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Tsugio Kawakami

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  • Location:
    Southern California
  • Interests
    Swords, swords, sushi, swords, reptiles, etc. That's about it.

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  1. Piers, that's fantastic! Never heard of a piece like that. As for the label hachiwari, I'm fully aware what a hachiwari is generally accepted to be. I was just stating what the people at Usagiya had it labeled as. As for using the sageo to tie the saya to the obi, the two ways I was instructed to use from KSR was to loop it behind the saya after it passed through the obi, then bring it back forward and loop it through the hakama himo near the tsuba; and to simply take the sageo and drape it fully across the front of the hakama to the himo on the right hand side, also just looped through. There were no knots involved. ...That still doesn't change the fact that the kurigata is an anchor point, though, and a weapon designed to be pulled completely free of an obi most likely shouldn't be anchored. The saya, while it may be pulled forward or free in the waza of different ryuha, is still designed to remain at the hip, in the obi. Even if it was only to "complete the look", then it should still serve a purpose to the design. It seems like this has gone in a totally different direction from the part that I took issue with. No-one is arguing that this may have been designed as an impact weapon. That's a given. Any solid, sword like object can be used for that purpose, and I would EXPECT it to be used like that. The part I disagree with was the "training weapon" aspect of it.
  2. Usagiya has a very similar truncheon (They label it hachiwari). http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/others28.html In the end, though, the only reason for a kurigata is as an anchor point, isn't it? Why would you want to anchor something that, to be useful in a violent situation, needs to be free and easily accessible? Wouldn't that be like tying the katana to the obi by use of the tsuba hitsu-ana? I doubt an assailant would stand there and wait just because the other guy called a time out while he untied his weapon.
  3. I have to agree that the bokuto in the picture was not designed for practice exercises. It has semegane, had sayajiri from the look of it, and seems to have lost a kurigata. I think this was intended as a prop sword or as a weapon/symbol for someone who could not carry. I could see a fancy bokuto having itomaki, fuchigashira, and even a metal tsuba and iron fittings on the "blade"...but a kurigata?
  4. Shoot...looking frantically for a picture... It's an old, weathered deba with a very tall hamon. The owner lemon-etched it. Anyhow, I know what you're talking about. I think it all just comes down to time period and...well...company/forge? As for iaito...like shoes when I was a kid, I keep outgrowing mine. I'm on a 2-6-4 now. I reeeaally hope I don't outgrow this one any time soon.
  5. The only honyaki pieces I own are yanagiba. I use kasumi deba, Kikuichi. I'm a poor chef... All my spare funds go into MA and swords. I'd be glad to get some pictures of the Masamoto, but I'm embarrassed by the state of the poor knife. As for going through a couple blades a year, that still scares me. I'm using some of the same knives I've been cutting with for five years and there is still life in them. My Masamoto was given to me by one of my previous employers, and it was his knife for almost that long before he gave it to me. I suppose volume could be different, but that's still a lot of metal to destroy in a year's time.
  6. Sean, The blades you show as examples are gyuto, and it would make sense for them to have really tall hamon. They are quite thin when compared to many other Japanese knives (like the deba in question), and do not often take well to accidental contact with bones, hard impact and dropping. It's important for a thin knife that it can be repaired without damaging functionality, so having a deeper hamon on a more fragile blade makes sense. As for more specialized knives like deba, yanagiba, etc. you'll find that hamon depth varies. I'm not talking about kasumi (laminated) blades, but actual honyaki pieces that display hamon. My Masamoto has a hamon of only half the width of the ji, only touching the shinogi at the kaeri. It has a very long hardened point, but the hamon for the length of the ha is not unusually deep. While this blade in question could certainly be kasumi deba, I feel it is not. Either way, hamon depth shouldn't be the deciding factor. Also, if someone is polishing a deba back very so far as to need a hamon that rises to the mei, they're doing something terribly wrong.
  7. I think this one may actually be differentially hardened. Single sided knives like deba, yanagiba, takohiki, etc. are often made in ways that utilize hari-hagane (?) construction, but when they are, they generally don't show any color gradient within the "hamon" area. This one actually appears to have nioiguchi as opposed to a weld line. Looking again, my Masamoto is differentially hardened. The Kikuichi is laminated.
  8. Nice deba. Actually, a good many cooking knives (Especially fish knives) show hamon. Both my Kikuichi and Masamoto yanagiba show hamon.
  9. I know this seems too good to be true, but at first (and second, and third) glance, this does seem to be the real deal...at least, to my eyes. I suppose it could have been sourced from outside of Japan, but even so, weren't a lot of these back in the day, even for Japan? Whether Japanese, mainland Asian, private collection or contraband...I hope (should this indeed be what it seems) that someone in the know who can properly preserve this picks it up.
  10. http://cgi.ebay.com/ANCIENT-Japanese-SA ... 3cb338a572 So...who makes what of this? Struck me as interesting.
  11. Looks like the yokote on the sashi-omote is too far forward, whereas, on the ura, it is more correctly placed...just judging by the overall shape of the kissaki as well as the placement of the yokote in regards to the fukura... I could see how the placement of the mitsukado could vary with a few reshapings and whatnot, but it would take some serious skill to change the shape on the edge from one side to another. Pete, any way you can compare the placement with the sword in hand? See if they are, in fact, offset?
  12. Katsuragi thought so, too, it seems. "He is a very very very famous great swordsmith. He is too too great. Therefore, I do not understand the truth or falsehood of this."
  13. Looks like it may have been polished/buffed with some kind of compound.
  14. Futatsujibi if it's full length. Shorter double hi generally go by gomabashibi.
  15. Mommy, Daddy! Stop fighting! To the sword in the topic at hand, I have to say that those machi threw me for a bit of a loop.
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