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One thing I NEED to mention, and I KNOW there are going to be a ton of people who only visit every few weeks or months that are going to me emailing me complaining they can't access the forum after the upgrade. So I am warning everyone NOW. Conventional forum security practice nowadays is NOT to use login names to login anymore. Because these are visible, so only the password is needed to hack an account, and there are ways to get those. So modern forums are going towards using your EMAIL to login, along with your regular password. Your username still shows with posts etc, but you will be using your registered forum email to login, not your username. For now, you can use either. After the update, only the email will be allowed to login. Soooo...I suggest EVERYONE goes into their profile, and makes sure they know what their forum email is that they used to register with. If it's old or obsolete, change it now. Or message me if you really don't know how to do it. Not all at once...we have a few weeks. But keep this in mind. Again...start getting used to logging in with your email and password. You'll be doing that in the future. No-one else can see your email, and your display name stays the same. It's just the login name that changes. You can do that now already, and change your browser saved login details for the future. Thanks.

Dear all I just wanted to share one of my latest acquisitions. Dimensions: Fuchi 38.3 mm x 21.9 mm. thickness 12.5 mm. Kashira: 34.7 mm x 16.6 mm. thickness 9.8mm. It is a fuchi-kashira signed "Nagamine [Kao]" (永峯 [花押]) it is not papered but the signature, the quality of the execution and the composition of the subject fully fit into the caractersitics of the school as outlined in my summary of the Ayanokōji Nagamine school (https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/122-the-school-of-ayanok%C5%8Dji-nagamine/). The fuchi shows some wear of the patina and the nanako ground but the conditions are farely good. On the omote (表) side of the fuchi (縁), an ox-drawn gosho-guruma (御所車) is shown against a landscape of pine trees and hills. The carriage is accompanied by attendants dressed in what looks like Heian clothing. The figure at the front is wearing a tachi (太刀). In ancient and medieval Kyoto, members of the imperial family and the aristocracy commonly travelled in ox-drawn carriages known as gosho-guruma (御所車). The presence of a gosho-guruma, particularly with its bamboo blinds lowered, conventionally suggests that a person of high rank - often an elegant lady, nobleman, or member of the imperial family - is inside the carriage. On the kashira (頭), a group of similarly dressed figures is shown standing in front of a fence or palisade with a gate. This architectural detail is particularly important for identifying the subject of the composition. There are two chapters of The Tale of Genji (源氏物語, Genji Monogatari) whose narratives could potentially correspond to the scenes depicted on this fuchi-kashira set. The first is Chapter 14, Miotsukushi (澪標, "Channel Buoys"), and the second is Chapter 16, Sekiya (関屋, "The Gatehouse"). In Miotsukushi, Genji encounters the Lady of Akashi at the entrance to Sumiyoshi Taisha (住吉大社). In Sekiya, Genji encounters Utsusemi (空蝉) at the Ōsaka Barrier (逢坂関). There is a particularly relevant pair of folding screens (byōbu, 屏風) by Tawaraya Sōtatsu (俵屋宗達), Tokyo National Museum, dating from the seventeenth century, which depicts precisely these two episodes. Miotsukushi Chapter 16 Sekiya Chapter 14 The screen representing the Sekiya episode clearly shows a gate whose form is remarkably similar to that depicted on the kashira of this fuchi-kashira set. This architectural detail provides an important clue. Although the general subject of the fuchi-kashira could initially be interpreted as either Miotsukushi or Sekiya, the presence of the distinctive gate strongly favors Sekiya as the intended theme. I hope you enjoy this fuchi-kashira set as I do. Regards Luca

Dear all, As many of you already know, I have recently had the privilege of handling one of the most important tōsōgu collections outside Japan. Over the past 12 months I have selected 150 pieces from this collection and written a book on tsuba based on them. Most of these pieces are already known — there are many Jūyō and Tokubetsu Jūyō works, several from the Sasano collection, and other famous tsuba published in various books. However, I have taken new photographs and added information that was previously available mostly in Japanese, and of course there are also some unpublished masterpieces. I have created a page on my website for those interested in purchasing the book: https://giuseppepiva.com/book/ If you are in the US, you may want to wait until Grey Doffin receives his copies, so you don't have to deal with customs yourself. All the best, Giuseppe

Dear NMB community, Tomorrow is the big day, NihontoWatch will be officially out of BETA. I promised a surprise, so it is time for the reveal. I have cooked. What we've been missing in the field is the ability to learn from kantei. Kantei is the practice of guessing the maker or school of a blade, either with the real sword in hand, or through oshigata and descriptive information. The later is the model that has been used in the Token Bijutsu magazine for decades, and it has been a wonderful way for people to engage with the field and learn more. Today it's a bit frozen in time, with bids sent through paper mail, and feedback being exceedingly slow as a result. NihontoWatch brings this ancient practice to the digital age. Tomorrow everyone will be able to play the Daily Kantei, where you will be presented with the same five swords with carefully selected clues, and attempt to guess the maker from a calibrated multiple choice in under 90 seconds. The daily kantei is a learning tool, where you can improve your skills at differentiating makers, study key traits of different smiths, and refine your connoisseurship. On any given day, if you reach 4 out of 5 Atari, you will unlock the Dojo Access Achievement. Once you earn the achievement as an NW member, it will unlock the doors of the the Dojo for you. There, you can train as much as you want, and the difficulty will gently adjust to your level to keep things challenging while not impossible. It will find your sweet spot for you to learn and prepare you for what comes next. Once you've muster the courage, true competition begins on the public leaderboard. You can compete in Ranked Kantei. Ranked Kantei uses the same formal rating system as chess: the ELO rating. After 50 trials, you are assigned an ELO rating based on your performance and you will be qualified on the ladder. The game's difficulty is self-adjusting, it gets harder and harder as you climb up the ladder, and your ELO rating will keep evolving as long as you keep playing. After a few months (TBD), the season will come to an end and champions will be announced, and a new season will begin with rule adjustments. Each season have a maximum number of trials (TBD, between 250 and 500). As more players play the game, the self-adjusting difficulty will become more accurate and throw less wild swings and the next season will benefit from better calibration. Until then, we all must endure the unforgiving swings of the Kantei Arena. During the course of internal testing, our current champion was revealed to be no other than... THE DISTINGUISHED, THE AWESOME, THE ERUDITE MARKUS SESKO WHO WILL RISE TO THE CHALLENGE AND CONFRONT OUR CHAMPION? WHO WILL HAVE THE GUSTO AND THE ERUDITION TO DISPLACE HIM AND EARN GREAT GLORY? GREAT PRIZES ARE TO BE WON IN THE FUTURE, IF THE ARENA MASTER'S RUMORS ARE TRUE... And will the Indecisive Ninja reveal who he truly is? will he make a secret bid for the top under his mysterious moniker? Will yours truly, Hoshi, the evident try-hard challenger with a whooping 134 trials under his belt, finally learn to differentiate the various Ukai smiths and study his Shinto? Stay tuned. All will be revealed during the course of the GREAT KANTEI GAMES, season 1. In the future, there be exclusive perks to unlock by playing and competing in the Dojo, and you can trust that they will be nothing short of awesome. First, it needs to be tested for a months or two, ensuring everything works well, that there are no gaps, and that it is resistant to shenanigans. This link will be live tomorrow: https://nihontowatch.com/kantei/ Or simply access it via the app here: If you're enjoying NihontoWatch, support the project by getting your membership here: https://nihontowatch.com/join As usual, please keep all Kantei game related feedback (bugs, issues, areas of improvements...) in this thread. Brace for the Great Kantei Games. It begins tomorrow. Hoshi

I don’t have the direct experience you specified, but I will put a few thoughts forward. You are asking about kantei procedure for mumei tsuba. There are some differences if the tsuba is kinko or tsubako. Kinko is primarily soft metal and the focus of the art is on the carving. Most of the mumei kinko tsuba that would merit shinsa are from the Edo period where there is more documented about the artists and the schools, because a lot of them are signed, so unsigned work by the same artist or school can be compared. The carving technique details of the famous masters is known by certain experts, so it is possible to confidently attribute a name or workshop to a high quality but unsigned kinko fitting by looking at the unique style, the tool marks, how the tool was moved, etc. This is known as the teguse, or the “hand” of the artist. An example are the specialists who study Goto fittings. You sometimes see kanteisho stating, unsigned, but by Goto so-and-so. A shinsa team may or may not have such a specialist, but I assume in a Japan based shinsa, such a specialist could be called in to evaluate a high quality mumei candidate. This approach can also be applied to a some tsuba artists that worked in iron, such as the well known Higo groups that have distinctive sukashi and softmetal decoration. However, the majority of unsigned, average and low quality tsuba do not have characteristics that can be identified to a specific person, and so in shinsa they are assigned to broadly defined schools or categories. Particularly in the case of unsigned iron tsubako, most of these categories are of relatively recent invention, made up by tsuba scholars in the 19th-early 20th centuries in order to classify similar tsuba into groups. Because of the broadness, there can be multiple opinions about where a tsuba fits. For example, is it Koshoami or Kanayama? Is it Onin or Heianjo Zogan? This can lead to a tsuba having multiple papers with different opinions. This existing unsigned tsuba classification methodology is mostly based on comparative analysis, logical inference, and oral tradition since there are few documented facts supporting the majority of these broad tsuba classifications. We know that the NBTHK utilizes a “kantei points” checklist approach when evaluating sword blades, so there may be a similar approach with tsuba. From a science perspective, there has been a few attempts to analyze the material of sword fittings, but this is expensive and non-destructive methods are limited. A question here, is an NBTHK Hozon paper really worth much on an average quality mumei tsuba? I think in most cases no, because most collectors can classify their mumei tsubako and kinko into these broad categories themselves with some reference books and study. It may be worth submitting if you think the tsuba may make Tokubetsu Hozon, which is useful as an assessment of quality.

This is a topic that comes up fairly regularly here on NMB. Every year it seems the number of wartime blades (arsenal blades) that are able to be registered increases. If the sword has a registration card, the authenticating bodies will usually shrug and let the sword through their authentication process. There has been no change in the law, but the rigor with which the registering authorities (varies from prefecture to prefecture) reject arsenal blades seems to be fading with each passing year. There may be some discussion going on at higher levels which allows wartime blades to be viewed as historical and having some artistic merit. It is often hard to tell if the steel used in the sword is tamahagane or commercial steel. The kanteisho for this sword, for example, says the sword has ko-itame grain with jinie, so its possible that the registering body let it pass, the hot-stamp notwithstanding. I think this is a legacy from the post-War occupation that is due for an official reconsideration. The need to distinguish between "art sword" and "weapon" has all but evaporated. These swords are now approaching 100 years of age, so it feels ridiculous and arbitrary to ignore them, or to create an atmosphere where their mere existence is problematic from a legal and commercial standpoint. The market can decide how valuable they are

I have been doing a bit of a deeper dive into Norishige to learn a little more about this smith and try answer some questions. In so doing I wanted to find out as much as I could about him. To do this you have a few sources: 1. Modern Reference books 2. Edo period books 3. Muromachi period books 4. The traditions and stories 5. History books (not specific to Norishige) but explains the lay of the land in Etchū and Kamakura 6. The swords and Oshigata left behind Whilst we would want better references for the major Koto smiths these materials are currently all that we have and from that we try fill in the gaps. With Norishige however unlike other Koto smiths we have something very unusual. We have three very special blades that are not only dated but have his full title including where he is from. It is very unusual to see a blade signed in this manner, especially during the Kamakura period, so why did Norishige sign these blades like this? 1. They were for a particularly important commission or high-status client – Possible but unlikely unless the person was his father or the like - Norishige was a good smith but his reputation grew after his death. 2. A carefully finished or presentation blade – Potentially? But again who would have wanted such a blade. Very unlikely unless it was to showcase a Etchū smith? 3. A fully signed and dated work was intended as a formal record – This is the most probable outcome, but why? 4. Personal pride in lineage - I would suggest that this is again more than likely, but why? Let us look at the three blades: The TokuJu 24/ Juyo 33 (Tanto) 佐伯則重作 / 元応元年十一月吉日 Saeki Norishige saku / Auspicious day of the eleventh month of the 1st year of Gen'ō 1 (元応元年) (November 1319) TokuJu 28 / Juyo 68 (Tanto) 越中国佐伯則重 / 嘉暦 □年十二月日 Etchu Saeki Norishige / Kareki □, December Here the exact date has been drilled through but it was sometime between 1326 and 1329. The Tanto in the Umetada Oshigata this is the same blade found in the Tokyo National Museum: https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/F-255?locale=ja The date for this blade is a tough one to work out. The museum suggests the first letter for the date is 嘉 for Ka with means the only logical suggestion after that being 暦 or reki meaning 嘉暦年二 Kareki Era Year 2 (1327). The previous blade above was made in Kareki but the kangi do not match and I cannot see 暦 fitting in that mekugi hole. Also, if this was a blade made around the same time as the the second blade above then I would imagine the kanji for Ka 嘉 would match? Before we continue, one of the main reasons why the kanji may not match if it was years apart was because Norishige has been suggested to be illiterate and being illiterate he would have needed someone to help write down the Kanji for him so that he could copy it onto the tang. As such who wrote this down? That the dates changed and even the way he wrote it changed tells me he engaged someone (potential not the same someone) on three different occasions to help him with the words. It also explains why his writing is so poor making it hard to decipher 700 years on. Back to the date kanji translation, another option is 壬辰年 or Year of the Water Dragon (1312) but Norishige never used the Chinese Zodiac for any of his other blades. It was also not very common for Kamakura smiths. So I am not buying this one. Also that "loop" above the Mekugi hole does not work. The final possibility is 正応二年 or 2nd year of the Shōō Era (1289). This is my favourite as it matches the writing more than the other two even around the loop that gets cut off by the mekugi hole. Thus we get: 正応二年二月十日 / 仁中御服住伯則重 (越中御服住伯則重) Shōō 2 (1289), 2nd Month, 10th day / Etchū, Go-Fuku Resident, Saeki Norishige This is a rather special inscription on the tang as it literally gives us his town Go-Fuku in Etchū. It tells us that Norishige was a resident of this little town, whilst the other two blades simply state that he is either a member of the Saeki Clan or the Saeki Clan from Etchū. As such we can also conclude that of these three blades two could be whilst he is not resident of Etchū, that is he was living in Kamakura. We can also assume that as he has written Resident on this blade that he must be living in Go-Fuku when he wrote this on this blade but before we do we also need to consider that this is also considered one of his earliest blades and therefore this one may also come from Kamakura but captured by a youngster who still identifies as being from Go-Fuku and is only in Kamakura to study under Shintogo. Logic being that he may have wanted to capture the name of the town he grew up in on one of his first swords - pride of place is a huge part of ones life. A student in Kamakura but not a resident as his home town is still Go-Fuku. As a zealous up and coming smith I can certainly appreciate wanting to capture his whole story on one of my first blades. First sword smith from Go-Fuku? Making it big in the big smoke. But the date 1289 poses a problem. Norishige we are told in the Kotō Meizukushi Taizen was born in the 3rd year of the Shōō era (正応三年, 1290) in Gofuku-gō (御服郷 / 呉服郷), Nei district, Etchū Province. As such according to this book written in 1792 this is not possible. However, let's consider this. 1792 is some 500 years after the fact. As such this book would need to reference earlier books to give us this date. Making this book a 2nd or 3rd source book. And as such, whilst this book is great for reference we need to consider that this is not a contemporary account. The blade however is written by the hands of the man. It is as contemporary as you can get a sort of time machine - assuming it is not gimei, which most experts agree it is not. And so whilst this date does not make sense to his already being alive and making swords in 1289 perhaps it is telling us something else. Perhaps he is actually giving us his birthday? It is certainly the only blade with a month and a day on it. As such, is Norishige capturing the date of his birth and preserving it for history: Saeki Norishige, resident of Etchū was born in the 2nd year of Shōō 10th day of the 2nd month or the Gregorian Calendar, the 3rd of March 1289. Now if that is the case then that is one of the rarest things in the sword world. It would certainly be the only blade that I am aware of with a birthday on it to give us the exact date when a sword smith was born. And I realise this is a huge leap but if we assume he is recording his birthday then suddenly the other two blades dates also start to make sense. That we have November 1319 (30 years old) for the first blade above and then December 1329 (40 years old) for the second blade above. This means that these three blades are capturing life milestones. That is he is capturing the fact that he has completed a decade of his life (a milestone event back then and even today.) Which explains why he went out of his way to write down his full name, place of origin and date. A very rare thing for a Kamakura smith to put blade. But as an illiterate commoner from a backwater province who is proud of what he has achieve in his life - it makes sense. He is literally saying this is me a nobody from backwater Etchū made good and thus leaving his mark on the world so that he is never forgotten. It is a theory but to me it is one with legs and I like it. What do you guys think? Feel free to drop bombs. Going back to him not being literate; if he was not literate then he would have had to get someone to help him write out the kanji so that he could copy it onto the Tang. As a little fun excercise, I thought of who this might have been for each sword: If we assume the "Tanto in the Umetada Oshigata" was his first from 1309 (20 years old) then the person helping him write this would have perhaps been Shintogo Kunimitsu. For the 1319 blade (30 years old) it is very probable that it was either Yukimitsu or maybe even Gō Yoshihiro. For the 1329 blade (40 years old) it was likely to have been Gorō Nyudo Masamune or Ko-Nyudo Kunimitsu depending on when he came back to Etchū or maybe even Tametsugu, Kunifusa or Kunimune. Kind of amazing to think of the smiths Norishige shared his life with. An extra-ordinary time and an extra-ordinary smith. As an illiterate sword smith would you not want to make a sword that celebrate your life on a such a major milestone?

Just a heads up that this is not Edo period, please do not bid on it. Aoi Art Menpo

Only managed to get on now after rebooting the server. Seems that for some reason, the software is hammering the CPU useage up to 100%. After days of no issues, suddenly nothing loads again and CPU useage is up to max. I have now found a serious developer who will be doing the maintenance, looking into this issue, and also assisting with the update to the new software. he'll be working on the CPU issue now, and the software update likely end of the month. So please bear with me. We are now working on it, I have some quotes, and I am going ahead, so if the forum loads slowly, please know that we are doing something about it and at the end of this, I'll make sure we have a fast, reliaible service.

I know it may not be much extra, but I'll add lifetime Gold membership for the winner of the auction too. At $60/year, that may help someone a bit.

The one thing that I am constantly surprised at, is that people are surprised that exceptions happen. Where there are rules, there are people who will find ways around them. Attitudes can soften without a change in law. Sometimes someone calls in a favour. Sometimes there is money involved, sometimes no-one cares enough to be strict. Why do people assume all Gunto are now allowed when a few slip through the cracks? It was always going to happen. I'm in the gun industry for over 30 years now, and I can't count the number of times I have seen things happen that weren't supposed to happen. Sometimes it is because of lack of knowledge too. Because the Japanese have less access to Showato, i believe that there is more info on them in the West than in Japan. Many dealers may think that some Showato are forged and handmade enough to qualify as art. Some people at the relevant authorities may believe that forged and folded, but oil quenched is ok. Some may believe that occasionally Gendaito end up with Sho or Seki stamps, and give the owners the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it's just hasty decisions, sometimes carefully calculated ones. In short, this doesn't surprise me even slightly, and it is happening without a change in the laws. Just one of those things that we have to accept without changing our minds about the way these swords were manufactured

Having recently completed the sale of my own sword collection I discovered that life without swords isn’t so much fun especially as I really enjoy doing the above show. Such a great crowd of genuine people. Fortuitously I was unexpectedly given the opportunity to buy some lovely swords from two private collections in an interesting series of deals. Included were some really excellent Gendai-to in superb koshirae that are pretty scarce in the UK and I will be taking some of these plus a few other swords from the same collection to the Fair on 20th Sept. They say a picture speaks 1000 words, well I’m coming at it the other way to save me taking lots of poor images. Below you can see some of the description cards that I’ve prepared. I have not exaggerated anything but if you spot an innocent error please let me know via PM. I will only sell swords face to face to avoid misunderstandings so if something grabs you then let me know. I will happily meet somewhere for serious enquiries. If you already know me then give me a ring! I am not selling them here on the NMB but will make a donation(s) on all sales to “pay for this advert”🙂 Hope to see some of you as usual at the Fair. Best.C.

What a reminder of how ephemeral our lives are. Michael was an avid western collector, and yet no one here really knows he was, prior to his estate auctions. 30 years from now, the next generation will probably still be discussing the research of Markus and informal essays by Darcy, but most of us will be forgotten beyond our digital footprints, to be quoted without attribution by AI. I wonder what the reaction of a 29 year old Go Yoshihiro would be if we could go back 700 years and tell him a bunch of middle aged guys (and a few gals) were still studying, discussing, and coveting his works?

A little while back I decided to try translate the Kanchi-in-bon Mei-zukushi (観智院本銘尽) from 1423. No easy task but AI helped and as it was the earliest book on swords I was keen to go back in time and learn as close to the source as possible. To be honest most of it was just lists of names which did not inspire but it did have lineages and that was gold for me. As part of the research I found an booklet entitled Study of the Blacksmiths of Sagami published by Takuji Ogawa in 1939. In it Takuji argues that the modern story of the Sōshū-den is missing a pretty significant part of the Sōshū lineage narrative and he bases his argument off the Kanchi-in-bon Mei-zukushi (観智院本銘尽) 1423. Specifically he refers to the lineages in the Kanchi-in-bon Mei-zukushi: Lineage of the Sagami (Soshu) Swordsmiths 貞國 (Sadakuni) ─國弘 (Kunihiro) ─助真 (Sukezane) ─國光 (Kunimitsu) ┬國重 (Kunishige) ├國廣 (Kunihiro) ├ 行光 (Yukimitsu) └正宗 (Masamune) Note that name Sadakuni, he was an Ōshu smith, Ōshu being the name for Mutsu Province. Mutsu smiths (Emishi) were brought back to Kamakura after Minomoto no Yoritomo defeated the Fujiwara in the Battle of Ōshū in 1189 because their knowledge of sword smithing and making iron was considered very good - so much so that the Fujiwara (Japanese) fought with Emishi blades and the Minamoto considered the Emishi Swords a great prize from the battlefield. Then a few pages further the Mei-zukushi introduces this paragraph: "However, as for the Kamakura-period Shintōgo's grandson [smiths], their forging is exceptionally fine—comparable to the Oki-no-In and Kōrin styles..." And then the book follows this immediately with the Mutsu lineage: Lineage of Mutsu Province Swordsmiths Kunimune 國宗─ Kunimitsu 國光 ┬ Shindō Tarō (Kunishige) 進藤太郎 ├ Shindō Matashirō (Kunihiro) 進藤又四郎 Kokuan Bizen Shina ├ Daishinbō 大進房 ├ Yukimitsu 行光 └ Kunimitsu Shintō Lineage 國光 Notice in the first lineage has Masamune just below Yukimitsu and the second lineage it has a Kunimitsu' Lineage (grandson) in the his place? It is odd to have pretty much the same lineage twice in the book, one for Sagami and one for Mutsu. But they do appear to have some strong correlation. As such, aside from Masamune's genetic make up, the thing that we appear to be missing in our history of Sōshū is that they appear to have been a school with lineage going back to Ōshū or Emishi. Is this why this school "revolutionised" sword making? Basically, they were making their stronger swords like they always did... the Emishi way (not Yamato way) but now in a Japanese style, Tachi not Warabitetō (蕨手刀). Throw in some Bizen flair and we have the all new modern Sōshū blade. And guess what? The Emishi never signed their blades. Why because they were originally illiterate. They had an oral tradition not a written one. Not signing blades therefore became custom amongst Emishi smiths. Sōshū is the historic way of saying Sagami, but was this originally the Sagami Ōshu (SŌshu) school? Like we had the Uda school in Etchū? And we had the Mino Senjuin school. It certain fits. Apart from the earliest reference, the Kanchi-in-bon Mei-zukushi, the story of the Sōshū-den appears to have been wiped clean of any reference to Ōshū and the Emishi post Oei era. Now I have just stumbled upon this so it is pretty new (although the idea appears to be pretty old) but it appears I may need to learn a little more about Mutsu because it seems to be a massive black hole in the Japanese sword story and fills some seriously big gaps in the Sōshū-den narrative. Facinating stuff. As an aside, has anyone got a transcript or detailed photographs of the 1351 Ryūzōji-bon Mei-zukushi (龍造寺本銘尽)? I would love to know what it says about the Sōshū lineage - that is, does it repeat the Kanchi-in-bon Mei-zukushi word for word? Peace.

I would take the position that this is a genuine, legitimate tsuba. The quality may be comparable to Nagoya work, but I think it is nevertheless a rather mediocre piece from the late Edo period, and definitely not a modern reproduction. The file marks on the nakago and hitsu-ana also look natural to me. Even on more expensive pieces, these areas were not always polished completely. If you look closely at the actual workmanship, you can see that the nanako was made with a hand tool: there are many sharp sections between the individual “dots,” and the tool marks are clearly visible. With casting, all those fine, sharp details tend to become smoothed out. As for the gilding, for some reason everyone seems to think that it should be perfectly even and uniform, especially on simpler pieces. That is not necessarily the case. Applying gold amalgam with perfect precision and evenness is not easy to begin with, and during the heating/firing process it has a tendency to spread beyond the boundaries that were originally defined. This photo is revealing to me.

I was playing with a different light source on my Senjuin TH papered kodachi. Fujifilm XT2 Laowa Macro lens, 250W Metal Halide bulb. This sword was originally part of the Tsukamoto Sozan Museum collection and attributed to Go Yoshihiro.

Hi, This is a very unfortunate software bug indeed. I apologies for the confusion. Newly discovered items that were previously not found due to issues with the dealer sitemap have been firing this email for items that have been sold ages ago. The guard in place failed, and the result is this unfortunate spam. It's fixed now. Your inbox sanity is restored. Best, Hoshi

I'm not lucky in auctions. Never. However, I sometimes think 'you've got to be in it to win it' and I'll place a half hearted bid on something I like, only to see it inevitably develop into a bidding war that kicks me to the curb within seconds. Well, I've always wanted a tanto from WWII but every example I've seen has ranged from Chinese 'kamikaze' junk to beautiful Yasukuni tosho masterworks which were way past my budget. Anyhow, I spotted a very nice little piece on Yahoo a few days ago and kept an eye on it until its auction was due to end tonight. I was watching it go up in increments and waiting for the usual flurry of last minute bids when I decided to throw my hat in the ring. And then nothing else happened.😳 Long story short, mine was the last bid and I won it by going ¥500 higher than the last guy. I have no idea who the maker, Morita Sadayoshi, was but I'm a pretty happy chap at the moment!

It may have been that someone removed the special order / dedication inscription, and the loss of the nengo (if it was there) was consequential to the special order column removal. You do see that in gendaito ocassionally, more so with commissioned shinsakuto.

Hi Jason. From the seam lines halfway through the sukashi I have a strong suspicion your guard is a cast copy of an Owari original design - we would need to see the nakago-ana and seppa-dai of the tsuba to make a better judgement. [that means unmounting the tsuba] https://www.nihontocraft.com/Owari_tsuba_G.htm - I am not convinced this other example is not cast also, it has some rough spots on the inside of the rim [mimi] and there is a crack on the right near the open hitsu. http://www.nihontocraft.com/Owari_014222.jpg

For me this item is far more interesting than Jūyō or Tokubetsu Jūyō items. I've chatted this one with few people and of course my view is very difficult to grasp. This one is for me kind of item that I travel around Japan to see, holy grail as I travel to see ōdachi and naginata. Unfortunately this one went more than I would have been capable of investing, and I was not in buying position at this moment. However I managed to buy another monster naginata from Yahoo Auctions earlier this year, it is still in Japan as like Gerry said arranging the shipping for these is very difficult, it was too large for me to bring on my flight this summer. For me it is a dream coming true even if the item itself is not interesting to many. I have been tracking Yahoo Auctions somewhat weekly or every other week for maybe at least 6-7 years now. This year is probably the first time I manage to see a monster naginata on sale in there, and now this has happened two times this year. It is showing the rarity of these a bit for the average buyer, maybe people with close connections to dealers will have better access to these items but these are not kind of items that high quality dealers usually focus on. For the fun of it I took a look on Kamakura - Nanbokuchō naginata that have in my data that are over 70 cm blade length and in my current research found only 25 of them (there are most likely some more in my data and in items I have personally seen in Japan but as I am not 100% sure on their age I did not include them). I have so far seen 7 out of the 25, I have tried to see even more of them but they have not been on display when I have visited the shrines. Out of the 25 items 13 are designated as Jūyō Bunkazai, and out of the 25 items 15 currently reside in collections of shrines & temples.

I was already a fully paid up Soshu nut but having just received my *long overdue* copy of the book I now have a better understanding why these master-smiths are eulogized. Their unique relationships and the body of work this small group of men produced at a turbulent time in Japanese history, as well as the influence on other schools throughout the country, is truly fascinating. The book is so much more than just a collection of amazing photos of some spectacular swords, but a deep dive into the early foundational work of the Soshu-den tradition by the three masters from Bizen and Kyoto (primarily Sukezane and his adopted son Suketsuna, who would go on to found Kamakura Ichimonji), onto the core principals led by Shintogo Kunimitsu who established and refined the forging and heat treatment that characterizes the school and, finally a treatise on the short legacy of high quality swordmaking in Sagami following the fall of the bakufu. There are numerous historical oshigata, Hon'ami appraisals from the Edo period, and detailed photos of the authors collection all rendered in glorious high definition under the correct lighting. This truly is a seminal publication and arguably the best of its kind for any single gokaden that exists in English.

If the bids reach $1250… I will include a company grade blue/brown tassel, and a silk sword bag, both from my own collection. Could make a nice package or display for the military sword collectors! Bidding ends in just over a week on September 12th, at 5pm Pacific Standard Time, USA. All the best, -Sam

I thought I would start by sharing one of the kozuka from my collection. It is a Musashino-zu kozuka with NBTHK Hozon papers. The design shows the moon over autumn grasses, with shakudō nanako ground, high-relief carving, gold and silver iroe, and small silver dew drops on the grasses What interests me most is the attribution. I recently found a very similar Musashino kozuka published in Tōken Kodōgu Gekkan. The composition and treatment of the grasses, moon, and overall arrangement seem very close to mine. However, the published example was attributed to Nomura school (野村派), while my piece has been associated with the Kyō-kinkō (京金工) I find the published example described as den (伝) Nomura rather than simply Nomura. My understanding is that the den indicates some uncertainty in the attribution, so I do not take it as a firm identification of the school. Given how close the two pieces are, while mine was papered as Kyō-kinkō, I wonder whether this reflects a stylistic overlap between Nomura work and broader Kyō-kinkō One thought I had about the attribution is that the Nomura school itself was closely connected to the Gotō tradition. The first generation Nomura Masatoki is traditionally said to have studied under the Gotō mainline, although the sources disagree on exactly which master, and the school was sometimes called “Awa-Gotō (阿波後藤)” because of its strong Gotō-style workmanship Personally, I suspect the two may be closely related, possibly even by the same hand, but I would be very interested to hear how others read the attribution

A 43 cm Imari, tsuba decorated plate - sold for 12,600 yen - Spot the ten tsuba!

Very interesting discussion! What I would also like to do one day is researching the then perception of smith's names/signatures in a literal manner. It's just another layer of complexity that requires looking deep into local and religious contexts. I think that would shed some light into why to leave a blade unsigned sometimes.

Dear Hoshi, I think there is an interesting and potentially useful insight here, although I’m not sure I’m willing to follow the theory quite as far as you do. I agree that we probably underappreciate the economic function of mei. A signature was not simply an expression of pride or authorship. Names, titles, places and workshop identities had reputational value, and by the later periods it becomes difficult not to see something approaching branding in places such as Osafune. Looking at signature conventions through the economics of sword production could tell us quite a lot about how smiths and workshops functioned. Where I have difficulty is with the next step: that a place name and date were essentially marketing information telling a prospective customer, “Here is where you can find me, and as of this date I am still alive and taking orders.” That seems to assume a rather modern relationship between producer and consumer. Were Kamakura-period customers really encountering a Norishige, reading “Etchū,” and then traveling there to commission another one? Some people certainly traveled considerable distances in medieval Japan, but high-level sword production seems more likely to have operated through networks of patronage — warrior houses, temples, retainers, intermediaries and political relationships. The person in a position to commission a Norishige presumably did not need the nakago of somebody else’s sword to tell him where Norishige could be found. I think there is also an important distinction between branding and advertising. “Etchū Saeki Norishige” can assert identity, origin, reputation and perhaps workshop affiliation without functioning as the medieval equivalent of an address. Geographic names in Japanese signatures do not necessarily tell us where the maker could physically be found at the moment the inscription was cut. They can express origin, school identity, lineage or an established professional identity as well. I’m even less persuaded by the explanation for dates. A nengō could record completion, a particular commission, an auspicious occasion, a presentation or votive context, or simply conform to established workshop practice. “I was alive and accepting orders at this date” is certainly one possible interpretation, but what evidence allows us to privilege that explanation over the others? In many cases the person who commissioned the sword presumably already knew perfectly well that the smith was alive. There is another possibility that I think deserves considerably more weight: mei and nengō may also reflect workshop traditions and what amounted to internal identification and record-keeping conventions. Smiths and their workshops were surely conscious of individual makers, generations, succession, changes in names and titles, and different periods within a smith’s working life. In a workshop containing masters, sons, brothers, disciples and assistants — sometimes using related or inherited names — signatures could help distinguish who made what, while dates established when it was made. That information would remain useful long after the original transaction as swords passed between owners or remained within warrior or temple inventories. In other words, we shouldn’t assume that every piece of information on the nakago was directed outward toward attracting the next customer. Some of it may simply represent the workshop’s own conventions for identifying, differentiating and situating its products, as well as the smith’s perfectly natural awareness of his own work over time. The fact that nengō are so valuable today for distinguishing phases of a smith’s career, generations and changes in workmanship may not be merely an accidental benefit to modern students. The people making, ordering and handling these swords were surely aware of chronology too. The same problem arises with some of the proposed corollaries. Nijimei can be explained as evidence of a reputation sufficiently broad that geographic identification was unnecessary, but couldn’t one construct the opposite hypothesis just as easily? A sword intended to travel farther from its place of manufacture might require more identifying information, not less. Likewise, I don’t think ubu mumei can safely be equated with salaried or internally consumed production without considerably more evidence. Different schools and workshops may simply have had different signing traditions, just as they developed different conventions regarding nakago, yasurime, mei placement and other features. This is where I think the theory risks becoming difficult to falsify. Nagamei means the smith was advertising where to find him; nijimei means his reputation traveled far enough that he didn’t need to; mumei means the intended customer already knew who made it; a date means he was advertising that he was still alive; absence of a date means that information wasn’t necessary. If every possible signature convention can be accommodated by the model after the fact, we need some independent evidence before we can know whether the model is actually explaining the phenomenon. So, I wouldn’t dismiss the underlying idea at all. In fact, I think the strongest version of it is fascinating: mei should be studied as evidence for the economic and institutional organization of sword production, rather than merely as signatures. That potentially tells us something about workshop structure, patronage, reputation, geographic identity, succession and market reach. I’m just not convinced we can make the further leap from “mei had economic and reputational functions” to “nagamei and dates were essentially customer-acquisition tools.” And that makes me particularly cautious about using the theory to reject the Shōō 2 reading. If the reading is philologically, historically or oshigata-wise problematic, that’s one thing. But rejecting it because “Etchū” would have been an anti-signal while Norishige was supposedly working in Kamakura seems to require the economic model to be true before using the inscription as evidence that the model is true. There is a danger of circular reasoning there. It’s a very interesting hypothesis, though, and I think there is a way to test it. Take a substantial body of dated and geographically signed blades from smiths whose movements, patrons and working locations can be independently established from contemporary records, and then ask whether changes in their mei actually correlate with changes in location, patronage and intended market. If those patterns consistently line up, then there may be something much more substantial here than an elegant economic theory.

Having been involved with Tanegashima for over a quarter of a century, I was naturally drawn to anything connected to this relatively unknown (at the time) weapon. Many of you here will have depictions of them in one form or another, so it seemed like a good idea to start a new thread. This original woodblock print I found in London some years ago, two panels of a triptych by Kuniyoshi about the famous charge of Yamamoto Kansuke in 1561 at the Battle of Kawanakashima ("island in mid-river"), actually a series of five battles between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin, with various well-known happenings. It was the black-lacquered matchlock gun lying on the ground which caught my eye, among all the broken swords and spears etc., showing that by this relatively early timeline they were already part of the sengoku battlefield. Couple that with the blades and the armour, and my collecting fields are (mostly) covered! Photos follow A Detail B

濃州住藤原兼久作 – Living in Noshu, Fujiwara Kanehisa made. 百錬 – Well tempered 皇紀二千六百一年 – The 2601st year of the Imperial reign (1941)

From Sea to Sea : Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling Publication date 1900 Talk to every one you meet, if they show the least disposition to talk to you, and you will gather, as I have done, a host of stories that will be of use to you hereafter. Unfortunately, they are not all fit for publication. When I tore myself away from the distractions of the outer world, and was just sitting down to write seriously on the Future of Japan, there entered a fascinating man, with heaps of money, who had collected Indian and Japanese curios all his life, and was now come to this country to get some old books which his collection lacked. Can you imagine a more pleasant life than his wanderings over the earth, with untold special knowledge to back each signature of his cheque-book ? In five minutes he had carried me far away from the clattering, fidgety folk around, to a quiet world where men meditated for three weeks over a bronze, and scoured all Japan for a sword-guard designed by a great artist and — were horribly cheated in the end. 'Who is the best artist in Japan now ' I asked. 'He died in Tokio, last Friday, poor fellow, and there is no one to take his place. His name was K.., and as a general rule he could never be persuaded to work unless he was drunk. He did his best pictures when he was drunk.' 'Ému. Artists are never drunk.' 'Quite right. I'll show you a sword-guard that he designed. All the best artists out here do a lot of designing. K... used to fritter away his time on designs for old friends. Had he stuck to pictures he could have made twice as much. But he never turned out pot-boilers. When you go to Tokio, make it your business to get two little books of his called Drunken Sketches — pictures that he did when he was — ému. There is enough dash and go in them to fill half a dozen studios. An English artist studied under him for some time. But K...'s touch was not communicable, though he might have taught his pupil something about technique. Have you ever come across one of K...'s crows ? You could tell it anywhere. He could put all the wicked thoughts that ever came into the mind of a crow — and a crow is first cousin to the Devil — on a piece of paper six inches square, with a brush of Indian ink and two turns of his wrist. Look at the sword-guard I spoke of. How is that for feeling ?' On a circular piece of iron four inches in diameter and pierced by the pole for the tang of the blade, poor K..., who died last Friday, had sketched the figure of a coolie trying to fold up a cloth which was bellying to a merry breeze — not a cold wind, but a sportive summer gust. The coolie was enjoying the performance, and so was the cloth. It would all be folded up in another minute and the coolie would go on his way with a grin. This thing had K... conceived, and the faithful workman executed, with the lightest touches of the graver, to the end that it might lie in a collector's cabinet in London. 'Wah ! wah !' I said, and returned it reverently. 'It would kill a man who could do that to live after his touch had gone. Well for him he died — but I wish I had seen him.' The "K" is likely Kawanabe Kyosai [Kyosai Suiga] who composed "Drunken Sketches" and designed several tsuba

From ChatGPT, so would need to be confirmed: M. A. Quigley was Michael A. Quigley (also appearing as Michael J. Quigley or simply Mike Quigley), a major American collector and organizer in the postwar Japanese-sword community, based in San Antonio, Texas. He was not merely a casual collector whose name happens to appear on old papers: the evidence places him among the important American nihontō collectors of the 1960s–2000s. His role in the early American nihontō community The strongest contemporary evidence is in the archives of the Japanese Sword Society of the United States (JSS/US). In 1974, Quigley served as Manager of Shinsa for TOKEN KAI-1974, held in Newport Beach. This was only the second formal Japanese sword shinsa held in the United States, following the 1972 Dallas event. Quigley himself wrote the retrospective account, “Reflections on a Shinsa,” published by JSS/US. That is quite significant. Organizing an American shinsa in 1974 meant dealing directly with the small circle of Japanese experts and senior American collectors who were establishing serious nihontō study in the United States. This was the generation of American collecting associated with figures such as John Yumoto, Walter Compton, Robert Benson, Albert Yamanaka, Robert Caldwell, and others. Quigley was also sufficiently connected to the Japanese collecting establishment that he attended NBTHK activities in Japan. A 1976 JSS/US account of the 25th NBTHK meeting notes that only six Americans attended and specifically names R. B. Caldwell and Mike Quigley among them. He was a serious fittings scholar as well Quigley apparently developed particular expertise in Jakushi tsuba. The 1976 JSS/US Bulletin contained his article: “Jakushi Tsuba: An American Collector’s View” and the society subsequently retained the photographs used for the article in its library. This wasn’t forgotten. A later specialist dealer description of a Jakushi tsuba with 1976 NBTHK papers explicitly describes Michael Quigley as a “renowned collector of Jakushi tsuba.” That suggests he was not simply accumulating swords indiscriminately; at least some areas of his collection were systematic study collections. The scale of his collection was remarkable His collection eventually became enormous. When Lark Mason/iGavel dispersed a large portion of it in 2023, the auction house described Quigley as a lifelong Japanese-art enthusiast and sword collector whose collection contained more than 1,000 objects, accumulated over more than 60 years. He was also described as instrumental in organizing the San Antonio Sword Show. The September–October 2023 sale alone contained more than 400 lots and included substantial swords and fittings. Among the highlighted pieces were: an Echizen Sukehiro katana dated 1666, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, estimated $25,000–35,000; Jūyō gold menuki by Hagiya Katsuhira; a handachi daishō with aogai lacquer saya and shakudō nanako fittings; numerous other swords, fittings, militaria and Japanese decorative arts. The auction archive itself survives: Michael Quigley Collection — iGavel auction archive⁠

Yes, thanks @Hoshi for the sincere reply and quick resolution. It definitely reads clearly now as a glitch as opposed to some sort of nefarious intention, so I completely recant my statements and this post's heading that may have cast aspersions based on my initial reading of your intentions. I really appreciate your efforts. What you have achieved with that site is truly remarkable.

I could not help myself and found these two items up for auction - they are now mine, due to no one else putting in a counter bid! Total cost was 3172 yen - or about $20 USD. Not too expensive for a couple of nice silk "dressing gowns" [Summer anyway!] A couple of others still going! https://www.jauce.com/auction/u1238960477 https://cargain.sylluvea.sbs/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=171244

The attribution is Yamato Daijo Masanori The kinpun-mei was purportedly by Hon'ami Koson

NihontoWatch is live! Thank you for all the feedback and support along the way. Hoshi

They can’t build an LLM with their own records because there are too many contradictions and errors in their attributions. Anyone building an LLM for tsuba identification would have to start from scratch to train it with any degree of efficacy. The current system of classification has too many inherent problems (such as not enough categories, and some major voids of information, as well as built in misinformation), so it needs some significant overhauling before building an LLM around the NBTHK’s records. Garbage in = Garbage out “We” would need to build a group of contributors who are each specialists in specific areas rather than a bunch of generalists making generalizations. Ideally, a minimum of three specialists for each tsuba “category” (if you can even find that many specialists for each!). Those specialists would need to reach a consensus, and be more able to potentially parse out some “subcategories”, maybe identify previously unidentified smiths based on workmanship, and maybe even outline a timeline of progression within a tsuba category. You need people with depth of knowledge and understanding, not generalists who are indoctrinated and obligated to follow “what has already been said in the past”. i.e. A fresh perspective with an analytical mindset and a vast data set vs Perpetuating and reinforcing a flawed system based on narrow sets of classification criteria. Lofty ideals and goals I know, but doing it with anything less will just build a deficient AI that will only be good at identifying the obvious and horribly inept at identifying anything other than the norm (hmmm…kind of like the NBTHK as it is now)

On Tametsugu specifically it’s interesting because he has very few signed pieces, and also zero swords at TJ. But when a “Tametsugu” is deemed good enough it gets an “upgrade” to some other Soshu smith at TJ. What that’s essentially done is concretize Tametsugu as a lower tier Soshu smith (which according to Fujishiro and other rankings he is) without allowing his stuff to just naturally pass into TJ as a Tametsugu. Instead he almost has this fate where the NBTHK has said without saying “Tametsugu cannot go TJ” because if it is that good, it must be some other smith. I don’t personally like this view when we’re dealing with 99% mumei blades because were no longer classifying a smith based on his traits but rather a tier system using names as placeholders rather than numbers with 0% certainty who actually made the sword other than it was made by a Soshu master.

Hi all, I would like to share something interesting and rather unique: a scroll painting attributed to Tokugawa Nariaki, daimyō of the Mito Domain and father of the last shōgun. Hakogaki: Master Ishikawa Shichirōbei Noriyasu comes from a family whose hereditary profession is falconry, and he is extraordinarily accomplished in this art. Because Lord Takeo [Tokugawa Nariaki] favored hawks and held hawk-matching displays, he routinely summoned Noriyasu to serve him. On one such occasion, His Lordship personally painted this single sheet [of silk] with his own hand and bestowed it upon him. This took place back in the 6th year of Bunsei [1823]. Recently, because the master [Noriyasu] wished to mount it as a hanging scroll to display upon the wall as a family treasure, I have recorded these circumstances here as he requested. Date: An auspicious morning in the 2nd month, 12th year of Bunsei, Year of the Ox [1829] Written by: Yoshida Noriyo Origami: From the brush of Mito Keizan [Tokugawa Nariaki] Painting of a Hawk; color on silk. The above work is an authentic original Without the slightest doubt; full of vivid life/vitality The overall composition (kamae) is seen to be of high elegance/superior quality. Written by Hiraki Kiyomitsu in a Spring month (Year of the Snake) Enjoy! From the catalogue: All the seals and different names of Nariaki:

Sam, for that awesome upgrade, I’ll up my bid to $1,250.00 US

Another of this wakizashi showing the attractive jitetsu

I think if we zoom in too closely on every detail we will always see a fault - the overall appeal of the piece is more important than the molecular makeup of the surface! Stand back a bit or you won't see the forest for the bark at the end of your nose. even the sharpest blade in the world is still serrated. Perfect nanako does not exist If it did it would not be handmade by any human.

This is a blindingly glorious riposte... BaZZa.

This is normal middle of the road work for the Edo period. The Nanako are not perfect, which is normal, perfect Nanako is something you only see at the upper end and requires significant skill. It has clearly been mounted and shows appropriate levels of wear for it's age. It has a true Fukurin, which can be seen where it joins at the Mimi and where it is damaged. There is no evidence of casting at all.

You guys need to stop feaking people out. It is a legitiamate Tsuba, Edo period. It is a carved design with applied gilding. Gilding in not perfect, sometimes it is worn away and sometimes it goes outside of the lines. I would say clear Mino influence with this one.

敏秀 – Toshihide 昭和十九年一月 – Showa 19th year (1944), 1st month

Bid $1,000.00 UDS.

Video interview with the talented Sandro Furzi, who covered my attendance at the award ceremony for the NBTHK 2026 contest. You can turn on captions with automated translation if you can't understand Italian.

I think this is a cast replica, and it's best not to dwell too much on errant or missing strokes. If you look at authenticated (papered) works of Nobuyoshi, you can see how his true signature should look. The meanings of the characters themselves aren't so important. Sometimes artists pick the characters for the sound, and sometimes they pick them for the meaning, and sometimes they might be given to them by a mentor or relative. Characters might even be picked because of some superstitious reason (eg. the number of strokes in the kanji character is deemed lucky). I wouldn't rely too much on AI to parse these kinds of historical topics. Sometimes its good, but sometimes it just leads you down pointless dead ends, as its done here.

Would this style of boshi be considered a good representation of the fluidity of hakikake, kaen and nie kuzure described by Markus?

Hi Khalid, In the case of iron tsuba and fittings, see the below method, taken from Jim Gilbert's Cleaning Iron Tsuba - 1/26/01 'The simplest and safest first step is to wash your tsuba in mild soap and water. Use hand soap, not detergent or cleanser. Over years of careless handling a tsuba can pick up quite a bit of plain old dirt. After you’ve washed the piece, be sure to dry it thoroughly. Once it’s relatively clean, take a careful look at the piece in good light - sunlight if possible. You’ll probably see plenty of red rust. You may also see various surface coatings of modern to antique origin – wax, shoe polish, paint, old lacquer, etc. If you are not sure what you’re looking at, show the tsuba to someone familiar with old guards. My preference is to leave old lacquer in place, unless it is associated with serious corrosion. Dealing with crud that won’t come off with soap and water can require a couple of different approaches. The most straightforward method for an iron guard is to boil it in distilled water for 20 minutes or so. This will remove most films without altering the metal or removing any lacquer that may be present. I don’t recommend adding any chemical agents to the water. The more aggressive the cleaning solution the greater the risk of permanently damaging the guard. Boiling water is good enough. When the tsuba comes out of the water, the good news is that all of the oils and waxes that were hiding rust will be gone. The bad news is that you are likely to be looking at a very ugly, dry, rusty plate at this point. You may wish that you had just left things as they were, and frankly, if you’re not willing to go through with the very time consuming and finger-tiring next step of rust removal, you should have left well enough alone. Rust removal is a mechanical process of dealing with two slightly different iron oxides. The idea is to rub off the active red corrosion (anhydrous ferric oxide) while leaving behind the slightly harder protective black magnetite patina. I have tried bone, antler, ivory, bamboo, etc., and all are good for certain aspects of the job. I find that ivory (old piano keys are a good source) works best. If it isn’t available, get a section of dense bone. The typical beef “soup bone” is good. Get one that has all of the grease cooked out and use a hammer and chisel (wear your safety glasses) to break the bone up into a number of variously shaped and sized chunks. You’ll find that one of the assortment of sharp and dull surfaces and angles should do the job. Whatever the tool, you're looking for something harder than the red rust and softer than the patina. Never use steel, iron, glass, sandpaper, or anything else harder than the patina. DO NOT try chemical rust removers - they will remove the patina and damage the iron. In fact don't try chemical treatments of any type - including boiling in tea or anything of the sort. Also, don't put your tsuba in a fire despite what Robinson's “Arts of the Japanese Sword” says! Some people will use chogi oil at the start of the process to loosen the red rust. I haven’t found this method to be much help. It certainly won’t harm the iron, but it is fairly tricky to keep the oil from soaking into the rust inside any sukashi openings and darkening it to an unnatural color. The surest method is to just take your bone, antler or ivory and gently scrape away at the red rust. Periodically wipe off the red dust to see how you're doing (a damp cloth removes the dust better than a dry one). It’s usually best to work slowly in a small area. Quickly rubbing over a large area is ineffective. Avoid the temptation to find a faster way, because if you do, you will also have found a way to take the patina off. I can't stress this enough. In your inevitable attempt to get the job done faster, you will be tempted to use brass or copper, but it's much too easy to wind up damaging the patina this way. Even if you're successful (this time), you'll have to find a way to get the ugly brass residue off. Lots of patience and tired fingers is the only way. Depending on how severe your rust is, in hours to weeks you will eventually remove the red and just leave the nice black. Go gently and slowly and check your work constantly. Too much scrubbing even with a soft tool will eventually remove the patina. If you think you've got the rust under control, take your tsuba out in the sunlight and have another look. Most artificial lighting hides red rust somewhat, but sunlight will reveal all. You will probably find that there is still more rust there, but don’t get carried away with trying to remove every trace. Don't over do your cleaning. The idea is not to make a 500-year-old tsuba look new. Older tsuba can have quite a lot of oxide build up that is best left alone. The idea is to remove any active corrosion and restore the beauty of the surface, not to alter fundamentally alter it. An over cleaned tsuba is always worse than an under cleaned one. If you overdo it and damage the patina, you're in trouble. You won't get it back any time soon. There are people who repatinate iron tsuba, but the only one in the US that does good work is no longer taking orders. Many people who claim to do restoration will destroy your guard. Unfortunately, even the best repatination cannot recreate the original aged surface. Also, NEVER clean the inside of the sukashi. Cleaning the inner walls of the sukashi is like polishing the nakago of a sword – a bad idea. However, do remember to clean the rim as well as the web of the plate. Once you have the rust down to the point that you're satisfied, get out a piece of cotton cloth and just rub the tsuba. As you keep this up you'll find that the color will darken and the surface will take on a soft luster. The cloth won't do much to remove red rust, so if you find that you missed some rust, go back to more boning. Just go slowly. Once the tsuba is clean, you may want to carry it in your pocket for a few weeks in addition to rubbing it with the cloth. The idea is not to polish the guard to the point that it shines. Also, avoid rubbing the guard on carpeting or synthetics that can leave a greasy finish. I prefer to stay away from oil on a finished guard. The oily sheen is not as attractive as the natural finish and it will tend to attract dust and lint over time. It will eventually dry out, and can then actually promote a new layer of rust under the dry oil film. By the way, a coat of oil is often used as a “quick fix” to make red rust look dark. This may seem like an improvement in the short term, but really just winds up making the tsuba look like oily dirt. Also, a coating of black shoe polish is a frequently encountered “magic patina.” Watch out for these dirty tricks when buying tsuba. There's no substitute for spending a lot of time with bone and cloth to get a rusty tsuba into shape. Once you've conquered rust, store your guard in one of the wood boxes made for tsuba. Compared to the cost of all of the work you've just done, the box is cheap. After a fresh sword polish, who would leave that blade out on the shelf, or wrapped up in paper, rather than pay for a shirasaya? Be aware that most of the tsuba boxes you will come across have the center post attached by two very sharp nails coming up from the bottom of the box. Transporting tsuba in this type of box will eventually cause the center post to come loose from the weight of the tsuba moving around on it. Once that happens, the tsuba will rattle around on top of those little nails and scratch up the seppa dai. Always transport tsuba in cloth bags. Periodically take your tsuba out and give it some light rubbing with the cloth. Try to keep your fingers off, since you risk starting more rust this way. When I was discussing the initial cleaning, I mentioned that there are a couple of alternatives to consider. In the case of a guard already in good condition, free of rust, etc., but simply covered in wax, it is usually possible to safely remove the wax by rubbing with some isopropyl alcohol. Additionally, you will occasionally come across a guard that has been coated in polyurethane or some other tough, modern finish. For these, there is a commercial stripper called Strypeeze that will not harm the iron or patina. It could harm you, though, so wear gloves and work with plenty of ventilation and/or a solvent respirator. Other problems that you can encounter include fire scale, a depatinated plate, cracks and breaks or other serious damage. Unfortunately, these will require professional care. Experimenting with home treatments will generally result in further damage to the plate.'