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Hello everyone, TLDR: Interested in Japanese swords and fittings? I made this to help the field. Open nihontowatch.com on your phone browser, and add to home screen (Share → Add to Home Screen). Thank me later. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been thinking for quite some time about the future of our field. I have been blessed with incredible mentors and opportunities, most notably the late Darcy Brockbank, who was so generous in sharing his knowledge. Since his tragic passing, I have felt a responsibility to carry that work forward. What I am about to present, I built as an homage to his memory. Our field has problems. We operate in a field of extraordinary depth without being equipped with the knowledge and tools to understand what we're looking at when we browse the market. Refreshing dozens of dealer websites every week, most in Japanese, copy-pasting listings into translation apps, pinching to zoom on sites built twenty years ago — market awareness is just painful and you miss things constantly. You spend an hour and walk away unsure you have seen everything. And this is just the market experience. The deeper problem is access to knowledge. There are no catalogues raisonnés for artists. Yuhindo would have grown into it — it was planned. But alas, Yuhindo is no more. No way to know, with any confidence, whether a price is reasonable without decades of experience or tens of thousands of dollars invested in published references. No way to know why something costs what it does. Communication with Japanese dealers remains daunting for most. No easy way to know who is a reputable dealer. The barrier to entry is simply too high, and this friction keeps our field artificially small. Fine art has Artnet. Watches have Chrono24. Antiquarian books have AbeBooks — markets with comparable depth and comparable opacity, served by platforms that bring transparency and accessibility. These fields have benefited immensely: they have enabled new entrants in droves to collect in confidence. Our field needs more knowledge and transparency to build interest and trust.Japanese swords and fittings. Eight hundred years of collecting history at the highest levels. The category that contains the most national treasures in Japan. The indefatigable search for perfection of an entire civilization. And yet, we have nothing. This had to change. As I write this, there are 3,021 Nihonto and 1,607 Tosogu items for sale across 44 dealers, Japanese and international, in a single searchable interface. Every listing is structured with attribution, certification, measurements, and artist intelligence data. NihontoWatch is on track to follow 100% of the online market for genuine items with NBTHK papers. Refreshed 12 times a day. Everything is translated and structured, as it trickles in live. But what is this worth, if it's so hard to know what you're looking at? Especially for newcomers, it is so hard to tell what you're looking at. This is where the magic is. I am nostalgic of reading through Yuhindo's artist descriptions. It made me deeply appreciate the field. It got me in. NihontoWatch scales this experience and creates something approaching a living catalogue raisonné for every Tosogu and Nihonto artist. It matches every listing against a database combining the complete Juyo, Tokubetsu Juyo, Juyo bunkazai, Kokuho, and Gyobutsu designation data — over 23,000 items at the highest level, with rich text in classical Japanese. This data is then processed, synthesized, and presented into NihontoWatch's artist directory in a way that is respectful of the NBTHK's copyright. With this, you'll be able to discover a maker's historical reputation through quantitative analysis of exhaustive provenance records, in ways never seen before. Over time, all of these artist pages will come alive, forming an ever-expanding knowledge base. - How rare is it? - How many Tokuju? - How many designated works ranked Juyo and above? - Why is this important? - Where does it rank relative to other works? - What is for sale right now? - What was for sale recently? All the answers are in. These are questions that come up constantly in our community, and until now, answering them required years of collecting published references worth tens of thousands of dollars, and patiently indexing them with post-its or one-by-one in a spreadsheet. Only professional dealers or major collectors could afford to do this. This is a BETA, so there are errors. The more obscure the artist, the higher the error rate, and there are still basic errors I need to fix with some famous artists. A lot of algorithmic tinkering and curation ahead. It will keep getting better with your feedback. See the results for yourselves: - Soshu Masamune: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/masamune-MAS590 - Ichimonji school: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/NS-Ichimonji - Yasuchika (tosogu): https://nihontowatch.com/artists/yasuchika-TSU001 - Goto school: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/NS-Goto Click one and explore the designations, the provenance abalysis, the measurement distributions. This is just a first shot — over time this data will grow. Here is one where I have published an item I studied for my Substack article on Mitsutada: - Osafune Mitsutada: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/mitsutada-MIT281 Imagine Yuhindo, but with a page for every artist and every piece ever captured on camera. Saw a national treasure at an exhibition in Japan? Share your photos on NihontoWatch's artist catalogue. In the future, owners of particular works will be able to publish them to the artist's catalogue. Think of it as a growing, community-curated knowledge base for every artist in the field. And so much more Browse and filter: Designation, dealer, item type, school, province — all filterable, all instant. Prices display in JPY, USD, or EUR. Every filter combination is a shareable URL. The sold archive tracks thousands of items for pricing research. And it works for every budget, for collectors at every level. - All Tokubetsu Juyo Nihonto on the market - All Tsuba with Hozon or Tokubetsu Hozon, maximum price $2,000 Setsumei translations: On some items, you can press the floating book icon on any Juyo item to toggle between photos and the Juyo setsumei translated text. For most Juyo and above items, the NBTHK evaluation text from the dealer's page is identified by computer vision and translated into English. It will fail if the dealer has not posted the Juyo Zufu extract, but in the majority of cases they do, and the result is remarkably accurate. Do use responsibly — the quality is great, but not perfect. Always purchase professional translation from Markus Sesko when contemplating the purchase of a Juyo-designated piece. Search alerts: Never miss an item again. Define keywords and filters and save them. NihontoWatch will run your search every 15 minutes, and when something new appears, immediately send you an alert email. In practice, missing a listing that fits your interests becomes almost impossible. Tip: I recommend avoiding overly specific queries. "Juyo tsuba" or "Kamakura signed tachi" are safer than specific artists such as "Yozozaemon Sukesada," which would be more fickle. Broad queries give you the best market coverage. Inquiry emails: Press "Inquire" on any listing to draft a professional inquiry in Japanese. Handles etiquette and formality, and can help you request the 10% consumption tax exemption available to overseas buyers. Did you even know you could get 10% off? How many new entrants lost 10% on this, at least at the beginning? I for one did. I've seen countless high spenders neglect to request it while shopping across Japanese galleries. Glossary: The technical language of Nihonto and Tosogu is deep and specialized — needlessly so for non-Japanese speakers. Anytime a technical term comes up, you can click and see what it means. Over 1,200 terms, searchable, automatically linked from the setsumei translations. Who remembers always keeping an index open to keep track of terms when studying Juyo items? https://nihontowatch.com/glossary How best to use NihontoWatch While it works wonders on desktop, NihontoWatch works most beautifully on your phone. I use it every day — it feels like I have the market in my pocket. Open nihontowatch.com on your phone, hit Share → Add to Home Screen. And voila, you have an app. It becomes something you check with your morning coffee, the way one might check the news. A word of caution The data has errors — always verify independently. This is a tool to explore the market, not a substitute for critical thinking. If it looks too good to be true, it likely is, and this system can't easily correct online misrepresentations. Old listings where dealers have not marked items as "SOLD" will still appear as available. Listing errors will slip through, but data quality improves continuously as the system learns over time. Get involved - Missing a listing or dealer you like? PM me or post here. - Bug? PM me or post here with steps to reproduce. - Dream feature request? Reply in this thread. I will keep this thread active and share major updates when time permits. Everything is free right now, and will remain so until ready for official release. This is no trivial task, and it is expensive to operate — it will need to be covered in some way down the line. It will be tempting to keep it for yourself. But if we want our field to grow, we must share knowledge and expand market access and transparency. The single most impactful thing you can do right now is help others discover and use the tool. Share it with your study group. Share it with your collecting circle. Share it with a friend who has been curious about Nihonto and Tosogu but found the barrier to entry too high. That barrier just got a lot lower. Farewell, Darcy. This is for the teacher in you. Hoshi

Hello all, I’m pleased to share something that I’ve gave a lot of effort to get. It’s a special order Naokatsu Wakizashi. Although the name is inscribed, I don’t want to give so much information about the person who ordered it as my research is still going on. All fittings are made and signed by 7th gen Goto Seijo, and whole set is original to the blade(possibly sageo as well), bearing the name of the same individual - been preserved in perfect condition for exactly 172 years. I’m not sharing detailed images of the blade yet, as it needs to be photographed in a better setup. And at present, it is not for sale. Hope you enjoy it.

Andrew Ickeringill, Australia's own Touken Togishi (https://touken-togishi.com/) has been awarded 1st place Doryokushō (Achievement Award) in the 2026 NBTHK sword polishing competition. As a friend, fan and a client I cannot tell you how exciting this is for me - let alone him! I cannot be prouder of his achievement - anyone who knows Andrew will know that this is well deserved! He is a credit to this space. His work together with other winners will be exhibited at The Japanese Sword Museum from the 1st of August, so if you are in Japan at the time it will be worth the trip to visit! For complete honesty, I have pretty much completely plagiarised his Facebook announcement to share it with everyone here... because he is too humble to do it himself! Well done @Andrew Ickeringill!!!

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut :-) I think I got my Xmas present. About a week ago, a respected and high end US collector of Gendaito posted on an SA site asking for advice on shipping a sword from SA to the US. All I could offer was the name of a lady that does knives for the collectors here, and the advice that shipping a sword from here is very complicated and difficult. None of the courier companies want to handle them. Anyways, I was interested how a decent sword would be found in SA of all places, since we hardly ever see Nihonto for sale here, but I forgot about it. About 3 days ago...I was browsing the website of a large local auction company that regularly has antiques and collectibles auctions. I have bought from them a few times, but almost never Japanese stuff. Usually knives and other small things. Imagine my shock when among the lots, I see a Shin Gunto for sale. I assumed it was a fake, but opened the pics anyways, and was surprised to see it was genuine, with a nijimei signature. Took me a few minutes, and I was gobsmacked to realize it was signed Takenori! (Later I realized it was Taketoku)| Realizing this was the Yasukuni smith, my heart went into overdrive. I realized this must be the sword that the collector had his eyes on, and i knew on an SA budget, there was zero chance I could compete. But I bookmarked the auction, and started planning what my budget was. A Yasukuni related sword has always been on my bucket list. Before the auction ended, I took the bid to a winning bid of about US$1150, and prepared for a fight at the end, and to see it end at far more than double that. Auction time, the lot eventually came up, and I prepared to lose, but at least to put up a fight. The lot starts...the price sits there. I'm waiting for other bids. Nothing? My heart is about to burst. Final call comes up...usually for about 5 seconds...this time it sits there for about 15 seconds. I am having a panic attack. Closed. I win it at $1150 plus about 20% premium. I don't know what I did to have some luck for a change, but I'm not complaining. Maybe shipping overseas was too complex. Don't know why locals didn't bid, that's cheap even by local standards for a regular Gunto. I was lucky..a friend was flying down to that city yesterday and driving back, and he agreed to fetch it. After some complications (Auction house decided to close yesterday and i had to reach out to the owner) my buddy brought it back late last night and I got it today. A lovely Kajiyama Taketoku Gendaito, made privately while he was working at Yasukuni but after he changed his nakago shape to kijimomo to prevent confusion between himself and his nephew Kotani Kenzo. Dated 1937 and in very good original polish, some stains but everything can be seen. Cleaned up nicely with isopropyl alcohol and some oil, and has a stunning sugata, tapering to a small ko-kissaki. Kijimomo nakago, nagasa is 655mm. Signed below the mekugi ana, which is something I need to research. It's only in hand you can appreciate how different these are to military swords. Light in the hand, with a Koto feel. Has a straight and active ko-choji hamon that I am still getting into examining. Lots to see and beautifully forged. Hard to take photos, so will add as i go along. But consider me one very happy guy. No idea how this got to South Africa, or the story behind it. But for now I am happy to be its owner, and thanks to that collector for giving me the shot at it. It has a good home and will be well cared for.

With a heavy heart from a recent phone call from Minako Schiller, I wish to report that Guido has taken his leave from this plane of existence! Guido was an early and a long time member of NMB! From his posts, you will recall he was not shy and well... he called a Panzer ... a Panzer! As a career diplomat, he served the German Embassy as an Attache in several Asian countries. He greatly enjoyed his two postings at the embassy in Tokyo. This was certainly his sweet spot because he was very much at home in Japan. In all our years of associating in Japan, I cannot recall a time when we didn't imbibe when meeting. any occasion was an opportunity or an excuse for a Kampai! We had no illusions of grandeur... it was either beer or nihonshu... or beer then nihonshu. We traveled a lot together domestically but only once internationally when we ventured over to Macao! Suspicious minds out there... I know what you are thinking! No, it was not to gamble! We had been invited to attend the gala events for the opening of the History of Steel in Asia Exhibition at the newly opened Macao Art Museum (MAM). Guido, Roger Robertshaw, and I were honored guests for we contributed the entire display of Japanese swords, tsuba, and armor for the three month exhibition. All our items from Japan were shipped through the Embassy diplomatic channel. Edged weapons from seven Asian countries were on display as the Chinese government made their pitch to demonstrate the historical importance of their homeland in the development of edged weapons. Guido was an avid collector! When he was stationed in New York at the United Nations, he collected some fine Civil War firearms including a nice Sharps rifle, a Henry rifle, and several cap and ball revolvers. While in Jakarta, he put together a collection of Kris blades, and in Japan he was in Nihonto heaven and he developed a netsuke collection as well. In mid 2021, during Covid, Guido was recalled to Germany to take his final posting for his remaining two years prior to retirement. To this end, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Her Excellency Ina Lepel sent out a limited number of invitations for the farewell dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Schiller held on May 17 at 7 p.m. at her residence. During this solemn period of emergency pandemic privation, on the day in question, my wife and I made our way to the German Embassy to determine if there really was cause for celebration and if the rumors were true. In fact, Her Excellency Ambassador Ina Lepel, had indeed made great arrangements to send Guido and Minako Schiller back to Germany. It had not been determined if this action resulted from an infraction or if it were a benevolent gesture. It was entirely possible that Attache Schiller had been doing good work and this reassignment was, in fact, a reward. Yet, was it a reward to send a man home to sausage and sauerkraut after years of eating Tokyo’s finest sashimi and raw oysters? Is it even possible to willingly give up the range of heavenly sake found in Japan? What hypnotic spell could shots of Apfelkorn or Rumpel Minze Schnapps have over the infinite variety of locally brewed sake? To this day, these questions remain unanswered… unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions to compete with Guido's speculation on the missing Masamune sword. Like a Teutonic knight, loyal to the order, Herr Schiller was indeed packaged up and moved to his ancestral home. Unfortunately, the final stage of Guido's employment was not completed. He suffered a massive stroke and fell into a coma from which he never recovered. He remained in this state until October 10th, 2025. He is now only with us in our memories of his deeds, a man who served his country well as he rose to officer level in the army and then entered diplomatic service. Of greater importance was his service to his family, to his wife Minako and his daughter Hana. Sadly, Guido never got the opportunity to play with his new granddaughter. Guido is greatly missed... by me... his drinking buddy... I mourn this loss!

Hey everyone, I feel like its finally time to share a project that I've been working on for a while now. Not because it is finished but because my first child was just born a few days ago and development on this project will likely slow down for a bit as I navigate the new phase of life that is fatherhood! Anyways, I've been building a website https://nihonto-db.com for some time now and wanted to present it here. At the core, it is an interactive and searchable version of @Jussi Ekholm's Koto sword index he's so graciously shared with the NMB. I can't begin to state how incredibly powerful Jussi's research has been and without his tireless efforts and collaboration, this wouldn't have been possible. So at the core, the "Sword Database" portion is a simple searchable database that allows you to search from over 16,000 swords. There are filters and advanced filters available to allow you to search, filter, and compare works by many smiths with as narrow or broad of a search breath as you wish. Additionally, I've created a few other tools that I find useful. Namely an interactive Province Map of Japan showing the old swordmaking provinces which allows you to click on each province and see associated schools, swordsmiths, and other details of the schools and smiths of that province. Clicking on any province will pull up all of the swords in the database for that school and scrolling down you can view additional stats such as Kokuho, JuBun, JuBi, counts, counts of documented swords by type (Yari, naginata, katana, tachi, tanto, etc.) and other stats for each sword making region. There is also a Japanese/English toggle available which will show the circuits and provinces in Japanese rather than English which can be helpful when researching Japanese resources and sites. Thirdly, there is Gokaden Timeline which is built upon a Google Sheet collaboration that some of the members here helped with a few weeks ago. It is as the name suggests, a simple plotting tool that allows you to plot and view the various swordmaking schools broken down by their tradition, and the timeframe in which those schools spanned. Currently this is limited to mostly mainline and some obscure Koto schools. Shinto and Shinshinto aren't appropriately represented at this point and will be a future addition. Finally, there is an articles section where I have been posting various articles, photos, and zufu translations for the main Gokaden schools. Currently Soshu mainline and Yamashiro mainline are finished and Yamato and Bizen are in the works. The current selection of articles come from the Nihonto Taikan lectures from Honma Junji, Hiroi Yuichi, Numata Kenji, and other Japanese sword scholars and contain detailed genealogies, kantei points for grandmaster smiths, and the evolution of traditions, schools, and lineages of swordsmiths of the koto era. Each article goes into great detail and I've provided images when available of all of the swords (or an appropriate substitute) mentioned by the authors as well as translations of the various zufu used (when available). They are quite lengthy articles which provide a great deep dive into the prolific schools for each of the gokaden. I have many more plans for this site to hopefully become another helpful resource in the world of nihonto study and also be a place where swords can be researched in detail with photos, descriptions, and other additional information. I also would like to expand this into including many more shinto and shinshinto blades but as I'm a 1 man operation and now have a 1 week old baby, slow and steady is the key! There is a registration and sign-up option available, currently free users (there are no paid for options at this time) will also gain access to the Digital Library, an online encyclopedia of Japanese swords including some selected zufu, images of famous shrine swords, and translations when available. The current free digital library has ~2500 images of just over 500 swords. Feel free to make a free account and sign up with Google, Facebook, or register an email and password and take a look! I hope this site serves as a resource for all and if anybody has any comments or things the community would like to see, feel free to let me know and I will do my best to work on them as time allows. Thanks again to the NMB community and everyone here who has given their knowledge, time, and previous resources to make this all possible.

Hi all, Just like to share my recent acquisition, a unique Mitokoro-mono by the 5th generation mainline head of the Goto school, Tokujo. He was the eldest son of Kujo, born in 1549 and passed away in 1631. After serving Oda Nobunaga, he became the court chisel master for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum. Enjoy!

Hi all, I have been working with the hosts to identify the slowness and forum downtime, and at the same time noticed that the subscriptions link above is down. After some investigation, there is a possibility that there has been some hammering of certain processes through the subscriptions system, possibly an attack or something else. It seems as though certain blocks on processes may have brought the load down significantly, and I would like feedback on the speed and loading issues over the next day or 2...but there is a possibility I need to reconfigure some stuff and it seems that the subscriptions link is down. This is of course a huge concern for fund raising, as we have been going down in contributions lately and without a method of adding subscriptions, forum bills will rapidly become a problem. As a temporary solution, I am going to post the details of the various subscriptions here, and if anyone wants to take a Gold membership, I ask that you do the payment via Paypal manually, with a note of your username and the subscription that you are choosing to take or renew. I will then manually add that subscription to your username, or extend your membership by that period. I apologize for this, but it is temporary until I figure it out. Payments can be done by going to https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/japaneseswords Put a note of your username and chosen membership. Or pm me that you have paid and your choice. I really appreciate the support, and of course as always they are not compulsory, but are hugely appreciated. The Gold Memberships are as follows: Gold Tier Membership : $6 month to month, $30 for 6 months, or $60 for 12 Months. Members who upgrade to Gold Membership enjoy the following benefits: Access to exclusive themes not available to regular members Up to 60 Posts per day instead of 25 Private message limit of 500 messages (Regular members 100) Ability to edit your own posts for 14 days instead of 6 hours Ability to create polls Can view who reacted to a post and what reaction they gave Allowed to use a commercial link in your signature Can use search function with only 10 second delay between searches instead of 20 secs Can upload 10 attachments per post 7.5 Meg per post upload limit instead of 3MB Can use an image in signature (800x100px) Can have 2 links in signature Can send messages to someone even if their inbox is full 2.5 Gig total attachment storage instead of 1.5 Gigs More reactions allowed Support the forum NMB Dealers Staus: You have your own sub forum/section Dealer status comes with the following benefits: Own section of the forum that you can use as your own mini-store or display area for commerce. Ability to moderate all content in your section (along with current NMB moderators) This means you can add, delete and edit all posts indefinitely. You can lock topics, remove replies and edit descriptions or pricing. You have control over your section and what is posted there. You can control replies to your posts. Delete them or hide them. Lock the topic if you are only showing items. Post new item when they arrive, delete at any point or edit the price or description. Your own forum means you have maximum visibility to your customers and can treat your section like a mini webstore. $10 a month is easily affordable even to the smallest seller. 12 Month plan renews automatically if paid via Paypal. ONLY to be used for commercial listings. This is not a discussion area and debates or discussion should be limited to questions about items for sale or commerce. The $120 annual fee covers your store listing in the Dealer Section and the above benefits. Contributions on successful sale are (like regular listings) completely voluntary but always appreciated.. PLUS all the benefits of Gold Membership ($60 value) Payments to https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/japaneseswords Thank you all, as always.

Hello everyone, I also wanted to share with you my result at the last NBSK contest. Last year, at my first participation, I received the “Kasaku” (佳作) award and it was a great honor for me, as well as seeing my work exhibited first at the Tetsu Museum in Sakaki machi (Nagano) and then at the Meiji Jingu in Tokyo. The results were published in last days, and I can proudly say that I have confirmed the Kasaku award for the second consecutive year, in a context where the level is extremely high and the pursuit of perfection is constant. This year, I decided to raise the bar with a more elaborate work and a more challenging execution technique: from the choice of an “archaic” hitatsura hamon, complex and highly dynamic, to the realization process itself, which led me to a nearly three-dimensional result. I worked in multiple layers, with different dilutions, using brushes and a shodō ink stick, following the teachings I received during my last trip to Japan and after countless hours of experimentation to find a balance that satisfied me. It was a process with no margin for correction. There are some imperfections but that's okay, we have to know how to accept them. It was a long process—a true pursuit of perfection—almost a form of active meditation in which time seems to lose its meaning. The choice of the kakemono (made in Japan), too, was not accidental: on the shirasaya there is an old label bearing the name of the blade, “Amanokawa” — the Milky Way — likely inspired by the long sunagashi and the brilliant nie that characterize it. For this reason, we chose a display that would evoke, even if only from afar, a starry sky. Below I leave you some photos, and thank you for your attention.

NBTHK released the Jūyō 71 results today. As I got home from work I looked through them and indexed them in my usual format (only swords as I did this fast). Here are the translittered results, and original Japanese PDF can be found at NBTHK website: https://www.touken.or.jp/Portals/0/第71回重要刀剣等指定品発表.pdf Seems like this year 64 swords passed and 568 were sent in. Congratulations to everyone who passed an item 1. Katana – Awataguchi Hisakuni – Mumei [粟田口久国] 2. Katana – Awataguchi Kuniyoshi – Mumei [粟田口国吉] 3. Tachi – den Awataguchi – Mumei [伝粟田口] 4. Tachi – Rai Kuniyuki - 国行 [来] 5. Katana – Rai Kuniyuki – Mumei [来国行] 6. Tantō – Rai Kunitoshi (1321) - 来国俊 / 元亨元年四月 (Cut off) 7. Tachi – Ryōkai – Mumei [了戒] 8. Katana – Rai Kunimitsu – Mumei [来国光] 9. Katana – den Rai Kunimitsu – Mumei [伝来国光] 10. Katana – den Rai Kunimitsu – Mumei [伝来国光] 11. Katana – Rai Kunitsugu – Mumei [来国次] 12. Katana – Nakajima Rai – Mumei [中島来] 13. Katana – den Hasebe – Mumei [伝長谷部] 14. Katana – Sanjō Yoshinori - 吉則[三条] 15. Ken – Yukisada (Senju’in) - 行貞 [伝千手院] 16. Katana – Senju’in – Mumei [千手院] 17. Tachi – den Taima Tomoyuki - 友 (Cut off) [伝当麻友行] 18. Katana – Hoshō – Mumei [保昌] 19. Katana – Yamato Shizu – Mumei [大和志津] 20. Tantō – Shintōgo – Mumei [新藤五] 21. Katana – den Yukimitsu – Mumei [伝行光] 22. Katana – den Yukimitsu – Mumei [伝行光] 23. Tantō – Yukimitsu (1322) - 鎌倉住人行光 / 元亨二年三月 24. Wakizashi – den Sadamune – Mumei [伝貞宗] 25. Tantō – den Sadamune – Mumei [伝貞宗] (Attachment – Hon’ami Origami (1656) - 明暦二年本阿弥光温折紙) 26. Katana – den Shizu – Mumei [伝志津] 27. Tantō – Shizu – Mumei [志津] 28. Katana – den Gō – Mumei [伝江] 29. Katana – Fukuoka Ichimonji – Mumei [福岡一文字] 30. Katana – Ichimonji – Mumei [一文字] 31. Katana – den Yoshioka Ichimonji – Mumei [伝吉岡一文字] 32. Naoshi – Yoshioka Ichimonji - 一 [吉岡一文字] 33. Katana – Chikakage – Mumei [近景] 34. Wakizashi – Moriie – Mumei [守家] 35. Tachi – Kanemitsu - 備州長船住兼光 (Attachment – Hon’ami Origami - 本阿弥光忠折紙) (Attachment – Koshirae - 黒蠟色鞘打刀拵) 36. Wakizashi – Yoshimitsu (1357) - 備州長船義光 / 延文二年七月日 37. Katana – Motomitsu – Mumei [基光] 38. Katana – Motoshige – Mumei [元重] 39. Katana – Kanenaga – Mumei [兼長] 40. Katana – Nagamori – Mumei [長守] 41. Katana – Ōmiya Morikage – Mumei [盛景] 42. Tachi – Yasumitsu (1419) - 備州長船康光 / 応永廿六年六月日 43. Katana – Genbei Sukesada (1565) - 備前国住長船源兵衛尉祐定作 / 於天神山作 / 永禄八年二月吉日 44. Tachi – Tametsugu - 為次 45. Tachi – Aoe - 備□ (Fumei) [青江] 46. Katana – Aoe – Mumei [青江] 47. Tachi – Masatsune (Bitchū Senoo) - 正恒 [備中妹尾] 48. Katana – Ko-Mihara Masaie – Mumei [古三原正家] 49. Katana – Ko-Mihara Masahiro – Mumei [古三原正広] [Kiritsuke 備前長船住祐直上ル之] 50. Katana – Ko-Mihara – Mumei [古三原] [Kinzōgan ga aru 松平與一郎 (花押) / 依野田城戦功之拝受ス] 51. Tantō – Sa Yasuyoshi – [Shumei 左 / 長識 (花押)] [左安吉] 52. Naoshi – Sa Sadayoshi – [Shusho 左] [左貞吉] 53. Tachi – Bungo Yukihira - 豊後国行平作 54. Katana – Bungo Tomoyuki – Mumei [豊後友行] 55. Wakizashi – Bungo Tomoyuki (Nanbokuchō) - 友行 [豊後 - 時代南北朝] 56. Katana – Enju Kunitoki – Mumei [延寿国時] 57. Katana – Enju – Mumei [延寿] 58. Katana – Horikawa Kunihiro - 国広 59. Katana – Ikkanshi Tadatsuna (1658) - 粟田口近江守忠綱 / 明暦二二年五月日 / 以地鉄鍛作之 60. Katana – Kotetsu - 長曽祢興里虎徹入道 [Kinzōgan 万治三年十一月十日 / 野勘十郎成久 (花押) / 三ツ胴截断] 61. Katana – Hizen Tadahiro (1629) - 肥前国住武蔵大掾藤原忠広 / 寛永六年二月吉日 62. Wakizashi – Hizen Tadahiro (1630) - 肥前国住藤原忠広 / 永七年八月吉日 63. Katana – Hizen Masahiro (1648) - 肥前国佐賀住河内大掾藤原正広作 / 正保五年二月吉日 64. Katana – Mondo no Shō Masakiyo – (一葉葵紋) 主水正藤原正清

I'm happy to announce that my Yagyu utsushi tsuba ranked Nyusen 4th in this year's NBTHK contest. Despite being ranked lower than last year it's still a positive result.

Smiths_Soldiers_Diplomats_Block_Sesko-FINAL.pSmiths_Soldiers_Diplomats_Block_Sesko-FINAL.pdf Markus Sesko and I used to talk about how much we knew about Horikawa Kunihiro's life and travels compared to virtually every other smith before 1600. Then I came across Koyama Kanami's 1977 study of Akamatsu Masanori and his associates Katsumitsu and Munemitsu, I realized Kunihiro wasn't the only pre-Edo smith hiding in plain sight in the historical record. Markus and I began talking about a deep dive, and the result is the attached paper, which I hope stands out in a field where we know far more about the metallurgical features of great swordsmiths than about the men themselves. I am sharing it here with you guys first. It could not have been written without Markus's translations, discussions, and editorial judgment, which are evident on every page. I Hope you enjoy Smiths_Soldiers_Diplomats_Block_Sesko-FINAL.pdf

Having a particular fondness for brass-inlaid tsuba, I eventually added several pieces from the Washida school of fittings makers to my collection. This sparked my interest in learning more about the school and its production. Over time I gathered a fair amount of information and eventually decided to compile it into a single document, which you can find in the download section of the board: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/210-the-shōnai-washida-school/ I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. As I mentioned, given my particular weakness for brass inlay, the document is somewhat biased toward the work of Washida Mitsunaka! Just as an example of the Washida production here are the pieces from this school (or supposed to be from this school) in my collection: NBTHK Hozon to Washida. Dimensions 85.4 mm x 85.3 mm, thickness 3.9 at seppa dai, 4.2 at mimi. NBTHK Hozon to Washida. Dimensions 85.3mm x 79.2 mm, thickness 3.6 at seppa dai, 4.0 at mimi. Identical to tsuba attributed by NBTHK to Washida. Dimensions 87.2 mm x 82.2 mm, thickness 3.7 at seppa dai, 4.0 at mimi. Signed in kinzogan mei Kyozan Mitsunaka with Kao. Dimensions 87.2 mm x 77.6 mm, thickness 2.6 at seppa dai, 4.2 at mimi. Dimensions 83.5 mm x 78.6 mm, thickness 3.0 at seppa dai, 4.1 at mimi. Dimensions: 96.9 mm x 13.9 mm, thickness 4.7 mm. REgards Luca

Thanks for letting us know Bob and sorry for your loss, and the nihonto community’s loss. These last few years I had often thought about Guido, hoping through some miracle he might wake from his coma… not to be. Guido was someone I respected very much, he was highly intelligent, full of knowledge and insight, and willing to share it, he also had a very sharp wit and more often than not our conversations would end in belly-laughing. Many years ago, when I first set out to become a nihonto craftsman, there were very few people willing to help me, most would just dismiss me as a foolish foreigner, but not Guido. He offered to meet up with me in Tokyo, a complete stranger from the other side of the world, to discuss all things nihonto and nihon. Over the years, we corresponded quite a bit, and we would sometimes meet up at nihonto related events, where we could continue our running in-jokes with each other. He was a gentleman and a scholar... with a strong sugata!! May he rest in peace.

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

Hey Tosogu collectors, I recently obtained my second Yanagawa Naomitsu piece, a beautiful lion and peony themed fuchigashira (possible tokubetsu hozon candidate?) In celebration of this new acquisition I felt a mega lion thread would be fitting, hoping to get the rest of the forum involved! Post your best lions, all types of Tosogu welcome! I'll start:

New video:

Hi all, I would like to share three tsuba that recently joined my collection: an Umetada tsuba with karakusa design (perhaps Momoyama?), a Kaga piece, and a Momoyama Heianjo. Each has a different taste and gives a slightly different feeling. Any thoughts or observations are very welcome.

I was struggling with the Japanese description of a mounting . Mr Moriyama , who is a huge asset to the Board , assisted by giving me the translation ,being Yosegane ,together with a link to the Mokumekin Museum . The museum describes Yosegane as"like marquetry Yosegane combines metals of different colors to create patterns ". Members might be interested to see an example of what I now know to be Yosegane. This sword , regretably not mine , is one of the finest that I have ever handled. I hope you enjoy looking at it . Ian Brooks

Hi Kevin, Great question. There is a tradition of attribution that goes back to the 17th century where respected appraisers wrote the name of the maker in gold inlay on the tang of the blade (Kinzogan). Some of the shortening were performed by this group, called the Hon'ami, and as a result they had access to many more signatures than we do today. The attribution "Go Yoshihiro" has a number of canonical traits (e.g., Ichimai boshi, first class nie, shallow sori, habuchi that increases towards the kissaki...) that have been studied since the Momoyama period. There is, of course, a substantial degree of uncertainty with attributed blades. Attributions on mumei works are best understood as "this is the most likely maker given what we know today" - and even more conservatively as a way to state that a sword expresses certain traits and a certain level of quality that is in line with reputation of a certain master smith. In this sense, there is a tradition of attribution that has been honed over generation of competent judges, based on ancient literature and oral transmission. I would advise caution on mumei Soshu blades to big names that are without Ko-Kiwame (old appraisal by the reputable judges) or established provenance from Daimyo collection with a high-level record of gift-giving. Makers during the Shinto era, such as Nanki Shigekuni or Shinkai came very close to Go, and one should always examine the sword critically. Best, Hoshi

Hi all, I thought I’d share something neat. Although I haven’t had much experience with Kagamishi, I figured picking one up would be a good opportunity to start learning. These are just some quick photos for now, but I’ll take proper ones when I’m back home.

I am excited to announce the release of a document I have been working on: Type 95 Military Sword Variations. It is now available in the download section for anyone who would like to access it. I am pinning this thread in place of the Type 95 Worksheet, of which can be found here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29722-type-95-gunto-worksheet/#comments My hope is that this monograph helps dispel some of the long standing rumors surrounding these swords and assists collectors in identifying the examples in their own collections. This work is purely educational and is intended to consolidate information from several sources into one comprehensive reference. I would like to acknowledge the late Nick Komiya for the huge amount of documents he shared on the warrelics forum over the years; without his contributions to the study of Japanese Militaria, this document simply could not exist. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to the following Nihonto Message Board members, who either directly, or indirectly through discussions over the years, greatly aided my understanding of this type of Japanese sword. I am forever grateful. @Kiipu @Bruce Pennington @Conway S @John C @drb 1643 Tom Foster, @robinalexander @BANGBANGSAN @Shamsy @Stegel @PNSSHOGUN @rebcannonshooter @Grimmdarkspire @matthewbrice @vajo @Brian . Please see the aknowledgements section in the download, and I hope not to have forgotten anyone... This is Edition #1, and I intend to update the download annually as new revelations arise and as serial number range changes are observed. It is formatted imperfectly, but to the best of my ability with programs at hand (I am an enthusiast and collector, not an experienced writer). Please feel free to let me know if you notice any typos or inconsistencies, and I will address them promptly. Feel free to use this topic to post information or questions about Type 95 Gunto. I hope you find the monograph helpful. Happy Valentine’s Day! -Sam

Hello Curran, sorry to disappoint you: The Gassan Sadayoshi has a family reunion with his (adopted) son Sadakazu and his grandson Sadakatsu in a german collection Best Andreas

A little while ago, I gave myself the task of learning more about Gyobutsu swords, or the swords personally owned by the Emperor of Japan. When I first embarked on this research, I did not think it would be a very arduous task, like other designations or provenance it just meant doing a little digging but little did I know. Straight from the beginning I got a little unstuck as my first task was to find a comprehensive list of Gyobutsu swords – surely, this would not be that hard to find with so many greats before me, someone must have created a list, written a book, right? Nope, well certainly nothing I found until well after WWII and even then there is no proper definitive Gyubutsu list of swords that were owned by the Emperors of Japan. Emporer Meiji – son of heaven You see back in the day, as a living descendent of the gods, the Emperor was subject to no one and no thing and therefore what he owned was never catalogued in a public way… ever. It was not necessary and certainly not appropriate for the time. Records did exist but they were strictly for viewing within the walls of the Imperial Court. This as a result makes this designation of Gyobutsu probably the opaquest designation that can be given to a sword and the same can be said for Imperial Provenance because whilst some of the records are easily accessible now – most even today are still not. Two swords that fall into the latter category of not having accessible records are the two previous Gyobutsu swords by Gō Yoshihiro. From the Japanese Sword Encyclopedia by Fukunaga Suiken (R.I.P.) we get this information: Kitano-Gō: This sword, crafted by Gō Yoshihiro, is listed in the "Kyoho Meibutsu-cho" (Chapter of Specialties of the Kyoho Period). Hon'ami Kosa and Komasu purchased it from Sakai in Senshu. Kotoku, who had been named after Yoshihiro, attached a 1,500-kan (approx. 1,500 kan) origami (signature). The centre features gold inlay "Emagami Kotoku (monogram)." These characters are said to have been written by Hon'ami Koetsu. In September 1614, Maeda Toshitsune travelled to Sunpu to express his gratitude to Tokugawa Ieyasu for his succession to the domain. Hon'ami Kosa followed him to Nagoya, claiming to be celebrating the succession. Having become lord of the domain and feeling cocky, Toshitsune generously purchased the sword. Years later, while Toshitsune was in Kyoto, he stayed at the residence of Shōbaiin, the Shinto priest of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, and had the sword tested on the banks of the nearby Kamiya River. Because of its excellent sharpness, the sword came to be called Kitano-Gō, after the place where it was tested. By the time the Kyoho Meibutsu-chō was compiled, the sword's value had risen to 5,000 kan. The Maeda clan kept it at their Edo domain residence. There is a record of Hon'ami Nagane having it maintained in March 1812 (Bunka 9). Marquis Toshinari Maeda On July 9, 1910, Emperor Meiji visited Marquis Maeda's residence and was presented with the sword. The Kitano-Gō is currently kept at the Tokyo National Museum. The Kyoho Meibutsu-chō lists the blade length as 2 shaku 3 sun 5 rin (approximately 69.8 cm), but Maeda family records state it as 2 shaku 3 sun (approximately 69.7 cm), which corresponds to the current length. The curvature is 6/8" (approximately 1.8 cm). The surface has a flowing itame grain pattern and is slightly raised. The blade pattern is a curved straight blade with a small five-point pattern and frayed edges. The blade has a small rounded edge. There are four notches above the monouchi. The center is heavily polished and there are three mekugi-ana holes. However, judging from the burnished blade pattern, it does not appear to have been polished very much. Nabeshima-Gō: This is an unsigned sword written by Gō Yoshihiro of Etchu, listed in the "Kyoho Specialty Book." It was first owned by Nabeshima Naoshige, the lord of Hizen Saga Castle. The sword was passed down to Umitada family from this family, who made an oshigata of the sword. Afterwards, the Umitada family presented it to Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is probably the same sword that was named the ``Koboshikiri-Gō'' presented by Katsushige Nabeshima in 1600. In November 1618, it was gifted to the Bishu Tokugawa family as a so-called Suruga gift. According to the records at that time, there was a slight nick on the blade about 3 inches (approximately 9.1 cm) below the side. It is decorated with a 75 pieces of gold origami, the edges are made of shakudo, the menuki is made of gold-free taku, it depicts a lion with two lions, the tsuba is made of shakudō, the habaki is double-layered, the bottom is covered with gold, the top is made of gold-free gold, and the face and quail eyes are made of gold-free gold. The back of the koji is walnut, and the front is a carving of a lion with three cubs. The small handle was made of shakudo and had an image of a shell in water. Koen Hon'ami has also seen this. On September 21, 1636, when Shogun Iemitsu came to the Bishu residence, Yoshinao presented this sword to the Shogun along with Rai Kunimitsu's tanto. On June 18, 1651, the sword was given to Iemitsu's fourth son Tokumatsu, the future shogun Tsunayoshi, as a relic of Iemitsu. The theory is that the Bishu family gave it directly to Tokumatsu is incorrect. In the second year of Kyoho (1717), Omi no kami Tsuguhira obtained the permission of Shogun Yoshimune and had the shogun's storehouse swords stamped. Among them, he listed as ``Nabeshima-Gō' but it had two mekugi holes and was completely different. Since then, it has been handed down as a treasured sword of the shogun family, but on August 10, 1891, it was presented to Emperor Meiji under the care of Tesshu Yamaoka. After the war, it became state-owned. The length of the blade is 2 shaku 2 sun 65 rin (approximately 68.6 centimeters), Honzukuri, and Iori-bu. The front side of Jitetsu has a large grained texture and stands out, but the back side has a small grained grained texture. The hamon is rich in small shapes, with a mixture of gomoku and kanji. In the ``Kyoho Specialties'' book, there are several places where ``Yubashiri'' is said to be ``a little bit grilled for both Taira and Ho.'' The blade on the front side has a straight edge and is long and curved, but the back side is jagged, sharp, and crumbles, as the ``Kyoho Meibutsucho'' says, ``Kogiri Feng, Odeki.'' The center is highly polished, unsigned, has one mekugi hole, and has a sword-like shape. As you can see first hurdle crossed Fukunaga Suiken has kindly documented evidence that these two Gō Yoshihiro swords were gifted to the Emperor Meiji, a keen sword collector: Nabeshima-Gō presented by Tokugawa Iesato to Emperor Meiji on August 10, 1889 as documented by the Tokugawa Clan. It seems reasonable that the then 26 year old, Prince Tokugawa Iesato, head of the Tokugawa family would document this – at this stage his family was no longer the Shogun for some 20 years, but he was a Prince and the Emperor had just signed the 1889 constitution in February that year, formalising the himself as head of the Empire, combining in himself the rights of sovereignty. Iesato an Eton educated Noble was keen to stay on the right side of the Emperor and apparently he did as he was made a member of House of Peers when it was established a few months later in 1890 and later became its president from 1903 through to 1933. Portrait of Tokugawa Iesato Kitano-Gō was presented by a 15 year old Marquis Toshinari Maeda to Emperor Meiji on July 9, 1900, when the Emperor Meiji visited the Maeda residence in Komaba Park in Meguro, Tokyo, only a short 8km carriage ride east from the Imperial Palace. The Emperor Meiji visited the 15 year old Marquis Toshinari Kōshaku Maeda on this day because less than a month earlier on the June 13, 1900, Toshinari had been adopted as heir of the main branch of the Maeda clan by his father, the former Daimyō of the Nanokaichi Domain in Kozuke province (modern day Tomioka City, Gunma Prefecture) Maeda Toshiaki, even though he was the fifth son. He was named Shigeru at birth but changed his name to Toshinari at his coming of age. As a new Marquis of only 15 years of age he had only ever known the Empire of Meiji and was never exposed to the times of the Shogunate. As a major family in the Empire the Emperor had come to congratulate the new Marquis Maeda. Former Maeda Residence at Komaba Park Great, so we have two confirmed Gyobutsu Gō Yoshihiro blades… so what happened to them, where are they now? Well, both thankfully, as Fukanaga points out, are still very much around with both being stored and occasionally displayed at the Tokyo National Museum but their ownership status is no longer listed as swords owned by the Imperial Family. The official database (ColBase: Integrated Search System for National Museum Collections) lists them both as belonging to the Tokyo National Museum. Colbase: Katana Unsigned (Famous Nabeshima-Gō) Colbase: Katana (Gold Inlay) Emagami Kotoku (Seal) (Famous Kitano-Gō) So what happened? How did these two swords lose their Gyubutsu status and how did they land up at the Tokyo National Museum like so many other swords from the Imperial Collection? The answer, World War II. To understand what happened we need to dig deeper into the story of war debts and restitution after WWII. After WWII the Allied Forces took control of Japan under the command of General Douglas MacArthur who was the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). His office, referred to as GHQ which stood for General Head Quarters, became the defacto Ruler of Japan from 1945 through to 1952 as the Emperor and Government had to adhere to this office’s orders and instructions. General Douglas MacArthur & Emperor Hirohito, US Embassy Tokyo, September 27, 1945 During this time, we have now all heard about the confiscation of swords that took place and of course this attracts the most attention due to the horror stories of lost National Treasures but this policy of confiscation did not affect the Imperial collection of swords in the same way. As such none of the Emperor’s Gyubutsu swords were confiscated by this means (although many of Emporer Meiji's newer military swords were) but that does not mean he got to keep all of his treasure swords. In fact, as we will see he did have to give most of them away for two reasons: 1. War Reparations through Property Tax 2. Rearrangement of the Imperial Status where the Emperor became a constitutional monarch Let’s talk to War Reparations through Property Tax. After the Second World War, the Imperial Family found itself subject to the new "Property Tax Law" that was enacted in 1946 under the GHQ. For the first time property taxes were imposed on the Imperial family's property, so payments were required to be made. It was a sizeable sum: 3.3 billion yen, or 90% of all the Imperial Family's assets valued at the time. The sum was so large that the Imperial Family could not pay it and they certainly could not take out a loan that large to do so either. So instead, the only option they were left with, being asset rich but now, incredibly cash poor, was to make payments in kind in the form of restitution through the giving away of Imperial possessions, including prized property, art, furniture and treasure swords. The exercise of claiming this tax was carried out by the GHQ through the Japanese tax office. As such the Imperial Family was forced to act with some haste in terms of giving over these possessions. This meant that a lot of the normal procedures and paperwork associated with documenting changes to the Imperial possessions were simply abandoned – the Allied Forces did not care to wait on protocol. The Americans however were not devoid of documentation and as such somewhere in the archives of the GHQ (held at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, USA) or perhaps even the Japanese Tax Office there will exist documents today that detail the specifics of the Imperial possessions and their individual values as payment in kind against the property taxes the Imperial Family owned. NARA at College Park, Maryland It is also almost certain that the Imperial Family will also have some sort of record for this payment, but we will likely never to see any of these documents for a very long time, if we ever, due to the sensitive nature of these taxes and the estimated values of these possessions. It would invite too much scrutiny and pain digging up such a painful part of Japanese history. As a consequence, today there is little to no data publicly available of this historic transfer of wealth and treasures from the Imperial Household to the Nation of Japan. All we know is that a deal was done between the Imperial Family and the GHQ/ Tax Office so that Imperial possessions including many treasure swords of which Nabeshima-Gō and Kitano-Gō forms part, were used as payment in kind to cover the Imperial Family's tax burden that had been levied on them after the war in 1946 and in so doing these two swords and many more treasures were transferred out of the Imperial Collection to the Nation of Japan and were held at several museums including the National Museum (now known as the Tokyo National Museum.) For more details of this tax burden and payment in kind click here. So now we can see that property taxes were the primary reason why the Japanese Imperial Family lost 90% of their Imperial possessions. It is also how many swords including the two Gō Swords, Kitano-Gō and Nabeshima-Gō lost their Gyubutsu status and became the possession of the Tokyo National Museum as care takers of the treasures for the Nation of Japan. This all seems pretty terrible but the story is not over, let’s look at the second loss of Imperial possessions through the unwinding of the 1889 constitution and the establishment of the Constitutional Monarchy. A year later in 1947, the Emperor’s rights of sovereignty given to him in the 1889 constitution were revoked and new constitution was established where the Emperor of Japan became a constitutional monarch. In so doing the Emperor and the Imperial Family became ceremonial figure heads of the state requiring him to relinquish the remaining majority of his imperial possessions under the new arrangements, so that they could be managed by the Nation of Japan. This came into effect on the 3 May 1947 with the establishment of a new Imperial Household Office under the control of the Prime Minister’s Office so that the old Imperial Household Office no longer fell under the control of the Emperor meaning that it was no longer a part of the Imperial Court but instead became a government depart managed by the Government of Japan. Staff were also transferred out of the Imperial Court and numbers were reduced from 6,200 to less that 1,500 staff. The Imperial possessions transferred to the Imperial Household Office therefore were no longer the property of the Emperor but the property of the Nation of Japan. The Imperial Household Office subsequently became the Imperial Household Agency in 1949 and in 2001 this government department moved from the Prime Minister’s Office to fall under the management of the Cabinet Office. These transfers of Imperial possessions in 1947 saw hundreds of Gyobutsu swords moved to the National Museum where they have remained ever since and became the property not of the Emperor but of the Imperial Household Agency on behalf of the Nation of Japan. This transfer left only a fraction of the original Imperial Treasures in the personal ownership of the Emperor and how this was managed remained undetermined until 1989 when the Emperor Showa passed away and just under 80% of his remaining 4,600 treasures including more swords were “donated” to the national treasury under the ownership of the Imperial Household Agency and housed at Sannomaru Shozokan. A set of two Folding screens part of the Imperial Household Agency collection at Sannomaru Shozokan This has left the current Emperor of Japan Naruhito with a very small personally owned Imperial Collection compared to the past. This includes the 3 Sacred Treasures (which without which the Emperor cannot be Emperor), 20 Accessories of Her Majesty the Empress’ formal attire and 50 Imperial Properties that are made up of scrolls, art works, folding screens and 28 Gyobutsu swords that are considered Historic Objects and as such are not subject to the laws requiring Imperial possessions to be transferred to the Nation of Japan but instead will continue to be allowed to be passed down as part of the Imperial Throne. The Three Sacred Treasures of the Emperor; the mirror Yata no Kagami, the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama For your benefit listed below are these last 28 Gyubutsu swords confirmed as of 2019’s coronation ceremony: 1. 治天皇御料・今上陛下 山城国久国御太刀 先帝例祭（黒田清隆献上） Emperor Meiji's gift, His Majesty's present: Yamashiro Hisakuni Tachi from the Former Emperor's annual festival (presented by Kiyotaka Kuroda) 2. 明治天皇御料・今上陛下 相模国正宗御刀（名物 会津正宗） 旬祭三殿御拝（有栖川宮献上） Emperor Meiji's personal gift, His Majesty's present Sagami Masamune Sword (Meito Aizu Masamune) Shunsai Sanden Gohai (presented at Arisugawa Palace) 3. 明治天皇御料・今上陛下 備前国助平御太刀 元始祭（岩崎弥之助献上） Emperor Meiji's gift, His Majesty's present: Bizen Sukehira Tachi for the Genji Festival (presented by Yanosuke Iwasaki) 4. 菊御作御太刀 昭和天皇即位礼（黒田長成献上） Kiku Mitsukuri Tachi presented at the Enthronement Ceremony for Emperor Showa (presented by Nagashige Kuroda) 5. 明治天皇御料備前国真長御太刀 春秋皇霊祭（藤堂高猷献上） Emperor Meiji's gift, His Majesty's present: Bizen Province Masanaga Tachi from the Spring and Autumn Emperor's Residences (presented by Todo Takayu) 6. 山城国吉光御太刀 神嘗祭（権大納言徳川茂徳献上）　※一期一振 Yamashiro Yoshimitsu Tachi from the Kanna Festival (presented by Gon Dainagon Tokugawa Shigenori) (Meito Ichigo Hitofuri) 7. 大和国天国御太刀（小烏丸と号す） 新嘗祭（宗重正献上） Yamato Amakuni Tachi (Meito Kogarasu Maru) (presented by Muneshigemasa) 8. 備前国信房御太刀（十萬束と号す） 元始祭（徳川家達献上） Bizen Nobufusa Tachi (Meito Jumanzuka) Genji Festival (presented by Tokugawa Ietatsu) 9. 山城国国永御太刀（名物 鶴丸） 歳旦祭（伊達宗基献上） Yamashiro Kuninaga Odachi (Meito Tsuru Maru) Saidan Festival (presented by Date Muneki) 10. 山城国宗近御太刀 先帝例祭（酒井忠道献上） Yamashiro Munechika Tachi from the Former Emperor’s Festival (presented by Tadamichi Sakai) 11. 上皇昼御座御剣備前国長光御太刀 昼御座御剣 Bizen Province Nagamitsu Tachi, Retired Emperor's Daytime Throne sword 12. 上皇小御所出御御剣備前国包平御太刀 御寝間御剣（徳川家重献上） Bizen Tsunehira, Retired Emperor's sword from his small palace, sword for the sleeping quarters (presented by the Tokugawa Ieshige) 13. 古今伝授大和国天国御太刀 御代々古今伝授の節御佩用 Yamato Heavenly Sword, a sword of transmission from generation to generation. 14. 菊御作御太刀 昭和天皇即位礼控（元田永孚献上） Kiku Gosaku Tachi Copy of sword for the Enthronement Ceremony of Emperor Showa (presented by Eifusa Motoda) 15. 明治天皇御料備前国景光景政御太刀 祈年祭（川村純義献上） Bizen Koku kei kōkei Tachi Meiji Emperor's gift from the Prayer Festival (presented by Junyoshi Kawamura) 16. 大正天皇御料相模国行光御太刀 神嘗祭（伊藤博邦献上） Sagami Yukimitsu Tachi Emperor Taisho's gift from kan’nasai (presented by Ito Hirokuni) 17. 山城国国綱御太刀（名物 鬼丸） 新嘗祭（御取寄せ） Yamashiro Kunitsuna Tachi (Meito Onimaru) from Niname Festival (made to order) 18. 前国則宗御太刀 祈年祭（浅野長勲献上） Bizen Norimune Tachi from Prayer Festival (presented by Asano Chokun) 19. 備前国友成御太刀（鶯丸と号す） 歳旦祭（宮内大臣田中光顕献上） Bizen Tomonari Tachi (called Uguisumaru) from the New Year’s Festival (Presented by Mitsuaki Tanaka, Minister of the Imperial Household) 20. 備前国長光御太刀 旬祭（伊藤博邦献上） Bizen Nagamitsu Tachi Shun Festival (Presented by Hirokuni Ito) 21. 光格天皇御料 相模国正宗御脇指（名物 小池正宗） 賢所御神楽（徳川家斉献上） Sagami Masamune Wakizashi (Meito Koike Masamune) Emperor Kokaku's imperial offering Kashidokoro Kagura (Presented by the Tokugawa family) 22. 後白河天皇御剣 東宮御相伝　賢所御拝 Emperor Goshirakawa's Katana, the Crown Prince’s Sword 23. 豊後国行平御太刀 東宮御相伝　賢所御拝 Bungo Yukihira Katana, the Crown Prince’s sword: Worship at the Kashikodokoro 24. 豊後国行平御太刀 昼御座御剣 Bungo Yukihira Tachi Hirumoza no Tsurugi 25. 備前国長光御太刀 御寝間御剣 Bizen Nagamitsu Tachi, sleeping sword 26. 孝明天皇御料 相模国総宗御脇指 賢所御神楽（津軽承昭献上） Mitsuru Emperor Komei's Imperial Offering Sagami Soshu Wakizashi Kashikodokoro Kagura (presented by Josho Tsugaru) 27. 大正天皇御守刀美作国正守短刀 天皇陛下御枕刀（御誕生の節進ぜられ） Bizen Masamori Tanto Emperor Taisho's Talisman Tanto, (presented to celebrate his birth) 28. 山城国吉光御短刀（名物 平野藤四郎） 皇后陛下御枕刀（前田斉泰献上） Yamashiro Yoshimitsu Tanto (Toshiro Hirano) the Empress's Makura sword (presented by Nariyasu Maeda) As you can see this is a far cry from what was once said to be hundreds or even a thousand plus treasure swords owned by Emperor Meiji. In fact, many serious private collectors of Swords, including many international, now hold even more swords than the Emperor, something that boggles the mind. In my ongoing research I still have not managed to find a definitive list of pre-1945 Gyubutsu swords anywhere. We have scattered sources of information for example the Gyubutsu Tokahu Mei Oshigata by Sato and Numata, that lists the tangs of the Imperial Household Agency owned blades housed at the Tokyo National Museum but these are a snapshot from 1958 when they were already the property of the Nation of Japan. The list of the swords transferred from the Imperial Family to the Imperial Household Office that went on to be stored at the National Museum can be found in a book published by the Tohaku entitled; Tokyo National Museum Centennial History, but again this was published in 1973 which is some time after the swords had been transferred from the Imperial Family to the museum. The Tokyo National Museum Home to many of the Imperial Household Agency’s Collection of Swords In the end no definitive list of Gyobutsu swords pre-1945 was found and as such the quest continues to some degree. (Please feel free to drop a line below with any sources you have found in your time.) Unfortunately, as no Gyobutsu sword past or present will ever be sent to NBTHK (unless the Emperor perhaps allows it) we will never get their expert opinion on any of the swords in any formal way other than commenting on them perhaps in articles by people who once had the rare privilege of seeing and maybe even touching them. This also means we are unlikely to ever see them in any of the current Gyobutsu swords in any formal way. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs is also unlikely to ever publish a list of former Gyobutsu swords due to the nature of how these swords were transferred to the Nation of Japan. So, we are where we are… for now. Before I wrap up, I would like to acknowledge those who helped me with this exercise especially the curator of meitou.info who has been a wealth of information and has been so patient and accommodating with all my questions. We are lucky to have such a wonderful person and resource in this space. I would also like to thank @Hoshi who helped prod me. Finally, I would like to state that this is all my own research and therefore all the mistakes or inaccuracies in this are my own and no one else's - if you feel you have something to contribute or share that I have missed or want to correct anything above please do so below - it will definitely help everyone, especially myself, learn. Thank you.

That's just about all the "discussion" I will allow on this sale post. A warning to all, and I am not kidding. Stop the debates in other people's sale listings, or take a break. I have more important things to do that babysit people who are argumentative.

Hi. I recently secured this little treasure, a Toran Kei Tsuba from the Kofun period. I absolutely love it, the antiquity, rarity, beauty and charm. It measures about 7cm x 5.2. The wording placed over the tsuba is my instagram account. Mark

Just finished watching the four part series called The Samurai by Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook part of their podcast The Rest is History. For those who don't know Tom Holland, he is a brilliant British historian who eloquently breaks down world history. This series appears to have been influenced by the current Samurai Exhibition at the British Museum. It gives a wonderful account of the early history and rise of the Samurai in Japan. A must watch for anyone interested in Japanese Swords, Early Japanese Military History & Japanese Legends. I will leave a link to the episodes here: The Samurai - Episode 1 Samurai Japan was Brutal - Episode 2 Samurai Battles Were Worse Than You Think - Episode 3 The Samurai Civil War: Japan's Greatest Epic - Episode 4 Enjoy!

While cleaning some blades, I thought I’d take a few quick photos and share this one, as I'm very fond of it. It’s a Rai Kunitoshi utsushi by Shodai Tadayoshi.. extremely fine ji-nie (konuka)..and in some places, clear hada reminiscent of Rai, with pure white nie along the ha..enjoy!

Before we start, I am not sure if this belongs here or to the Online Sellers or Dealer Showcase subs, so mods, please move if necessary. Just wanted to let you all know that whilst Volume 4 of the Tosogu Classroom is being prepared for being published later this week (yes, its done, just final layout and indexing), I have put together a humble read about Honma 'Kunzan' Junji talking about the Japanese sword world of the early 20th century and right after WWII. It is not so much about blades, but gives an interesting insight into what happened "behind the scenes" at that time, often not mentioned in other publications. Please enjoy, and reach out to me via email or DM if you have any question. https://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/honma-talks/paperback/product-dy85nwq.html?q=honma&page=1&pageSize=4

Yanagawa Naomasa

Here is for sale something you don’t encounter every day, Nanbokuchō period naginata. As many might know ōdachi and naginata are my main thing in collecting and research. I am not too happy to sell this one as finding Nanbokuchō naginata is very difficult. However, I will try to save up towards something better so I need to let this one go. This is in no means a perfect piece and it has been shortened but it still remains as a naginata. It has few flaws which can be seen in pictures but also parts of this have quite nice workmanship and interesting activity in hamon. NBTHK has attributed this to Ko-Uda, and I would think this would be Nanbokuchō work. I believe this naginata has been shortened around 25 cm from its original blade length that would have been around 75 cm. As can be seen in the pictures the original naginata-hi is only on the nakago with soe-bi continuing small portion into current blade. I have really enjoyed owning a shortened naginata like this that is not a naoshi, these are quite rare to come by at this length of shortening. It is far more common to find slightly shortened ones. The NBTHK Hozon papers show the item as naginata and attribution to Ko-Uda. I am not that good in kantei as I don't focus on the smaller details that much, I prefer the bigger picture. However, I can understand how NBTHK went with this attribution. There is lots of interesting activity in the blade but I think the Ko-Uda attribution is fitting as this item might be lower quality in overall. There is also a piece of the item missing on the mune. It is about 2cm in size. I tend to think it could be battle damage but it is impossible to tell for sure. It could be someone dropped it to stone by accident in 1980's Japan etc. I know many dealers would tout battle damage view and I understand it in business field. I feel the picture with flaw shows also some blade details quite nicely, I am not really good photographer and only have my phone to take pictures. I would believe this one has lost the original shaft it has had and someone made this shirasaya style shaft for this. The saya is what I believe is called Raden, it has some pieces that have flaked off and it is in worn condition with small split near the tip area. Unfortunately, I don't think in this price range professional restoration would be feasible. It has two piece copper habaki, it is plated to make it golden color. Nagasa: 49,4 cm Sori: 2,2 cm Motohaba: 3,1 cm Motokasane: 5mm Nakago: 42,5 cm Weight: 865 grams (blade) Tsuka: 87 cm Total: 127,5 cm In saya: 130 cm In overall I think this is interesting item. Definitely this is not the best item out there but I think it is a cool very old naginata, and they are hard to find. I've been tracking them down when they appear for 10+ years now. I tried to put some interesting images in the sales ad. I do have lots of more on my computer and I can take any pictures that are wanted. I needed to reduce the size of pictures a lot to forum, here is a link to a dropbox with full sized pictures. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/uoojaq9z0u2sukoingnky/AFdEMoQUVW2_45g-rHbXdws?rlkey=1fmzk5iuusccggb3rb2w1h2ha&dl=0 I would prefer bank transfer as the method but can also accept PayPal. Message me and I will check the postage costs to you. One thing that is needed that I can send 150 cm package to your country by Finnish Post. Price: 3000€

PREFACE This new series „Tsuba are beautiful - Kantei Series“ is dedicated to collectors, friends, and enthusiasts who appreciate genuine Japanese art as much as I do. I share my knowledge from today’s perspective, offering insights that may help when, perhaps in a hidden corner of your favorite antique shop—or even online—you come across a precious Tsuba that captivates you, though you may not yet know much about it. By following this series, you’ll learn to work methodically toward identifying unsigned Tsuba on your own. I hope it will be helpful for your future collecting journey and maybe even ignite the spark for new collectors to begin theirs. Please enjoy—and feel free to ask questions or share your opinions. Let’s discuss kindly and respectfully, whether you agree or disagree. Remember, collecting is a shared journey; respect for others’ views keeps our community strong. You will find the link here: Tsuba are beautiful - Kantei Series #01: “The Black Shakudo Tsuba - Ko-Kinko, Kyo Shoami or Soten?“ Enjoy reading! Best wishes, Tobi www.nihonto.art www.tsuba-no-kake.com

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

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

@Brett, The actual background is much more complex and would go beyond the scope of this discussion. Simply put, it is customary in the Jishu sect for its leading priests to use the suffix “Ami” or just “A” (for Amida). So, Hon’ami or Hon’a, Sho’ami or Sho’a, Ze’ami or Ze’a, San’ami or Sa’a. The Jishu are a sub-sect of Jodo Buddhism. Going into all the theological background here would take us too far afield. What is important to note is that the early Jishu broke away from monasteries and turned directly to the faithful in both urban and rural areas. They practiced “Nembutsu” (Namu Amida Buddsu) as itinerant priests. They also accompanied armies as chaplains, even into battle. This led to close ties with the samurai and local rulers. Another term in this context is “Doboshu,” meaning “companion.” After the death of the founder, Ippen, the sect appeared to disband, but it was reformed by his disciples and returned to monasteries. One aspect of their religious practice was a dedication to scholarship and the arts. In this sense, the Jishu were the catalysts for garden art, the tea ceremony, calligraphy, Noh, and much more, all of which were studied in the dojos of their monasteries. Combined with a certain freedom to travel and connections to the powerful figures of the time, membership in the Jishu was highly desirable. Masters of various artistic disciplines were granted priestly status and the title “Ami.” Some of the “Ami” artists effectively became curators and, as a result, artistic advisors—even to the shogun himself. In this context, the Hon'ami family became experts on swords, just as the Sho'ami family was responsible for “silversmithing” (in the broadest sense), and the Ze'ami family was responsible for the No theater for the aforementioned Ashikaga shoguns. Later, Zen Buddhism perfected what the Jishu had established as its foundation. And today, many art forms are known as typical Zen arts. Nevertheless, the Jodo-Shu remains the Buddhist school to which the majority of Japanese people still belong.

Hello NMB! I'm happy to share a new article I've been working on for some time now going deep into the origins of the iron habaki. I realized there is not much written in English on the subject of old iron habaki and yet they seem to be present on many surviving shrine swords and ubu tachi and katana from the Heian through Muromachi periods. Google searches for "iron habaki" or "jigane habaki" yield a few NMB threads and really nothing else on the subject. So hopefully this can be a fresh look into an oft forgotten, yet important piece of hardware that aren't too often encountered in the world of nihonto! https://nihonto-db.com/articles/iron-habaki

In 1937 an auction was held by The Tokyo Art Club containing most of Count Ito Miyoji's sword collection. Recently, I was able to purchase an Ichimonji katana that came from this auction and as part of my due diligence before purchasing, I obtained an original physical copy of the auction book from 1937. I went through and photographed all of the relevant pages and wanted to share them here, for anyone interested in the provenance and blades that were sold. I have already tracked a few of them down across the web, being on the open market at one point or another. I did not see this posted anywhere so hopefully it's not duplicated. I had my friend host the images on google drive. @Jussi Ekholm I was hoping this may help inform some of your Koto database as I only saw 1 or 2 Ito Miyoji denrai listings the last I checked. Anyway, enjoy and I hope it helps anyone interested. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Pkkx8QewayhjQnrPRAfXbVMO2TcUpgZP?usp=sharing

I got informed that the tsuba i submitted to the 2026 NBSK tsuba contest ranked Nyusen. It was my first time attending this competition so overall it's a positive result. Let me introduce my work: The omote depicts plum blossoms, traditional symbols of resilience and elegant beauty, as they are the first to emerge at winter’s end, often pushing through the lingering snow. On the ura, I have engraved the haiku: 見らわても 見らわなくとも 花は咲く Mirawetemo / Mirawanakutomo / Hana wa saku (Whether seen or unseen, the flowers bloom) This serves as a gentle reminder to the bearer: one should act with integrity not for the sake of recognition, but because it is one’s nature—just as a flower blooms to fulfill its purpose, regardless of an audience. The intentionally naive, almost childlike rendering of the blossoms and calligraphy creates a deliberate juxtaposition against the raw strength of the iron and the tsuba's martial function.

Hi Everyone, I was pleasantly surprised 30 minutes ago by a ring on my doorbell from the USPS, with what looked to be a very long box. Lo and behold, my shingunto surprisingly made it to my doorstep, despite the USPS tracking data showing no updates. Inside, there was "US Fish and Wildlife" tape all over the contents, and for some reason, it seems like the fish and wildlife department had my sword for 2 weeks. Not sure why that was so, and I'm just glad that the sword made it to me in one piece.

I received Markus Sesko’s translation of Fukushi Shigeo’s Tosogu Classroom Volume 4 today. Had a pleasant surprise to see my Tsuba there!

I would like to share a lovelyset of tosogu by Yokoya Tomotake featuring Shishi play fighting. It’s a great example of katakiribori workmanship, which is done to a high level. One intriguing thing I have noticed while studying the set is that the carvings of the Chinese Lions resemble the paintings from a pair of screens by Hanabusa Itcho, which is in The Met collection, I’ve attached some comparison photos. I have read that Hanabusa Itcho was a close friend of Somin Yokotani. I wonder if the screens were used by Yokoya Tomotake when composing this set of tosogu.

Here is a Yanagawa Naomasa Fuchi Kashira

Dai - signed Harima Daijo Tadakuni - ubu 75 cm with koshirae Test cut - yamano Nagahisa cut 2 bodies in half dated Sho - signed Harima Daijo Tadakuni - ubu with Koshirae 43.2 cm Test cut - Yamano Nagahisa cut 2 bodies in half same date as the Katana Nagahisa was the most famous test cutter of the Edo period . Rare to find daisho with test cut on the same day

Nice watch.

This late Edo period Kyoto koshirae comprises a coherent suite of Komai-school gold hon-zōgan fittings executed in the classic Unryū cloud-dragon motif. During the late Edo and Meiji periods the Komai school developed the highly refined iron-ground gold inlay technique that would later become internationally recognized in their production of inlaid boxes, cigarette cases, and decorative objects. The fuchi is signed Yoshitaka saku, identifying the maker as Komai Yoshitaka. The accompanying tsuba bears a kinzōgan signature Tadanobu saku, and employs a closely aligned decorative style and gold coloration, suggesting manufacture potentially within the Komai milieu or by an affiliated craftsman. Gold menuki depicting two pairs of mandarin ducks are mounted on the tsuka under black silk ito. The saya is finished in bengara-nuri (iron-oxide red lacquer) applied over a tōmaki rattan spiral wrap. This results in the characteristic helical relief beneath a high-gloss finish associated with Kyoto workmanship of the late Edo–Bakumatsu period. Playing with the phone camera and sharing these attractive mounts just for fun. I have seen a sister Fuchi/Kashira set mounted on a well-known Kiyomaro sword, so take them to be high class examples of the style. Questions / comments welcome.

Hi Brett, I appreciate the effort you've put into this. Let me offer some insights. First, it's important to understand the structural difference of the markets you are comparing. Western collectible markets strive to minimize knowledge asymmetries and maximize price transparency, which in turns increases market activity, liquidity, and trust. You see this with numismatic, comics, Tolkien and Harry Potter, fine watches, Baseball cards, etc. These objects are commodities: aside from an objectively-gradable condition, they do not differ for a specific item type. A black lotus is a black lotus, minus the crooked corner. Furthermore, they are extensively catalogued, and their their rarity is a matter of common-knowledge for market participants. This legibility combined with immediate liquidity provides reassurance to buyers. When COVID hit, and enthusiasts in their 40's with disposable income are suddenly carried by nostalgia, the collectible market's inherent transparency gives an easy way to park money in confidence. In other words, collectibles are commodities, and commodities due to their transparency are friendly to new market participants. Nihonto, on the other hand, are not commodities, and they follow the opposite market structure. Knowledge asymmetry is sky high and price transparency is almost non-existent. The items themselves are not legible. You simply do not know what you get, and it is exceedingly difficult to situate it within the broader spectrum of rarity or desirability. This lack of transparency increases transaction costs and risks for new market participants. You can't go wrong buying a graded Black Lotus, but at a similar price point, you can be very, very wrong buying a Juyo mumei Rai Kunimitsu if you use Aoi's past prices alone as your guiding function. If you go into Nihonto with a comic book collecting mindset, you will commit costly mistakes. What does the Compton Collection have in common with the magnificent Kanemitsu tachi that sold for over 200 million yen? What would the top items sold during the legendary "Museum of Sword Fittings" auction sell for today? Now, we are talking about comparable. I will leave it to you as an intellectual exercise to disentangle the structural difference from the items you've been following that have cycled through other auction houses which form the foundation of your analysis on price decline. Add to this a cultural layer that differs from our own in terms of values (Japan vs the West) - as well as different tax policies that create their own class of structural incentives, and you will begin to understand that the foundational data you use to support your analysis only translates to a specific class of items. As others have wisely pointed out, the vast majority of Nihonto transactions that would matter for such an analysis simply go unrecorded, and are carried out between trusted parties in total secrecy. There, million $+ exchanges are not uncommon. The more precious and rare the item, the greater the shroud of secrecy. So, you are left with the tip of the iceberg, and doesn't translate to the vast mass hidden under the sea. Would greater transparency increase the Nihonto market's liquidity, prices, and reduce transaction costs? Absolutely. Are current market participants motivated to do so? Not at all, knowledge is jealously guarded in this field, because it is hard earned. If you know that an item is the best Tokubetsu Juyo piece from a given master, would you be keen on others knowing it? Only if you are on the sell-side. And how hard is it to obtain this knowledge? Well, it is remarkably difficult and requires building a library worth ten's of thousands of dollars of rare and out of print books, hours of study, translation work, and in-hand experience sampling across a wide range of comparable. You're looking at a decade of serious study. What does this information asymmetry mean in the end? It leads to a much slower rate of maturation in the market, the "bid/ask spread" is noisy, and adjusts slowly. From the lowest grade to the highest grade of Nihonto, the price differential is about 100x-500x, which is a complete anomaly when compared to other Art or collectible markets. There are ~2.5 million registered Nihonto with Torokusho, ~1'100 Tokubetsu Juyo, and ~110 Uber Tokuju. If you apply the price-to-rarity mapping of the collectibles or Art market, you will quickly realize that something is completely off. There are economic forces keeping it this way, enabled by the lack of transparency, which benefit, in fine, high-end buyers who spent decades in gathering knowledge, and reputable dealers who have nurtured their reputation and relationships over generations. Markets are markets, in the end, and even the most obfuscating of market practices cannot stop all top items from finding their price. The Kanemitsu really ruffled some feathers. Finally, let us pause for a moment and remember that we have 700 years of collecting praxis in this field. Unlike nostalgia items, which fade in and out of consciousness through a single generation, the Nihonto is a foundational cultural artifact that resonates deeply with the soul an entire civilization. For these reasons, I invite you to be optimistic. But also realistic. It is not an easy field. Best, Hoshi

These books are not related to my own online Gokaden series, they are translations of Tanobe Sensei's books on the same topic, as Brano pointed out. Bizen I (Osafune School) has been translated by me and submitted, and I think the publisher Me no Me has it scheduled for spring of 2026. I am meeting with them in Japan in two months and discuss the future volumes, based on the way Tanobe Sensei is comfortable with continuing writing them (and has made progress so far).

Got discharged today. They did some stuff, but some stuff they were reluctant to do because of the blood thinners and need to close some veins. So we are waiting it out to see if I decide to dump huge amounts of blood again. Sunday was scary...almost passed out and couldn't move my arms while I was showering to take myself to hospital. Ended up calling an ambulance. First time. Anyways, all ok for now, we'll see what happens. There are no indicators of anything specific causing it or anything very concerning. G&C scopes are clear...still dealing with the same abscess/fistula thing from the beginning of the year.

Hello everyone, Okan Asik here. I'm based in Dubai and specialize in authentic Japanese swords and fittings, which I source directly and exclusively from Japan. Some of you may already know me and my story. My interest in Japanese swords began many years ago as a collector and researcher. After moving to Dubai a few years ago, I decided to go full-time and build my life around Nihonto. Since Japan doesn’t ship swords directly to the UAE, I personally travel to pick up each piece. For me, this isn’t just business; it’s about placing these works of art in the hands of those who will truly appreciate and take care of them. I look forward to sharing items with you all on the forum. Warm regards, Okan PS: My website will be up in a few months(hopefully), but in the meantime I’m going to share items and updates on social media so please follow! facebook.com/ginzamaru.dubai

Thank you for joining me during this casual intermezzo. Basic inspiration is, of course, Etchu Norishige. Next in line is Ono Hankei. But the maker here is Jiro Taro Naokatsu, master-student of Taikei Naotane. reinhard