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The stamps are correct and also in the correct order. Rob nearly got it right, but as BangBang has shown, the fuchi cannot be reassembled upside down. If you look carefully, the whole 'SET' of stamps is upside down. Bruce is right, it looks like human error to me too. A picture is worth a thousand words so i got a chance to play with some software and made this up.

Sharing a post below from Facebook. I know many of us here knew Larry from the community and the US sword shows over the years. My condolences to all here who knew him. It is with a heavy heart that I bring sad news of the passing of a long time collector and friend, Larry Klahn, of La Crosse, WI. I met Larry some 40 years ago. He ran a martial arts school in La Crosse and was with the sheriff's department where he was a SWAT trainer and a member of the tactical team for many years. Larry was familiar to most who attended the regional military and sword shows. He was a passionate collector with many friends in many different spheres. About 15 years ago Larry's health went south and after a long period, he was diagnosed with Lyme's disease. Left untreated for so long, it did a great deal of damage. He recently had a hip replaced after a long wait but came down with covid a week or so ago. Due to his underlying health issues, he lost his last fight. Larry and I had many good times together- we promoted a few sword shows together, we spent time enjoying swords, shooting, trout fishing, eating pizza and as Larry called it, "talking big". As many will attest, Larry was always ready to help and always someone fun to be around. He will be missed greatly by many. As if this isn't sad enough, I have to add one more bit of bad news. ...While Larry was in the hospital, his school/apartment was broken into and he was robbed. The police have caught the person responsible but are trying to reclaim the swords and firearms that the individual stole and sold all over the SW part of the Wisconsin, Iowa and MInnesota. If anyone hears of any recent swords purchases made from a guy with tattoos and a red van, please let me know so I can forward the info to the La Crosse police department. - Chris Bowen

I acquired this at a local arms fair thinking it was essentially a dummy tanto for the tea-ceremony or similar occasion but on getting it home and handling it, it clearly is a kind of club / jitte. It is of a moderately heavy wood, fully lacquered and fitted with vey reasonable quality menuki and saya mount. It seems to be representing an ebi, although it is a bit odd and indeterminate in that quarter. Has anyone seen its like? Ian Bottomley

Hi George , Sorry ! For some reason I had transposed the information with this piece - Item No. 129 - Kozuka in Shibuichi Subject of Shishi or Lion Dog - clear to see the Yokoya Somin connection. Signed Furakawa Genchin , founder of Furukawa School , father of Jochin.

That is an honorable certificate from Army Infantry Major Tahara San’nosuke to an infantry Noma Shimakichi for his excellent result in basic shooting.

It's not the script (all the kanji on this tag are still in use today). It's more likely the condition of the tag and the folds and shadows and smudges making it difficult to read. One often hears the "its ancient script" excuse as a way of avoiding the embarassment of not being able to read sword tags - or maybe its a way of saying "this tag is too smudged to read clearly", but they don't want to cause you embarassment. Anyway: One Guntō sword Length: 2 shaku, 2 sun Unsigned (spelled wrong, but understandable) This sword belongs to: Chiba Prefecture, Chōsei-gun, Yatsumi-mura the name is too badly smudged for me to read it, but maybe someone here can decipher it.

If any members are in Japan, and close to Kyushu, a special exhibition has been organised on the swords of Bungo province (modern-day Oita prefecture), by the NBTHK Oita branch. The exhibition is being held in Usuki History Museum, in Usuki city. The exhibition will run until 20th December, though, there are effectively two exhibitions with a second set of swords on display from the 15th of November. If interested, I can also send a list of the swords on display, which was discussed and arranged at the Oita NBTHK meeting. Usuki is also a lovely place for sightseeing - it's famous for its stone buddhas, which are a national treasure, and there is also a wonderful castle ruin, which was the main castle of Otomo Sorin, the daimyo of Bungo province, in later life. I would also be happy to meet up with anyone who wishes to attend the exhibition.

Thanks all. Grandads original sword was a type 98 in a type 95 scabbard. As a boy i didnt realize that the scabbard was a mismatched NCO scabbard, i only knew that the side latch on the sword didnt mate. I remember it well. The saya on this sword does match. It is not black paint but a dark green over the typical lighter olive green paint. Someone along the way has scratched "JP Ha cc430702" into the blade (electropencil) and scabbard. The scabbard also has the remnants of a heavy masking tape with "430702" still visible. Here is the sword with the Type 38 rifle and bayonet that Grandad gave to my father. Ive fired it and it still holds a good group.

Recently come across this online and thought you guys here might like it. It's an advertisement from an old 1934 travel magazine, obviously aimed at the well off tourists of the time. I don't know the exact value in today's terms but i think it would be quite a few years wages for me! Lots of ads for Japanese companies, some with logo's that might interest a few. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Yep that's the guy.. Of course I'm weary of eBay in general but thought it was a good looking little blade so offered 300 and he had it listed for 2000. Needless to say did not expect him to accept it. Mei is Hasebe Kunishige so that checks off the gimei part of the collection

It has been really nice to read what people look and think about the items. I am not in buying position but I just looked at few of the items and was bit surprised to see how high the items went for. Perhaps as a small collector and with quite narrow focus I might not see the big picture. I feel that koshirae on some of the items might have been valuable but unfortunately that is not my field and I don't know enough about them. 3 Norimitsu Tachi, I was pretty stunned it rose up to 24,000€+ now granted as I only looked at the blade seems like there were Ishiguro fittings on koshirae, and they most likely outvalue the blade in buyers mindset. 10 Tadamitsu Tachi, again totally surprised this topped 10,000€, can't really figure out why, auction craze? 19 Kunishige Wakizashi, I liked the wide shape this has but I am baffled by how old it is. Can't really put my finger on it how I feel about it, late Muromachi - early Edo? 22 Mumei Katana, like Robert I thought this could have been a Nanbokuchō sword. However with it going 10,000€+ I would be too cautious for gambles like that. Again of course this is in koshirae and I don't really understand the valuation of those. However at Samurai Art Expo I am remembering Patrice Sabbah had a nice (very potential Nanbokuchō) sword in great polish for 8,000€ in shirasaya, if I remember the price correctly. Unfortunately I couldn't afford that one and might not have still dared but I felt it was a good sword. Also to be noted on the auction sword if they have measured this correctly at 60,1 cm it is actually only 1 shaku 9 sun 8 bu, which in turn hurts the value... I agree with Luis that it is very fun to discuss items

Hi Ed, the signature (left side) is "Jokatsusai Hoichi + kao" who was more commonly known as Chinju (Haynes 00306.0). He lived in Inshu ju Inaba Province and was alive in the mid 1800's. The Hoichi name can also be read as Yasukazu. The kanji on the right side indicate that the image is derived from a certain artist's painting.

Hi Bob, the Sake Drinkers are Shojo, and Item 128 looks to be signed by Jowa, who is more commonly known as Masanaga (Haynes 04251) and who was the nephew of the famous Sugiura Joi. So glad to see you and your marvelous collection are back!!!

Hello Michael, In understand your point that any potential bidder will want to keep a low profile prior of an auction. However I think now since the game is over there ought to be no more competition as everything is set. Of course you are right that the price will often indicate the expectation like some thought it was a Shoshin Masahide while nobody digged into the Muramasa. I was quite frank about what I intended to bid on before the auction as my expectations of winning anything were low - one of the few occasions where I was right Tokubetso Hozon I think is not something we should worry about as it can be acchieved easily as the rules for it are straight forward while Juyo level is totally different cup of tea - and we can of cause only have our more or less educated assumptions whoch I consider however to be both fun and educational.

With way lock set up,it can't be put upside down.

Luis, those of us who bid clearly have had our thoughts about these things. Prices are indicative of people having certain expectations. There were some pieces that possibly, with the right restoration in place, could get high papers - not sure about Juyo but at least TH. The problem with all these things is that we are competing against each other, so information sharing cannot be too extensive....

I just bought a tsuba that looks just like one listed in a book that they shared with the ad. I am including a photo of the tsuba as well as two photos of the book shown in the listing that has a tsuba attributed to Hayashi Matashichi. Sadly, they didn't mention the book name in the listing. The tsuba I bought has NBTHK H papers to Higo. Do any of you by any chance recognize the book that is pictured? I can't read the page number but it looks to be 1XX.

I’ve been hunting for a Meiji era naval dirk with a handmade blade for a long time and finally came by something that matches the criteria. Would love to see what treasures the board members here has!

Have already posted pics of the mei in another thread, so am opening this one to discuss and show the piece itself. Many months ago, a South African posted pics of a collection of Japanese polearms that he had come across in SA, on a forum. I was immediately blown away, as the chances of finding Japanese polearms here, especially with the original poles, is next to zero. The length itself makes it prohibitive to import. Seems these came to SA around the 1920's or so, by a Dutchman who settled in SA and must have collected various arms. They ended up with a nice young guy called Ruhan. We spoke for months and discussed trading some items possibly, as I have some other items he was interested in. The odd thing is that these items have been sitting in a far away farming area, the equivalent of them rotting away in the barn like I hear from the USA so often. Eventually this week I met up with Ruhan. Granted, the items are in only fair condition. Time and storage has caused surface rust, but of that type that discolors and leaves micro pitting, but the surface is still smooth and will clean up 70% over time with oil and wiping and soaking and some uchiko. Anyways, he had 4 x yari and 2 x naginata. All with VERY long and original poles and in various states of disrepair, but still stable and interesting. Some may remember that my main goal for years has been to get a nice naginata, since I traded my nice one away and miss it terribly. I'm fussy with naginata. Needs to have a nice shape, flowing lines (not that straight edge with a sudden upturn at the end) and most importantly, a well cut hi with that sloped front to the front of the bo hi...some of you will know what I mean. Not the rounded end main hi. Both of Ruhan's naginata had lovely shapes, and the correct hi. But I was captivated by the fact that the one has the hi as part of a horimono. Not a very complicated one, but not one done to cover a flaw either. This starts out expertly as the base of a tree, then goes up and forms the bo-hi, with a side branch of the tree becoming the so-hi...thinner groove. Just beautifully done and planned. The other side has the bo-hi and soe-hi with a varja style horimono inside the thicker groove. Also lovely. And the fittings...? I'll let the pics tell the tale. Just really nicely done. Not sure if that is some sort of mon or whatever, looking for any feedback or opinions on that. But the well done design is on all the fittings. Lots of laquer loss on the pole, but I can live with that. Yes, the pics make the rust look bad, but it's not that bad and will easily polish off by a professional. Cannot feel the texture with a fingernail. Already I can make out a thin hamon about 5cm wide, looks like small gunome or choji. Will see more in the coming months as I wipe and oil. I love this piece. It is missing the tsuba, and will be measuring the gap between 2 seppa to see how thick it was. I also got 2 yari with long poles. One a fukuro yari that is nice, the other more conventional diamond shaped and both with original poles. Anyways, just sharing. Suffice to say, I am a very pleased naginata owner.

An interesting and unique Type 98 with uncommon hirazukuri uchigatana blade signed Bishu Osafune Nagamitsu. Most likely from the later Muromachi period when this style of blade was predominantly made & used. Hirazukuri blades of this length aren't seen that often so I have scant information to provide. The blade itself is wide & thick, with active Hamon and Hada. The hamon is something like choji with tobiyaki. Some ware, please see photos. The mounts are nice quality Type 98 with aluminium Saya and interlocking ring Mon originally used by the Wakasa family. An unrelated but appropriate worn field grade tassel is included. Mei: Bizen Osafune Nagamitsu Kasane: 0.8cm Hamachi: 3.2 cm Sori: 2cm Nagasa: 57cm OAL: 94cm Price 2700USD + shipping

Well, a little backstory. My Grandfather served in the Pacific war 1942-1946, USN. He was attached to the marines for the Okinawa battle, and made the landings there with them in the 3rd wave. He returned stateside in '46, and brought several items home as souvenirs which he gave to his 2 sons, my late father and uncle. Included were 2 Japanese swords, one short bladed ( to my uncle, and still posessed by my cousin), and a long sword, given to my Dad. It was tradtional in appearance and was a source of fascination for me the whole time i was growing up. Well, it was stolen from my Dads house by some workmen about 2006 or so. Ive always missed it and for a few years have been looking to replace it with a similar one. My brother and i initially only looked at traditionally made officers swords, but most were outside of our budget. We gradually agreed that an NCO machine made sword would suit our purpose just as well. This sword was purchased on Ebay last week. It has some imperfections that kept the price reasonable, and we are fine with that. Perhaps some of you saw this auction. Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Here is our "Grandfather's sword".

Made a silly lowball offer on this wakizashi that to my surprise was accepted.. Looks interesting to my relatively untrained eyes. Surely a gimei blade but weirdly happy to have a inexpensive forgery in my collection. Wondering thoughts about it

The book appears to be volume one of the two part Tsuba Kansho Jiten by Sato and Wakayama. I have the 1977 edition and the upper tsuba is shown on page 173, alone. I imagine there's another edition that included this design tsuba.

G'day Guys, For completeness I am including some photos of the boxed tanto made in 1942 using steel smelted by the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company here. I found these images in the sold section of a Japanese site. It was discussed over in the translation thread. Cheers, Bryce

There is no 橘 (Tachibana) in the mei.

Wonderful! What a fantastic horimono. I hope you can get it polished one day and set up to rest in a comfy shirasaya. Great find. The blades are lucky you found them.

2021 Dai Token Ichi Cancelled Sadly, yesterday (Sept. 28th) at a board meeting of the Zentosho Kumiai Directors (All Japan Commercial Sword Dealer's Association) the decision was made to cancel the Dai Token Ichi for this year. The decision was not made lightly as many sword aficionados in Japan and around the world were following this closely with the expectation it would brighten up the mood among collectors of samurai treasures. The venue management was concerned about social distancing, pandemic cluster issues, and negative publicity. It made little sense to compromise the event by trying to regulate crowd movement within the exhibition/sale hall. Sorry for those who planned to attend. Let's hope we can enjoy the event in 2022! Best Robert Hughes Member All Japan Commercial Sword Dealer's Association

Ok sorry I will always translate it from now on

Well if you look at the advert dug up by Stegel and posted in the militaria section, Sadakatsu was quite into promoting his swords and advertising his products overseas. So what Bryce suggests sounds very plausible to me.

Hello Bob, I agree that was a very neat looking Jigane. It struck me. However my impressionw as that it was a later piece. I would have no older than Muromachi-. But I may be mislead by the (later added?) Horimono and condition of Nakago. I fully understand your reasoning on the mounts and I would also try to stay save and bid for what I felt the mounts were worth (to me). I really did like the Habaki, Kozuka and Saya mounts. The FK and Tsuba were not my personal taste. Just the Kozuka could have been in the 2k range easily in my oppinion. Beautifull I agree that this could definatel have been a Nambokucho blade. On one side the Nakago seems to have lost some patina. Not sure about it. That is a good reasonmig. My impression was that most pieces had late Edo or Meiji periode mounts, too. The fact that we had some obvious Gimei there may be a hint to handle everything with a grain of salt. This I felt very excited about this auction as it was really what you would call an old collection coming out of the woodwork. Getting older myself I see swords flood around that I have seen multiple times over the years. This stuff however sure is new and it will be interesting to see if we may see some blades again in the future with or without papers. By the way Bob: Thanks for talking. While I was not getting anything nor you were I just enjoy discussing this like the aftermath of a boxing match (where the outcome is however more clear )

Hi Luis. The Kunishige (#19) was an interesting blade. It had features that were reminiscent of Hasebe. It was hard to see if it had some hitatsura or, as you said, some utsuri. Most Kunishige listed were early, so if it wasn't Hasebe, there was a hope it would end up with another descent attribution to a nambokucho or maybe Oei smith. The mounts were wonderful and the reason I was bidding. The Soyo tsuba and fuchi kashira were probably good. If I was more of a fan of katakiribori work, I would have bid harder. I thought that #22, the katana with silver mounts, was likely osuriage nambokucho, even though they listed it as shinto. I didn't think it had a mei removed from the existing nakago but rather was shortened a couple of times with additional finishing on the tang. The silver mounts were nice, it had solid gold dragon menuki and the kozuka kogai were ok, but I doubted the mei on both of them. The guribori was probably urushi, as you said. When I compared the "layers" to those on my pieces, they were very irregular and unconvincing as layered metal. It was my impression that most swords with big names on them were gimei, sadly. Most of these swords likely came over during Meiji times. Even then, I imagine that the Japanese were not eager to sell their best items to the west. I think that the best collections built during those times were by people who actually were going to Japan and could find the best pieces, rather than those buying the pieces that showed up in France or the rest of europe. The Nosada went for a decent price and may have been ok but I didn't study it too carefully since an acquaintance was going for it. Here are the others that I thought had bad signatures on them: Muramasa Echizen Tsuda Sukehiro Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke Suishinshi Masahide Taikei Naotane Jirotaro Naokatsu I didn't see any potential juyo pieces, though #22, depending on who it papered to, might have had a shot.

Item No. 128 - Kozuka in shibuichi with gold and copper details Subject of the sake drinkers ? ( Can't remember their names ) signed Furukawa Genchin. Father of Jochin , he was a student of Yokoya Somin and was the founder of the Furakawa school. Edit - Above information incorrect , transposed with the next piece - this should read: Signed Jowa - nephew of Joi , Nara school. Thanks , George. Lots of fine detailing , with one of the drinkers appearing to be laughing uproariously while the other seems somewhat the worse for wear.

It is indeed handmade and recently polished, mumei

Howdy I'm Tim from Melbourne Aus. I'm new to the world of Nihonto but fairly familiar with the world of swords having done HEMA( historical European Martial Arts) a little while ago. I just ordered my first few books on swords to pour over, and I'm excited to try and glean as much knowledge as I can from all of you before dipping my toe in the deep end and acquiring my first sword!. Apart from Nihonto I also have a passion for beer ( in particular the science and production of it) I also love old Volkswagens , which makes Nihonto collecting seem relatively cheap by comparisons Cheers Tim N

Hello Bob, thanks for letting me know. On #19 I I did love the mounts. Especially the Kozuka. A great piece and lots of gold in there ... In the images it looked like a reallly really strong Utsuri. Whoch Kunitsugu do you think it may have been good for? Regarding #22 what was your take on the sword? Likel a Koto O Suriage. It looks like there may have been a Mei removed? I assume you were in for the blade? Thank you for your input on the Guribori. SInce this went way ahead oif what I could or would have been willing to pay I was not endangered. However shame on me for missing out on the imitation part. I really should be able to read BUT why imitation!? It looks real to me. Please educate me. Thank you!

Sharp eyes you have there! copper-handle NCO sword questions

Rob, Francois found mine in another thread. SADAKATSU certainly made some nice stuff.

LOOKING GOOD.. http://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/eng/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10769657-F5DB-4D17-AA25-8A91DA77642A.jpeg

This was a really nice auction. Did anybody of you buy anything? I had considered bidding on 24, 29 and 36 but did not win anything in the end. 29 was straight forward with nice Guribori mounts. 24 they got wrong and it wanted to be a Rai blade. The signature was not a good match in my oppinion and the condition remained questionable. Looking at the filemarks I would not think that it was earlier than Murmoachi but still it seems to have seen many polishes. What are your oppinions? The mounts were solid late Edo. I feel somebody got a reasonable lottery ticket 36 was interesting to me. I wonder which smith it could have been good for. Overall I feel that the prices were reasonable since those blades mostly all needed some TLC but then there we good quality mounts on most of them. The 30% premium however is a real pain in the ass. Congratulations to anybody who participated and ended up with a new toy

Rob, I have a 1933, and that price is very close to the going rate today!

About the going rate for a top quality Sadakatsu today, how interesting....

Geraint, I think you are right on the point about the width of the original tang being too narrow and hence the signature placement. It seems that Kanesaki specialised in yari which again suggests it is a modified sasaho yari blade. Irrespective of shape, it would be a devastating little weapon to tuck into your obi. While I am at it, I have often wondered about the hole and shitadome at the bottom end of the saya. These often seem to originally held a leather tab. I may be wrong but their purpose may have been to help prevent the saya pulling out of the obi too easily when the blade is drawn. Ant other ideas? Ian Bottomley

Dear Piers. Sweet tosu but to go back to Ian's yari tanto for a moment. Given the relatively small size of the blade I am pretty sure that this started life as a yari but with a modest tang length. The mei is cut high up the nakago because the tang is wider there. I believe the current nakago ana was added when the yari was mounted in this koshirae which accounts for the slight off set in placing. The mekugi ana is very near the fuchi because the straight yari nakago fitting into the curved tanto koshirae soon places the metal outside the centre line of the tsuka, any further away from the fuchi and it would be in danger of missing! This example demonstrates both the high mei and someone wrestling with the nakago ana alignment problem, in this case an off set mekugi ana and a copper insert to bring it into position to fit the tsuka. All the best.

You can have new liners made for metal Shin Gunto saya, if the blade is of considerable value shirasaya is always the safest option.

John, I feel your view is coming from a guy that valued High Quality Gendaito and their appropriate fittings. "Value", as all of us know in Sword-Collecting-World, is set by the tastes of the group that are interested in each item. I think $650 for a 1963 Spiderman comic book is ludicrous, but I don't have any interest in comic books. I would also never spend $10,000 on a nihonto - I could get 5 great WWII gunto for that!!! You know that some of us enjoy the late-war stuff. You also know, because we at NMB have had this discussion multiple times, the point I'm making about taste. So, what I don't know, is why you're, to all appearances, acting like you don't know all this. ??? Love you, dude, but this is not why we are here. I don't look down on your interests.

IMHO (first time I've used that acronym!) It's zoheito. Nakago is too long for kyu; long enough for 95 but wrong shape and only 1 hole; bohi goes too deeply into the kissaki for a 95. Pluse the "to" stamp is classic for a zoheito.

This was a gift from Enomoto Sadahito for purchasing one of his fathers blades. A letter opener, all signed. Top dude, he really didnt have to do that but i was chuffed that he did.

I notice on the world flea market this morning a "power flask" of a type I assume would have gone extinct years ago. These are pieces made out of a pair of lacquer sake cups clued together at the rim and the basal rings removed. The glued edged are often covered by a sting and there is some manner of s spout. If done carefully, they may not look terrible, but they are often amazing crude - and in all cases pure trash - ahhh the joy of antique arms collecting. Peter

Dear Bob, first of all let me say congratulations on the first 50! You have been as regular as clockwork in supplying us with beautiful eye candy every few days for quite a while. I'm sure that all the other NMB members are enjoying seeing your beautiful collection unfold and are looking forward to another 167!!! As for Item 51, it appears that it is a “Tadashige” that Haynes did not have in his original Index, but he added it in his second supplement (Haynes #09149.A). His addition is probably based on your tsuba (see Haynes’ text below where it appears to describe your exact tsuba from a Bonhams Auction). I double checked the dozen or so other Tadashige in his Index and none of the others matched, so I think that Haynes was correct to list this as a “new” Tadashige. In his writeup, Haynes says that [your] tsuba is done with “Murakami Jochiku Haynes #02100.0”, but when I checked that Jochiku, the mei and the kakihan do not match (see the Jochiku mei and kakihan from Wakayama & Sesko below). There is only one other Jochiku in Haynes with your kanji, but his dates don’t match (1865-75). Therefore, it may be a third Jochiku not included in Haynes. In the entry for Jochiku (H#02100.0), Haynes talks about a possible second generation Jochiku (not in Haynes’ Index), but says that there is only very thin evidence for that second generation (perhaps found in the Kokubo, Furukawa, & Mosle references - which could be checked to see if the mei / kakihan match yours).

Item No. 51 Tsba in Shibuici with gold, silver and shakudo detailing 7.64 cm x 7.53 cm x 0.49 cm Two butterflies , three spiders webs and large dragonfly on a fine Ishime ground. Signed Nara Tadashige and Jochiku with a kao . This is therefore a dai-saku work from the Nara and Murakami Schools from the 19th cent. Looks considerably better in hand than in photographs - the very fine Ishime giving a matt surface finish , very evenly applied . The webs glow and almost jump out from the tsuba in the right light and the detailing on the insects is very well done. Just as a bonus , the dragonfly's eyes are inlaid with a striking green iridescent mother of pearl/ abalone , that really stand out . Have been unable to place Nara Tadashige - does not appear to be shown in the genealogies book . Also there are two artists shown as signing Jochiku in the Murakami school.... Any Haynes or Wakayama references would , as usual , be much appreciated.