Guido

That's their "policy", for quite some years now you won't find the description "Nagamaki" in their papers. Since Nagamaki is indeed first and foremost a style of Koshirae (although certain blade types are more common in this mounting), the NBTHK papers the blades always as Naginata(naoshi).

This type of inlay is called "Chirigami-zôgan", either written 散紙象嵌 or 塵紙象嵌. While 散 means "scattered, dissolved", 塵 means indeed "junk, waste".

There seem to be quite a few Hakkei: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AB%E6%99%AF

My father and I used to hit each other over the head with iron rods when I was a youngster. Lots of fun. We called it "Moron-dô".

In my experience, Chinese humor lacks any sense of irony or sarcasm (at least here in the North). I therefore don't think that inscribing Mifune Toshiro is meant as a joke, as usual a random name was chosen that is distinct Japanese. Recently a Chinese colleague parked his Chery Tiggo next to my Toyota RAV4, and he and some others remarked that both cars look almost the same, except for the fog lights. When I jokingly told them that my Toyota is probably a cheap copy of the Tiggo, they looked at me like I was retarted, and slowly and patiently started to explain to me that it is the other way around.

Are you Maori?

Reini, this pic was taken early on the opening day of the DTI, next to the vending machines on the 4'th floor. However, I'm not sure, it also could be a "bujinkan-face" ...

Sorry, still no match. Maybe those with a vaster library than me can jump in.

There were quite a few generations of Kanenori, but so far I couldn't match the Mei on your sword 100% to any of them (but I don't have examples of all generations). A high res pic of the Nakago, and the sword itself, might be helpful.

The Mei and Mekugiana (assuming the latter is the original, which it appears to be in relation to the Mei) are indeed too low on the Nakago to make it likely that this sword is Ubu. My guess is Suriage and Machiokuri. However, the Suriage was done very skillfully, unlike many "hacksaw jobs" we often see. Nicely done, old Suriage is often referred to as "Keichô-Suriage" - I don't know if this sword was actually shortened during that period, but at least it sounds classy :D .

Hmmm, the Sayagaki states without doubt スリ上. How about posting some pics of the Nakago?

Recently I'm seeing quite a few calls for translation assistance that turn out to be connected to live auctions. Guys, there's an appropriate section for this (where I moved this thread), no need to sail under false colors!

Come on, Brian, don't be a party-pooper and let have Jacques and Carlo their final show-down like *real* men :

Brian, a good lawyer should only ask questions in front of jury he already knows the answers of. But then again, I suspect you do.

... where I just moved the thread.

Please keep this thread on topic, i.e. "official" announcements only. Other replies have been deleted.

I didn't realize before that "J. Ottaway" of SFI and "James" of NMB are the same person - not that it would have changed what I posted. IMO there's a marked difference between writing "signed Minamoto Kiyomaro, dated xxx [even without adding "but I think the signature is not reliable"]"), and "it's signed by Kiyomaro the famous Shinshintô smith". And the difference isn't merely a matter of semantics. Anyhow, I'm not going to flogg a dead horse, and I think all has been said in this matter.

Wow, a Kiyomaro for only US $ 2,250 - who said that there are no bargains anymore? http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?t=93416

Here's a photo of the Nakago of a Shodai Tsunahiro Tantô I own for comparison:

Well, err, yes, all of the above! And this is a "hot dog":

I don't pretend to be an expert on Gotô, but most Japanese books dealing with this lineage are entitled "The 17 Gotô generations" ...

I retract my previous answer and join Reinhard's camp!

I don't think that there's a water-proof definition of "Handachi", and it isn't a topic the Japanese experts seem to loose sleep over. One person's Handachi is the other's Uchigatana. Rose is a rose ... Anyhow, if Tachi-esque fittings are used, I would apply the terminology for Tachi Kanagu. Below are two scans of the style I mentioned above.

Oops, couldn't see the upper Kanji clearly in the pic and made the wrong assumption (or I need a new monitor or new glasses). "Shû" 州 can also be written 刕 (often seen on Mino blades); in any case, I see marked differences in the two Mei.

I don't know why people thing that a Handachi should be a Tachi without Obitori, and a Kurigata instead - and all Kanagu en suite. One has only to look at the book published by the Tokyo National Museum "Sword Mountings" (東京国立博物館 - 刀装篇) to see many example of Koshirae that don't fulfill those "requirements". There are even pics of swords with Handachi Tsuka and "regular" Saya, owned by the Tokugawa, no less! From a collector's point of view it might be desirable to have matching Kodôgu, but in the old days fittings were often chosen for their individual merit, not because they followed a common theme.