Leaderboard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

O Suriage Tachi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon with attribution to Kokubunji Suke Kuni late kamakura Sayagaki by Mr Tonobe 69.2 cm He was originally from the Ichimonji kei in Bizen of which his Father was also a sword smith Sukekuni then went to the Bingo Mihara group to live and work Rated Jojo saku The Koshirae has menuki of the Hosokawa clan Many thanks to Mike Yamasaki for selling this to me

Odd how things work out sometimes. Spent 2 days at the Vegas Japanese sword show, and knew my budget wouldn't allow any purchases. So resigned myself to this being a trip without any purchases, was ok with that. Lots of good stuff, but I don't have thousands to spend. So did SHOT Show, Antique Arms Show, Japanese Sword Show and loved every minute. But aside from one or 2 cheap knives for the other collection, didn't buy anything. We then head off to New Orleans to see what it's like. Interesting and very cool city. Sword and weapon stuff is over....time for some R&R. Lying in bed one evening, something makes me open Craig's List New Orleans just for fun. I search Japanese sword, and up pops a single advert for a tanto. At $400. Bit out of polish, mumei, few stains and scratches...but looks real and ok. So out of interest, I mail the guy. Next morning he responds. He's a few miles outside the French Quarter where we are. I'm still not seriously asking, but I continue the discussion back and forth. He wants to meet in a safe place, but I don't feel like spending a lot more Uber money as I'm already 5 times what I planned to spend. One thing myself and Nix hadn't crossed off the NOLA list yet was to go to a bar, have a drink, and listen to some music. Oddly, the guy mentions that he's helping a buddy out and playing drums at a gig in the French Quarter that night at a bar. Hmmm....2 birds, one stone? So we meet him at the bar later that afternoon, have a drink each, listen to a few good songs by his buddy's band.....and buy a tanto. Lol. He got it years ago from a bunch of estate stuff, and had no interest. Was glad it went to someone who would appreciate it. Nothing fancy. But still in decent polish. Some nice hamon activity. Stains are smooth, no active rust. Nice shape. I can't kantei it, but I'm figuring maybe Shinshinto from the nakago. Nagasa of 227mm, still 8mm thick and healthy. No openings. Oddly, it once had kogai and kozuka. I'll fit it with some. I'll replace the kurikata that is broken, I have the replacements. Little bit of careful uchiko work (ONLY on out of polish blades please) will make it looka bit better. I'm pleased with it, and at $400 (plus $30 for 2 drinks) I think I got a decent deal. And I came home with a nice souvenir.

Mine aren't as creative. Boxes came from Michael's craft store "studio decor art storage case 9x12", and just needed a bit of modification. Helps keep the dust off and the fronts are hinged for easy access. David

Arrived today..

G'day Guys, No one has posted on this thread for a long time, so I thought I would add my boxed Gassan Sadakatsu, with nice type 94 koshirae. Cheers, Bryce

Yesterday we had a little impromptu project day at my brother-in-law’s workshop. Inspired by the other projects, I decided to take advantage of the space and tools and make a display board for my tsuba (or my 14 favorite because that’s the size of the piece of wood I decided to work with). I used 3/16” dowel drilled at 10 degrees. Now I just need to figure out where to hang it.

Made timeless by the Risendo School artist Mitsumasa, the eerie feeling they can evoke is moving. This example by Yoshinori (Muneta School) has much of the same power. In hand it has a certain presence. This kozuka really hits me hard and absorbs one's attention. One of my absolute favorites.

This tsuba was submitted in "2023 Modern Sword Craftsmanship Exhibition" (2023年度現代刀職展審) and was awarded Nyusen 7th place (入選七席). There's already a post talking about it here https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/45392-my-first-attempt-at-nbthk-newly-made-tsuba-contest-2023/ The tsuba is an utsushi of an Akasaka tsuba (https://www.touken-w...-guard/art0000971-1/) which captivated me with its elegant and flowing design. It represents a torii over a stream of water, which in the case of my tsuba i recognized as the torii over water in Kashima Shrine: https://diversity-fi...majingu6-768x512.jpg Incidentally i found a similar tsuba at last DTI and had the chance to compare it directly with mine. The tsuba dimensions are 75x76 mm and it's 5 mm thick It will come with a box with pillow and hakogaki by me, a tsuba bag and a copy of the diploma from NBTHK. Price is 600€ plus shipping and Paypal fees.

Interesting photo from 1944 at Shimane Sword Corp, Matsue, Shimane in NW Honshu. (banner: Shimane Token Kabushiki Gaisha). Looks to be 14 young women polishing, perhaps all with the same grade of stone. A male supervisor at left. Do not know if related but the Hitachi Steel Works that produced sword iron with Yasuki iron sands was in the same region. [photo from Facebook page of Yoshihiko Usuki, togishi of Koto-ku, Tokyo] Later comments from Japan suggest they are high school girls.

Just a few pics to whet the appetite. I also have to single out @yurie and her husband John. Just the nicest and sweetest people you could ever meet. Yurie is doing an incredible amount of work to education and support the collecting of Nihonto. Had an amazing dinner with them both and you couldn’t find nicer people. Her book is a MUST have. I’m post links to it later. I know I’m missing out a bunch of people. Everything really is a fever dream at this point.

Good morning everybody! I have in my collection this Shingen tsuba: Dimensions 86.9 mm x 87.4 mm, thickness 4.6 mm at seppa-dai, 5.7 mm at mimi. It is rond shape (marugata - 丸形) with a three layers structure of brass and iron (tetsu/shinchū san-mai shitate - 鉄・真鍮三枚仕立). The the main decoration is made of woven brass wire (sinchū harigane amiko (真鍮針 金編込) while the central brass plates and the fukurin (覆輪) are decorated with small flower-like punch marks (kohana ishime-ji - 小花石目地). The two hitsuana (櫃孔) are also lined in brass. The following aspects can be noted: The tsuba has an iron core that extends from the nakago-ana (中心孔) to the brass fukurin (覆輪). A magnet is continuously attracted to it going from the center to the outer edge. The iron core seems to be a solid plate underneath the woven brass wires of the main decoration of the tsuba. See Figure 2. The “radial” wires are passing through holes in the central brass plates that are staggered between the omote (表) and ura (裏) sides. Those on the ura side are located approximately halfway between those on the omote side. See Figure 6, where the holes on the omote central plate are shown as withe dots. The corresponding holes on the ura plate are located at the end of the red dashed lines. The holes show, in most cases, a lot of burr on their edges, see Figure 3. Underneath the “radial” and woven wires, here and there, a “stray” wire can be seen running on top of the iron core at an angle relative to the “radial” wires, see Figure 1.77. These “stray” wires seem to have a diameter similar to those of the woven wires. Looking from the outside toward the center of the tsuba in the area where the central brass plate ends where the “radial” wires are we can see that below the holes in the central brass plate there is a sort of cavity in the iron core, see Figure 6. The thickness of the brass plates is approximately 0.6 mm, for both the central one and the fukurin. The “radial” brass wire have a diamter of approximately 1.2 mm, the woven ones of 0.6 mm. This is what I have seen so far. What follows is just speculation based on the above evidence and some imagination from my side. The arrangement of the “radial” wires, with the staggered holes in the omote and ura central pates, suggest that they are not individual wires but are rather a single wire woven in some way around the iron core. The iron core shall have some kind of opening allowing the wires to go from the omote to the ura central brass plates as shown in Figure 7. The wire is then woven around the circular crown between the openings and in the center and the edge of the iron core to form the “radial” wires. To keep the omote and ura brass plate are extremely important for the weaving of the “radial” wires thus they are likely held in place and secured to the iron core by brass pins hammered and chiseled to hide them. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6: Schematics of FT-0142 obtained by tracing on top of overlapped images of the omote (表) and ura (裏) sides. The woven brass wires are not reported for the sake of clarity. Blue stands for the brass plate, red for the brass wires and grey for the iron core plate. The “radial” brass wires on the omote side are reported continuous lines. Those on the ura as dashed lines. Figure 7: Possible shape of the iron core with holes passing through to allow a single brass wire to be woven around the circular crown between the holes and the core edge. The portion of wire that are not visible are shown in purple. What is your opinion? Do any of you have additional information on the construction of this kind of Shingen tsuba, maybe from damaged ones? Please feel free to contribute with any idea or fancy hypothesis! Regards Luca

A tanto is interesting to shoot, and much easier than a katana or a tachi. The smaller size makes the camera placement and lighting more forgiving. A koshiare for this beautiful piece is currently under construction and should arrive sometime early in 2024. I'm looking forward to getting pictures of everything together!

Hi all, this is a tsuba i recently acquired, mei is Somin with Kao. No paper with it. The work is very remarkable to me. Katakiri bori technique presented impressively. I would like to share and happy to hear all of your opinions on it. Cheers 🥂!!

I just recently received an addition to my small collection. I thought the members here might enjoy seeing it. Katana in Shirasaya with Koshirae NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token (May 23, 2019) Inscription: Mumei (千代鶴守弘 Chiyotsuru-Morihiro) Sayagaki: Verso: Unsigned Son of Yamashiro Rai Kuniyasu, Chiyotsuru Morihiro, made this. Masterpiece (with) Jiba in excellent condition. Length of 2 shaku, 2 sun, 6 bu. Appraisal value of 200 gold “mai” (Kaō) Hon’a (possibly the 19th generation Hon’ami Chumei (忠明) or Kochu (光仲)? Recto: “Den” 8th Head of Numazu Domain Lord Mizuno Tadanori carried this sword Storehouse 1, (i) #3 An 1709 Origami from Hon’ami Kōchū attributes this sword to Chiyotsuru Morihiro’s father Rai Kunimitsu: Cover: Appraisal document of Rai Kunimitsu Contents: Rai Kunimitsu Genuine Length: 2 Shaku, 2 Sun, 6 Bu Shortened, unsigned Appraisal Value: 20 Gold “Mai” Hōei 6, year of the Ox (1709) January 3rd (Kaō) Hon’a (Hon’ami Kōchū 本阿弥光忠) Sword Details: Polished Habaki: double-layered gold habaki Nagasa: 2 shaku, 2 sun, 6 bu (68.5 centimetres or 26.97 inches) Sori: 1.2 centimetres or 0.47 inches Mekugi-ana: 2 holes with a third that has been plugged Width at Hamachi: 2.98 centimeters or 1.17 inches Width at the tip: 2.22 centimetres or 0.87 inches Thickness: 0.93 centimeters or 0.37 inches Weight: 780 grams Era: Nanbokucho period, from Bunna (1352) to the early Muromachi period, Ouei 1394 Blade Description: The blade is O-suriage (greatly shortened) and mumei (unsigned). The blade has a deep sori (curvature) with moderate width and thickness, and an elongated kissaki. The Jigane features a well-compact koitame hada (small wood grain pattern) with o-hada (mixed large grain) and clear nie (hardened steel granules). The Hamon is bright and refined ko-midare (small irregular) hamon with active ko-ashi (small feet), and the blade exhibits sunagashi (sand-like patterns) and fine lines of nie. The Boshi has a large notare (turnback) with a rounded tip. Information on the swordsmith: The name Chiyotsuru is derived from Chiyotsuru-maru. Chiyotsuru was the child of Echizen swordsmith Yamashiro Rai Kuniyuki. The first-generation Kuniyuki came from the Rai school and migrated to Echizen, residing in present-day Takefu City or Tsuruga City in Fukui Prefecture. The extant works are limited to the two generations of Kuniyuki, Morishige, Morohiro, and the contemporaries of Kuniyuki, Shigekuni and Yukiyuki. The name Chiyotsuru has long been popular for celebrations and ceremonies. Chiyotsuru-mori Hiro had four generations of smiths with their respective inscriptions. The first generation was active in the mid-Nanbokucho period from Bunna (1352) onwards, the second generation in the late Nanbokucho period from Shitoku (1384) onwards, the third generation in the Oei period of the Muromachi era from Oei (1394) onwards, and the fourth generation in the Kajō period of the Muromachi era from Kajō (1441) onwards. Their styles include those reminiscent of Mino swords and those incorporating the Soshu style. Koshirae: Tsuba: A red copper base with high relief carving of waves and a family crest on the mimi (ear) and chrysanthemum flowers on the surface, decorated with coloured enamel in gold. Fuchi kashira: A silver base with high relief carvings of Hidari-mitsudomoe (three comma) mon and waves. Saya: A pear skin-textured saya with black lacquer inlaid in a belt-like pattern. Menuki: Made of copper, featuring high relief carvings of three Hidari-mitsudomoe mon, decorated with coloured enamel in gold.

My one example. Had this for near 20 years now.

I see Markus and Michael have given awesome insight and hopefully you can get together with Michael in Amsterdam I do think your sword is Kamakura period and not later than that, when during Kamakura it was made, that I unfortunately cant say. It might have been bit unclear in my first message, as I was just pointing out that Ko-Naminohira as an attribution spans for a long time, from Late Heian period to Nanbokuchō. And I do believe majority of surviving Ko-Naminohira works are from c. Late Kamakura. There are many where just Kamakura is mentioned and for me personally accurate dating would be impossible. I am just lucky to have collected lots of books, and I have had fascination for Naminohira school, so I have good references. Here are 7 swords as reference that are among the earliest Naminohira school works. 1. Tachi by Yukimasa (行正) dated 1159 (this is earliest date on tang on a Japanese sword I have found so far), Jūyō Bijutsuhin 2. Tachi by Yukiyasu (行安), Jūyō Bunkazai in the collection of Sanage jinja (Late Heian - Early Kamakura) 3. Tachi by Yukiyasu (行安), Jūyō Bunkazai in the collection of Kyoto National Museum (Late Heian - Early Kamakura), Michael posted this Sasanuki earlier 4. Tachi by Yukiyasu (行安), Tokubetsu Jūyō 8, (Early Kamakura) 5. Ko-Naminohira Tachi, Jūyō 42 (Early Kamakura) (Michael posted this earlier, I did not know there has been mei discovery on this as I don't yet have all the Jūyō books) 6. Ko-Naminohira Tachi, Jūyō 19 (Early Kamakura) 7. Ko-Naminohira Tachi, Tokubetsu Hozon, Tanobe Sayagaki (Early Kamakura is mentioned in sayagaki) This was wonderful item and I really hoped I could have gotten this one years ago when it was sold. https://www.aoijapan...mei-ko-naminohira-2/ Here are comparison stats for above items, and I will put your sword as Y in the list Sword - Length - Curvature - Width at base - Width at tip - Tang length 1. 82,3 cm - 3,0 cm - 3,0 cm - 1,8 cm - 20,5 cm 2. 70,9 cm - 3,0 cm - 2,9 cm - 1,6 cm - 17,7 cm 3. 73,4 cm - 2,4 cm - 3,0 cm - 1,8 cm - 23,6 cm 4. 75,1 cm - 2,4 cm - 2,8 cm - 1,4 cm - 19,5 cm 5. 81,1 cm - 2,2 cm - 2,9 cm - 1,3 cm - 19,2 cm 6. 77,2 cm - 2,6 cm - 2,9 cm - 1,6 cm - 19,8 cm 7. 87,8 cm - 2,6 cm - 3,1 cm - 2,1 cm - XX Y 77,2 cm - 2,1 cm - 3,2 cm - 1,7 cm - 22,0 cm

Another one I pined for

Ariyoshi pine / moon

Item No. 312 Fuchi Kashira in silver with gold and shakudo. Subject of carp swimming amongst water weeds signed Yurakusai Sekibun, Edo period, 19th cent. Carp, probably Koi, with water weeds on an almost perfect nanako ground. The fish are depicted as graceful movers and stand out from the fittings in a prominent 3D. Realism and interpretation superbly combined.

Here is a set of Abumi , very nice silver inlay. I am not familiar with the maker . The owners Mon is reflected in the design. It was supposed to be a presentation to a Daimyo but I am not sure

I must say the show was really amazing. Such incredible collections of all types and qualities. I felt especially privileged to see everything on Fred Weissbergs table - the Juyo Awataguchi was a highlight to see in person. Fred was also especially kind, even to a newbie like me Im mostly full of hyperbole right now, but it was all very overwhelming and amazing to attend! I saw more swords in the last two days than my entire life beforehand I did not take many photos. I didn’t want to be the young guy in the room glued to his phone. But here’s a few of my favorites. The last couple tsuba I purchased. Hopefully next year I have a bigger budget and can take a blade home! ps. If you ever attend, definitely stay at the Marriott above the event. I stayed at the Hyatt nearby, and there was a 1000 person Swingdancing event hosted the same weekend at the Hyatt

A couple more shots of the tsuba

Before and after. I got this tsuba from yahoo auction. It received some much needed TLC by way of methods I learned from experienced members here in NMB. Thank you to all who have contributed to tosogu restoration threads. 7.2x6.7x0.5cm Mei (according to the seller): Kofuzumi Akao Kichiji. I don’t pretend to know who that is or if it is legit or gimei. Comments and questions are welcome, of course.

I decided to build a display case for my small nihonto collection so that I could easily view them in my home office. To match the existing bookcases and desk, I built a box from 3/4-inch white oak plywood and 1x white oak for trim. The doors are tempered glass on minimalist pivot hinges. I also installed concealed LED lighting on the top and bottom to better highlight the contents. Finally, I cut out racks from MDF board that have satin covers to hide the unused spaces. It can accommodate 12 swords, so my collection has room to grow. I wanted to share because I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I am also curious if others here have unique ways they display their blades. If so, please share!

Matsukawa-hada of Bishu Osafune Kiyomitsu (Using LUMIX G MACRO 30mm)

During last DTI i had the chance to compare my tsuba with an Akasaka piece from Edo period with similar design, i was very pleased to see that mine wasn't inferior, despite with slightly different approach on size and design

It's been 4 years of searching but finally it paid off. A wakizashi by Norikatsu, my favorite smith, with masame hada that's as spectacular as it comes. The masame on this work is utterly violent, with thick nie abundant and chikei all over the sword. Hirauchi shape. A magnificent short sword to pair with my Katana by the same smith. Sorry for the poor pictures, I got in late and pressed for time. Suifu-jū Norikatsu saku ‒ Bunkyū gannen sangatsu hi “Made by Norikatsu, a resident of Mito, on a day of the third month Bunkyū one (1861)"

Two of my favorite things. Bid on a restore project and won for a buck twenty. Over 3" Happy day here

First time posting here and still very much a beginner made maybe 5 tsuba. Also big thanks to Ford Hallam for all the instruction he puts out online. Also if some of the info is self explanatory I copied a pasted my description from instagram. It’s iron patinated black through a painstaking process of building a rust coat boiling for 5 minutes then scrubbing with a toothbrush then rinse and repeat 10 times. The flower is inspired by a flower I saw on a tsuba by the renowned Goto Ichijo who was part of the Goto school which served the imperial family for over I think 17 generations. It’s meant to be a simple understated piece of a simple flower in the wind so I decided not to date it in order to stay with the minimalistic approach. All most of the engraving was done with a combination of two kebori(V)chisels along with a .5 mm nanako punch for the center of the flower which broke midway through leaving a somewhat messy result. Other than that I’m happy.

Item No. 305 Tsuba in copper with shakudo, silver and gold 8.64 cm x 8.28 cm x 0.44 cm Subject of Fudo Myo-o by Tanabe Tomomasa - Yanagawa School ? late 18th cent. A commissioned piece with an inscription on the rear ' copied from an old painting of Cho Densu answering a request. Carved by Tanabe Tomomasa ' . Wonderfully carved and detailed piece by a top artist.