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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/19/2021 in all areas

  1. G'day Guys, Thank you for your interest in the topic. I managed to purchase a copy of the 40 year history of the company. Maybe it will shed some light on the subject? Here is a shot of the boshi. Very difficult to take good photos with an iphone. Cheers, Bryce
    5 points
  2. one of my favorites in my humble collection Tsukamoto Kazuyuki Oshû Iwashiro-jûnin Tsukamoto Kazuyuki Tôyama Mitsuru'ô no teinai ni oite Showa 13, August
    4 points
  3. I am, by the photos, 99% convinced it is hagire, a fatality in that its function is totally compromised. Too bad. John
    3 points
  4. Type 98 Japanese officers sword in superb condition....Hilt with original binding has a lovely patina, nice quality fittings as used early on in production with a locking clip working perfectly...Blade is undamaged with undulating ( o-notare ) hamon , nakago has a Showa stamp and signed Seki Ju Ishihara Kanenao Saku . Overall a very nice sword that displays well and ideal to start off any collection...U.K mainland only £950 plus postage....Regards Paul ...
    2 points
  5. Isn't Mino a city in the Japanese prefecture of Gifu? Another reference for this smith is: Tōkō Taikan (p. 122)
    2 points
  6. I have mentioned this before and it is my belief that modern trained polishers togishi do not emphasise the sharpness as much as the cosmetics of the blade. Old field polishes were 'in the white' and very sharp. The Edo peace changed what was more desirable in viewing than hewing. John
    2 points
  7. If the dealer is respected and prominent they should recognize & acknowledge this is a Hagire and either: -offer full refund -offer substantial refund on purchase price should you wish to keep it Link them to this thread if they are not already active here, this is clearly a Hagire and not worth the cost of their reputation to deny it.
    2 points
  8. Hello JT, the sword was good enough for the gentlemen of the NTHK to deem it genuine, so I think you can take some comfort from that. If there were any obviously problematic things about the sword, the NTHK would have caught them (hopefully) and flagged the sword as gimei. The NTHK may not be held in as high regard as the NBTHK, but it does run a very close second, and their judgment will be be better than any of us peering at your sword through our various screens. (And remember, the sword confirms the signature, so if the sword looks like Kii Yasuhiro work, slight variations in the signature may be tolerated.) Here are some other signed, authenticated Tōichi Yasuhiro swords. https://iidakoendo.com/1359/ https://www.touken-world.jp/search/23506/ Tōichi is Yasuhiro the 2nd. Don't worry about the length. I don't know if the use of "ichi" in the name was a nod to Ichimonji. I think its plausible, but I can't find any discussion of why that name is used.
    2 points
  9. Juan, in my understanding, a scratch will be straight or almost straight. What I see in your photos does not look like a scratch. If this phenomenon is visible on both sides in exactly the same position, I don't know how to call it otherwise than HAGIRE.
    2 points
  10. Finally saw more of the blade. I hope that you in here not only you'll enjoy it as much as I did, but also to be educated on certain details.
    2 points
  11. OK, I got a small teaser to share!
    2 points
  12. NTHK 2021 West Coast Shinsa San Francisco Airport Marriott August 6th, 7th, and 8th 2021 Registration $100 per item, certified items will require an additional $150 fee to receive origami. Cash only the day of the show. NTHK 2021 WESTCOAST SHINSA Box 142 2268 Westborough Boulevard South San Francisco, California, USA 94080 toryu@toryu-mon.com
    1 point
  13. Yes Steve is correct. This is my summary. It is from an article on the 1937 Gifu tosho report, which Brian is currently processing.
    1 point
  14. I think it is a typo in the Nihontoclub database. 丹波 can be read either as Tamba or Niwa depending on the context. It seems in this case it should be read Niwa.
    1 point
  15. Back in feudal Japan Mino was a own province in southern todays gifu prefecture. So i think Hawley just uses the old provinces for his reference while others uses the "new provinces" from 1896 but im not sure about the date. Also Gifu is a city and was part of mino province back then. And yes Mino town is today part of gifu prefecture. I hope i can help with this.
    1 point
  16. Richard, I guess you blade has been made from one of these two smith (form Markus book): KANETSUGU (兼継), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanetsugu” (兼継), real name Maekawa Gen´ichi (前川源一), born January 15th 1904, he worked as guntō smith and died March 9th 1951 KANETSUGU (兼継), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanetsugu” (兼継), real name Maekawa Yoshiki (前川喜儀), born March 5th 1913, he worked as guntō smith and died September 9th 1964
    1 point
  17. Hi Bruce, here you are: KANEHISA (兼久), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanehisa” (兼久), real name Niwa Kihachi (丹羽喜八), his family name Niwa is sometimes also quoted with the characters (丹波), born December 6th 1908, younger brother of Murayama Kanetoshi (村山兼俊), he worked as a rikugun-jumei-tōshō and died January 1st 1989, jōkō no retsu (Akihide), Third Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)
    1 point
  18. 當=当 It means "to hit" (as in, to hit a target), or to win something (election, lottery). The kanji on the left, and the one that is on your sword, is the original version. The kanji on the right is the simplified version that is in use in Japan today. There is no difference in meaning or pronunciation. Just two ways of drawing the same kanji. By itself it is pronounced ataru/atari. (If you are "of a certain age" you remember the video game company Atari. It was said that they took their name from this Japanese word meaning to win/hit). However, when this character is used as part of a compound word, it is pronounced tō. On your sword this character is combined with 一 (ichi) to form a sort of compound word tōichi. Actually it is a name rather than a word, but anyway the pronunciation of the two together (當一) is tōichi. There isn't a great amount of detail on Tōichi/Yasuhiro. None that is readily available to me, anyway. As you may know, swordsmiths and other artisans, scholars, politicians, in feudal Japan often went through many name changes in their lives. They may take on two or three or more different names as they proceed through their career. My guess is that Tōichi was a name he adopted early in his career, and then he dropped it as he began to be recognized (or maybe after the death of Yasuhiro 1st). His name at birth was Toda (or Tomita) Gorōzaemon. The use of the kiku-mon was something only allowed only under license/permission from the central government. It's use was a privilege that had to be awarded. The fact that it doesn't appear on your sword, plus the use of Tōichi in the name, makes me think your sword was made early in his career. Tō is indeed a homonym for sword (tō), but this is just a coincidence. Japanese is full of homonyms.
    1 point
  19. Yes it is! And thanks for the link. I just figured out I could use the link as the photo name, so now I'll have references for future files
    1 point
  20. One needs to be very careful with Aoi and its listings. Usually there are some inadvertent mistakes but also there is the usual dealer spin to reality. Firstly, as Kirill is saying, Ko-Bizen spans from Heian / roughly 1100 to approximately 1240. Plus or minus a decade or two. So, you have occasionally Ko-Bizen which are well into Kamakura and have different dimensions (increasing sori in monouchi) and hamon (more flamboyant) to the ‘usual’, old Ko-Bizen, which on the whole tended to be more uncontrived than here. So, this type of nioiguchi and hamon speak of later Ko-Bizen as a rule. Next, onto the smith. Well, this smith is believed to be a descendant of Masatsune, who did have a more flamboyant hamon. Interestingly, the setsumei here references flamboyance similar to Hatakeda Moriie and Saburo Kunimune, who would have overlapped with Tochika, at least partially, in creative period. Fujishiro in his book starts by saying that he is usually associated with 1190 as starting period, then quotes several eras but concludes the smith most likely worked during the Ichimonji school period. There are not many swords left by him and some are in suguha but some are very flamboyant and exciting. He has blades which were kokuho pre-war and now JuBu, so clearly highly rated. As to the blade, yes it is TokuJu and published by Fujishiro. The Honami Kojo origami is highly valuable and it has a historic provenance. The hamon is very nice, it is zaimei , so these are the positive attributes. One will need to evaluate whether one is happy with the condition (it has some rather deep ware). But it surely is a special sword, valued very highly. It shows that the overall merits far outweigh the condition issues.
    1 point
  21. Thank you George for the link, very helpful!
    1 point
  22. The simple odds of there being any kind of "scratch' apparent on both sides of the blade, at exactly the same location, are beyond minimal, better luck with buying a lotto ticket I'm afraid. Additionally, in the magnified views, you can clearly see the anomaly following grain patterns. That would be as very cleaver hat trick for a scratch. Mark
    1 point
  23. can we get some photos of the saya please and hamon. is the paint original ?
    1 point
  24. Chris and friends, it looks to be Shinoda Ujifusa. Have a look at the Naval Swords (part 1) in the NMB Downloads. About the smith on p. 9 and many examples of mei pages 49 to 62. Page 49 very similar cut mei. Mal Mei: Takayama To Ujifusa saku kore 高山刀氏房作之
    1 point
  25. I see what your saying John...i dont think its from that forge. They usually have who made for and and polished by and list of all ther cousins family members etc okay okay I'm exaggerating but the nakago is usually full of kanji.
    1 point
  26. I enjoyed reading this old thread from nearly 4 years ago (September 2017) concerning Type 97 Kai Guntos. A little amused by this particular post from four years ago because seems to highlight how times may have changed - appears that in 2021 these Kai Guntos are quite popular and that, in most cases, it would not take a year to sell one now. From what I have seen lately, Type 97's are very much in demand and they sell rather quickly. From what I have read, Type 95's have increased in popularity among collectors over the past decade or so (along with price appreciation) and it seems to me that these Type 97's may be undergoing a similar rise in popularity and price appreciation, including those with the rust-resistant (stainless steel) non-traditional blades. I'm a fan of the Type 97! Note: Collectibles, in general, have been rising in demand over the past year or so, and, like fine Art, I suppose Nihontos and Guntos are no exception.
    1 point
  27. You performed Tameshigiri with an alleged Koto sword? Just asking.
    1 point
  28. I found them too but my record keeping is better than yours. IJA officers factory made sword?
    1 point
  29. Dear Bob, Love Item No. 80 - Ford did an excellent job of combining two of my favorite Natsuo designs!
    1 point
  30. Item No. 80 - Iron tsuba with shibuichi and gold - 8.05 cm x 7.38 cm x 0.38 cm Subject of pine tree , stream and moon , made approx. ten years ago by Ford Hallam A strong , stately pine tree partially depicted with branches and needles . The plugs shaded to represent the moon , reflected in the calmly flowing water . Overall a contemplative piece , with a quiet , soothing feel that evokes a similar response from the viewer , especially when held in hand. This tsuba was the first entered into the annual NBSK competition to win gold for a non-Japanese maker.
    1 point
  31. The headings should be 鍛 and 銘文  and the type of hada as written is 小杢目
    1 point
  32. Dear Mark, In building on Steve's comments, it can be very rewarding to study and understand Japanese themes when building your koshirae. For example, I think that your second tsuba is an orchid (I do see how it looks like a Lilly, but in this case, it is the way that Japanese usually depict orchids - see sumie orchid below). Why would a Samurai want an orchid on his tsuba? Was he a florist? Did he just like flowers? Did he just want a “pretty” tsuba? I don’t think so… As you probably know, through much of history, Samurai were not allowed to wear jewelry and their clothing was fairly uniform. In addition, their interaction was very regimented. Therefore, one of the only ways that a Samurai could show his personality was through his koshirae/tosogu (after all, it was their swords that defined them). So why an orchid? The ancient Japanese had a well-know theme called the Four Gentlemen which consisted of orchid, bamboo, plum & chrysanthemum and, when combined, symbolized uprightness, purity, humility, and perseverance against harsh conditions. So perhaps this tsuba was originally intended to be combined with other tosogu that depicted bamboo, plum & chrysanthemum. To me that would be a logical reason for a Samurai to have an orchid on his tsuba… Of course, you can dress up your swords any way that you want, but if you desire to have something more authentic, then you need to study the culture/themes closely and choose something that “speaks” to you. You don’t want your two swords to end up looking like these guys… (who thought they understood the culture they were emulating…)
    1 point
  33. In this case, "Kiri" means a pattern of yasurime.
    1 point
  34. I hope my post doesn’t come across as condescending only because I wasn’t sure how detailed you need the information or how much you already know. I’ll assume you know this is a Fujishiro paper? I’m attaching the breakdown of the translation that Geraint gave you… not because I want to copy… but he answered you while I was still working the translation. It takes me a while and I have to really search for the info. Hope it helps and this isn’t seen as just ‘copying’.
    1 point
  35. Dear Russell. The smith is Bushu Fujiwara Shigenobu. There is one working around 1661. All the best.
    1 point
  36. Hi, 波平安吉 Naminohira Yasuyoshi
    1 point
  37. 波平 - Naminohira___ (perhaps Naminohira Yasuyuki?) 信國 - Nobukuni
    1 point
  38. I'm afraid the owner will remain a mystery unless there is a tag or other identifying document that came with the sword. The inscription on the sword itself (if any) will tell you who the maker was, and possibly a year of manufacture, but only very rarely will it say anything about the owner (with one recent sword on this forum being an exception).
    1 point
  39. Hi Ian, welcome to the forums. You have a Type 98 IJA officers sword. The blue & brown tassel is for Company grade officers (LT-CAPT), as mentioned above we will need pictures of the blade itself and the Nakago to tell you more. Only use tissues and a light machine/gun oil to clean the blade. What Francois failed to mention is you will need to carefully drive out the small bamboo pin in the handle to remove the handle. If it is stuck don't force anything, gently tap around the sword guard until the handle moves.
    1 point
  40. Ryan, I got started in collecting when I inherited my dad's Mantetsu Koa Isshin! PLEASE post a photo of the full serial number on the back edge, please, please! You can start reading about these fabulous blades on Ohmura's free website: http://ohmura-study.net/998.html Plus, @Kiipu, @16k, and I collaborated on an in-depth article describing our NMB discoveries about Mantetsu blades that weren't known when Ohmura-san wrote his webpages. I'm attaching a copy (we should probably get that posted in the Member Article section!) MANTETSU DISCOVERIES.pdf
    1 point
  41. 兼継作 - Kanetsugu made 昭和十六年 - Showa 16th year (1941)
    1 point
  42. Hello Jiri, it is a typical Jūyō certificate from the NBTHK. It just describes the sword: its dimensions, shape, steel grain (kitae), hamon, tip, tang (nakago). It describes each using the typical vocabulary used in the sword collecting world. I will put it here in Japanese text so you can look it up yourself (which should be easy with a copy and paste into a search engine). I will put in some furigana to make it easier to understand. 大磨り上 無銘 伝来国俊 (Ōsuriage Mumei "Den Rai Kunitoshi) Nagasa (length) 長さ 二尺三寸二分五厘 反り七分 Keijō (shape) 形状 鎬造り 庵棟 磨り上げて 中反り浅く 中鋒 Kitae (steel grain) 鍛え 板目 柾がかり 地沸(にえ)つく Hamon (forging pattern on cutting edge) 刃文 広い直ぐ刃 わずかにのあれごころとなり 小足入る Bōshi (tip) 帽子 直ぐに先小丸 裏掃きかける Nakago (tang) 茎   大磨り上げ 先浅い栗尻鑢目浅い勝手下がり目釘孔二 We hereby judge and deem the article herein to be designated as an "Important Sword" Showa 38, October 25th NBTHK Hosakawa Moritatsu
    1 point
  43. 秋田住兼廣作 – Akita ju Kanehiro saku 掛札家規好依 – Order from Kakefuda Ienori 慶應二年二月日 – Keio 2nd year, 2nd month
    1 point
  44. 播磨守藤原輝廣作 - Harima no kami Fujiwara Teruhiro saku
    1 point
  45. Hi, "Hizen no kuni" includes Nagasaki prefecture and Saga prefecture. Kinoshita Yoshitada lived in Saga prefecture.
    1 point
  46. Wanted to pass along something from Leon Kapp, of "Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths" Kapp, Kapp, & Yoshihara (I'm not pushing the bookstore, just posting the book). It reinforces what we've already learned about star-stamped blades being made traditionally: " I just finished polishing a star stamped blade for Leo. The mei is (star stamp) Chikuzen ju Kajiwara Hiromitsu saku, and the date is August of 1943. It is a well made sword and about 26.25 inches or 2.2 shaku (which seems to be a popular length for gunto). I bet that this smith is related to the Kajiwara polisher. Chikuzen is the Fukuoka area where the polisher is too. I am sure this is a tama hagane blade for several reasons. 1) Very hard steel 2) Forging patterns are visible in the ji 3) The hamon has a good clear and complex nioi guchi First of all, the blade is hard. There were a few hakobore or small chips which had to be removed, so I know the blade is very hard. I have polished some Seki stamped (RR track) swords, and they are much softer. Modern gendaito are hard and similar to this one. Second, there are patterns visible in the blade and I think they are from forging and folding the steel. You can see what looks like some fine itame hada in most parts of the blade. The steel’s appearance looks like a typical gunto from the 1930s to 1945. The RR track blades have no patterns, but do have occasional small marks in random places in the steel which I think are areas where the steel was compressed locally by the hammering to shape the blade and edge. Occasionally there are traces of a short single straight hada line which could easily come from the RR track puddled steel. The steel does look rather different. This looks very different from the RR track type steel. The color is good. Third, there is the hamon. This hamon has good clear and strong nioi. It forms irregular shaped gunome all over the hamon, and there are ashi, irregular gunome and the strong nioi area is very wide. Generally, with RR track steel, the nioiguchi is narrow and the active part of the hamon is restricted to a narrow band. In addition, the nioi guchi is generally much weaker. This type of hamon looks like it was made with tama hagane steel. So, in conclusion, I am very sure this star stamped blade is made from tama hagane. I’m sorry I didn’t get better photos and need to make some kind of small photo setup to get decent images of hamon and jihada. The hamon photos show the strong nioiguchi and a lot of activity. The jigane photos show the tight but visible pattern in most of the blade. The mei is there to show the star stamp." ..... ". I now have a Seki stamped blade and another star stamped blade here to be polished, so we can look at this with more samples soon. I also have other blades waiting so it will be a bit of time before I can get to those polishes. I am very sure this star stamped blade is tama hagane. I mentioned that the star stamped blade is much harder and similar to good tama hagane gunto. That is a subjective observation but a very clear thing to experience when you polish them first hand."
    1 point
  47. I have this set of shiachi kanagu in my collection. They are each approximately 4 inches long! Andrew A
    1 point
  48. Hi Klaus, The mei reads "Oshû Iwashiro-jûnin Tsukamoto Kazuyuki saku" (奥州岩代住人塚本和行作) and the left part "Tôyama Mitsuru'ô no teinai ni oite" (於頭山満翁邸内, "made on the grounds of Tôyama Mitsuru"). It is this Tôyama Mitsuru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dyama_Mitsuru "Kazuyuki" was a name Tsukamoto Okimasa had used for a while. I have to add that info to my Gendai project.
    1 point
  49. I'm not saying a sword should't ever be polished if it has a kirikomi. I'm saying that polishing a sword just to get rid of kirikomi is a bit overkill. Not disclosing that a kirikomi may or may not be "battle damage" and part of the sword's history may lead people to see it as little more than a defect akin to a fukure or kita-ware and want to get a perfectly acceptable sword polished. It is my personal opinion that one or two kirikomi on a blade don't really detract any beauty from it nor do they make it hard to study the piece and thus don't warrant a polish in and of themselves. If something is covered in rust and pitting, however... To quite a tidbit from sho-shin.com: "It is perhaps a partial statement, but none the less not far-fetched, to say that the sword appraisal agencies and sword clubs in modern Japan have made up and created a mind set for today's collectors; and have set them like sheep for the polished, papered "Packaged" sword products. - Little notice has been taken that the real Samurai swords, the actual swords of the Samurai - are being wholly altered, ground up by polishing and re-constructed, essentially ending their specific histories."
    1 point
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