John A Stuart

Hi Chris, I believe this sword is signed 'Kanekazu'. John

Hi Koichi-san, Just for me. The link sure shows that sword to perfection. John

Hi Alan, I have one of these swords. Mass produced blades from Seki that are nakirishimei. Here is a photo of the mei on mine. The more I look at the mei on yours makes me think it is odd. Also the shape of the nakago is strange a bit. Gunto aren't my favourite but those who collect them hopefully will comment. I'm inclined to say a copy. John

Hi Stephen, I think your right on the 'kane' . That kanji really can be written quite a few ways. "nao' not so sure, but it looks close. John

Hi Tony, I'm not sure about this one. I hope someone can verify . Meanwhile I've touched it up. John

Hi Tony, There it is. I believe it says 'Kunitoshi Saku'. Not quite sure on this one though. John

Hi Keith and Ford, As you've brought up myth busters I must say that I found the destructive testing of those production swords quite illuminating. I was thrilled to see how large the angle of deflection could be before failure. It showed without a doubt how blocking a strike with the flat of the blade at an angle was the best way for a sword to take impact with minimal damage. It was the first time I had seen a strike made upon ballistic gelatine and was surprised at the result. I believe it was 9 inches. Of course those were socal types. How it relates to real nihonto would be pretty close I think. Anyhow, interesting. John

Me too. John

Hi Nigel, Yes, indeed that is one of the significant issues we have to address in periodic maintenance. We have to apply sacrificial anodes at places on the hull that are subject to high electrical potential so that the anodes go into solution and not structural metal. This can be done with special electronic devices but zinc is the most common. The galvanic current is generated by electrolytes, eg salts in water and acids, acting on dissimilar metals. Salt water is an amazing electrolyte and a problem with dissimilar metals. A sword well maintained should not have a chance to build an aqueous solution of salts and this should not be a problem in the normal course. But I'll bet there is more corrosion evident on swords that were coastal for a couple of hundred years than ones that had stayed inland. John

Hi Brian, Thanks, I have dubbin, rather common here. I would never have suspected it was common there. Type of weather and all that. Funny when I was in the military everything was Nato stuff. Regular old spit shine on dress boots and for combat boots we had small tins of liquid silicone with a cotton dauber. While this thread is fresh, I wonder if anyone would be interested in these protective covers if I had some of our fur people copy them in moose or deer or even cowhide? The fur business is sporadic and some other work could be possible. John

Hi venger, Koichi-san is right on the money. This is a type of blade construction that has the blade edge made with a harder steel (%carbon) and the body of the sword a softer steel. Called waribagitae. John

Hi Andy, I might give reveal a try. Thanks, John

Hi All, I have just come into possession of the leather cover for the tsuka that is used in inclement weather, wwII vintage. I may try and get copies made from this template so to speak. What I am hoping is someone may know how to rehydrate a blackened and dessicated portion of the original. I have applied mink oil to stop further degradation. Is there a solvent/oil combo that would work? I remember reading an archeology article where body lotion was used. Comments, ideas and opinion needed. John

Hi, Most computers have it or it can be downloaded for free, check google for freeware. The only prob I had is I'm still waiting for my hi-speed so the pics a 2 megs took awhile to load. John

Thanks Martin, I used your link. It saved a step. John

Hi BD, I tried your URL but it says it is down for maintenance. John

Hi Milt, Not a hawk but very life like. They look as if they are ready to fly. It sure seemed to have a place of honour at the Ex. Are they for sale I wonder? I see the Walters gallery mentioned in the footnote. John

Hi All, I just thought I would post some more pics of Miyoa Co. bronze for comparison, All from the 1890-1900 period. Also a less ostentatious bronze by Nishimura Unsho. Really nice work. John

Hi Ruslan, Just off the cuff it looks like a Jingo school tsuba, early Edo. I like the theme also, like Kamimon. John

Hi Ford, That is good to know. Does this only refer to bronzes? Okimono do not have saku in the mei and most are three part mei in a lozenge. Like KinKoZan a well known name to illustrate. John BTW I am due to receive the new book, 'Dictionary of Japanese Artists, Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Lacquer". It should be printed and on its way any day now. I hope it addresses issues like the above. I'll let the board community know how it is when it arrives. John

Hi Brian, There were server glitches all over the web today. It's a conspiracy. In fact, today, microsoft just dropped my web server company which now will run on it's own todd. Good news 33% less. John

Hi Richard, Finally saw the name at the foot of your posts. I have an article on scanning nihonto that you might like to see. PM me if you wish a copy. Yes, Nigel we got a 'B'. Blast. John

I did some more research and found that the oei bizen did make shinogizukuri but I could only find hirazukuri examples. Thanks Koichi-san, it didn't look like that. John

I must say the third kanji is problematic "Oei ? Hachi Nen Ni Gatsu Jitsu".I also did some digging and the nakago does not seem to be right as in type and the way the mei is applied, plus shinogizukuri which is what this is headed to I think, I'm not sure about that for oei bizen short swords. It needs more investigation. I'd like to see better pics of the whole sword. John

Hi T, You have everything in order. It is Bishu Osafune Morimitsu. I have included the oshigata from Fujishiro. Research shows he signed nijimei and the Osafune mei in various ways. He was extant around oei era, oei bizen, even though the nengo looks more like koei 1342 to me. The pic of the nakago is a Morimitsu wak I haven't decided is right or not. John