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The Sacramento Japanese Sword Club has been given permission to re-present and upload Albert Yamanaka's Nihonto Newsletters online, which they are doing one newsletter at a time as Leon Kapp finds the time to work on the next Newsletter. It is an incredible effort and credit needs to be given where credit is due. I have managed to track down links to all the available Newsletters and will post every new one as they appear online. In the mean time I encourage everyone who downloads these newsletters to follow Sacramento Japanese Sword Club on Facebook and drop them a line thanking them for this excellent work on providing access to this invaluable resource. Albert Yamanaka's Nihonto Newsletters Volume 1 Yamanaka V1 NL01 Yamanaka V1 NL02 Yamanaka V1 NL03 Yamanaka V1 NL04 Yamanaka V1 NL05 Yamanaka V1 NL06 Yamanaka V1 NL07 Yamanaka V1 NL08 Yamanaka V1 NL09 Yamanaka V1 NL10 Yamanaka V1 NL11 Yamanaka V1 NL12 Yamanaka V1 NL12 Extras Volume 2 Yamanaka V2 NL01 Yamanaka V2 NL02 Yamanaka V2 NL03 Yamanaka V2 NL04 Yamanaka V2 NL05 Yamanaka V2 NL06 Yamanaka V2 NL07 Yamanaka V2 NL08 Yamanaka V2 NL09 Yamanaka V2 NL10 Yamanaka V2 NL11 Yamanaka V2 NL12 Volume 3 Yamanaka V3 NL01 Yamanaka V3 NL02 Yamanaka V3 NL03 Yamanaka V3 NL04 Yamanaka V3 NL05 Yamanaka V3 NL06 Yamanaka V3 NL07 Yamanaka V3 NL08 Yamanaka V3 NL09 Yamanaka V3 NL10 Yamanaka V3 NL11 & NL12

Hi all, Since I had some time for photos today, I thought I’d share this one as well. A mitokoromono by Sokujo, the 8th-generation mainline Goto. According to the origami, the nanako ground was made by Teijo, the 9th generation. Enjoy!

庚午秋 畫於 静修齋 Painted in the autumn 1930 at Studio of Quiet Cultivation 林肇基 Lin Zhao Ji(Painter) Lin Zhaoji Former Deputy Director, Cultural and Educational Affairs Office of the Military Control Commission of PRC. Lin Zhaoji was a native of Gutian County. He was born in 1899 (the 25th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty) in Shanyang Village, Gutian. After the establishment of the Military Control Commission in June 1949, he served as Deputy Director of its Cultural and Educational Affairs Office. He passed away from illness in Beijing in 1962 at the age of 63.

Hello, After some research in the Wakayama I found that most of the Hirata production was in shakudo. However 8th and 9th generation works also in shibuichi and made butterfly among other. So maybe ?! Sharing additionnal photos, just for the pleasure

So a couple of weeks ago I purchased the book "Japanese Swords Sōshū Masterpieces" by Dmitry Pechalov from the Soshu-Den Museum. It has been around for a little while (since 2019) so I guess this is a post-post-post release review of the book. Let me just start off by saying... WOW!!! This is how a Sword book should be presented! The book is NOT small - in fact at 40.5cm x 30cm (16"x11.8") it is actually rather big, but let me be the first to say it - when it comes to Nihonto photography... BIG IS BEAUTIFUL! And whilst the pictures are exactly what you want in a sword photo; Massive Hasselblad super high definition images in all their glory, this is not a coffee table book. This book is serious, showing years of research and dedication to the cause, I promise you will learn a lot more than you already know and it will probably answer a lot of your questions or concerns that you had. Everyone in the Nihonto space knows, the Soshu-Den is the cream of the crop, their swords are beautiful, they are rare and generally very, very expensive - especially for the unfathomable heights of Tokubetsu Juyo and above. As such these blades are super hard to get a proper look at in person and in fact in most cases you never will. This book however gives you an insider's view of some of the best of Soshu-Den blades ever made. Every Master and sword has a significant write up that gives me massive Darcy Brockbank'esq vibes in it's detail; from the story of the Master, to the story of the blade and it's associated provenance (Not surprising really as Darcy helped and worked with Dmitry on the book for over 5 years - he even wrote the forward. Mark Sesko was also engaged for his expertise - so this book was put together by a stellar cast of Nihonto specialists.) Before I continue, let's be very clear, whilst this book is a book about the Soshu-Den, the stars of the show are the 20 swords that come from one very special private collection - and for this all I can say is... thank you. This is like being invited to a very detailed, all access private tour of an exclusive private sword club - the kind you did not know existed but when you do, you become desperate to somehow get in. To be able to see Soshu Master Blades including several at Tokubetsu Juyo in all their Massive High Definition Glory (yes these words are all capitalised) is just special. No, I will say this book is extra-ordinary. I am a massive advocate for the creation of Catalogue Raisonné for each Great Nihonto Master. But let's be clear - if/when this happens then this book is the benchmark that these catalogues will need to meet. This is how the photos will need to be presented, this is how the stories will need to be told. For the art form that is Nihonto and it's associated crafts there is just no other way around it, if we are to truly appreciate what has been created by these Great Smiths. Because let's be honest for us mere mortals this will be the closest we will ever get to one of these Japanese Treasures. So we might as well be allowed to indulge vicariously through the photographs of these beautiful slithers of steel. So I am going to say it - this is a book that you absolutely have to own as a sword collector. It is not cheap but it is so, so worth every penny you spend on it. It should also be noted that after six year this book is not available second hand and this in itself speaks volumes about this book. Once you own it you don't want to give it away or sell it. It will almost immediately become a treasure that takes pride of place in your collection. Mark my words here - a standard has been set here and this is the standard we will judge all future Nihonto books by. As such it is a very important book for Nihonto and therefore in my opinion it is an instant classic. I will read it often and cherish it but I may have to get some white gloves as I genuinely want to look after and preserve this copy of the book as best as I can. Due to it being a watershed book, and that it was so beautifully put together, I suspect it will soon enough become a collectors item as soon as it sells out. I believe @Brian said the same thing about it in his review 6/7 years ago (that one was for the Gen Zs.) In all honesty I am not sure how many Dmitry has left and I do not know if he will ever reprint this book, so... If you don't already own one - grab a copy today before you miss out - I promise you will not be sorry. I purchased mine through @Grey Doffin at Japanese Swords, Books and Tsuba but please note that the books are all shipped by Dmitry who is based in Europe and as such there will be an extra shipping fee. You can find out more about the book here: https://www.nihonto-museum.com/book Please Note: I am not paid by Dmitry or Grey and I have no affiliation with Dmitry or Grey other than I just bought the book through/ from them. Neither of them were aware of this review before I published it (I do not even know Dmitry's profile name on this site.) As such this is my own opinion and I do not benefit from this opinion other than the hope I can help get some good stuff get into hands of the real enthusiasts. As such I hope this review helps. Cheers.

Let them eat cake! [chocolate for desert!]

Alas, This video is very difficult to watch. Beyond the factual errors, it is representative of the lack of museum budgets for qualified curators and European decline in museum scholarship on Arms & Armor. This is not to blame the presenter. His effort is earnest, and I am sympathetic to his predicament in the society he is embedded in, it is a survival strategy. He is but a symptom of a deeper societal issue. This is a general trend, museums follow the elite taste and ideology of their donors and subsidizing government bodies. Sadly, the BM has been marred in a battle against the Woke Mind Virus and its denunciation of colonial history that renders everything it owns, hires, and does, suspect. The presenter is a product of this tension. It is an unfortunate situation, but this too will come to pass in the broader arc of history when necessity calls back for common sense. Best, Hoshi

I like them both — each set has its own character. And yes, according to the origami, it’s a joint work made at the same time. Sokujo and Teijo were cousins. Sokujo lived a very short life and passed away at the age of 31. His son Renjo was four at the time, so although he was the intended successor, uncle Teijo stepped in to take over the mainline, raising and training Renjo until he came of age. Renjo, assumed the position at 25, becoming the 11th-generation head.

Just to balance the discourse a bit. Interesting how many inaccuracies can be presented even here on this single thread webpage and discussion about the 2004 BM exhibition which Victor curated, about what the BM owns and the condition of the swords etc etc. I shall leave it to someone with more time and energy to debunk these notions. And the person in the video …. Well, the curator is different. Just for information to all those who have been moaning and complaining…. The BM is actually one of the more accommodating state-owned museums where a person can request to study in hand their blades. I have personally done it 3-4 times and know of fellow members who do it regularly. As I have studied their top 15 or so blades several times, the urge is lesser, but they have fairly good Shinto/Shinshinto stuff too. There is a procedure to follow but it works and they are open-minded about it and facilitate personal study. So, with a bit of pre-planning and foresight, all of you could have submitted a request, planned your trip/visit accordingly and studied some of the treasures in hand. Go try that in the Tokyo National or other museums.

秋山飛瀑 – Autumn mountains and waterfall This term is not a proper noun for a specific waterfall, but a general name of a painting motif. 庚午秋畫 – Painted in the autumn of the year of Kanoe-Uma (1990, 1930, 1870, 1810, or older?) 於静修齋林肇基 This might express the place and name of the painter. I am not sure.

Huge thanks for the Sacramento Japanese Sword Club in doing this, and for you Brett to posting it up here. I remember I used to have the Yamanaka books years ago as the red cover variants. I try to avoid the Sōshū timeline as I cannot really figure it out and to me it is not that important. There is just so much contrasting information it is difficult to know what to believe. For example if Kunimitsu died at that time there are still 1315, 1316, 1319, 1320, 1322 and 1324 dated blades. For me it is also very difficult to grasp that Shintōgo Kunimitsu pretty much always signed and sometimes dated blades, yet for Yukimitsu and Masamune it is quite rare and for Sadamune I am not sure if experts accept the extremely few signed and dated swords by him as legitimate. Then Hiromitsu and Akihiro and onwards the blades are pretty much always signed again. The sword in question might be Kotegiri Gō? It is in collection of Kurokawa Research Institute Some info on it can be found here> https://www.tsuruginoya.net/stories/kotegirigou/ Sometimes it is important how things are written out as meaning can be understood in various ways. To my understanding there is a one single Ōhara Sanemori blade that has the character 勝 on it, likewise there is one single signed item by Norishige that has the character. To me drawing connection to these to smiths and two items 150+ years apart would feel like extremely optimistic. Now if the character would appear on the majority of Ōhara Sanemori blades I might feel differently but as it is on a single blade by both smiths I would think it has a different meaning and does not connect the smiths. I do think it is good and interesting that theories are researched and suggested but sometimes it can be difficult to find reference examples to support the theories as this is especially problematic with Sōshū due to lack of signed works by some smiths.

Norishige is an interesting one... The Kiami-Bon Mei-Zukishi of 1351 states that Norishige was the student of 1. Shintogō Kunimitsu from 1308 to 1311 (aged 18-21). That was only 3 years which is not long enough to become a smith under normal circumstances. What it does not state is that it was only three years because Shintogō Kunimitsu got ill and shortly afterwards died. Meaning that Norishige needed a new Sensei and so we are told he moved to Toshiro Yukimitsu's forge to continue his study under him in 1311. As we know Yukimitsu is said to be the father of Goro Nyūdō Masamune and the most senior student of Shintōgo Kunimitsu, so this move makes logical sense in the context of the relationship with Shintogo Kunimitsu. FYI, Kunimitsu died a few months after Norishige left in 1312 - he was only 62. This move is captured in the Koto Mei-Zukishi Taizen who expands on Norishige's studies and states that Norishige studied for a further 15 years (18 years in total) and had a total of 3 more sensei after Shintōgo Kunimitsu. They read like the proverbial whose who of Soshu smiths: Sensei 2:⁠ ⁠Toshiro Yukimitsu (Time spent: 1311-1321) He spent 10 years with Yukimitsu and as such Yukimitsu can be considered Norishige's foundation smith (although he was just teaching him what Shintogō Kunimtisu taught him... Soshu Style. *As a side note, Yukimitsu was actually older than Shintōgo Kunimitsu by two years. That his first dated blade appears in 1319 makes sense in this context. "Saeki Norishige made this." Sensei 3:⁠ ⁠Gō Yoshihiro (Time Spent: 1321-1324) He then spent 3 years studying under Gō. Many assumed Norshige taught Gō but it appears the opposite was true. This is while we know Gō was 9 years younger than Norishige and died 1 year after Norishige left his forge in 1325. Norishige was clearly seeking knowledge from the best regardless of age. Sensei 4:⁠ ⁠Masamune (Time Spent: 1324-1326) After Gō, Norishige finally went to go study under Masamune and spent a further 2 years studying under Masamune - Gō died the following year in 1325. Norishige according to the Koto Mei-Zukishi Taizen literally learnt under the greatest smiths ever - I am not sure there is any other smith that can claim such an incredible lineage of sensei. If anyone was a product of Sagami/Soshu, it was Norishige. Unreal! It also shows the amount of thought and experimentation that was going on during this time - Norishige's blades are renowned for showing all his learnings and experimentations (some great and some not so much) and you can definitely more than any other smith track his progress and development through his blades. He was a keen learner and experimenter and wanted to learn under as many smiths as possible to find out what worked and what did not in persuit of the perfect blade. This included studying under his junior by age, Gō Yoshihiro, just like his Sensei Yukimitsu studied under a younger Shintogō Kunimitsu. It is therefore appropriate that the Etchu School of smiths can rightly be called the Gō School. It also shows how close and familiar all these Soshu smiths really where with each other. To explain the period I can only really compare it to the early days of Silicon Valley, everyone came in from everywhere share ideas, learn, experiment and build a brand new way of doing things. Because everyone was willing to share, everyone literally knew everyone! This is why this period really was the Golden Age. I also want to share a little side story here about Gō which is kind of fun in terms of chronology. From the above we know that Norshige studied under Gō in 1321, but what makes this date even more interesting is that it gives us an end date for Gō's studies with Masamune. That is Gō started his studies under Masamune at the age of 21 according to both the Kokon Mei-zukishi Taizen and Oseki Sho, this means if we do the math then Gō only studied for a total of two years or so, from 1319-1321, under Masamune - as he was aged 21 in 1319. This means this kid somehow managed to download everything Masamune was teaching in just 2 years (creating blades that equalled his master) and then he went on to teach Norishige at just 23 years of age. This kid was a trip. Yup - mind truly blown. I also have some ideas as to what encouraged Masamune to start teaching as I believe Gō was one of his first students, but I will leave that for another day. What is not answered is how this boy genius already possessed enough smithing skills and gravitas to impress Masamune enough in the first place to allow him to study with him at age 21 (I am still researching this - was there a Yamato link, which specific blades suggest the link? Much to learn.) What we do know is that Mount Tateyama, in whose foothills Gō grew up and had his forge (Matsukura District) is one of the three Sacred Mountains of Japan and as such it is said to be the home of heaven and the underworld, so perhaps Gō on one of his hikes up the mountain did a deal with the devil? Would not be the first. Also explains why he died at age 27 like every other legend. I think he may actually be the first to join the 27 club? (I jest by the way - or do I?) Regardless, if the stories are to be believed then, the word prodigy in the ilk of Mozart or Da Vinci is deserving of this kid from Etchu and he definitely deserves to be one of the Tenka-Sansaku. 🤯 Here is a image of a cross section of one of Gō's Tokubetsu Juyo Masterpieces where the Hamon looks remarkably like the reflection of Mount Tate in the Mikuriga-ike Pond. If I was to guess, this kid Gō clearly loved this mountain - he is said to have climbed it to get it's iron sands for his swords from the streams as close to the source as possible. That the quality of his blades have lasted 700 years, some as fresh as the day when they left the forge, speaks volumes to the secret knowledge he had managed to collect in his short life.

By the way, the idea of using a peg to hold in a cord like that is neat, but I haven’t seen any evidence that the holes in the pinch flaps were used for that purpose. It’s an idea, and a small pin could serve to stop the cord blowing away at ignition, but cords burn constantly and need to be moved forward with every shot. A locking pin for carrying then, to prevent misplacement or loss of one’s match cord? Many serpentines do not even have holes there. There is also a theory that they were to allow air to permeate the cord, helping to keep it alight. Or were they simply decorative? Anyway just something to think about, as the answer is not yet clear. We’ve had this discussion before. The answer must be out there somewhere.

Hi Gerry, The sword is signed Bishu Osafune Suke X (not sure of the kanji; the blade has been shortened a bit). It is dated Taiei Ni Nen Hachi Gatsu (August of 1522). It has a ray skin saya (same' saya); after the skin is glued to the wood saya it is lacquered and polished down to what you see today. The tsuba appears to be a meld of Nanban and traditional Japanese made. Grey

Hi Robert, I couldn't agree more. My earlier comment was not criticism of the focus. The factual errors that we have vehemently denounced are the product of a particular paradigm of historical analysis that focuses on power dynamics, deconstructionism, and post-modern revisionism. In this paradigm, convergence towards historical accuracy is subordinated to the greater goal of pushing novel narratives to enact society change. It is this inversion of teleology that I take as responsible for the fall of Western scholarship in our field. Or, simply put: when the purpose of scholarship shifts from "finding out what was true" to "changing what people believe," accuracy becomes optional and errors become inevitable. Hope this helps to clarify my position, Hoshi

It's not Chinese. The document looks really weird. With a few exceptions (like the title 鑑定書), the "characters" are either completely unreadable or sort of resemble real Hanzi/Kanji, but not getting them quite right. I suspect it's AI-generated slop.

@Bugyotsuji The NBSK are an organization that focuses on promoting modern swordsmithing, and offer certifications for newly-made blades that would otherwise not qualify for NBTHK documentation (both as a way of boosting visibility for the smiths under their umbrella, and helping to combat gimei targeting contemporary smiths). They also run an annual competition similar to the NBTHK's competition, and many smiths choose to enter both of them. https://nbsk-jp.org/english/ Here are the results of last year's competition: https://nbsk-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/15th_kekka_e_02.pdf

Dear Aaron. Welcome to NMB. You have done nothing wrong I assure you, it is simply that getting you any further forward is almost impossible. There are between forty and fifty smiths recorded signing Yoshikuni with these two kanji and while most of them can be discounted because of the age of your sword there are few indicators that might lead to an attribution. Add to this the possibility that this might be a spurious signature, called gimei, a very common thing especially with the names of good makers. However I think it unlikely that this would be the case with a two kanji mei like yours, after all why not go the whole way and sign the full mei if you want to deceive? To quote from a 2013 post by Gabriel, 'The second smith or smiths, Onizuka Yoshikuni (YOS 275-279, not clear which of these is one smith or multiple), is much closer in terms of the handwriting style, but close inspection yields several possible differences in chisel marks and angles. What is more, Onizuka Yoshikuni smith(s) allegedly signed with at least Onizuka Yoshikuni, not just "Yoshikuni" on its own. Based on these two points, I'm not certain one could connect your blade to this series of smiths based on the mei alone.' I am sure that others will add opinions, it would help to have some good photographs of the blade and its workings. Whatever the outcome it is a very attractive blade and I do hope you enjoy it. Your only certain option is to get the blade to a properly accredited shinsa team, sometimes these are arranged to coincide with Japanese sword shows in the US. All the best.

Well we were warned. https://Japan-forward.com/is-the-british-museum-rewriting-samurai-history/

I only lasted about 4 mins into the video. Embarrassing to think this the best they can do.

Hello HB, There are a few mistakes in your interpretation of the text: In your upper pic you identified (shodai) Shintogo Kunimitsu correctly. The Kanji 行 just means "leading to" and is not related to a name here. (shodai) Shintogo Kunimitsu was followed by Masamune, (nidai) Kunimitsu, Kunihiro and Kunishige (not Kuniyasu). In the lower pic the name is Norimune not Norishige, but the name is outside of the Sagami section anyway. Please note the text is structured despite of its chaotic appearance. The section about Sagami begins with "Sagami no Kuni" followed by the names of Sadakuni and Kunihiro. Next column is about (Kamakura Ichimonji) Sukezane followed by (shodai) Kunimitsu and four followers. Since this spreading of the column left some space, the author used it to fill in "Mutsu no Kuni" and Gassan smiths. For better understanding I copied the left section of sheet 2 again. I'm afraid you will find no absolution for your Tanto with the Kunimitsu mei here. Even if the text is as old as it is said, there is no guarantee the author was profoundly informed. He may just noted hearsay like many others. Anyway, the text is some fun to research. reinhard

Wanted to share an Aikuchi koshirae, entrusted to me by a very good friend. I've held it in my collection a number of months now, so thought it was about time I put together a short post on the piece. The koshirae once housed a Sunobi-Tanto. It must have been a blade of spectacular quality, to be paired with such a koshirae. Visually, the fittings themselves these are quite interesting. Each piece of the set is colourfuly adorned with crabs and water plants, set against a soft background of Nanakoji. Upon closer inspection, I suspect these "waterplants" to be wild ginger, or hollyhock; as stylistically they are similar to the 'cloves' seen on certain Kamon. I thought that this may have been an intentional choice; perhaps to celebrate family ties/allegences of the original owner who commissioned the piece. I feel that these being in *gold* of all things is no coincidence. Now onto the saya... I'm especially fond of this style of urushi; I particularly enjoy the inclusions of aogai and flaxseed/rice husks within the lacquer- it gives the piece a very "three-dimensional" feel. It must take a great degree of skill to achieve such a finish. I do not believe the kozuka itself is original to the set, yet it's subject loosely follows the "aquatic theme" The kozuka shows good workmanship. We see "Omori-esque" beads of silver set into the base, which is a nice touch. The tsuka itself is neatly bound in Jabari maki, black silk over white samegawa. Several sizable 'emperor-nodes' are visible. The selection of samegawa is a telling sign of the overall quality. Again, we see the nautical/riverside theme continuing into the Menuki, with a singular crab peeking through the wrap.

Norishige was also said to be the preferred smith of the Moimoi which makes sense if you are the best smith in the Province. I would love to go back in time to have tapped Albert Yamanaka's mind regarding all of this to get his thoughts or Homna Sensei's or even Darcy's. Man so much knowledge and thinking now lost to time. Of course much of what was not written down is because there is no historic proof and therefore it remains in the realm of theory or speculation but it would have been such a lovely conversation to have had just to hear their thoughts on historical events specific to the the various smiths. Best we can do is read what they left behind (these newsletters being a major asset) and hopefully we uncover a small nugget that helps us understand more. If for nothing else, this is why I love this forum - it is a treasure trove of knowledge and thought.

Dear all! I do not know how to classify this piece: it could be an investment (the total weight is around 217g which means that we are talking about a significant amount of gold) or a nice addition to your collection. The quality of the workmanship is fantastic, it is ubu (no hitsu-ana) and undamaged. Dimensions: Height: 8.08cm Width: 7.64cm Thickness: 0.55cm (becoming slightly thinner towards the Seppa-dai and Mimi) Nakago-ana (Height): 2.74cm Nakago-ana (Width max): 0.79cm Asking price: 1,400.00 EUR plus shipping costs Shipping costs: Germany EUR 13.99 EU EUR 28.99 Worldwide EUR 54.99 Best Chris

越後守藤原國儔 – Echigo no kami Fujiwara Kunitomo 但シ一部折返銘 – However, it is partially an orikaeshi-mei. 生國　日向飫肥 – Home country, Hyuga Obi 山城國堀川住 – Living in Horikawa of Yamashiro province 信濃守國廣門人 – Pupil of Shinano no kami Kunihiro 時代 - Era 元和頃 – Around Gen’na (1615-1624) 刃長　貮尺参寸余有之 – Blade length is a little longer than 2-shaku 3-sun. 平成五年極月吉祥日　謹研磨之 – Polished this on an auspicious day of December 1993. 研師　眞津仁彰 – Polisher Manatsu Hitoaki

I think Kiipu is speaking of blades that we have seen the tang and machi alignment. Rare to see on the Type 95. For your records, 857 belonged to a friend of mine and has a 東 stamp on the tang. Serial number 4 is my lowest recorded. Serial number 71 is the lowest that I've personally observed photos of; and it has the cutout for habaki. But we have not seen the tang or the ha-machi/mune-machi for this blade. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/22385-type-95-nco-copper-hilt/ All the best, -Sam

Inspection Marks　檢印　Ken’in The following inspection marks have been observed on the Type 95 Military Sword. They can be found stamped on most of the major parts. Arsenal Final Inspection Marks 小 = Supervisory Section of Kokura Army Arsenal 小倉陸軍造兵廠監督課. 東 = Supervisory Section of Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal 東京第一陸軍造兵廠監督課. 名 = Supervisory Section of Nagoya Army Arsenal 名古屋陸軍造兵廠監督課. 関 = Seki Supervisory Section of Nagoya Army Arsenal 名古屋陸軍造兵廠関監督班. 仁 = Supervisory Section of Jinsen Army Arsenal 仁川陸軍造兵廠監督課. Factory Inspection Marks ホ = 1st Factory of Kokura Arsenal 小倉陸軍造兵廠第一製造所. キ = 2nd Factory of Tōkyō 1st Arsenal 東京第一陸軍造兵廠第二製造所. ヘ = Heijō Factory of Jinsen Army Arsenal 仁川陸軍造兵廠平城製造所. 社／社 = Old/New characters. Each civilian/private factory under army supervision 各民間工場. Complementary Inspection Marks Can be used by any factory. M = Interim or partial inspection mark. X = Failed inspection mark. Extraordinary Inspection Marks Can be used by any factory. ◯ = Adopted based upon special incident specifications. ㊁ = Adopted as a clause 2 item. This means it was downgraded but still usable.

Hi Gerry, Yes, it is a good example of a type 95 NCO sword.

Here’s a long, actually very long shot, pun included. Neck on line. In 韮山 Nirayama there are the remains of Japan’s first reverberatory furnace where they once made cannon. ‘Barrel made at Nira’ could be got from these two kanji 韮張, assuming of course that the reading is not mistaken, which it could well be. (35% confidence rating) Anyway, just to get the ball rolling, but expecting to get shot down (pun included) at any moment. As they say: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

庒内住 = resident of Shōnai 行年六十八翁 = old man of 68 years 岡田雅哉 (花押) = Okada Masaya (kaō)

Here’s what I believe is an Akasaka tsuba, from my collection with this feature. Thanks for creating this thread, I’ve always been curious about it. -Sam

This is an absolute gold mine Brett! Thank you so much for putting up these links! Just looking through the first issue I found a wonderful analogy worthy of keeping for posterity: "It has been our experience, that the less a collector knows about swords, the more he wants swords with big names. This is quite often the type of collector who refuses to study swords. There is a term in Japan for such people, a tengu. A tengu is an imaginary being with a very long nose like Cyrano de Bergerac, and in Japanese legends a tengu is very strong willed, although being capable of being outwitted or conquered. The term tengu in this case is applied to collectors who know very little but profess to know everything."

I just wanted to add some clarity to the above statement. I found this clarification by Honma Junji regarding Kunimitsu and his tachi to be enlightening to highlight what Shintogo Kunimitsu's "inferior tachi" really means.

Kashira "Key chains" https://www.jauce.com/auction/e1218491451 I think the owls expression is resigned shock! [Can you imagine the damage caused by a set of keys rubbing against these!] Something like these saucers has been seen before: https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1189151587

I must say I am very single minded person when it comes to museums. I do focus only on weapons and little bit on armor and skip majority of amazing items in general. I do think the British Museum might have many European swords that would be to my liking even more than their Japanese items. In overall I do think the exhibition will be nice and if you live in UK or visit London during that time I might recommend visiting. I believe you can see the items in the exhibition grouped in here: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/AUTH242520 for some reason it keeps loading and loading for me so I have had to search the swords 1 by 1 from their database. It is very unfortunate how few swords of their collection have pictures online (I would assume they would be the best items) and some do have only the koshirae pictured. I cannot understand why in this modern day and age museums around the world do not document their items to their online databases. That blows my mind as they do have personnel in departments and you can take decent pictures with any 10 year old phone. The factual errors and the information about items is not told on Youtube video are some things that I do dislike a lot. It may not be on the curator but rather on the format itself as it is very fast paced. As I do think it is easy to get the feeling from the video that for example the naginata is presented as Kamakura period item while it actually is from early-mid Edo period depending on the generation of Shigetaka. Likewise it is totally absurd that this koshirae and sword is being presented as Kamakura work: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1958-0730-56-a_1 Even the museum page clearly states that the blade is suriage Kanesada and for the Koshirae individual makers are identified and the koshirae as whole has been classified as Meiji period work. I do believe there are nice items in the exhibition like this Taikei Naotane wakizashi for example: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1952-1028-19-a-d This daishō with Yoshioka Ichimonji and Yasumitsu blades: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1952-1028-16-a-d , https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1952-1028-17-a-e This might be the Sukesada that Piers mentioned, unfortunately no blade pictures: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1958-0730-3-a-d

I've got the printed book, but the link to the PDF is much appreciated. One of those exhibitions and publications that will become rarer and rarer, I'm afraid. Thanks!

Top picture 寒山拾得　　Kanzan-Jittoku 鉄　 Tetsu 目貫　 Menuki 壱組 Hito-kumi 濱野政随作 Hamano Shōzui-saku

I am sorry to say it but this is a Chinese fake Ian Brooks

General In 1944 it was realized that the decisive battle of the mainland of Japan was soon to be fought. There was a call for complete national armament and because of the shortage of weapons the study and development of simple weapons began. The purpose was to arm everyone in Japan both military and civilian, with some type of fighting weapon. Research was started in the summer of 1944 and was nearly completed by the summer of 1945. WRF Simple Weapons. Pistol Included among the simple weapons was a pistol. An example of which can be seen below. RARE Japanese Civilian Defense Pistol

The backgrounds are all very similar, in horizon and vegetation, almost standardized. A missing scroll makes sense. Is the figure on the left carrying a peach, for Momo Sennin? For the missing panel, another Sennin is likely.

大和守口口作 - Yamato kami blank blank saku. Looking down the list of smiths with the title "Yamato Kami" in Sesko's Compendium to try to fill in the blanks, a plausible option might be Ujinaga (氏命) based on the shapes I imagine I'm seeing but it's a bit of a guess. Do you have a better photo Peter or can you do anything to highlight the strokes in these kanji to make them a little clearer?

Blade　刀身　Tōshin Blade Notes Blade Note 1: The early blades had the notches for the habaki aligned. This is the traditional style used on Japanese swords. The lowest observed blade is serial number 857 and the highest is 6320. In addition, there was only one hole for a grommet screw toward the rear of the tang. Blade Note 2: About the time when the handle was changed to aluminium, offset notches for the habaki were introduced. The lowest observed blade is serial number 7249. The lower blade notch engages with a built-up dam inside the lower part of the habaki. Also, a hole was added behind the habaki for a brass or steel mekugi. Blade Note 3: The nakago [tang] can be found either marked or unmarked. Occasionally arsenal symbols or company logos are seen. Serial number 6320 has a Kokura Arsenal symbol, while serial 209247 has a Seki Tōken KK logo. The most common marking encountered are army inspection marks. The following army inspection marks have been noted on the tang: 東, キ, ホ, 名, 関, M. Blade Note 4: Some of the early Type 95s were used by officers and have kanji numbers chiseled into the lower tang. Blade Serial # The Kokura serial number is read with the blade edge down while Nagoya & Jinsen Arsenal is read blade edge up. Some Jinsens have the first digit overstamped with a 3. The overstamp can be faint or partial, making the first digit hard to read. Blade Inspection Marks The early Suya made swords did not have a visible blade inspection mark by the serial number. Instead, it was stamped on the tang and thus covered by the hilt. This occurs early on in two distinct blocks of serial numbers. Kokura & Nagoya used a final inspection mark, either before or after the serial number. On Kokura, it comes after the serial number, while on Nagoya it comes before. In the Nagoya two hundred thousand range, the final inspection mark is occasionally stamped behind the serial number. Jinsen used the Heijō Factory inspection mark. In addition, Jinsen sometimes used an extraordinary inspection mark that will appear either before or after the Heijō Factory inspection mark. The individual inspection marks can be seen in the “Inspection Marks” section above. Blade Fullers Blade will be either fullered or unfullered. The original design was for fullered blades; but, late in the war some arsenals and civilian companies omitted the fuller.

Hi Gerry The first ivory….the woodcutter. What you have here is a late Meiji period sectional elephant ivory okimono. The okimono that emerged during mid Meiji are amongst the finest ivory carvings ever created. They can be astonishing works carved from a solid block. The demand for these grew rapidly and to satisfy that demand the ingenious Japanese started to produce similar looking but lower quality works using assorted offcuts of ivory that were worked and cunningly pegged together with expertly concealed joints. They were produced in large numbers by workshops that employed a variety of skills. Different carvers would produce things like the heads, hands and feet whilst lesser talent would carve the various torso components. This was obviously a much cheaper method than using the hugely expensive solid blocks cut from substantial tusks. It was also much quicker due to many people working in collaboration. Your woodcutter is such piece. Don’t know if you have ever looked closely but the head (in this case too big for the body) is separate, the arms are separate joined at the shoulders, the forearms are separate joined where they insert into the robes. The upper torso is separate to the lower joined just above the sash, the legs will be separate etc etc These “lookalikes” are worth only a small fraction of their higher quality monoblock predecessors and of course with current ivory laws etc they are as you say, difficult to sell. Date wise yours is somewhere in the 1880-1910 range. I have had many of these spread across my restoration bench over the years when the glue gives way and they fall apart! Out of interest here is an example of a similar subject from Bonhams but of a much higher quality and value…. I hope I have not offended or disappointed you. All the best Colin

Melting temperature of iron is 1.538°C, cast iron can be melted as low as 1.150°C.

Hi Chris, The blade has 関 stamp which is for SEKI = 名古屋陸軍造兵廠関監督班 = Seki Supervisory Unit of Nagoya Army Arsenal. Your sword was likely made around June/July of 1944. No doubt in my mind that it's 100% genuine. Great looking example of the Pattern#5 (or Variation#8) Type 95 Gunto. -Sam (Also, that's a great book )

Wakizashi attributed to the second generation Omi no kami Fujiwara Tsuguhira.

This is a great resource—thanks to all involved! For those who prefer a book, the Northern California Japanese Sword Club has volume 1 in a reorganized edition: Book on Lulu

Very good study of the Japanese military machine in general. I found one reference to swords (sabre), noting they were made at Tokyo Arsenal. No other details, unfortunately. John C.

The tachi in the video is by Ko-Bizen Yoshikane, it is from Jūyō 23: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1992-0523-1 in my opinion this is the most interesting item at the British Museum. They also have Aoe Sueyuki that passed Jūyō 26: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_2002-0508-1 And tachi by Kageyasu: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1984-0723-1 Unfortunately those three tachi are pretty much the only items I find interesting in whole collection of The British Museum from what pictures I can see online. This is the naginata in the video by Shigetaka: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_JA-66 I would think it is their best naginata but it is just an average item. I do believe they do have several hundred swords as they are listed in the online database but majority of them are just not interesting at all to me personally. They have few nice swords that will be featured in this 2026 exhibition. Of course I might be overly critical about the items but I don't think they have better stuff hidden in the warehouse, I do think their several of their best items are featured in this 2026 display.