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Hi all, This is the first of what decided will be a semi-regular newsletter where I get to address issues, give current news, and generally make a few points. Apologies, but these will be mandatory reading as they will contain info and issues than need addressing. I promise to make them infrequent and informative if possible. Here are a few points I need to emphasize I am still seeing people replying to the notification emails they get when someone sends them a pm. In other words, you get a forum email saying "you have a private message from someone..please respond via the pm system" and then they hit reply and reply to the email. Folks, the recipient will NEVER get your reply. Email addresses are private here, so you can't email someone or reply to a notification. Go into your pm inbox and reply to them there. You CAN edit your posts for a certain time. I don't know why we get people posting, and then immediately replying to their post to correct something. Go to your post and click the 3 dots top right, and click edit. Then correct your post or spelling or layout or whatever and click save, bottom right. Layouts. Oh my goodness. When you attach pictures, they will automatically insert themselves at the bottom of your post. Please don't click "insert into post" unless you want the picture placed where the cursor is or specifically placed between sentences. Otherwise just click post. What we are seeing is that people type a sentence and leave the cursor in a random place. They then upload attachments and click "insert into post" which puts the image somewhere random at the cursor and has the text all over the place, or wrapping around the image. If you want to insert the picture somewhere, hit return after the sentence. THEN insert the pic. It will appear on the next line at least. And again...refer to the point above...if you see your layout is messed up, click edit. Go to the end of the sentence, hit return. This will fix the picture placement by adding a line down. Looks neater for everyone. Don't be lazy! Proof read your posts after placing them, and fix things that need fixing. Image sizing. There are file upload restrictions. Images don't have to be huge to be clear. But if you are uploading directly from your phone, they probably are. Find a free online image resizer. There are plenty. Resize down to less than 300kb...your image will be plenty big. No need for images that are 3 megs big. Also...please watch what format your phone uses. Don't upload Apple .HEIC files. Google how to take pics in regular jpeg. It's not difficult. If the uploader says your file is too big..it IS. Don't give up, this is 2023. Google image resizers, scale it down...upload again. Find a 10 year old to explain. They are good at this. Folks, this is not Facebook. And I am very glad about that. And unfortunately the reality is that everyone's opinion is NOT equal. That's life. If you are a beginner and you post a reply that says "X is definitely Y" then there will be other novices that take that as fact. Your statement does NOT hold as much water as the 40 year student of Nihonto that replies after you. So please bear that in mind when you make statements. Please remember to clarify it's a (novice) opinion. And consider that sometimes the person you are arguing with is 80 years old and knows a lot. It's funny to see people advising advanced tsuba collectors of 30 years what they have, when they are experts in the subject. Expect to be put in your place. Undoing the false info that is stated as fact takes time and energy and muddies the water. I'm not saying don't post opinions or challenge theories, I'm saying be careful how you do it. We have youngsters and ladies on the forum. Please watch the language and off-colour jokes. I'm as bad as the next guy, but I'd like this place to be a step above the usual bawdy bar. Let's all pretend we are more sophisticated than we are? Gold memberships: These greatly help the forum. Your $30 or $60 really helps to maintain this place, and allows everyone to get free info and to continue doing what we do. Please consider a membership. It's not a lot of money, and comes with decent benefits. You can find the options here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/subscriptions/ Your support really is hugely appreciated. There are donations links at the top for people who wish to contribute via either Paypal or credit card. You guys rock! If you need any help donating or buying a subscription, just pm me. And if you are a Gold Member, please consider renewing when it expires. Newcomers: At the top of the forum is a FAQ section. Please check it out. It will be of help. To the right is a section that will assist people to translate things. At least give a try before you ask for help. We all started knowing nothing. Its a great way to make progress. There is also a ton of info in the 'Nihonto Info' section. Browse! Those people in charge of societies dealing with Nihonto or related: I am considering offering private areas where these societies can allow their members to communicate or share info etc, that will only be available to their member list. Please contact me if you have any interest in having a private section where you can share info or discuss society business and can have your own moderators etc. These can be done in various ways, from password protection to only having certain people access it. The software here is set up for that and there are various advanced ways to have "clubs" Please guys...support our dealers. Most of them are here because they can be generally trusted, otherwise they would have been called out. Also, if you list something for sale, and mark it sold, it is nice if you would mention if you sold it here or to a member, or somewhere else. Just helps us gauge how far we reach. Same...if you buy something from an overseas dealer, mention you are a member here and heard about them here, and ask if they have a NMB discount. Something I intended to investigate further. I am attending the San Fran Sword Show for the first time ever, in August. Will have a table on behalf of a local collector. It would be great to meet as many of you as possible. Maybe arrange a dinner or gathering. I am really looking forward to it. If you are going, please post here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/44379-san-francisco-sword-show I will also be in New York for 3 days around the 9th...so if anyone is near Manhattan and wants to meet up, please let me know. First vacation in over 10 years. I'm putting a lot into this, and hoping to make it both a successful trip for that collector, and also a bit of a much needed vacation for myself and Nicky who is coming with. With the above in mind, and considering our local currency in South Africa is approaching toilet paper status, I am shamelessly asking anyone who is willing to contribute a few bucks towards making this trip a success, to please use the link in my signature, or use this one: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/japaneseswords if you are willing to assist with any expenses. Yes...I am really embarrassed to ask, but I want people to know that these funds will be used for the trip and not the forum expenses, for complete openness. Even 5 or 6 days free time is expensive on an SA budget. I really hate to ask, but asking is what I am doing. Anything is appreciated. I am also wondering if anyone would like to donate any items such as tsuba or fittings or similar that don't take up much space, that can be sold at the show and the funds used for the annual forum fundraising. This would be similar to the old days of a raffle, but instead they will be available at the SF Show. Please message me in private if you would consider this. Items can be shipped to a location in SF anytime from now, and held until the show. Happy to list the donors here with huge thanks. Please consider any items of reasonable value that would be worthwhile for NMB fundraising. I think we are going to need another mod or 2 to assist with this place. I hope John is doing ok, but there is a lot of work for Jean. I think I will appoint a mod or 2 that only handles their own specialty section. Like someone for the military section, someone for Katchu (is it possible to find someone impartial there??) and the translate section needs someone. There are obvious choices in each category, but need to check they are willing. It's a thankless job. Lastly (for now) I want to thank everyone here for their participation, patience (with me) and for all the help, support, information, uploads, kind words and everything else that we see here. Can't do any of this without you and there are a LOT of you that deserve far more than a simple thanks. Oneday I'll work through the list and properly thank you all. Remember that this is an online forum. It's all pixels on a screen. Don't let people stress you out. Treat people with respect, even if you disagree with them. Allow them their opinions. Use the report feature if something is grossly wrong. Let myself or the mods handle it. Let's keep on keeping on. - Brian -

A long term seller here....always making private offers to just about every newcommer who posts a sword here. Does MANY private deals over the years..always has plenty of items on sale. Posts SEVENTY tsuba for sale today. Not just one bulk pic....38 replies with pics of ALL of them over 2 pages. This combined with the 30+ other items already on offer. So when I hide the tsuba post and politely mention that maybe a Gold Membership would be appropriate for someone listing over 100 items here and who has never really supported the forum.... I get told that since none of the items sold, and that hosting fees over there in Europe are so cheap...it is implied that I am being greedy asking for at least some support? OVER 1000 Pm's going out regularly from this account. A second account already registered under a different name, already sending out hundreds of pm's. A fake name. A competing Nihonto forum in the works.... NO. I refuse to allow people to take advantage of this place and the people that participate here. From now on, people who take advantage and refuse to contribute....gone. And I WILL start to charge for abusing this place if it continues to be a drag on my finances. There is no reason I shouldn't gain some small benefit from the hours I spend here! Anyone who thinks I'm greedy for suggesting monetary support for what amounts to easy info and access to thousands of collectors and customers....you are welcome to try doing this yourself. Thank you to that German member who decided that listing over 100 items is not worth $60 a year. You're either very selfish, or a shit dealer. Either way, finish off your deals. Sorry for the outburst folks. But if I'm going to have to deal with stress like this, there has to be an upside. /rant

I'm proud to announce that the tsuba i sent for 2023 NBTHK contest for newly made tsuba got accepted and ranked 7th Nyusen (入選七席). Despite not being an high rank, to me, an amateur italian tsubashi with no teacher that got serious in making tsuba only few years ago, is a huge victory. My tsuba will be shown in the New Sword Exhibition in NBTHK museum, so if you'll have the chance to see it there, i'll be happy to hear it from you. This result encurages me to keep working hard to improve myself and to aim to higher ranks next years. Manuel Coden 古伝

Today I drove down to Kamakura to visit my friend Robert Hughes (well, being one of those jaded, elitist nihontō pricks, I don’t have any real friends, but Bob is the next best thing). After some hearty lunch next to a beautifully maintained Japanese garden we strolled to the Hongakuji Temple (本覚寺) of the Nichiren sect (日蓮宗). Ashikaga Mochiuji (足利持氏) built, and then donated, this temple to the priest Nisshutsu (日出) on the site where Nichiren stayed at after returning from his exile to Sado (佐渡島); the temple houses some of the ashes of Nichiren. A stone monument stands near the main temple in honor of Okazaki Gorō Masamune (岡崎五郎正宗). The story goes that when Okazaki Gorō, still a boy, came to Kamakura, Nichiren had already taken up residence in the Ebisudō (夷堂) Hall. Gorō 's father brought him to Nichiren to learn his teachings, and in return Nichiren gave the boy a new name, Masamune - which implies the rightness of the teachings of Nichiren himself. Nearby is a prayer column dedicated to Masamune, dating from the Muromachi period and finally there are the gravestones of Masamune and his son Sadamune; they date from the Nambokuchō period, and all inscriptions are eroded. To be fair, there are (yet) no hard facts or documents to support all this, only circumstantial evidence. Further research is needed to corroborate all of this. *** See, Bob, you censuring me for taking photos while you explained all this to me was totally uncalled for – I actually *can* multitask! Oh, and if I got something wrong, it’s only because you didn’t explain it correctly.

This was just posted by Andrew Ickeringill ( @Andrew Ickeringill ) on Facebook, and I thought it was worth posting here, and pinning for the future. Andrew is a FULLY trained traditional polisher and one of the most qualified to make these statements. Before bringing up the subject on this forum, and risking a storm of fire, please read this and take it to heart. Amateur sword polishers… I know you probably won’t listen, but I’ll try anyway. Recently, I’ve been seeing more and more rubbish from amateur polishers on the internet, it’s not a new problem, but with social media being what it is, amateurs have been given a platform where they can prosper. It’s beyond frustrating, it’s infuriating, and it's working directly against what I'm striving for, the preservation of Nihonto. I’ve had to correct the damage caused by amateur polishers many times, and the damage is always severe. Correcting these hack-jobs takes a lot of work, and it means removing more steel than would’ve otherwise been necessary if the blade had previously gone to a traditionally-trained togishi. A traditional apprenticeship in togi takes years to complete for a reason, THERE’S A LOT TO LEARN! It means giving up everything else to spend your time in servitude to Nihonto. My apprenticeship was 12 hours a day / 7 days a week / for over 6 years, and even my spare time (what little I had) was usually spent studying nihonto. But if you want to be a togishi, this is the way it must be, you have to go all in. Through arrogance or ignorance or both, amateur polishers have completely forgone this necessary training. Some of them may have attended seminars in Japan, or visited a togishi for a few days… but this obviously doesn’t equate to traditional training. And for many amateurs, the bulk of their training consists of reading books and watching youtube videos of swords being ruined without a clue. Unfortunately, these videos receive plenty of misguided encouragement from those who don’t know any better… “wow, so shiny!”. Amateurs will often argue… “this sword isn’t worth sending to a pro, should we just leave it to rust?”… but how would THEY know? They haven’t been trained in kantei, they have no idea if a sword is worth a professional restoration or not. A cold chill passes up my spine every time I think about this, how many great swords have been ruined by amateurs? I know I’ve already seen a few in my time. If you’re an amateur polisher reading this, let me give you a tip… this job is not for you. This isn’t something that should be attempted by anyone but a traditionally trained togishi, and if you haven’t realised this fact by now, then you need to develop more respect for Nihonto and the craftsmen who have worked their butts off to complete the proper training. Please stop scraping the life away from these works of art, you’re doing far more damage than repair… this job is not for you!

In the past, I have avoided specifically mentioning people to give thanks to, for the past year's help. I know it isn't thanksgiving, but here goes anyways. But I think it's time I mention a few people specifically, and send out a huge thanks for their help in the past. I KNOW I am going to miss quite a few people, and for that I am deeply sorry. There are many of you that we owe a huge thanks to, for either contributing funds to keep the forum going (Some of you so generous it amazes me) or for helping with info or translations or research or whatever. So even though I am forgetting many, I want to send out a HUGE forum thanks to the following members among others: Our moderators @Jean and @John A Stuart who have always been there for us for many, many years @SteveM without whose translation assistance we would all be in trouble. You sir, are the backbone of the Translation Section and by extension, the entire forum. Our wonderful Japanese members @Nobody @Bugyotsuji and @k morita who are invaluable to this forum and we owe you 3 a HUGE thanks. @Ray Singer who takes more time out to assist people with info and translations, than sell here. No wonder you have the reputation you do sir. Other dealers like @Grey Doffin @Mark @Ed etc who spend time educating people and assisting with shows or advice etc etc Our resident expert researcher and archiver and just all round nice guy, @Jussi Ekholm without whom, we would have a huge gap in our knowledge @Rich S who we owe a HUGE thanks for the start of this place, as well as the invaluable Japanese Sword Index The entire group from the Military Sword Section who have taken it upon themselves to compile more info on military Japanese swords here, than anywhere else. There is a staggering amount of info on models, serials, smiths, types and factories than published in one place anywhere. The way you guys co-operate to share info and compile it into articles or firm research is amazing. I am not going to mention specific names here, but ALL of you...and you guys know who you are. Absolutely fantastic! The members who write articles and share them freely for the benefit of the community. Here I have to single out @mecox @paulb @Bruce Pennington @zanilu @george trotter @GRC and others Our "vintage" members who stuck with us, giving advice and putting us in our place, even when the pressure took its toll. @Stephen @Ken-Hawaii @b.hennick @Bazza and others. You guys are furniture here....don't stray too far. As I mentioned, I am going to feel terrible when I realize who I missed. But I'm sure you guys know how valued you all are. So are ALL of the members. But sometime in the future I'd like to find a way to reward some of the names above. So to all of you, and those I missed, have a wonderful Festive Season and wishing you all a happy, healthy, prosperous and fantastic New Year. Brian

I have a dream to add one Naginata to my collection for a long time In the end, I succeeded and I think it's quite a nice piece So I share just for the pleasure of the eyes of nihonto fans Hizen Shodai Masahiro Mei: Hizen no Kuni Kawachi Daijō Fujiwara Masahiro Kanbun yonen nigatsu kichijitsu (February 1664) Nagasa: 40.8 cm

Darcy grew up in Windsor, Canada. He was one of 3 brothers. When younger, he worked in an automotive plant there. He would go onto McGill in Montreal to study Computer Science. He would start his own company and sell it to INTUIT during the Dot.com era. He bought a red Ferrari thereafter to impress the girls, but he rarely drove it. He preferred his dirtbikes, for which the local police gave him hell. He’d give them hell back. I’d visit him in Montreal. Generally, he was interested in the science of finely made things. Be it Scottish whisky, the chemical composition of rare gemstones, or nihonto, we would stay up late talking. When I went to Scotland, I’d bring him back some good stuff not available in the USA back then. He helped me design the wedding ring for my wife. We set it with a diamond he owned and I believe he was keeping for his own marriage. There was a pretty long haired brunette girl for him back then, but it didn’t work out. One of the many random memories I have is that he would do things like get a bunch of sleeping bags and give them to the homeless on the coldest nights in Montreal. We’d be friends for 20 years. We would meet up every few years and have a meal together, starting up again as if we had just seen each other last week. In recent years, life took us further apart- but I will miss the guy who could brutally argue statistics with me while we made hamburgers on a flame grill at 2 am. Curran

This is my recent acquisition. I really love this tanto. So, let me share its beauty here. Made and curved by Gassan Sadakazu 1st, for the order from Takahashi Sakuye in 1907. Ref. Sakuye Takahashi - Wikipedia Blade length: 25.4 cm Horimono: Kurikara and Gomabashi

Darcy Brockbank: A Tribute “The captain of his soul” By Robert Hughes Ted Tenold, Darcy’s close friend and longtime business associate had the unenviable task of sharing this tragedy with our community. Thus, we began to mourn the loss of our nihonto associate and friend…. While at the same time, many condolences have registered Darcy’s great achievements and his educational legacy. This is the part that really deserves a life celebration for there is much that he generously shared! Just as one piece of a puzzle never represents the completed work, singular perceptions never define the magnitude of a person’s character. So, from the ever increasing list of heartfelt condolences following Ted’s notification, I have borrowed a few essential elements to quote here. I hope no one minds… By assembling a few shared thoughts, quite an amazing picture emerges. The condolences and reflections are like small pieces of tile, and when combined leave us with a large life mosaic. The mosaic records our sense of loss while recognizing the contributions he made to us. Darcy masterfully bundled three somewhat incongruous elements together: sword scholarship, friendship, and commercial activity. As many have attested, it truly was a blessing to be the beneficiary of even one, if not all three elements. Many important sword and fittings collections arose or were enhanced through either guidance or acquisitions from Darcy. With intelligence and a superb sense of refinement, Darcy had a great eye and appreciation for fine samurai art and beauty in life. With all his accomplishments, he was never vain. A trait he may have inherited from his recently deceased father who had been a well-respected teacher and school principal in Ontario. The apple never falls far from the tree… Mosaic Life Tiles “most respected and trusted scholar” John V. (Glencoe Il.) “inconceivable” Stephen (Iowa)he would do things like get a bunch of sleeping bags and give them to the homeless on the coldest nights in Montreal” Curran (Pirate Coves, USA)“nihonto legend… I’m crushed.” “He didn’t tolerate unethical dealings and fraud.” Brian (South Africa) “no words adequate to express this terrible loss” Ray (Florida) “amazing wealth of knowledge” Greg F (Australia) “a living legend has gone” Chris (Bavaria) "a devasting loss” Jussi (Finland)“ “a leader in the nihonto community” Mark S. (Illinois) “his reach was far, his knowledge was great, his friendship will be missed” B. Hennick (Canada) “he shared his time and knowledge which was more precious” Matt (Virginia) “very passionate guy searching for the truth” Robert (New York) “my mind is in turmoil” Jean L. (France) “and the sleepless nights he spent answering even the most ridiculous of emails and random enquiries in his honest, lengthy, didactic manner. Trying to teach, elucidate, steer. Often taking other people’s burdens upon himself.” Michael S. (UK) And so on…. the mosaic is taking shape….. Those that followed Darcy’s recent adventures know that during the onset of the pandemic, he relocated to Japan from Thailand. Little by little, flight opportunities diminished and Darcy found himself a temporary but long term resident in Japan. It was not a hardship arrangement, as his residency became the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi Hills. As his stay morphed into months, Darcy became a hotel feature and dined regularly with the manager. This, in turn, endeared special treatment and eventually he received a luxury suite for a near regular room rate. As a long term hotel resident, the staff found him friendly and interesting. Even during the winter months, he could be seen in the neighborhood walking around in a black t-shirt and short pants. Growing up in Canada, he had developed some immunity to the cold. Japanese were amazed. During this period in Japan, Darcy became close to Hisashi Saito of Ginza Seikodo. They made a habit of dining together regularly. I often joined them. We searched for venues that remained opened and that served libations which proved to be a tricky arrangement. This was during the pre-vaccination phase. These were eerie nights out because we often found ourselves the only patrons in the venues. Infection rates were like waves rising and falling. During a short window of opportunity when infections had dropped and there was a temporary respite in civic restrictions, the Grand Hyatt set up an evening of entertainment with the great Konishiki Yasokichi on ukulele and his wife as vocalist. Konishiki was the first non-Japanese born sumo wrestler to reach ozeki. Darcy got three tickets and we made the best of a great evening together. As you will see below, sword dealers are big celebrities, so even Konishiki decided to photo bomb our selfie! There were only a dozen tables and we lowered our guard… Darcy was generous as always and he picked up the tab. He loved hearing stories of my four decades in the sword trade in Japan. One night he suggested that I should initiate fireside chats on-line, smoke a pipe, and tell sword stories. We shared many laughs… When I think of Darcy, Henley’s poem “Invictus” comes to mind. Darcy accomplished much and took bold strides through life. He truly had an unconquerable soul, for which he was master and captain. As a fellow Canadian, I am proud to have been one of his friends. I raise a glass of fine Primitivo Di Maduria in his honor! Invictus By William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeoning of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Please continue to leave individual messages under Ted’s original notice. My intention is not to hijack his thread… Stay well! Robert Hughes

Hello to everyone on this thread. I am Darcy's younger brother and on behalf of our family thank you all for all of your comments about my brother. This is a tough time for our family especially after dealing with the recent loss of our father and comments such as these help us heal. With respect to preserving his nihonto web content, there is nothing that we would like more than to have his content preserved and remain available for those that share his passion. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like more information. Regards, -joel

This has been a top goal of mine for some time. A long time. While not quite 100% complete (need a signed Norikatsu tanto), it's still something I am excited about. A full set of masame hada works by the great Shinshinto smith Norikatsu, with one by his finest student Masakatsu, to round out the set. Often in our study and searching, a million things can and will jump out at you, temptation is everywhere. Staying focused and with your primary desires in mind at the end, is as rewarding a feeling as one can have. At least it feels that way when I lay out this family of works. Katana: “Made by Katsumura Norikatsu, resident of Suifu ‒ “On a day of the eighth month, Keiō three (1867)" Wakizashi: “Made by Norikatsu, a resident of Mito, on a day of the third month Bunkyū one (1861)" O-Tanto: unsigned: Mito Masakatsu

Around 10 years ago, Darcy released his excellent article on photographing Nihonto. Through trial and error, he came up with many great tricks on the subject, and this was evident in his superb photographs of the swords on his website. However, after some time, and for personal reasons (among them the number of dealers using his methods for personal gain without recognition) he withdrew the article. After his tragic passing earlier this year, I wrote to his family asking for permission to release the article for the benefit of the community. There are many great tips and tricks in it. This was granted by the family, and so here it is. After many years, and in tribute to a great member of the community, I have uploaded the article in the download section. Enjoy, and remember a guy who was truly a huge character and a legend in our community. Thanks Darcy, and RIP from all of us.

Over recent year I have been very lucky and friends and colleagues within the Token Society of GB have loaned me swords to study and write up. Many of those write-ups are stored here and on the token of GB website. One of the advantages of this is that I am often presented with work that I haven't previously studied or only looked at in a limited way. they also force me to confront so of the many prejudices I have built up over the years regarding certain schools and periods. I have often said that my period of interest is the Kamakura and early Nambokucho periods. I still regard this as the golden age of sword manufacture. However that doesn't mean there weren't good swords made at other times and in other places. I have recently studied two Sukesada blades dating from the last quarter of the 16th century, A mumei sue-Seki work and a Gendaito made in Seki during the second world war. In all of these cases I anticipated that I would not like these works. I expected to see at best bland semi mass produced bundle swords and more likely crudely forged with bad shape and lifeless hamon (I did say I had prejudices) . Well I was wrong on all counts. Each of these proved to be far better than I anticipated and all were of very good quality. I felt suitably chastened. Once again I was given a stark reminder not to prejudge swords. This is especially true when we seem to increasingly rely on soundbites appearing amongst the mass of information on the internet. Each sword should be judged on its' own merits and not dismissed because we "think" pieces made in a certain place and time were less good than others. There are some staggeringly good works in existence from all periods and traditions. What we need to do is study more to be able to identify what features make a sword "good". Also remember not liking a sword doesn't make it bad any more than liking it necessarily means its good. We all bring our own preferences, likes and dislikes to the table and need to take that in to account when assessing a sword.

The For Sale section seems to be getting more and more popular, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to sort through the offerings for those looking for only swords, or tsuba etc. So I have decided it is time to split these sales into sections. I know we all resist change, but I think this will be a good move and I can fine tune the settings or descriptions as we go along. Please post new items in the relevant sections above. In time, I will move all the old listings into their sections. Members should be able to reply to and discuss old listings, but not create new listings in the open section anymore. You will need to start the listings in the specific sections. Comments, suggestions etc are welcome, in this thread. I really do feel this is a step forward, and there are other changes coming that I think will improve things. Brian

There’s a guy in SA called Brian or something that I think you’ve missed. He’s like the *plug holding the bath water in. *Mr NMB. Pull his chain at your peril!

Hi gang, Not wanting to hijack another thread, I'm opening this to suggest that we all take a break from encouraging rank beginners at Nihonto to have their swords polished. These are well meaning new collectors who know almost nothing about their swords (nothing terrible about that; we were all there once) yet time after time they are told they need to spend $2,000 to $4,000 for a restoration they again know almost nothing about. Polish is serious business with many variables that need to be taken into account before a decision is made. Even with 40 years of learning under my belt, I go slow with having something polished. There is no way a beginner should rush into this. Polish isn't preservation; a light coat of machine oil takes care of that. No reason the sword can't wait for its owner to study and then make an informed decision. Grey

Hey Fellas- I finally finished my sword display and study space. Thought you might enjoy taking a peek into my little world. The swords displayed on the table usually live in the the bedroom/Livingroom, but I rotate them out in the display case from time to time. In total, I have acquired 18 pieces in 3 years of active collecting, 6 of them are "mystery nihonto" the rest are papered. I think that my next step should be to get a professional appraisal of the whole lot for insurance purposes. any suggestions for how to go about this? Thanks for helping me get this far! -- JT

I'm sure all of you know and have interacted with Ray Singer and Swords of Japan before. He appears to be a respected voice on these boards and I am sure others as well. I became acquainted with Ray as of some direct information I picked up here with the suggestion to purchase an initial sword from someone on this site. Based on that information, I went to the Swords of Japan website and found a beautiful Takada Muneyuki Katana in a very reasonable range. After some initial discussions with Ray, including some wonderful background on the sword and the smith I decided to purchase the sword. That's where it all went downhill, for the sword. The transaction was professional and quick with the sword shipped to my house quickly thereafter. Sometime after it was dropped off at USPS, the sword fell out of the system. No scans were made, the delivery date came and went. This went on for a little over 5 weeks on a shipment that should have taken 4 days. During this whole time, Ray was working the system trying to find information for me to keep me up to date with the results. All told, he said he spent 50 hours on the phone with the USPS. Well, after 5 weeks, he finally decided all avenues had been exhausted and decided to make an insurance claim. Well as usually happens when that type of decision is made, USPS decides to walk up to my house and drop off the sword. The package was a little beat up but the sword inside was well packaged and unharmed. I really appreciate the efforts that Ray went through to make this happen. Most would have thrown up their hands after a week. With that, as long as I am in this hobby he has a customer. There is too much negative in this world and sometimes it's nice to focus on the positives. Jim Blubaugh

Few days ago a friend noted that NBTHK had released Jūyō 69 results on their website Now as I always do, here are the results translittered to partly English following the format I am using on the index. All possible errors are most likely mine, I am not well versed in fittings so there I might have incorrect readings of lesser known makers etc. and as usual I avoid translating fitting / koshirae themes as it is often very difficult to get correct. Here is the link to the original PDF at NBTHK site: https://www.touken.or.jp/Portals/0/第69回重要刀剣等指定品発表.pdf Jūyō 69 – 84 Items – NBTHK Web page 1. Katana – Gojō Kuninaga – Mumei [五条国永] 2. Tachi – Ko-Kyōmono – Mumei [古京物] 3. Tachi – Awataguchi – Mumei [粟田口] 4. Katana – Niji Kunitoshi – Mumei [二字国俊] 5. Naoshi – Rai Kunitsugu – Mumei [来国次] 6. Tachi – Mitsumasa (den Senju’in) - 光正 [伝千手院] 7. Tachi – Senju’in – Mumei [千手院] 8. Katana – Senju’in – Mumei [千手院] 9. Katana – Taima – Mumei [当麻] 10. Katana – Hoshō – Mumei [保昌] 11. Katana – Shikkake Norinaga – Mumei [尻縣則長] 12. Tantō – Shintōgo Kunimitsu (1322) - 国光 / 元享二年六月日 [新藤五] 13. Katana – Yukimitsu – Mumei [行光] 14. Katana – den Yukimitsu – Mumei [伝行光] 15. Tantō – Sadamune – [Shumei 貞宗] 16. Katana – den Shizu – Mumei [伝志津] 17. Tantō – Shizu – Mumei [志津] 18. Katana – Kaneaki (1592) - 生駒雅楽頭公依御意兼明造之 / 文禄元歳二月吉日谷出羽守二胴切 19. Tantō – Asago-Taima Nobunaga - 信長 [浅古当麻] 20. Katana – den Gō – [Shumei Fumei] [伝江] 21. Katana – Norishige – Mumei [則重] 22. Tachi – Ko-Hōki Sanekage – Mumei [古伯耆真景] 23. Katana – Sekishū Naotsuna – Mumei [石州直綱] 24. Katana – Sukemura (Ko-Bizen) – Orikaeshi 備前国助村 [古備前] 25. Tachi – Norinari (Ko-Ichimonji) - 則成 [古一文字] 26. Tachi – Sukekane (Ichimonji) - 助包 [一文字] 27. Katana – Yoshioka Ichimonji – Mumei [吉岡一文字] 28. Tachi – Norifusa - 則房 29. Katana – Iwato Ichimonji – Mumei [岩戸一文字] 30. Tachi – Nagamitsu - □□□長□ [長光] 31. Katana – Nagamitsu – [Kinpun 長光] 32. Tachi – Kagemitsu (1331) - 備州長船住景光 / 元徳三年三月日 33. Naoshi - Unjū – Mumei [雲重] 34. Katana – Kanemitsu – Mumei [兼光] 35. Katana – Kanemitsu – Mumei [兼光] 36. Katana – Yoshimitsu – Mumei [義光] 37. Katana – Motomitsu – Mumei [基光] 38. Tachi – Masamitsu - □州長船政光 39. Tachi – Shigeyoshi (1392) - 備州長船重吉 / 明徳三年十月日 (Attachment – Tachi Koshirae - 金梨子地青山菊紋散金貝鞘糸巻太刀拵) 40. Tachi – Shigezane - 備州長船住重真 41. Katana – Nagashige – Mumei [長重] 42. Katana – Ōmiya Morikage – Mumei [盛景] 43. Katana – den Ōmiya Morikage – Mumei [伝盛景] (Attachment – Tachi Koshirae - 金梨子地三條花角紋散蒔絵鞘糸巻太刀拵) 44. Wakizashi – Yasumitsu (1439) - 備州長船康光 / 永享十一年八月日 45. Katana – Aoe – Mumei [青江] 46. Katana – Aoe – Mumei [青江] 47. Katana – den Aoe – Mumei [伝青江] 48. Katana – Sairen – Mumei [西蓮] 49. Katana – den Samonji – Mumei [伝左文字] 50. Katana – Enju Kunitoki – [Kinzōgan 国時 / 光遜 (花押)] [延寿] 51. Katana – Horikawa Kuniyasu - 国安 [堀川] 52. Katana – Shinkai Kunisada (1670) - 井上和泉守国貞 / (菊紋) 寛文十年八月日 53. Katana – Echizen Yasutsugu (Nidai) - 於武州江戸越前康継 / 諸越所持 [二代] 54. Katana – Kaneshige - 上総介藤原兼重 55. Katana – Taikei Naotane (1831) - 荘司筑前大掾大慶藤直胤 (花押) / 天保二年仲春 56. Katana – Hizen Masahiro - 肥前国河内大掾藤原正広 57. Naginata Koshirae - 黒漆塗鞘朱塗柄薙刀拵 58. Tachi Koshirae - 黒漆塗紋散蒔絵鞘糸巻太刀拵 59. Tachi Koshirae - 金梨子地桐違鷹羽檜扇紋散鞘糸巻太刀拵 60. Tantō Koshirae - 朱塗陰陽藤花文鞘合口短刀拵 61. Tantō Koshirae - 黒石目曲竹断文散腰刻鞘合口短刀拵 (中邨春寛一作金具) Nakamura Haruhiro Issaku – Fuchi – Haruhiro - 中邨春寛 (花押) Kozuka – Haruhiro - 春寛 (花押) Kōgai – Haruhiro - 中邨 62. Tantō Koshirae - 黒蠟色桜花散蒔絵鞘合口短刀拵 Menuki – Sasayama Tokuoki - 篤 / 興 Kozuka – Sasayama Tokuoki – (棟銘) 篤興作 Wari-Kōgai & Semegane – Sasayama Tokuoki - 一行斎 Saya Lacquer - 平安篤興画 梶川 (壺印) 63. Menuki (歳寒二雅図目貫) – Ko-Kinko – Mumei [古金工] 64. Kozuka (引手金具図小柄) – Gotō Yūjō & Gotō Kenjō & Gotō Teijō - 祐乗作 顕乗 (花押) 光昌 (花押) 65. Kōgai (樋定規図笄) – Gotō Sōjō & Gotō Teijō - 宗乗作 程乗 (花押) 66. Menuki (牛馬図目貫) – Gotō Kōjō – Mumei [光乗] (Attachment – Gotō Origami (1739) - 元文四年代百五捨貫光理折紙) (Attachment – Letter - 後藤三郎左衛門書状) 67. Mitokoromono (枝菊図三所物) Kozuka & Kōgai – Gotō Tsujō - 後藤通乗 (花押) Menuki – Gotō Tsujō – Mumei [通乗] 68. Mitokoromono (竹雀図三所物) Kozuka & Kōgai – Gotō Hōjō- 後藤四郎兵衛藤原光晃 (花押) Menuki – Gotō Hōjō – (割際端銘) 光 / 晃 69. Tsuba (雲出八橋透鐔) – Hayashi Shigemitsu - 林 / 重光 70. Tsuba (武蔵野透鐔) – Yasuchika - 安親 71. Kozuka (木賊刈図小柄) – Yasuchika - 安親 72. Kozuka (猿猴耳掻に刷子図小柄) – Yasuchika - 安親 73. Tsuba (雪花透唐子雪遊図鐔) – Issando Joi – (金印) 一蝅堂乗意 (金印 永春) 74. Fuchi & Kashira (親子獅子図縁頭) – Konkan - 岩本昆寛 (花押) 75. Daishō Fuchi & Kashira (猛禽図大小縁頭) – Ishiguro Masayoshi – Daishō mei - 行年七十七歳 寿翁政美作 76. Kozuka (富嶽図小柄) – Hirata Dōnin – Mumei [平田道仁] 77. Tsuba (山水図鐔) – Tomonobu - 染谷知信 (金印) 78. Menuki (海の幸図目貫) – Nagatsune – (割際端銘) 長常 (花押) / 長常 79. Fuchi & Kashira (風神雷神図縁頭) – Minayama Oki - 皆山応起 (花押) 80. Tsuba (雷神図鐔) – Kawabarayashi Hidekuni - 天光堂秀国 81. Mitokoromono (粟穂図三所物) Kozuka & Kōgai – Araki Tomei - 吟松亭東明 (花押) Menuki – Araki Tomei – (割短冊銘) 吟松亭 / 東明 82. Kanagu (福禄寿図揃金具) Tsuba – Imai Nagatake (1858) - 安政戊午孟今井永武 (花押) Kozuka – Imai Nagatake (1857) - 安政丁巳孟秋今井永武 (花押) Kōgai – Imai Nagatake (1857) - 安政丁巳孟秋今井享斎 (花押) Menuki – Imai Nagatake – Mumei [永武] 83. Tsuba (追儺図鐔) – Tanaka Kiyotoshi - 東龍斎 / 丁未歳製 清寿法眼 (花押) 84. Kozuka (雀海中蛤図小柄) – Natsuo - 夏雄 (印 古意)

I wouldn't say a position of knowledge Brian, but maybe a little further insight, but thanks for allowing me to post because this was an interesting topic, too bad it branched off into the absurd… let’s see if we can bring it back on course a little. I’ve been lucky enough to polish a couple Naotane in my time, and I feel I have some understanding of his work. I’ve been even luckier to have had many discussions with people who know far more than I do about forging techniques, and I believe one particular technique I’ve learnt about has some relation to this discussion. Naotane was a master of the shinshinto period who was able to produce incredible work in many different styles. There were of course several smiths of this period who skilfully produced swords in different styles of the gokaden… but Naotane was able to produce several different sub-styles within each of the gokaden in which he worked, but rather than just changing the type of hamon, he used completely different forging techniques, which is where his genius lies for me. For example, just in his Bizen-den alone I’ve seen several different approaches used: - He made Kagemitsu and Oei-Bizen utsushi using typical forging techniques and tsuchioke to create a more controlled yakiba and utsuri on a ko-itame hada. - He occasionally used a mixed hada in his Kagemitsu utsushi, with a flowing chikei mixed in with ko-itame hada. - Sometimes he made a pronounced uzumaki-hada in his Bizen-den, which I’ve heard as being a kantei point of his, though I’ve not often seen it. - And rarely, he made Bizen utsushi using hadaka-yaki to produce more wild yakiba and stronger utsuri formations. Naotane’s Uzumaki-hada in Bizen-den. I’ve also seen him create Yamato-den with thick bands of masame-hada, and Soshu-den with swirls and burls of chikei similar to Matsukawa-hada… the point is, he was probably the most versatile smith of the shinshinto period, especially when it came to creating different jigane. During a time when many smiths produced very tight hada, sometimes even muji-like hada, Naotane was forging masterful steel with flowing chikei and utsuri. One of the techniques he mastered in order to achieve this variety of steel was called tsukurigane, it’s a term I came across early in my polishing apprenticeship, and I’ve not seen it mentioned in any texts that I can recall. It was explained to me as a way of forging steel that reliably produces a clear and controlled ‘chikei-like effect’ which several modern-day makers were using in their Soshu-den utsushi. But, it’s not the way chikei was typically created in koto work, except for a few schools such as the Norishige school, who I believe used some form of tsukurigane, but that’s a completely different rabbit-hole and a completely different level of genius! Tsukurigane (‘tsukuri’ generally translates as ‘making’ or ‘to make’ or relates to a particular technique of manufacture such as ‘shinogi-zukuri’, but in this case I believe ‘tsukuri’ infers a meaning of the steel being controlled or contrived). It’s a type of kawagane which is made by forging together two or more different billets of steel, often forging them together using a relatively low number of folds. The different billets used in the process can each be folded in the same pattern (e.g. ko-tame) and can be of the same number of folds, so when they’re combined, there’s no discernible difference between them in terms of the pattern or the fineness/tightness of the grain. But, these different billets usually have vastly varying carbon content, which means once polished they’ll produce different colours and textures, and different amounts of ji-nie, which is what creates the chikei effect running through the jigane. The less you fold these billets together to combine them, the larger the chikei pattern it’ll create, and the larger the difference in carbon content, the more contrast there’ll be in the chikei. Apparently, combining them using limited folds, but without producing kitae-ware is extremely difficult, but when done masterfully as Naotane was able to achieve, it can create a very beautiful chikei effect flowing through the jigane. Naotane’s tsukurigane producing a masame/mokume mixed effect. I once opened a window on a Naotane that was in Bizen-den and was a great example of tsukurigane. Something I found fascinating was, once I’d brought out the jigane, on some angles it would appear as a very tight ko-itame with only a hint of chikei in the background, while on other angles swirling chikei would jump to the surface and completely change the overall impression of the steel. It was a brilliant effect that gave the steel a lot of depth, and it made me think about how different a sword can look on different angles or under different lights. Of course, the polish makes a huge difference as well, the previous polish was acid-etched and gave the steel a damascus-like effect. These two pics are of the Naotane I just described, as you can see one shows a tight ko-itame, and the other shows a flowing chikei effect running through it. But the pics are of the exact same section of steel, at the same point of the polishing process, under the same light, in the same room… just on different angles. I believe all of the above relates to the juyo katana which started this discussion… I definitely see tsukurigane in this sword, which is creating a lot of chikei, but I’m not sure I specifically see mokume-hada or uzumaki-hada. There are definitely some patterns which hint at something reminiscent of mokume, but I don’t think they’re actually forming a proper burl pattern, it seems that they’re a sort of wavy/churning chikei effect, so personally I don’t think I’d call it mokume. Either way, the chikei created by this style of forging can exist within a tight ko-itame, so even if there were mokume or uzumaki patterns in the chikei, I could understand the NBTHK defining it as ko-itame. It’s not easy sometimes to define a hada, for me, the strength and clarity of which a pattern appears, and how often it occurs over the whole sword are big factors in defining it, and I imagine those are also factors in determining whether or not it’s mentioned in an NBTHK setsumei. But I’m no expert, and I haven’t seen this sword in hand, which is really important as pictures can be misleading, as I mentioned above, a slight change in light or angle can completely change the appearance of certain types of jigane. The NBTHK on the other hand are experts, and have seen the sword in hand, in fact they’ve studied it at length as they’ve passed it as juyo. So, I think the point that Jacques is trying to make is valid, they’ve not mentioned mokume or uzumaki in their setsumei, so one can fairly surmise that there isn’t any in the forging. I will say though, there are perhaps better ways of trying to get your point across, and the discussion would’ve been better off if its contributors were maybe more considerate. Perhaps there are language barriers, or things are being misconstrued as they often can be over emails and forum posts, either way an interesting discussion that merits more thought. That’s just my 2 cents.

OK, I got a small teaser to share!

Good morning everyone, I've been absent for a long time. Just a quick post to let you know what's been going on. Thought I'd pop it here as this is my beloved section. Feel free to move it, Brian. Twofold; I've not really been feeling very passionate about my collecting for a while now. I have a complete collection, bar something new being discovered or those elusive Type 32 conversions surfacing. I guess that's the natural conclusion to collecting. The chase is exciting, but once you hit the finish, the question is 'what next? Secondly, I got double scammed by Enemy Militaria. Fool me once, fool me twice, you know the drill. Not really unexpected, it's happened before and would happen again. I've usually been able to resolve it, just the nature of things. However, it put a sour taste I my mouth and you could call it 'the straw that broke the camels back'. I've met a few reputable, upstanding dealers over the years. I've met more of the other kind though. Some outright scammers and liars like in this instance, but also dealers that are willing to omit small details that would make a difference overall. It's still dishonest. So without much drive and with something like this happening, I've just ignored the hobby. I have many others to focus on. I tried to sell the collection a couple of times, but the problem with a large collection is that it's too large to sell easily! I'm also wracked with indecision. Will I regret it? Why even sell, since I don't need the money? So hopefully things will change, but I may not be around for a long time. I just wanted to let you fine folks know why, since there are some absolutely amazing gentlemen here and I can truly say it's been an absolute pleasure to contribute over the years. Hope to find my feet again. We will see. My absolute best wishes, sincerely, Steve

Item No. 313 Tsuba in shibuichi with gold, copper, silver and shakudo 7.4 cm x 6.9 cm x 0.32 cm Subject of elderly flower arranger at his art. Signed by Funada Ikkin with kao. Dated on the reverse Tenpo Junyon, Mizunoto-u Moshun (mid spring in the year of the Hare, 1843). Superbly rendered portrait of a wealthy and cultured gentleman. He is wearing expensive clothing and furs, and is also using spectacles (rare) to help his eyesight. The flowers depicted appear to be daphne, pawlonia on the reverse and flower arrangement looks to be camelia. Any ideas from anyone if the plants are in fact something else?

Hello Gents, I want to share with you some pictures of my Kiyomaro mon naginata naoshi o wakizashi, which I bought last year from Ray Singer. Although it is mumei, it is a ubu sword with a nagasa of 51,5cm. The possibility that Kiyomaro himself made this great soshu den wakizashi is very high. A final attribution should be given by a NBTHK shinsa. I hope you enjoy. All the best

Well I am not too eager to sell this as I really like this item but as I want to move up in quality I have to let this go to possibly upgrade to older and signed tachi in the future. I won't be buying anything for several years to come, so not stressed on time selling this. There are not too many "cheap" tachi currently on the market, so I think this might be a great opportunity for someone to get a fairly nice tachi. This is not the finest art sword you will get but a decent priced long and very curved tachi that is c. 600 years old. Here are the stats for the sword (+ description I wrote for the kantei thread some years ago), I think the thread might be of interest for those looking into this tachi: Nagasa: 77,2 cm Sori: 3,7 cm Motohaba: 3,0 cm Sakihaba: 1,9 cm Moto-kasane: 0,65 cm Saki-kasane: 0,4 cm Kissaki-nagasa: 2,8 cm Nakago-nagasa: 20,6 cm Nakago-sori: 0,2 cm Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, quite slender mihaba, visible taper, thin kasane, very deep sori that is torii-zori. The jigane is rather standing out itame, which tends to masame-nagare on many parts, some ji-nie is also present. There is also shirake-utsuri. The hamon and boshi can be seen in the oshigata. Nioiguchi is somewhat hazy and weak. Hamon is in ko-nie deki. There is bōhi on both sides with maru-dome before the tang. The tang is ubu has a kurijiri, and two mekugi-ana. The sword is mumei. As you'll probably guess from the picture & appraisal certificate the sword was purchased through Aoi-Art. It has a decent quality shirasaya, much slimmer than I am used to. Comes with NBTHK Hozon 波平 - 時代室町前期, Naminohira - Early Muromachi. Aoi-Art appraisal sheet and their oshigata scroll is included and silk sword bag. You can ask any questions you have and I'll try to answer as well as I can. Price: 6500€ (bank transfer is the preferred method)

Happy ThanksMas to you, too, Brian! Very kind idea and post. You deserve over 6,000 thank-yous (number of members!). If I may, I'd like to thank all the guys on your list, plus some other guys I've learned much from: Research - already listed George Trotter, Mal Cox, @Kiipu, @BANGBANGSAN, @vajo, @andreYesand, still missing him - @16k! Double-down on thanks to @Rich S (and you Brian) for the Japanese Sword Index that I refer to almost every day. Thanks don't do justice to two guys that the World owes a debt of gratitude in Type 95 world - @Stegel and @Shamsy. Can't thank the Translation guys enough, guys you've listed, plus @uwe, there are others, though. For Type 8/19 and kyugunto, where would we be without @lonely panet, and koshirae - @PNSSHOGUN! I want to recognize @robinalexander for his rapidly growing expertise in Type 95s, and @John C for adding his passion for research. And finally, to @kissakai for his regular reminders of the beauty and awe of this world we live in, on his Izakaya posts; @Stephen and @Wayben for the endless stream of Laugh 'O the Day memes. And a special thanks to @IJASWORDS and @roger dundas and @Beater - you are wonderful souls who bring a civility, peace, and kindness to our sometimes rough and tumble crowd.

It’s been 2 years this month i have been waiting for this pole to rejoin the blade and saya. It’s been languishing in Japan. I am really pleased. It’s gorgeous from top to bottom. The mother of pearl is luxurious. Signed Heianjo Fujiwara Sukenobu. Just wanted to share. Mark

Well, I was prepared to leave the member to finalize any deals and participate without taking advantage of the For Sale section, but since he decided to edit his account to remove name, location, etc and change his username to an offensive one, I guess I don't have much choice and have removed "Nihontocollector" as a member. If anyone was busy with deals, I will assist with putting you in touch. I'm not sure what his real name is...I am pretty sure like a few here, the one used is a pseudonym. I'm going to be cracking down on multiple registrations/accounts, and have some new software to dig those out, so please note that some accounts may be merged. And I'll be formulating a policy on what is fair use and what is abuse of the Sales section. Thanks for your indulgence and sorry for the controversy all.

My eulogy was supposed to have been posted to the website for the Kokusai Nihon Katchu Bugu Shinko Kyokai. Unfortunately, the person in charge of the administration was not doing his job, and our previous site has come under hostile control. The dangers of trusting people with such responsibilities. What most people don't know is that it is frowned upon to make such announcements without permission from the family for at least 45 days of the passing. I will be visiting his grave in the next week as it is the proper time to do so. No replies are necessary. If you choose to read thank you. The eulogy: My name is Andrew Mancabelli I work under the name Miura Anjin . This name was given to me by my teacher, Miura Hiromichi (sometimes referred to as Miura Kouhou), a Japanese armor maker, with ancestry of the Miura peninsula. I am his successor. His teacher was Morita Asajiro, a craftsman who was born of and studied under samurai artisans who could trace their art back to the Edo period. He is survived by two sons with their spouses and two grand sons and a grand daughter. Miura sensei was born in June 1938 and passed away shortly after his 84th birthday July 2022. He was a designated intangible cultural property of the greater Tokyo area, Itabashi Ward. The only armor maker to hold such a Title. I spent half of my adult life in close proximity to Miura Hiromichi as his understudy and during that time I probably knew him better than anybody. There was not a more loyal person to him than myself. Japanese relationships are a very complex thing and difficult to understand especially for a foreigner. Most foreigners who spend time in Japan never really understand how they are viewed by Japanese people, or even by those who they assume to have developed an intimate relationship with. I had enough fights, sit downs and cry-throughs with my teacher to be able to say that I did have a deep/intimate connection akin to family. The way he treated me on many occasions reminded me of how my own father treated me growing up. I say this because I knew Miura Hiromichi intimately, his ins and outs and his difficult points. Rather than write a bunch of generic facts that are commonly known about him, or the circumstances surrounding his death for an obituary, I think it would be better to share some stories that most people DONT know about him as a “eulogy” to paint a fuller picture of who he was in the greater context of the world and leave a more personalized version of his character while he was alive. This is what I would want done for me upon my death, and I think that he would appreciate it. Some are stories he told me and some are stories that I witnessed first hand. Miura sensei was a very handsome man in his youth. He loved movies and Hollywood and actually tried out for a movie in Japan. In those days they chose actors based on appearance. He showed up with 300 other young guys. They divided them into groups based on how handsome they were and slowly made the cuts narrowing it down to the cream. he made it to the last three. They took his phone number but in those days his family only had one phone and if you missed the call, you lost the role. He always said that he must have missed the call or somebody was on the phone when they called. Incidentally the guy who got the role became very famous. I remember when we did a TV show with Kayama Yuzo (famous for Sanjuro, Akahige, etc.) Miura sensei told him the story. (At that point i heard it a million times) Yuzo said jokingly that Kurosawa told him to be a singer because his acting was no good. Anyway it turned out to be very good advice. He was born the year of the tiger 1938 and died the year of the tiger 2022 shortly after his birthday making a perfect full circle. People say that a tiger leads a generally solitary life and has a ferocious temper. Though he occasionally liked to party, Id say it is relatively accurate. I’m pretty much the same and it’s probably why we understood each other. He had two police medals. Miura sensei once stopped a robbery and on another occasion stopped an assault. In each case, he helped the police to apprehend the criminals and was awarded a special medal for his service both times. Mainoumi the famous sumo wrestler broke his stool. When Mainoumi visited for a TV interview, he spied the Edo period campaign stool in his house and asked if he could sit on it. Miura sensei said yes its strong go ahead. The leather broke and he fell flat on his butt. It was the one time he didn’t get angry for somebody breaking his things. He was friends with emperor Akihito. There was a little seen photograph in his living room of he and his wife with the emperor. It is very rare because the royal family as a rule does not sign signatures or allow photography. However, miura sensei’s son Nagato attended Gakushuin University and became best friends with Akihito’s second son. They played on the same softball team together and during the matches they would converse. Miura sensei always said the emperor came over to make conversation because his wife was so beautiful and he wanted to talk to her. He knew Yukio Mishima. In the 1960s Mishima would attend the annual re-enactment festival. He was often making the rounds between Traditional cultural activities and craftsmen. At the re-enactments, Miura sensei carried his helmet and dressed him in his armor. He once told me; “I always knew there was something wrong with that guy. Japanese people’s eyes curve down like this, but Mishima’s eyes went up like this!” He had a fiery temper. There are few who know that better than myself but the funniest episode was when Takada Nobuhiko (the pro wrestler) did a show with us. Miura sensei blew up over something and Takada san immediately stood at attention. Then afterward Takada san turned to me and said “That old guy is scary isn’t he?” I answered “You get used to it.” He also yelled at several Television stations crews and kicked one out of his house. They still came back. Usually with beer and sake. Though there were a few people who visited from time to time, he only had one deshi (understudy). He said the longest anybody lasted (aside from myself) was a couple weeks. (He was very critical and harsh in his standards) Before becoming an elementary school teacher, his second son helped with some projects, but he only had one deshi that he gave dokuritsu (“freedom”- an artisans right of passage) his named successor, Andrew Mancabelli, or as he called me “Anjin”(he couldnt pronounce my name properly) he said that I should use the name Miura Anjin and gave me permission to use his family name. Miura Anjin koubo is the living legacy and the name of my company. Though he worked and became famous for Japanese armor, he was very interested in western armor as well. He thought about being a western armor maker but his older brother Shigetoshi beat him to the punch and so he became a Japanese armor maker. He never stopped his adoration for western armor and kept a small collection. He hated crowded trains and attributed his inspiration to work from home to the crowded commutes into inner Tokyo which he despised. He was in the Japan self defense forces. Once when we participated in shooting matchlocks, he boasted about his training with the M-Garand in the self defense forces when he was younger. However, when he shot his first matchlock, he was so surprised by the smoke/explosion , that he dropped the gun and ran away with the match still attached to his wrist. He never shot a matchlock again. Incidentally, the same day one of the other participants nearly shot himself in the head. Luckily the bullet only went into the roof of the range. He could be in the guiness book of records for completed armor life works. In his lifetime he completed between 30-40 solid works. Most people dont understand that a yoroi can take years to finish and smaller projects can take many months. The parts and materials are difficult to find and extremely costly without a sponsor. He he likely produced the most o-yoroi of any armorer since the Muromachi period. He was uncompromising. He was known for walking out of a restaurant after one bite of food if he thought it was not up to snuff. His sons told me that once when they were very hungry, right before they got the food in their mouths, he said “Its no good! Dont eat it! Lets go!” And they left(he actually paid the bill but left the food). This same level of scrutiny was held to his own work and like me, he was a perfectionist. He paid extra for the best materials. His words to me were that there were “No Shortcuts”. I live by those words. He loved western culture. Especially American movies. In his latter years when he couldn’t leave his home, we would watch some classics such as quo vadis, ben hur, shane, etc. and he could even sing a broken version of several western movie themes that he tried to teach me. He had a Cowboy hat that hung on his wall, and when we were on a trip in Dallas, Ann Barbier-Mueller took him to a western store. He wanted the southern grey infantry hat which he wore from then all the way home. You should have seen the looks he got. People couldn’t figure it out the Japanese guy in the rebel hat. Ann also bought him an extra large size holster which he adjusted to his size once back in Japan. I always wondered if he put it on when nobody was looking and practiced drawing. He loved the knights of the round table, and the era of chivalry. I can’t help but think that if he could choose a time and place to be reborn it would be medieval Europe as a knight. He never had a mobile phone. He didn’t really need one as he spent most of his time at home working, and his customers contacted or visited him. I can’t really imagine him having used a cell phone actually. He loved his wife very much. He often told me about her. When I first met him, he was in a very bad place. He had all but stopped making armor and I can’t help but feel his depression was due to the tragic loss of his wife. He credited his success to her as she was the bread winner for the family as a piano teacher until he got himself established. She was very patient. After he started teaching me he came out of his slump and produced the last series of work in his life which was a group of helmets based on various insects that he liked. One thing that most people can’t imagine is that my teacher took a lot of criticism for teaching a foreigner. Certain people constantly attacked me and my character without even knowing me simply because I wasn’t born Japanese. Some so called friends stole his materials or manipulated him to sell them to prevent me from getting them, and some even claimed that they made it themselves. It hurt me that he was not able to stand up for me due to the racist politics in the community, but the fact that he taught me and named me his successor speaks more than words. And regards to the taken items: he told me that I didn’t really need them because I was capable of making and doing them myself and the people who took them were NOT capable. And that I was entrusted with what was important: his knowledge and legacy. I have enshrined what I could of his material culture in my library and have made it available to researchers or aspiring craftsmen. These stories are just a few stories of my life with my teacher. If anyone would like to hear more, I’ll be would happy to tell more in person. I just hope that I have helped the people who were interested in his life to know more sides of him. I know that when somebody passes, people may try to use their death for political purpose. I know that he would have liked to greet his friends who he knew and respected once more. And the rest…. he would have said that he didn’t care to hear their opinions at all; be they good or bad. Japanese Version: 三浦先生へのユーロジー 現在、三浦按針の襲名で活躍しております、アンドリュー・マンカベリーです。この襲名は、恩師であり、甲冑師であり、三浦半島に祖先を持つと言われる、三浦公法氏から受け継ぎました。私は彼の後継者であります。 彼の師匠、森田朝次郎氏は、江戸時代まで遡る侍職人から学んだ甲冑師であります。 三浦先生の遺族は二人の息子さんとその妻、二人の孫息子と孫娘一人です。 1938年六月生まれ、2022年七月、84歳の誕生日後まもなく亡くなりました。 甲冑師としては大変稀である、東京都板橋区無形文化財に指定されています。 私は、人生の半分を三浦先生の弟子として過ごし、彼の一番の理解者であり、とても忠実な弟子でありました。日本においての人間関係は、外国人にとって大変理解しがたいものであります。日本での滞在経験が豊富であり、日本人と親しい関係にある外国人であっても大変難しいものです。私は、三浦先生と度々口論し、時には涙を流すときもありましたが、私にとっては家族のような存在でした。三浦先生の私に対する態度は、私自身の父親を思い出させるようなものでした。私は、三浦先生の良い日も悪い日も知っています。彼の弔辞に書かれている様な一般的に知られている三浦先生ではなく、ここでは、私自身の経験と、他にはあまり知られていない三浦先生について語りたいと思います。私があの世に逝った後は、こうありたい様に、三浦先生もきっと喜ぶはずです。一部のストーリーは三浦先生が語ったものであり、また一部は私自身が経験したものです。 1. 若き頃、三浦先生は非常にハンサムな方でした。映画、特にハリウッド映画が大好きで、かつて、日本の映画のオーディションを受けたそうです。彼の若き時代は、俳優は才能や経験よりも容姿の良さで選ばれていたそうです。そのオーディションには３００人ほどの若い男性が集まったそうです。彼らは容姿の良さで分類され、最終段階まで絞れらていきました。三浦先生はなんとファイナル３まで残ったそうです。最終選考にて選ばれた男性は電話があるということでしたが、昔は携帯電話など無く、家庭に電話一つという時代であり、取り損ねると役を失うといった時代でした。三浦先生は、映画会社からの電話を取り損ねたか、家族の誰かが電話を取ったために役を逃したと、常に信じていました。偶然にも、そのオーディションで最終選考にて選ばれた男性は、後に有名な俳優になったそうです。俳優の加山雄三さんとTV 出演した際に、三浦先生が、自身のオーディション経験を彼に語っていたこと今でも覚えています（この時点では私は何百回も聞いていました）。雄三さんは、黒澤明監督から、役者としてあまり良くないから歌手になれと言われたエピソードをジョーク交じりに話していました。結果的に彼に取ってとても良いアドバイスとなったそうです。 2. 三浦先生は1938年虎年に生まれ、2022年寅年、誕生日のすぐ後に亡くなりました。寅年生まれは孤独を好み、かんしゃく持ちであると聞きました。割合に的確だと思いますが、時折、宴会好きでした。私も良く似た性格の持ち主なので、彼と気があったのだと思います。 3. 三浦先生は二つのメダルを警察から授与されています。一度目は、強盗を阻止し、二度目は暴行を阻止したそうです。事件の後も警察に協力し、犯人の逮捕につながったので、特別なメダルを警察から授与されました。 4. かの有名な相撲力士、舞の海関が三浦先生の腰掛を壊しました。舞の海関が三浦先生へのインタビューの際に自宅を訪れた際に、彼は、江戸時代の陣床几を目にし、座っていいかと尋ねたところ、三浦先生がいいですよと言って、舞の海関が座った途端に革が切れて、お尻からばったりと倒れたそうです。この時だけが、美術品を壊されても激怒しなかった唯一の出来事でした。 5. 三浦先生は天皇陛下明仁と親しい仲でした。三浦先生の居間には、彼と、彼の奥さんと、明仁天皇が一緒に写っている写真が飾られてありました。一般の人と写真を撮ったり、サインしたりということは皇室のルールでは認められていないので、その写真は非常に貴重なものであります。三浦先生の息子さんが、明仁天皇の次男である秋篠宮と学習院大学での友人であったそうで、彼らのソフトボールの試合では三浦先生は天皇陛下明仁とお話しすることがあったそうです。三浦先生の奥さんは大変美人な方だったので、天皇陛下自らがお話にきたと、三浦先生はいつも誇らしげに当時の出来事を振り返っていました。 6. 三浦先生は三島由紀夫と面識がありました。1960年代、三島由紀夫は、例年行われていた、日本の伝統芸能や職人に関わる時代祭に度々参加していたとは、よく知られていました。三浦先生はそれらの時代祭にて、三島由紀夫の兜を運び、彼の甲冑着用の手助けを行っていました。三浦先生は、当時の三島由紀夫に対し、 “やっぱりアイツは何か違う、おかしかった。普通の日本人の目はこっちによるでしょう（指で目尻を下げて）、でも、アイツの目は（目尻を上げて）こうなってた!” と、振り返っていました。 7. 三浦先生は、時に激しい気性の持ち主でもありました。それを知っているのは私を含めてわずかしかいませんでしたが、そんな中での面白いエピソードとして、プロレスラーの高田延彦さんとテレビ撮影を行った時でした。三浦先生が何らかの理由で激怒した際に、高田さんは困惑した様子で私に、“あの爺さん、怖いね”とこぼしていました。私は何気無しに“慣れてきますよ”と答えました。 さらに三浦先生はテレビ局のスタッフを怒鳴りつけ、その上スタッフの一人を家から追い出しました。 そんな仕打ちにもかかわらず、彼らはその後も多数のテレビ番組のために戻って来ています。ご機嫌とりとして、ビールとお酒を持って来るのが通例となりました。 8．三浦先生に学ぶため数々の生徒が訪れたものの、最終的に彼の弟子となった者は一人しかいませんでした。（私を除く）一番長くもった生徒は二週間だったそうです。三浦先生は職に関しては、弟子であろうが自身であろうが、大変批判的で厳しい方でした。三浦先生の次男が小学校の先生になる前に、三浦先生の仕事を手伝っていた時期もあったそうですが。しかしながら、三浦先生から最後に独立（職人の通過儀礼）を与えられ、後継者として認められた弟子は私、アンドリュー・マンカベリーだけであります。現在私の職人名である三浦按針の名は、三浦先生自らが、自身の三浦姓と私の名を組み合わせ、私の弟子として最後の日に与えられたものです。三浦先生は私の名前、アンディーを正しく発音できなかったため、私は彼からいつも“アンジ”と呼ばれていました。三浦按針工房は現在私の職場であり、彼のレガシーでもあります。 9. 三浦先生は日本甲冑師として名を馳せることになりましたが、実は西洋甲冑にも大変関心がありました。西洋甲冑師を志してみたものの、兄である三浦權利(しげとし)氏に先を取られ、日本甲冑の道に進むことになりました。その後も西洋甲冑への愛着は生涯続き、小さいながらも西洋甲冑コレクションを楽しんでいました。 10. 三浦先生は、満員電車が大の苦手で、東京首都圏への通勤をひどく嫌っていたことが、将来自宅で働きたいという決断に至ったそうです。 11. 三浦先生は自衛隊に所属していました。数年前、火縄銃射撃に参加した際に、若き頃自衛隊で行ったM１ガーランドの訓練を皆に自慢していました。しかし、彼が、最初 に火縄銃を撃った際に、あまりの力強さと煙に驚愕し、火縄銃を落とし、火縄が彼の手首に巻かれた状態にあったにも関わらず走り去ってしまいした。その以後、三浦先生が火縄銃に触ることはありませんでした。同じ日に、他の参加者が自身の頭に向かって発射してしまったそうで、幸いにも弾丸は 屋根の高さ程までしか飛ばなかったそうです。 12. 三浦先生が生涯に制作した甲冑の数は、ギネスブックにのるべきほどの数でありました。私の知っている限り、彼が生涯の制作した甲冑の数は、30〜40領でした。 鎧製作には数年、小さな部品には数ヶ月かかるということを大抵の人達は、知りません。様々な部品および材料を調達することは、スポンサー無しでは非常に困難で費用がかかるという事実を皆さんに知って頂きたいです。そのようななかで、複数の甲冑を完成させた甲冑師は、室町時代以来、三浦先生だけであると思います。 13. 三浦先生は、全く妥協しない、頑固な人でした。レストランで、彼の注文した料理が彼の口に一口でも合わなかった場合は、出ていくという頑なさ知られていました。三浦先生の息子さんの思い出では、レストランにて大変空腹だったにも関わらず、彼らが注文した料理を口にする前に、三浦先生が “まずい、ダメダメダメ、食べるな! 行こう!” と言って店を後にすることが度々あったそうです。(料理に手をつけないにも関わらず、勘定はいつも払っていたそうです) 。これらの出来事からも理解できるように、三浦先生の完璧主義は自身の職人業にも、弟子へも要求されました。私自身も妥協知らずの完璧主義者なので、彼は素晴らしい師匠でした。三浦先生は、最上級の原料や素材には惜しみなく代金を払っていました。彼のいつもの口癖は“近道はないよ！”でした。この口癖は、私の人生の指針でもあります。 14. 三浦先生は、西洋文化、ウエスタン、特にアメリカ映画が大好きでした。晩年、三浦先生が外に出ることが億劫になっていた頃、クォ・ヴァディス(Quo Vadis)、シェーン(Shane)、ベン・ハーなどのクラッシック映画をよく一緒に見ていました。数々のウエスタン映画のテーマソングを途切れ途切れにも歌うことができ、私も教わりました。 15. 三浦先生の壁には、アメリカ、ダラス滞在中、アン・バービエ・ミューラーさんに案内して頂いたウエスタンストアにて購入したカウボーイハットが飾られてありました。三浦先生は、南北戦争中、南軍兵士が被っていた灰色の帽子がとても気に入り、ダラスの空港から日本に到着するまでの間、ずっと被っていました。その姿はとても滑稽で、米南部兵の帽子をかぶった日本の老人を周りの人々が不思議に眺めていました。さらに アンさんからプレゼントされたXL サイズのホルスターを、日本に帰国後、自身のサイズに仕立て直していました。誰も見ていないところでピストルを抜く練習をしていたのかもしれません。 16. 三浦先生は、アーサー王物語、円卓の騎士、騎士道をこよなく尊敬していました。もし生まれ変わったら、彼はきっと中世ヨーロッパの騎士として生まれ変わることを望むでしょう。 17. 三浦先生は生涯、携帯電話を持っていませんでした。自宅で働き、外に出ることがほとんどなく、顧客は彼に直接連絡し、訪問していたので、ほぼ全く必要なかったようです。とは言っても、彼が携帯電話を使っている姿は私には想像できません。 18. 三浦先生は、今は亡き奥さんをこの上なく愛していました。いつも彼女のことを話してくれました。私が三浦先生と最初に出会った頃、彼は心身ともに良い状態ではありませんでした。彼はその頃、既に甲冑作りから離れていました。最愛の奥さんが亡くなって生きる気力を無くしてしまったのでしょう。三浦先生は、自身の甲冑師としての成功は彼女の手柄であるといつも私に語っていました。彼女はピアノの先生として、三浦先生が独立するまで家計を支えていたそうです。大変辛抱強い方のようでした。私が彼の弟子となり、修行が始まると、彼の甲冑作りへの情熱が舞い戻ったようです。その後は、 彼の最後の集大成となる、彼の好みの昆虫をモチーフとした数々の兜を精力的に製作していました。 あまり知られていない事実として、三浦先生は、外人を弟子にとったことにかなり周りから酷評を受けていたことです。私が日本で生まれ育った日本人ではない外人という理由で、他人だけではなく、知人からも、私と三浦先生への非難は絶えることがなかったです。三浦先生の友人を名乗る人々が、彼の作品が私の手に渡らないよう、彼をごまかして低価格で彼の作品を購入したり 、彼の作品を盗用盗作し自らの作品だと言い張ったりと、やりたい放題している様を見てきました。排他的で人種差別的である甲冑職人の環境に立ち向かうことが出来ず、私へ対する批判に表向きに立ち向かうことが出来なかった時が度々あり、思い出す度に心が痛みます。しかし、三浦先生が私を弟子として受け入れ、一人前の甲冑師になる為に時間と知識を費やし、最後には彼の後継者と認めてくれたという事実は、どんな言葉や約束よりも意味深いものであります。 先にふれました、三浦先生の盗用、盗作された作品につきましては、三浦先生曰く、彼らのような職人には自ら立派な作品を製作する能力がないのでこういう悪事を働くのだということです。私には自分で立派な作品を生み出す技術があるのだから、あまり気にするなと言ってくれました。三浦先生の知識とレガシーを受け継ぎ、甲冑師をして良い仕事をしてゆくことが、私が後継者として委ねられた任務です。甲冑研究者、および将来の職人希望の方々の研究目的ために、私のライブラリーには、三浦先生が残した数々の遺品を祀ってあります。 これらのストーリーは、私が恩師と過ごした人生での、ほんの一部の逸話であります。もしよければ、その他のエピソードを別の機会に喜んでお話しさせて頂きます。このユーロジーが、多く人々に、あまり知られていない三浦先生の一面を紹介し、彼の功績を知っていただく機会になればと願っています。三浦先生は、きっともう一度、敬愛する同志に最後の挨拶をしたかったはずです。その他の三浦先生があまりよく思ってなかった人々に対して、良し悪しに関わらず、彼らの意見などどうでもいいというでしょう。

Are you sitting comfortably?….then I’ll begin. This goes on a bit!…sorry. I am recounting this event, not for egotistical reasons, but because it’s almost unbelievable nowadays. Last week, during my routine trawl of online auction sales etc I came across a few swords in a smallish regional auction. This auctioneer sells coins, Militaria, medals, weapons with a few Japanese pieces from time to time. Two SEPARATE LOTS caught my eye…a Wakizashi with just one “collage” image showing it dismantled. Looked decent. One member on here even posted an image of the Mei asking for help! Brian persuaded him to try it himself 🙂 The other was a large katana, very briefly catalogued “unable to remove tang cover” sold “as is”. Looked very very decent. I left it another couple of days and then had another look at them online. Decided to spend a few more minutes enlarging the 2 images. Then I noticed…..both had a large dragon nicely lacquered on the saya. Backwards and forwards between the images…surely not….oh yes….the Auctioneer had split up a daisho! I asked for a couple more images of the katana…..sure enough…matching Hawk chasing sparrows tsuba….matching dragon saya….no doubt a Daisho mounting. By now each had 45 people “watching” online. The wak had attracted several punchy online pre-auction bids but the katana was sitting at £230!?! The auctioneers obviously didn’t have a clue what they had done so, on sale day I drive on dark icy roads to have an “in hand” look. Get there and the swords are not out for viewing……they are locked in a back room in case someone cuts themselves……but I gain access. There are some issues…..the Ito is damaged…..one menuki missing….one horn kashira lost. The wak has a lovely Mt Fuji midare hamon with sunagashi and dense hada etc. The katana is very substantial and from the one online image I thought it classic Shinshinto….and so it was. A beautiful heavy blade with bo hi both sides, a lovely sugata, soft old sashikomi polish, active nioi choji hamon with delicate ko nie and ji nie etc etc . Sure enough the tsuka was utterly jammed, no one had even tried to remove it so I left well alone. The sword was almost (I hoped) guaranteed to be signed and dated…..classic high quality shinshinto. Worth a gamble I thought. It will be ubu and signed and maybe dated. Both swords filthy but blades in good original polish…a few scratches on the wak but that’s all. Now the heart was really thumping. I register to bid and enter the saleroom with half an hour to go. There are only two other people there….that’s all. Auctioneer, a lovely young lady, was in full swing selling bayonets and a few guns. The swords were consecutive lots with the wak coming up first. With three lots to go 3 members of the auctioneers staff come in with phones in hand and I listen as they contact the phone bidders. I could clearly overhear each conversation. Couldn’t believe what I heard….all of them were only bidding on the Katana, not on the wak which came up first. Surely someone else had twigged they were a daisho? Panic…..had I got the lots numbers wrong or mixed up. Calm down, you’ve checked them at least ten times. So, the wak comes up. No phone bidders interested, no room bidders interested (I think they’d gone to sleep!), just me vs the internet so I decided to bid whatever it took…I’d come this far….the red mist descended. I bought it for a very reasonable bid. Now the katana….now I’ve got to buy it whatever…..me vs the 3 phones. Can’t believe it but they drop out and it gets knocked down to me again, very reasonably imo. Im stunned…..no one else saw they were a daisho???….and one with lovely blades and (dirty) mounts! Did that really just happen or was it another optimistic dream? Grateful thanks to the auctioneers for a couple of truly lousy online images and bare bones descriptions. Pay up and drive home almost shaking with excitement and disbelief….which at my age doesn’t happen that often. Out come the tsuka removal tools. It (katana)definitely hadn’t been off for eons….possibly never since it was last in Samurai hands. Took me half an hour of very gentle persuasion before a lovely nakago with full length hi and the Mei of Nobukazu (noted pupil of Korekazu) was revealed together with a date of 1855. No doubt in my mind that it’s “right” ….it’s a really beautiful and hugely impressive blade. Some tsuka restoration required but the blades, saya and tsuba simply needed the appropriate cleaning. It was whilst doing that that I noticed the dragons were lacquered “in confrontation”….a lovely subtle touch. A truly bizarre chain of events which you would never believe could occur nowadays. All the best. Colin

Hi folks, As some of you know already, on January 27 I suffered a fire in my house (an electric radiant heat panel in the ceiling arced out). No one was injured but the house is a mess and we likely won't live in it again until this fall at the earliest. None of my swords, kodogu, or books were damaged. All the books, however, have been put into storage and won't be available until I can move home. The swords and fittings, on the other hand, I can get to. I'm keeping a list of customers who want books so I can get to them later; I'd love to deal with you on a katana or tsuba right now. If you find something at Japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com that interests you, please let me know (contact me by email through the site). The phone # on my site is the land line and is currently dead. If you want to talk my cell is 218-340-1001. Thanks for all the support I've received from my friends in Nihonto, Grey

Please forgive for not updating a longer time. It missed being submitted to Juyo, so the first try then will be this year - another year in Japan! The time will be used nevertheless with sayagaki. I though got some additional pictures that show more of its beauty and make me look highly forward to it. Find them attached.

Hi my dear friends, First of all, I want to express my most sincere wishes and a Happy New Year to you all and your families. I know this should be in another section so Brian, please feel free to move it if you feel like it, but I posted it here because some members have contacted me and I want to reach most of them. Not sure they all go to the Izakaya. Then I guess I owe you guys an explanation and an apology for my silence those past few months. I’ve wanted to do that for quite some time but it isn’t always easy to expose your issues in front of everyone, and I know some of you may find those issues triffle or first world problems. Anyway, here’s what has happened to me since my absence. First of all, let me tell you that I’m an animal lover… maybe a little too much ! For years, I have been doing the job of a shelter for distressed cats without help or financing. At some point, I had more than 30 cats. Costly and tiring. That’s roughly three hours of work in addition to my full time job everyday. Those animals I recover are usually starving, some of them sick, all of them scared by very difficult beginnings. I’m used to have animals that don’t live long because of that. I loose some every year. Everytime, its a tragedy for me but I’ve developped some endurance to it. This year was special. I lost ten of them in a row over the space of two months. Causes of death were different but I think that the last straw was probably the last one who was litteraly and voluntarily crushed to pulp by a car and the driver purposefully drove over him with both wheels. I know it as I saw it happen. I guess it taxed me a lot and I entered some kind of a breakdown. I was starting to recover, in September, when the secong blow came. Now, here’s the second part of my life. Ten years ago, my elderly mother suffered a stroke that left her with paralysis on her left side. My father had a hard life working in construction and carrying loads so his back is ruined and he has to use a walker. Being an only child, I took them both in and care for them. Not a light job either, but one I feel I have a duty to accomplish. So, come September, my father has to be hospitalized because he had fallen in the middle of the night. His blood count was well below normal. Diagnosis : Mielodisplastic syndrome. To sum up, a bone marrow cancer that will turn into fatal leukemla in generally something like two years. That was the fatal and final blow to me. Now it’s been three months since that diagnosis and I am starting to digest it and recover. My father is responding to treatment and so far, he is neither better nor worse. There you have it ! All tis has made me depressed and apathetic, with no real interest for anything and some sort of self pitying. So I am sorry and apologize to all those who’ve contacted me and to whom I haven’t replied, I will reply to each and everyone of you. Please just give me some time as things have accumulated and I have some catching up to do. Know that I am feeling better and will do my best to stay around. Best wishes to you all, JP

Getting to see this today almost felt a bit surreal, though I‘ve been told of it. After all, it is the final proof of the blade being an original Masayuki. Can’t tell how happy I‘m today!

My first Nihonto. It’s nothing special but I’m proud to be its custodian. I purchased it from Aoi Art in Japan. Im just a baby in the world of Nihonto and thought I’d jump in and buy early in my journey to learn from a blade in hand. Open to comments and opinions.

This sword could live just as happily live in the Nihonto section as well as the Military. A May 1941 (Takahashi) YOSHIMUNE, in the less common aluminium saya, All the fittings are matching numbered "1538", indicating an original complete sword. His lineage as a swordsmith is without question, his brother SADATSUGU was a "Living National Treasure". This BIZEN tradition sword has a nice hamon and hada, the photos do it no justice. The MEI translates to "The God of war, Minamoto YOSHIMUNE made this". I share this sword because I spent years trying to find a top example of his work as I think he was one of the top Gendai sword makers. I acknowledge using pages from Slough.

Hi guys thought I would share some pictures of my newly polished katana NBTHK has attributed it to Muneyuki Takada any insight into what generation Muneyuki would be appreciated, link to when I first shared this katana before polish and shinsa .

A man after my own heart! I had a piece of "live edge" Huon Pine [native to Tasmania] - space for one more guard at the bottom?

Mokume gane can be very attractive. I have a tanto with mokume gane fittings.

Hiya! I wrote an article on Japanese swords in the Golden Era Dutch paintings. Hope you enjoy it. (Had to go through nearly 6000 paintings, literally.) https://medium.com/p/a21cb4051788

I have a weakness for reading historical fiction. I have often found that I can learn more and concentrate more when historical incidents are woven in to a story than when presented as naked facts. Recently I have dipped back in to a series of Novels tracing the rise of the Mongol empire. This morning when reading about the first stages of Genghis Khan's invasion of what is now Iran I was reminded that while these events were happening a Smith in Japan was forging a blade I have had the chance to study in hand and in great detail. The blade in question is now about 800 years old. When looking at it it is almost impossible to believe that it could have lasted so long and remained in such good condition. However this is not unique. In this field we are constantly shown blades that have survived through major world events, the rise and fall of empires and numerous attempts of mankind to destroy itself. And yet here they are as Cameron Stone described them "The nearest thing to perfection made by human hand" I think we see so many fine works spanning the centuries that we (I) risk becoming a little complacent and start taking what we are looking at for granted. Occasionally we need to stop and take a reality check and just appreciate how luck we are to be involved in a subject that offers such a wealth of artefacts to study and enjoy.

Posting these for enjoyment before they get packed away to take to the SF show. Yes, these are up for sale. Thought the members might enjoy taking a look before they disappear into a collection somewhere. I have really enjoyed having a good hands-on inspection of these for the past week or 2. Wish I could add them to my own collection, but they are far above my pay grade. I think to have these commissioned nowadays would cost over $10,000? If you could get on the books. Found a new home at way under that. I absolutely love the way the f/k butterfly wings are done in different shades of MOP/abalone. And the mixed metal inlays are stunning. But it is the way the bamboo is presented that is my favorite. Ford apparently even made the gold foil seppa for these. Pity there were no menuki made, but can you imagine turning these into a daisho? Enjoy.

Without words...

I'm using this post as an opportunity to share a picture of my contribution. The original template for this piece is probably an Akasaka Tsuba. The flowing design represents a Waka poem from the Kokon Waka Shu 古今和歌集: ほのぼのと明石のうら朝ぎりの島かくれゆくふねをしぞおもふ "In the bay, of Akashi, when the day is drawing to an end, my thoughts follow a boat which disappears behind an island in the mist." Thanks Christoph

Greetings sword mavens, I just got back one my client's custom koshirae and thought I would share it with you. The client provided all the fittings and the koshirae was then created from scratch... The lacquer style for the saya is called fuemaki and consists of black rings. It is a nice visual alternative to the standard and conventional black gloss finish commonly seen. I have photographs of over thirty custom koshirae that I have coordinated for a variety of clients. I am putting together a catalog to entice interest. If you would like to see more....let me know! 1) wood foundation/tsuka and saya 2) antiqued ray skin 3) standard silk wrap 4) saya fuemaki lacquer work 5) tsunagi wooden dummy blade The price for this particular koshirae came to yen 222,000.... Best, Robert Hughes

I know I always say this place is free and will never have a charge to sell or interact here. And I really resisted saying this. But seriously..... I am seeing many sellers who move thousands of $'s of goods through this place regularly, who have never contributed a cent. Or who won't even consider a $30 Gold membership for 6 months. Guys with multiple $2000+ sales who don't even say thanks. There are multiple ways to say thanks in the STORE section above. And then we have others that will send even a single dollar if they do even a $10 sale...and will contribute every time. Those guys...these small handful...are allowing these big sellers the opportunity and privilege to sell. Because those few guys are keeping this place running. Thank you again to the few who are always so generous. To the others, be thankful I don't institute a charge to sell here. And I don't refer to the small guys who sell a tsuba or 2 occasionally or one item a year. or the reputable dealers who contribute a sum every few months or annually as a thanks. I am grateful to all of you. But those who have sold thousands of $'s and never contributed a cent......don't thank me. Thank those that are covering the costs here for YOU so that you can benefit. Just needed saying.

For someone who has an interest in Soshu-den works, this is an extremely enjoyable sword to study. It is an o-suriage wakizashi which appears to be a Nanbokucho-period naginatanaoshi. The bo-hi appear to be ato-bori, and the upper portion of the blade is ubu (ie. the kaeri is intact). The jihada is an extremely beautiful, large pattern itame that is thickly covered in ji-nie and having areas which appear like yubashiri. Nie arcing out of the hamon becoming chikei in the ji. The hamon is generally midare, with areas of gonome-midare. There is deep nie-hataraki to the edge, including ashi, yo, kinsuji, sunagashi, etc. The hamon is brilliant. The nakago, as mentioned, is osuriage with 3 mekugi-ana (one plugged). The sword is very healthy and has a heavy feel in-hand. It is 7mm thick at the shinogi. The nagasa is 41.1cm and moto-haba is 31mm. The sword has two old attributions, which I will emphasize and make bold, are not to be considered guarantees of either attribution. One is an early Tokubetsu Kicho dated Showa 37 (1962) giving an attribution to Naoe Shizu. There is also an old sayagaki from Hon'ami Koson attributing the blade to Sa Kunihiro. Again in bold, the blade should be resubmitted to an NBTHK shinsa or discussed with Tanobe-sensei for a more current attribution. Regardless, this is an exceptional sword, and is whoever decides to purchase it is going to be very pleased. SOLD Kind regards, Ray

HI Khalid, I have a few thoughts on this below and a great article from Guido Schiller.