Ed

Seriously, this has always been my favorite rabbit themed tsuba.

something like this maybe, wabbit shunga.

This post begs the question, if you were confident in what you were told in SF, why did you seek additional opinions here? Also, it would be interesting to know how many people in SF gave you a negative opinion? I agree with Ford that everything looks wrong. In my opinion, it is a horrible rendition. But, if you like it, I am happy for you.

Wow, that was an amazing transformation. Thanks for sharing.

Been thinking about it and can't remember what the first sword I bought was. The first sword I ever owned was given to me if that counts. It is a suriage muromachi katana which had been remounted in Kai Gunto mounts, still have it.

Ha, mine is already paid for, just waiting on the release.

Henry, Kokuin 刻印 are the hot stamps.

Tenbo 天法 is my guess due to the kokuin and the quality of the plate. Don't remember seeing an example with such nice inlay, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. If memory serves me the Tenbo were descendants of the Saotome school. As the Saotome were also armorer's, Myochin would be a good guess as well for this tsuba. Nice tsuba by the way.

Oh yeah, that photo was large enough to easily go closer. Didn't know just how large you wanted it, figured you could adjust it to your taste. I have told you previously, that I didn't mind you using photos from my site as long as they were not for commercial purposes. And nothing shared without photo credit.

Good catch. yes it is, but my photo

Will this do.

I feel a strong presence also, the presence of BS. That is the same guy who alters the WWII flags, adding tigers and stuff.

Anyone aware of an English index for the following book: Hizento Taikan: Tadayoshi Hen by Dr. Homma

Ko-Shoami

I have an Ichmonji that was found at a gun show(by a friend), and if memory serves me, it was in Gunto mounts.

Yeah, the delays seem to be getting worse of late even with USPS. Had a sword sent from Texas to Louisiana recently, about a 6 hr. drive. It made a large circle around me to Tennessee, Baton Rouge, Houston, then it finally showed up. Had a high end tsuba sent from Texas recently via USPS registered mail. Tracking repeatedly showed it was in route, but it never arrived. Finally after getting management involved, it was found to have been locked in the safe. They would show it on the outbound dispatch, but no one took it from the safe. Finally, it arrived. Why anyone would ship a wooden tsuba box in a freaking envelope ?? Makes no sense to me. The best hakogaki I ever owned with a pair of Goto Eijo menuki, was tossed in a plain priority box without so much as tissue paper around it and returned to me by Bob Benson. I was damn lucky it wasn't crushed or damaged. I gave him an ear full over that and no longer send anything through his service.

About 15 years ago I was standing in the shop with my partner in Japan. He picked up a wakizashi, pulled it from the saya, pointed it down and the blade slipped out of the saya went through both his boot and his foot and stuck into the wood floor. It was seriously stuck in the floor and he could not remove it. I had to stand on the tip of his boot and forcibly pull it out. Fortunately it went right between those tendons in your feet and other than a considerable amount of blood, a few stitches and a ruined boot he was fine. He had forgotten to replace the mekugi peg earlier, something I am sure he never did again.

I was told in the past that according Japanese folklore the zigzag pattern was a way to escape Oni. The Oni could only run in a straight line and once you made the turn, you were safe. Though, I can find no reference of this in Joly's or online, so can not verify it as fact.

Choshu Tomonobu

Robert, Sorry to hear this happened. Nothing worse than being the victim of theft. If you are local I would hit all the gun/knife shows in the area, as well as pawn shops in the event it was a local walk-in. If, they are looking to sell it, they probably know not to put it on the internet and will likely try and sell it person to person. Hope you get it back. Ed

Gorgeous Tsuba. This is a popular motif and seen in many variations. The iris depicted is the rabbit eared iris or kakitsubata. There is a famous Noh play surrounding this. Noh Kakitsubata 杜若 (“The Iris”) An episode in the Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari) tells of the famed Heian poet, Ariwara no Narihira, and his stopping at Yatsuhashi where he was struck with the beauty of its blooming irises. There he composed a poem using in order the five syllables of kakitsubata (iris) as the beginning of each of the five lines of the poem. In this poem, he recalled his ill-fated love with the Empress Takako. In the play, a priest visits Yatsuhashi and sees the beautifully blooming irises. There, a young woman appears to him and invites him to stay at her cottage. She then appears in a magnificent robe and reveals that she is the spirit of the irises immortalized in Narihira’s poem. She tells the Narihira’s story and dances in his memory. . ..

Gee guys, thank you for the kind words.

Interesting sword, interesting post. All of the opinions given are mere speculation based on a few photos. Some will argue that the mei is good, some will say it is not. Some will be right, some wrong. With a smith of this caliber comes into play several factors which make authentication difficult. First, he signed with several different mei over the years. Second, there are differences noted even among known shoshin works. Third, there are many gimei signatures with a smith of this fame, some by experts at forging gimei signatures, like Kajihei. In my opinion, a sword with this potential, warrants being viewed by someone at the highest level. Someone like Tanobe or the NBTHK. With Tanobe being the former head of the NBTHK, I would probably prefer his judgement over today’s NBTHK. My only advise would be, do not cut corners to save money with this sword. Tanobe can most likely pass judgement from the mei alone. If not, he will be able to give you the best advise you can get. If Tanobe authenticates the mei, then have it polished. Again, if deemed shoshin, do not have this sword polished by just anyone. There are some polishers in Europe, but unless I am mistaken, none have completed a full apprenticeship in Japan (I’ll probably catch flak over that). Self-trained or partially trained polishers are not good enough if this is a Kiyomaro! Darcy Brockbank doesn’t live in Japan but has excellent connections in Japan and is as trustworthy as there is. There would be no reason for concern sending your sword to him. Darcy can get your sword looked at by Tanobe and into the hands of an excellent polisher. In closing, I would ask that in the event you don’t want to send it to Japan or wait to have it polished, as you mentioned. Please sell it to someone who will take the time and effort to see it through in the best possible manner.

Was this on EBay? It was on YHJP: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w307428001

Thank you for the kind words.