Guido

The “standard / average length” during the Edo period was called teisun 定寸; it’s 2 shaku 3 sun 5 bu (71.2 cm) for katana, and 8 sun 5 bu (25.8 cm) for tantō. Tantō longer than teisun are called sunnobi-tantô 寸延び短刀, and less than teisun sunzumari-tantô 寸詰まり短刀. Wakizashi over 1 shaku 8 sun, or 54.5 cm, are called ō-wakizashi 大脇指. Tachi of more than 3 shaku (90.9 cm) are referred to as ōdachi 大太刀, whereas tachi under 2 shaku (60.6 cm) are called kodachi 小太刀.

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Actually, you could have had it both ways :​ the new shirasaya with Tanobe sayagaki, and the old one with a tsunagi. I'm not up to date on the prices anymore, but about 10 years ago Mr. Tanobe charged less than the NBTHK papers would set you back, and Honami Kōshū about double that much.

Maybe some fancy way of writing 福長 or 福涱?

Christophe, the mei looks like it was scratched on with a sharp tool, and the Chinese sage (?) like made from play-dough and glued on. The workmanship is simply awful, and I even wouldn't be surprised if they were cast in China. Sorry. I know that Shimane is as inaka as it gets (with the possible exception of Tottori), but living in Japan, you should have ample opportunity to look at quality items, and compare them with what you posted here.

Sorry for being so blunt, but that six year old Ford mentioned in another thread seems to have a younger brother who also makes tsuba.

It's a reference to the owner of the blade. I'm not sure about the third kanji, but I thinks it reads "rakutenka shujin shoji", i.e. belonging to the master of Rakutenka (whatever that may be, a shop, restaurant, mountain retreat etc.). Or maye it's sō 荘, which would make more sense.

I guess it's just the residue of black powder smoke. Candle smoke?

Are you serious? And if they came with guarantees, why didn't you return them?

Jean, thanks for the additional pics you PM'd me. Quite the departure from his usual style.

No-one would argue with that. But soliciting members for a new group that will be handpicked by you, on the very board that you obviously think so low about, takes indeed a lot of chutzpah.

Jean, are you sure you posted the right photo/sayagaki? That looks completely different from his usual wrting style ...

Gourd-shaped seals are often found on Chinese porcelain and ceramics, they are called hú lu yìn 葫蘆印.

You still can watch it in Gifu, for instance - at least I did.

蜂鹿 (wasp/bee & deer) has the same pronunciation as 俸禄 (a salary for a certain duty): hōroku. There is also a Japanese proverb: 鹿の角を蜂が刺す (shika no tsuno o hachi ga sasu) – wasps/bees stinging antler, referring to being unaffected by something, like an elephant that doesn't feel a flea-bite (or the German saying "was kümmert es die stolze Eiche wenn sich das Borstenvieh dran wetzt" [why should the proud oak tree care about pigs rubbing against it]). Although the salary allusion was often used in the Edo period, I don't think it was appropriate as a motif for samurai (and the Gotō were iebori, not working for commoners). The proverb, OTOH, would be well-suited for the stoicism expected from a member of the warrior class. I'm not convinced that there is an underlying meaning based on a possible counting error (especially since go [short vowel] isn't close to hō [long vowel]), that might be overthinking it a little.

I know the wasps and antler word play "hōroku", but the other joke(s) elude me.

Michel, first of all, thanks for the flowers I have no horse in this race, and don't take anything written so far personally. I just tend to call a spade a spade. I have to admit that my my French is quite rusty, but after downloading the PDF, much sounded very familiar (and not just because of the topic covered), and almost all drawings are taken from other books. No bibliography, and not credits given whatsoever. This may sound harsh, but in my opinion it's clearly plagiarism, and I don't understand why a big deal is made of the (very much disputable) copyright attached to it. Since you are friends with him, I certainly don't want to put you between a rock and a hard place, and appreciate your loyalty to him. I've spoken my mind, and the topic is closed for me now.

Ah, o.k., that explains it ...

Interesting. I'm not a lawyer, but how can you copyright a publication when most of the drawings are from other, well known books without even giving credit, thus violating their copyright ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum

That's quite surprising, considering who the main koshirae judge was back then (but maybe he was on sick leave during that shinsa ). One of the reasons given to me why new tsukamaki is undesirable for papering is the difficulty to determine if not only the ito, but also the kashira and menuki - and even the same - were changed as well, which would mean in effect risking that a newly assembled tsuka might get papered. Makes sense to me, and explains why the ito is occasionally changed after the details are documented in the papers, and a photo is taken (and not the busy schedule of the dealers ). I guess the NBTHK didn't have those reservations in your case. Out of curiosity, do you have a pic of the tsuka you'd like to share?

Well, I've been told directly at the NBTHK that new tsuka-ito is a huge minus when it comes to papering, but things might have changed (especially since 2014). May I ask when your koshirae with new ito was papered?

That's new to me, and actually contradicts the info I have (not withstanding the fact that some people indeed have the ito changed after papering, althoug I consider that cheating; but why would they do that, if the koshirae would pass shinsa with new ito anyhow?).

That's an easy one: (Kaga) Kiyomitsu.