Ed

Living along the Mississippi flyway I can tell you the geese do fly at night, seen it many times. Perhaps more on a moonlit night, but I have heard them overhead when I could not see them. I don't think navigating is more difficult for them in dark than daylight. It has more to do with some innate knowledge they are born with and perhaps the magnetic poles than day/night. Though many are, not all moon scenes are combined with clouds. See the Ariyoshi I posted, moon no clouds. I have several more "moon" Tsuba / Tosogu. Digging them out is the issue. Here is one more.

If you decide to venture outside Europe, shoot me an email, I may have something which will work. I wouldn't worry too much about customs and red tape. With low budget items like that and using the correct tariff code should make such a transaction effortless.

Yeah, it has passed through a couple of hands since I let it go.

No, I think it may have been one I bought from the Met, but I can't remember for certain. It stayed in my collection for a long time, then I released it into the wild.

Moon and constellation

Ariyoshi pine / moon

Choshu Tomotsune Tsuki ni Ko-Mori (moon and bat)

To reiterate what has already been said, your "kunihro" doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell of being a legit Horikawa Kunihiro. However there were many smiths who signed Kunihiro and it is possible that your sword could paper to one of them. ?? Here is a shoshin example of Horikawa Kunihiros mei so you can see the difference.

SOLD

$2000 plus s/h If interested contact me via email:Yakiba.com@gmail.com

There were several schools which made tsuba in this style. This one looks like "Bellflowers" to me. ?? This a Choshu school depicting a crab and Ran (orchid). Sunagawa Masayoshi Irises

You should take the time to get photos that are in focus when you want help. Additionally orienting them correctly would be a courtesy. You tsuba is signed Yanagawa Naoharu. The legitimacy of the mei is questionable.

Yes, I do not moderate that group so I can not comment further.

Me! I would without hesitation.

Odd, I see your post regarding the Yasutoku, but I do not see you listed as a member. ???

Bruce, Yes type 98.

Bruce, Here is another Mantetsu for your files. Picked this up a couple of weeks ago. Serial number starts with the Hiragana character "TO". TO99

Shirasaya are made specific to each blade, so you don't just find one. Saya are very difficult to match as well for the same reason. You said fittings, if that is what you mean then you must be referring to a koshirae. Again, for proper fit these are made to fit the sword. It is rare to find one that "fits" your sword. Bare bones, basic shirasaya will cost no less than $600-$800 when using a quality craftsman. For a custom made koshirae the sky is the limit. The correct order to do this is to have the shirasaya/koshirae made prior to polish. My recommendation would be to get a shirasaya made for it, in order to properly house/store/protect the blade. Then plan on keeping it. This is a common mistake with new collectors, investing more in a sword and restoration than the sword will ever be worth. You have an unsigned(-), un-papered sword (-). Polished (+) but no shirasaya (-).

You did a good job. I wouldn't critique it but two things that I would offer for future endeavors 1) finish the center of the flower, 2) Carve the flower flowing with the wind. Your flower leans into the wind which is unnatural. Keep it up and good luck. Ed

No problem, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is better you know the truth.

Good pass on your part. Kozuka was decent but that is all you would have been buying. Sword was not worth the cost of restoration. Kogatana is signed Sagami no Kami Masatsune. Famous Owari smith, but this one was gimei as many are.

No shirasaya? You put this freshly polished sword back int the gunto mounts?

This is a wide spread issue. Customs does do it's share of theft, butchering or whatever else leads to the item never reaching it's destination. I lost two items coming through customs in Trenton, NJ. A kozuka from Germany, and a ubu Kikuchi Yari from Japan. With the Yari, I was finally able to speak to someone at the facility and they opened an investigation. In a mere Two days they sent me an email stating that after an extensive investigation (2 freaking days) they determined the item had never been there. Yet Japan tracking clearly documented it's arrival to NJ. The kozuka was insured, the guy who sent the yari did not insure it, total loss. USPS is just as bad. I shipped a sword to MS and it was routed through the huge hub in Memphis where it disappeared. The buyer lives nearby and went to the facility where he showed an employee a photo of the sword. She admitted to seeing the sword. She said it had come out of the box and therefore was sent to Atlanta to the "dead mail center". Buyers father is a prominent attorney in Memphis who contacted his friend the senator. Once they became involved, the sword miraculously turned up in Memphis, not Atlanta. The lying bitch at the PO is probably the one who stole it, she damn sure didn't send it to Atlanta. Box was crushed, sword completely undamaged. I have friends who have lost things, high end things coming through customs and San Francisco as well.

I would say that this is a gimei Hamamono/Nagoyamono tourist piece. The mei is not nearly good enough for a Goto Master and the Kao is horrid.

Thanks for the positive comments guys. Have no idea what the intended function of this tiny blade was. I found this in Japan many years ago and brought it home. Jean, I don't remember the kasane right off. I would have to dig it out of the vault to measure it. Being Moroha zukuri I wouldn't think it was a yoroi doshi, but again I do not know for sure it's intended function.