toshihiro[–õL/ŽõL]) (Kishida, 2000; Shimizu, 1996; Tsuneishi, 1990). According to Tosho Zenshu (Shimizu, 1996), there is a Showa era gendai tosho by the name Moriguchi Jiro (a student of late Miyamoto, Kanenori and Kasama, Shigetsugu) who used the art name Minamoto Kaneharu [Œ¹ •ïŽ¡] (with the same "Kane[•ï]" character with the one in his teacher's art name and the one in this particular "Kanemori"), who actively made many shingun-to during WW2. For the reasons I explained above, I still suspect that there may be some connection between this particular tosho "Minamoto Kanemori" and Moriguchi Jiro (= Minamoto Kaneharu) who worked during the same time period.... Regarding "Yasuki hagane," here is an interesting piece of information for those who are interested in Japanese officers' swords. According to existing record, the Ministry of Imperial Army of Japan also decided to look into the possible use of the famous "Yasuki hagane" (i.e., Yasuki Shiro-gami 3 go = Yasuki hagane type "white paper" model No.3) in their production of high-end zohei-to (gun-to that conformed to the military specs, but made not only by the jumei but also by private tosho), despite the fact that "Yasuki steel" was very expensive and not suitable to be use for production of gun-to. As a matter of fact, in 1939 Army Production Laboratory in Kokura ordered several civilian tosho in Iwakuni-cho, Ymaguchi, pref. to produce zohei-to in some sort of "san-mai" construction using this "Yasuki steel" as the ha and smelted Japanese steel as the cover (Troll, 1998). Existing records of Imperial Army lab tests indicate that those "Yasuki Hagane" swords performed as well as other conventional and mass-produce gun-to in "maru-kitae" construction in terms of cutting ability and edge holding, though they would eventually brake (instead of taking a set) during the impact tests on the side and on the mune. (For specific information on the testing procedure, see Troll, 1998). In the official Army report, the identities of those civilian tosho who supplied the "Yasuki hagane" test blades were kept confidential to minimize any bias in favor of or against particular tosho (Troll, 1998). Therefore, I have no information to substantiate if this "Minamoto Kanemori" was one of them... Hope this helps clarify some of the confusions.
    1 point
  48. Well, I hope the new owner is happy with it. I hope it isn't someone I know that ends up showing it to me later and asking what I think.
    0 points
  49. I prefer the term "craptana" myself... 🤔
    0 points
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