Brian

The nice thing is I don't have to prove a negative. You have to prove that they do. That's how things work.

Remember that age doesn't mean anything when it comes to desirability. An old sword isn't automatically better than a sword made 100 years ago. Judge the sword by it's own merits, not by the age. Flaws are never an asset to a sword. And sharpness isn't a thing either. Also remember that old swords were bought cheaply for re-issue during the war, doesn't mean it is a family sword. Dealers sold plenty of antique sword to people going to war to be mounted for use then. Quality dictated price. Don't think that name can be associated with any 1 officer. But....it is genuine and old, so not a fake.

No-one is saying constellations NEVER appear on tsuba. Of course they do. As does just about any subject you can think of. But you are seeing them everywhere and not accepting that sometimes random patterns are just that...random patterns. There is no point showing that constellations have been seen before on tsuba, we know that. And to Colin...thanks, those are some lovely examples and are clear in their depictions.

Why on earth would you think that dealers in Japan would be experts on motifs? They deal in tsuba, they likely know age and schools and metals and techniques very well. What makes you think they have studied the motifs and themes to any degree at all? In fact I bet that many forum collectors could quite easily educate them on many of the legends and scenes depicted on their fittings. Guys like Dale and others. Don't assume antique dealers are experts in astronomy or legends. They know about as much as the average collector who has been studying for years, although they likely know more about schools, quality and value.

Habaki alone is enough to show this one as a fake.

I think the patination is playing tricks. I think this is going to turn out to be a Showato

That info on commanders isn't really true. High ranking officials carried a wide range of blades, from traditional swords to special order once to average wartime made ones. Since they purchased them themselves, they could purchase or bring any blade and have it mounted in regulation mounts. This doesn't appear to be an older family blade, and not all wartime average blades were stamped. Each blade needs to be judged on its own merits. I'd suggest posting those provenance photos in our translation section and getting a real and accurate translation.

Something very appealing about these.

Nakago ana looks impractical. Doesn't convince me

Thanks Mark. Appreciate everyone's support. It really has helped a lot. As I mentioned, if anyone would rather pay with credit card not through Paypal, just message or email and will send you a very secure payment link to process the card directly. It's a once off so is renewed manually. Also, if you paid manually via Paypal and your subscription expires before the extension time, just drop me a message. I was unable to manually extend the time for those who had Paypal subscriptions as it won't let me edit those, but will make sure everyone gets the period they paid for. Thanks again all. We're prepping for the end of the year major software update, and that is going to be around $800, but we'll get it done.

Thank you. I know that Barry @b.hennick has an interest in iron fittings.

Yeah, I think both are fake.

Nice piece, but not nearly Turuhide's quality. Here's some info:

No, I have irl details, all good here. Let's give him a chance as a newcomer, let him get used to the system here. But M....please remember to sign all posts with at least a real name.

Please edit and add details and a price as per the rules. Thanks.

Hopefully someone tags @Paul Martin so that he can take down the people interested above. Members should be able to see who voted in this case.

Yes, emails should go out a few days before they expire. Those that have automated Paypal subscriptions should automatically renew, those who have had it done manually, I'll either extend myself if an additional contribution was done, or they can just drop me a pm and I'll do it. The majority have subscriptions on, and it does it automatically unless cancelled. Those that prefer to do it via credit card can just email or pm me their email address, and I'll send a secure credit card processor link that will be easy, and then you can use your debit or credit card without going through Paypal, who take a chunk anyways.

Well then it must be definitive...I mean a Japanese seller has to know a lot more than guys studying and collecting Japanese swords for the same period of time, right? Was the dealer also an amateur astronomer too? And even if a tsuba or 2 have representations of stars (which is likely) then that must mean all shippo must be stars, right? All those tsubashi lying on their backs at night planning their next tsuba. Wonder why they forgot to include that in their pattern books?

Edit to add: The Subscriptions link is working again, I had the hosts unblock it, but now we need to see if it is being hammered by bots and slowing down the entire site by using resources. Let's monitor it, but the old subscription links are working and huge thanks to all that are supporting. You guys are amazing.

The rectangle is from a securing strap. One of the Gunto that used a leather one with snap on the saya. Modified maybe for the war. I see a water/rain dragon pair. Possibly waves and water/rain dragons.

I don't think it's people like Luca that make newcomers leave. In fact people like him are the reason people stay. I'm very glad to have more people like him and others like him here. It means we get a steady stream of facts and reality based opinions. Nuff said.

To assist Paul, I have added a poll at the top, where you can commit to a copy or indicate you would be interested. We don't need a "no thanks" vote, as this is to gauge interest. I have made member votes public so Paul can see who would be interested and compare with his existing list. Please add your vote if you are interested.

My huge thanks go out to those members who have responded with renewal memberships etc. I really appreciate it. Having a slight glitch extending the subscription dates, but will make sure those who extended don't expire and the membership is actioned for the later date. Thanks guys, couldn't do any of this without you.

Nice exchange rate. 10,000 yen is 1000 SA Rands. A nice easy conversion. Looks like I have to plan a Japan trip when I can.

Welcome, good to have you here. Your uncle was well known among the UK collectors and am sure there are some interesting stories about him.