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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/09/2021 in all areas

  1. Re "Momoyama period Heianjo Tsuba" To misquote Crocodile Dundee -- Now that's not a Tsuba ! This is a Tsuba ! NMB members might be familiar with this piece as it appears in Gary Murtha's book : "Japanese Sword Guards-Family Crests- The Art of Mon".. Large in diameter and thickness, well inlaid in mostly brass, some silver . The inlay craftsman also inlaying the mimi which again is a nice feature. All in very good order. 83 x 82 x 5 mm. Thought you might to see it again ? Roger j
    5 points
  2. Hi everyone, Its been a while but glad to see that the familiar folks are active on the board! Went to the SF sword show this weekend and had a blast. Missed out on some gems specially a katana that Grey and Mark had at the table. Was gone by the time I got back from getting more funds but that's how it goes. Did get 2 new swords: Wakizashi is signed Iga no Kami Sadatsugu (mid 1600) rated wazamono. koshirae and shirasaya included. Katana is mumei but shows alot of activity on the hamon. Potentially Ichigo? Met a lot of friendly faces. Andy Quirt is awesome. He saw me walking around with my son on Saturday. When I went back Sunday to purchase some swords, he gives me a tsuba to give to my son for his collection. Not overly crowded but seems busier compared to the last one in 2019.
    4 points
  3. From Paul Martin's July newsletter Prince Takamatsu Award: Kitakawa Tesshi Kunzan Award: Kimura Mitsuhiro Kanzan Award: Fujita Munehisa NBTHK Chairman’s Award: Morikuni Toshifumi Award for Excellence First Place: Ando Yusuke Award for Excellence Second Place: Miyagi Tomoyuki Award for Excellence Third Place: Kudo Yoshihiro Award for Excellence Fourth Place: Komiya Kokuten Award for Excellence Fifth Place: Kanada Tatsuyoshi Award for Effort First Place: Miyashita Hikaru/Teru Award for Effort Second Place: Kato Masaya Award for Effort Third Place: Haoka Shinji Award for Effort Fourth Place: Takahashi Yuya Award for Effort Fifth Place: Tomioka Keiichiro Nyusen: Tanaka Satoshi, Manzoku Hirotsugu, Matsukawa Takashi, Yoshida Masaya, Sasaki Naohiko, Koyama Naoki Tanto and Ken Section: Kunzan Award: Yamanoshita Hiro Kanzan Award: Kato Masaya Award for Excellence First Place: Ando Yusuke Award for Excellence Second Place: Kimura Mitsuhiro Award for Effort First Place: Kudo Yoshihiro Award for Effort Second Place: Shinbo Motoharu Award for Effort Third Place: Takaba Hiromune Award for Effort Fourth Place: Mori Mitsuhide Award for Effort Fifth Place (and Rookie Award): Yamano Tatsuhito Nyusen: Ono Kiyoshi, Ito Shigemitsu, Watanabe Tetsu, Komiya Kunimitsu II, Miyagi Masatoshi, Yukawa Yasha, Okamoto Katsuhiro
    4 points
  4. I had not seen a fuchi like this before and it caught my attention when I first encountered it. Myochin were of course armourers and also produced tsuba with overlapping plates to simulate armour (see picture below), which this Fuchi (and a kashira) may have been designed to accompany. It’s a shame the kashira is missing, otherwise I would have bought it when I seen it (the seller is an acquaintance of mine whom I visit every month) Image of the Myochin tsuba is from Nihonto.us - http://www.nihonto.us/MYOCHIN NOBUYOSHI TSUBA.htm
    4 points
  5. Use this, totally non-abrasive, solvent impregnated wadding. Won't scratch, great for removing surface stains. Recommended to me by a prominent sword collector, and I have recomended it to others. May take a bit of rubbing, but works on stains!
    3 points
  6. Dear Mike, I think that you may be mixing the two different Goto Keijo. They used different kanji. Yours is 慶乗 (as Steve pointed out) who was the 2nd Master of the Genbei Line of Goto. The other is 桂乗 who was the 14th Master of the Main Line Goto. You mentioned "Mitsumori" and dates of 1739 - 1804 (that's the other guy), but your guy is "Mitsunori" with dates of 1651-1692. Your guy worked in Kyoto and the other guy worked in Edo. Hope this helps.
    3 points
  7. 2 points
  8. The latest star stamped type 100 I found was may 1945 and the latest star stamped type 98 was April 1945.
    2 points
  9. An unexpected daisho. Thoughts?
    1 point
  10. Collector friends, This article is worth a read! https://www.academia.edu/s/096d6faf59 Peter
    1 point
  11. Japanese WWII NCO Katana. I have a legitimate one that has the habaki and saya(by the hanger) stamped that I would like to sell for a friend of mine. He has owned it thirty+ years. The legend has it that when the occupied forces destroyed the swords, they had stamped a few before throwing them into the sea or giving them to the U.S soldiers. It has been confirmed legitimate by a NZ collector who remembers seeing a similar stamping on one in the UK at auction many many years ago but didn't purchase. Sadly google is not very helpful so I'm reaching out in search of greater minds. I'd really appreciate some references to this legend if any one can help. Blade and saya throat are 29483. Habaki and stamp beside saya hanger are 37884.
    1 point
  12. If it's 辰月鬼宿日 ,then should be 农历3月23日,1943.4.27 in the Gregorian calendar.
    1 point
  13. I think this is the company website. https://www.eagleone.com/ Search terms so that others may find the thread in the future. Eagle one, original nevr-dull wadding polish
    1 point
  14. You'd be surprised at how many people just don't open external links. Try posting one or 2 group teaser pics here...see what a difference that makes.
    1 point
  15. Indeed Roger, a very nice one! Congratulations!
    1 point
  16. Generally I say everything is relative when it comes to money and the value of something. However, for us Aussies and Canadians, the US dollar value skews things. At a US dollar price, I'd say they are a bargain, at our dollar worth? Just reasonably priced. But to bring this thread back, I really like the different metals used in the inlays (I count three?), also the fact their position alternates between faces. I am generally a huge fan of inlay on the mimi. Wonderful guard, Congratulations on a great addition
    1 point
  17. Dear Geraint, Thank you very much for your very helpful reply. My thoughts were similar but you've expressed the issues far better than I could have. The 39 year gap is a long one and without further info coming to light, it may as you suggest, be down to a shinsa panel. It is, as you kindly say, a lovely naginata and it may be worth the polish/shinsa route. Before that however, the (lovely, period, full length) pole it is mounted on needs the raden and fittings on the tachiuke restored and that'll be the focus for now. I might post it in a new thread to enquire about potential restorers in the UK. Meanwhile, I will continue to enjoy the blade as it is...... :) Regards, Roy
    1 point
  18. Must be this sword. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/64-131 I have heard from friends having seen it that it is indeed high-end Soshu. I hope it is better handled and cared for these days than back when the general had it.
    1 point
  19. I second Neil's recommendation. Rob
    1 point
  20. Very Nice Roger, I was saying to Dale (Spartancrest) the other day, that I am surprised Gary Murtha's guards which he has advertised are still available. They are good interesting examples, priced reasonably and are "published". That's a bit of a triple whammy. With some foresight, his guards could be well sort after in the not too distant future edit: and for the record, I have just secured one that I have been very interested in for a long time
    1 point
  21. Is this the koshirae known as the Good Taste-Cutter?
    1 point
  22. Nobuyoshi Naginata in Shirasaya NTHK NPO Certificate Sold Heianjō-jū Fujiwara Nobuyoshi (平安城住藤原信吉) ‒ “Fujiwara Nobuyoshi, resident of Heianjō/Kyōto”
    1 point
  23. Michael, You paper is dated ‘3rd June 1974’ (昭和四十九年六月三日) Aside from the type of sword (刀), signature (藤原行長) and length of the sword, no further information is provided. These papers are quite generic, and you can learn how to read the rest of the text here: http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sword_papers.html#japanese_sword_2
    1 point
  24. Roger, Regarding the motif of the inlay, I first interpreted it to symbolise wood grain around the edge, and tree rings in the middle, rather than clouds. However, the apertures would not fit with this theme, and instead the shape and design of the tsuba itself reminds me of sliced lotus root (renkon 蓮根).
    1 point
  25. Because it was given as a gift to Truman, I do believe.
    1 point
  26. Thank you for the recommendation, Stephen! —Matt
    1 point
  27. In 太平洋の奇跡(Oba:The Last Samurai) IJA officer wearing Type 98,IJN officer wearing Type 97.
    1 point
  28. 1. The katakana character ミ is the 41st character in the iroha poem. 2. The most recent Mantetsu write up can be found via the following link. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey, Post #428
    1 point
  29. Jake, Thanks for the pics of your gunto. Looks like it has some decent fittings too. You'll really enjoy it! You can read all about the Mantetsu sword in an article compiled by @16k, @Kiipu, and I. I checked and we haven't posted it in the Member Articles section yet (I'll have to see about that!), but I'm attaching it. It summarizes the info available from both a book and the Ohmura Website Mantetsu pages. and adds new discoveries we've all made in our investigation into the whole subject. Thomas is referring to the fact that Mantetsu used a Japanese poetic numbering system, called I RO HA, in numbering their blades. Similar to our using "A 1-100, B 1-100, C 1-100, etc". I'm attaching the chart that shows the flow. The chart only shows the lowest number of each kana, and doesn't include every blade in our survey. Serial Numbers Plotted in Iroha order (only 1st number of each group) KANJI 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 I  イ 376-S RO ロ 75-S HA ハ 24-A NI ニ 57-A HO ホ 123-W 546-S HE ヘ to と 41-S CHI チ 66-S RI リ 108-S NU ヌ 65-A RU ル 16-A wO ヲ 433-S WA ワ 20-S 158-S KA カ 89-S YO ヨ 11 TA タ 181-S RE レ 6-S SO ソ 66-S TSU ツ 198-S NE ネ 144-s NA ナ 5-S RA ラ 7-S MU ム 87-S U  ウ 20-S WI ヰ NO ノ 34-S O  オ KU ク 326-S YA ヤ 79-A 246-W 957-S MA マ 360-S KE ケ 731-S FU フ 624-S KO コ 115-S E  エ 537-S TE テ 71-S A  ア 105-S SA サ 1-S KI キ 144-S YU ユ 479-S ME メ 87-S MI ミ 206-S SHI シ 304-S WE ヱ 299-S HI ヒ 41-S 1155-S MO モ 104-S SE セ 1143-S SU ス 219-S I (イ) 556-S i  い 622-S S - Spring R - Summer A - Autumn W - Winter The serial numbering began with English letters in 1938 and continued through 1940, overlapping the start of katakana in 1939. 1944 ended with an overlap of the first katakana イ , but in parentheses (イ). 1945 began with the first letter い , but in hiragana. MANTETSU DISCOVERIES.pdf
    1 point
  30. Dear Roy. First of all, that is a lovely naginata you've got there! Now to the imponderables. The available listings tend to indicate the main period of a smith's work and they are often compilations of what is available. This means that although a smith is given as working predominantly in Kanbun period in fact his dates of production might span quite a time before and after the limits of the reign period specified. For example according to the sources you provide the second generation ends thirty years before the third starts; this is clearly not the case. Another factor is that many smiths changed their mei over time, often this reflects an elevation in their honorary tittle, in many cases it indicates that they were working in different parts of the country and so forth. I have a yari by a smith who worked in Edo, then moved to Odawara following the daimyo for whom he worked and then back to Edo. All this is to suggest that the lists are not to be taken as infallible, especially with regard to date, that new information adds to our knowledge as time passes, that mei change according to what is happening in the smiths life and in the family for whom he works and so on. Now the gap of thirty nine years is a bit of a reach here but, as I am sure you already know, this is a smith about whom not much information is available. I assume from your question that the naginata is not papered so you are left with a slight conundrum. If you can find papered examples of the mei then you can compare handwriting. You might consider sending it to shinsa and seeing what current scholarship suggests, or you might just enjoy it for what it is and keep your eye open for references to this line of smiths and see what you come up with. You have a research project on your hands. Whatever you decide to do enjoy this for what it is and enjoy the search. All the best.
    1 point
  31. Seems to me there aren’t a whole lot of sellers on eBay that I actually know much about Japanese swords. Of course there are some out there, but a lot of them don’t seem to know what they’re really talking about.
    1 point
  32. I’ve never had stains that big, but I have plenty of black permanent stains on some of my blades. I haven’t found anything to get it out. Maybe yours is on the surface?
    1 point
  33. Roger, it is certainly not a lack of interest, but sometimes an answer takes some time. Your TSUBA has indeed a dysbalance, which I did not see immediately. The HITSU ANA don't have the same level in the overall design. I have seen quite a number of TSUBA with similar irregularities, so this is not completely uncommon. We do not know why they occur, and like you, I ask myself if this is due to an incompetence of the Japanese TSUBAKO (which we don't believe). I could imagine an explanation in that this TSUBA was made to fit an existing KOSHIRAE where the pockets for KOGATANA and KOGAI were not exactly in the standard position. But who knows? Concerning the TSUBA, it is an honest one with simple (KIKU ?) design, but these are not the worst ones!
    1 point
  34. Have you tried alcohol, acetone or benzene? The last two are not good for you. Use then out doors.
    1 point
  35. Just to say that I am taking a short break from posting to this thread - will be back to normal in a week or so... Thanks for all the interest ! Regards Bob
    1 point
  36. I had those photos a long time ago, from a movie prop shop.
    1 point
  37. I think it was resin molds from a real one.
    1 point
  38. Looks like a perfect copy. With stamps.
    1 point
  39. OMG! They even have serial numbers! How did you find that?
    1 point
  40. Item No. 91 Iron Sukashi Tsuba with Shakudo liners 7.17 cm x 6.93 cm x 0.50 cm Akasaka tsuba with theme of Chrysanthemums both in background and foreground . Hitsu-ana both lined with Shakudo. A classic Akasaka design , probably dating from late 18th cent. Mumei. NBTHK Hozon papers. Bought direct from Japan eight years ago.
    1 point
  41. Hi guys, I thought that this sukashi tsuba may be of interest on account of an old(?) repair to the sukashi. This maru gata iron sukashi tsuba depicts various plants including a branch of plumb blossom, a wisteria flower and an unknown flower attached to a thin stem with a couple of four lobed leaves (Any idea what these are?). The seppa dai has copper seki gane and tegane marks on both sides, that differ in style. There are no hitsu ana, per se, but one side has a shakudo shim let into the seppa dai and the other (damaged) side has evidently lost the shim. The mimi is covered with fine granular tekkotsu; and based on this I’ll stick my neck out and assign it to Shoami rather than Kyo-sukashi workmanship. I’m not going to hazard a date as we newby collectors tend to go for early (pre-Edo) dates! I’m also not going to definitely say which is the omote and which is the ura on this tsuba. The design, tegane marks, lack of defined hitsu ana and damage could indicate that it could have been mounted on a sword reversibly. But OK, I’ll go with the plum blossom on the right when viewed from the front. At some time in its history this tsuba seems to have been subject to an impact on the left side, between the four lobed leaves and the mimi. This impact twisted this part of the sukashi and broke two of the fine links to the seppa dai. It probably also resulted in loss of the shakudo shim of the hitsu ana on the seppa dai. The link between the four lobed leaf and the seppa dai was repaired using two small pieces of metal (2mmx1mm), but the twist in the sukashi was not (fully) corrected. I don’t think that this was a result of classic battle damage by a sword, pole arm or musket ball as there appears to be no metal to metal impact marks. It is more as if the tsuba had been hit by something relatively soft, e.g. a piece of wood. After spending some time examining the tsuba, I have come up with this rather fanciful explanation of the damage (other theories welcome). It is perhaps an urban myth that some fencing masters were so good that they gave up using real swords and when accepting challenges from inferiors and used pieces of wood, or even pot lids. It may be that the owner of this tsuba fenced with one of these masters and managed to parry a blow with the tsuba. Out of respect for the master and the encounter, the tsuba was never fully repaired. Besides, it would have made a good talking point with other samurai over a few drinks. I guess that the damage would exclude this tsuba from a shinsa, but it does add a bit of interest. Height: 7.9 cm; Width: 7.7 cm: Thickness (rim): 0.5 cm: Weight: 77 g Best regards, John (Just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)
    1 point
  42. Alex you have some beauties available there.
    1 point
  43. Yes, an ornamental Samurai sword i got when i was around 10 years old, never had the heart to get rid of it. Also, not so long after, a Ninja sword with a Towkay 440 steel blade (whatever that is) along with a bunch of throwing stars etc. Found a pic, xmas 1982. Easily pleased back then not like kids of today with the ps4 etc etc (i was a strange kid tho) It was all the Ninja movies at that time.
    1 point
  44. Sold Kanekuni Koto Tanto including worldwide shipping https://nihonto.com.au/product/kanekuni-koto-tanto-with-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-certificate/
    1 point
  45. I share with you an menpo from my collection for which I require your help. it is an unsigned Edo period ressei menpo, very expressive of which I do not know the school. In natural iron, it has a very prominent upper lip (the mustache is missing) the teeth are silver lacquered and it has a wide sweat running hole and a otayori. What is your opinion about the school and the period (early to late Edo?). If you know of other similar menpo? Thank you in advance.
    1 point
  46. thank you all, ,live and learn
    1 point
  47. Regarding nr 61 it's probably a Japanese water wheel:
    1 point
  48. Similar one without inlays but same topic. Not as nice as yours ....School unknown.....
    1 point
  49. Jussi - as usual a thorough and enjoyable contribution from you. I always read your posts with great satisfaction. May I just clarify something about JASMK. This is not really a museum (well sort of it might be construed like that but not in the traditional sense). This set-up is a clever way for Saito san, whom I have met and even had drinks with, to promote his dealer business. So, Saito san has a sword business, he has his own collection (I think c. 2000 swords) and some of it is displayed in a show room / museum setting. The certification side of things - well, another clever way to know what swords are where (owned by which collectors), and also an additional revenue stream to charge existing or prospective customers. So, in this sense, his certificates are dealer attributions, which admittedly look nice and different, but that needs to be borne in mind. Dwain - I do not think Guido’s comment was aimed at you.
    1 point
  50. D Star stamps are considered Gendaito. S
    1 point
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