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Shugyosha

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Everything posted by Shugyosha

  1. Hi David, Yes, I think that’s what it says. Probably not going to be genuine though…but some blade close-ups would be interesting.
  2. I think you're right Russ - looks like 永正 to me too.
  3. Hi Hannah, I’m honestly not sure how strong the connection is and it might just be coincidence but many schools of tsuba makers got their names from the places where they worked. I’ll have a dig around and see what I can turn up.
  4. Hi Hannah, Sorry if this has been mentioned before but, if you haven't done so already, have a google around the words "shippou" and "shippou yaki. Shippou yaki 七宝焼 or しっぽうやき in hiragana is the name for the craft of Japanese enamel cloisonne work as it will give you some idea of the likely dates and area of production of your tsuba. You'll probably also get some hits on tsuba with an interlaced netted pattern resembling the "cloisons" of the enamel tsuba and a style of sword fittings but without the enamel infill so you'll need to filter these. As Brian has said, your tsuba is probably no early than the 17th century as this is apparently when cloisonne work took off in Japan: https://katoshippo.c...story-of-cloisonne_e In tsuba collecting and other Japanese arts there is the idea of "Hamamono" - things sold at the harbour. As you'll likely know, when Japan opened to the West in the 19th century there was great demand for articles of Japanese art to satisfy European fascination with orientalism, so lots of tsuba and other kinds of art objects were exported in bulk and these were of mixed quality as mass-production industries grew up to satisfy the demand in western countries (also, the Japanese not being fools, kept the best stuff for themselves). There's a chance that your tsuba was made or exported to Europe at this time or, of course, there may be many other explanations as to how it arrived here but it might be worth mentioning in your paper. Anyhow, Nagasaki was a significant port involved in this export trade and, as Brian said above, Nagasaki is also a place associated with cloisonne tsuba so this might be worth a mention too. Good luck with your project and top marks for your research in finding a bunch of nerds like us to talk to.
  5. Hi Andrea, Some blades have a mix of types of hamon or hada. Most of the descriptions of the characteristics of blades by smiths or schools of smiths are of a blade that can be fitted perfectly into that smith or school's work. In real life, a blade may not fit 100% with the characteristics of the "ideal" blade which is where things get complicated because the first thing that you learn is that there are rules, and a little later that there often exceptions to them and they become more like "guidance" than principles set in stone. That's why it's very hard for us in the West to see enough blades to be competent beyond the basics of kantei (I know that I'm not, and the basics may not be there either). Anyway, I hope that you're enjoying your blade more now and that you continue with collecting.
  6. Hi David, The one on the Aoi Art website linked was put at around 1624. That would be the penultimate one on the Nihonto Club index.
  7. Hi David, just shake it over the tang so that the powder fills any lines in the characters to make them stand out more clearly. That said, I think that Xiayang is on the money with his post above.
  8. G'day David, Nice to see you back so soon and bringing more goodies! I think that this one will need sharper eyes than mine but at first blush it looks like it might be another traditionally made blade rather than a standard army sword as I can't see any stamp and it's a proper signature as opposed to the chippy rush job ones on the standard issue blades. I think I can make out the first two characters on the tang "豊後" Bungo which is the province in Japan where the sword was made and I'm assuming that the third character is "住" Juu - meaning a resident of this province but I'm lost after that. Any chance that you could sprinkle the tang with some talcum powder to try to pick out the lines of the characters and post another photograph? Also, if there are any characters on the other side of the tang could you do the same there?
  9. Hi RJ, Welcome to the forum. It looks like one of these but the gunto guys will be along in a while to confirm as army swords aren't me field of interest: https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/koa.htm Date reads: 昭和辛巳春 Showa Kanoto-mi haru - Spring 1941. Showa is the nengo period with the year being written using the Chinese sexagenary calendar characters. On the back of the tang is the katakan "tsu" and the production number: ツ [四]三八 - it looks like 438 with the "4" being eroded or worn away. I hope that gets you started.
  10. Hi Oliver, It might have been a long wakizashi (calculated by adding the distance between the two mekugi ana to the current length). Andrea, I think that the hamon is notare. If you can set up a room with the curtains drawn and a single light or point of light, then move the blade around so that the light plays up and down the hamon, you should be able to see the real hamon through the hadori with the nioi guchi shining through like a bolt of lightening. Have a look at the photos in this thread and see how the line of the hamon shines where it is just to the edge of where the light obscures it. Please don't be upset, you've done no worse than many of us with a first blade and I have one where the polisher went way overboard with the hadori to create what he thought was a more "pleasing" hamon. The shape of the blade is typical of an early Edo period blade so nothing to worry about there. As regards your studies, as someone has said above, seeing blades and looking at them compared to what you have studied is key as it is difficult to learn from books alone.
  11. I’m sorry but I’m concerned about that hamon, it has had some serious hadori applied. It’s hard to see any activity in the hamon and you can see some of the original tang patina under the “hamon” which means it is not genuine. I’m not saying that there isn’t a hamon there, just that it has been enhanced. Also, there are practically no machi so for a shinto blade its condition is well below par. Apologies for being negative, which I genuinely hate to do, but the blade has issues. Could you return it?
  12. I agree with John. It looks to me like perhaps an unsigned shin shinto blade that someone decided to add a signature to in order to make it look older, though it does look chiselled unlike the usual gold sharpie kinpun mei that is seen on a number of blades at the moment. It does look like a nice blade though, congratulations Ed!
  13. Sorry, I was just speculating as to why the mei was partially removed. I think the one you linked to is likely the smith or in any event it’s an Edo period blade. I’m sure the guys who sold it to you know their business.
  14. Hi there, Welcome to NMB. I can’t tell you much without the close up pictures other than the blade has been shortened and the machi moved up. The peg hole nearest the butt of the tang was probably the original one. Also you can see the hamon running into the tang which it shouldn’t do on a full length blade. As to why the smith’s signature was partly erased, the tang might have been adjusted to help the tang fit a ready made tsuka or to perhaps leave it open to suggestion that the blade was by a different Masahiro. A blade by one of the Soshu Masahiro, for example, would be worth a lot more than by the one the seller’s ascribe it to. Anyway, it looks a nice blade and I look forward to seeing it in detail.
  15. Hi David, Sorry, I'm late on parade today. As Colin says, acid polishes have been around for a while but it is a genuine and old blade. I bought my first blade circa 2002 - 2003 and there were a bunch of blades at that shop that had been touched up with acid. Indeed, a little later when I approached a UK polisher, now not working, about having a blade touched up he asked me if I wanted an acid polish or something more traditional. I ran away. I guess you need to think about what you want to do with the blade, sell it as is or see if you can have it restored cheaply to a traditional polish. I think it would perhaps be worth having someone run their eye over it as there are a couple of smiths listed in Chris's post above who are highly ranked and that will (should) influence how you price the blade ultimately. It might be worth dropping Andrew Ickeringill an email to see if he can give you his opinion from the photographs. An alternative to selling direct to a collector would be to sell to an Aussie dealer and make it his problem but he'll mark you down on the price as he needs to make his margin. There's this guy who is up in Cairns: https://nihonto.com.au/
  16. Hi David, You read my mind. It looks like the fittings on the handle apart from the tsuba are genuine. The handle has had a re-wrap but underneath that the ray skin and wood are old and authentic, if I'm honest I'm not sure about the scabbard itself at the moment as the metal fittings on that don't quite seem right but again some close up pictures will help. There's nothing there to change my view of the blade but it might be that the fittings are a "put together" set rather then being made for the blade itself - another thing that dealers do to sell swords. Just a word of warning, don't be tempted to clean the blade and particularly don't clean the tang - the patina there is an indicator of the blade's age and should be left as it is. An out of polish blade with good geometry and no scratch marks or marks from other abrasive action is worth more than one trashed by a well-meaning renovation (sorry if I'm telling you what you already know). If you're climate there is quite humid, I'd be tempted to wipe the blade above the tang over with a little fine mineral oil on a soft cloth but don't do anything further. If it helps, there's a guy called Andrew Ickeringill down near Melbourne I believe who is a qualified sword polisher and will give you an appraisal of the blade if you want a professional's eye cast over it. https://touken-togishi.com/
  17. Hi David, I don't know about the tsuba, cast knock-offs have been around for some time now but I'd guess within the last 20 years. What occasionally happens is that a sword mounted in fittings has a good tsuba (or other parts) and they get stripped out and sold separately as they can make the seller more money than as part of the package. Normally they get replaced with a lower-value genuine item but maybe this one just happened to fit. As regards the blade, from what I can see from the pictures I'd say that it was a genuine Japanese sword and that it's not out of keeping with being by one of the smiths signing with a two character signature listed by Chris. The long slanting file marks on the tang point towards it being made by a smith working in Mino province and the patina on the tang is in line with an age of 1500s to early 1600s. The only slight reservation I have is that I can't see much detail so if you're able to take some close ups of the hardened edge, any activity above that and the tip, that would be great. Also a full length shot with all of the fittings taken off and the dimensions will help.
  18. Hi David, The signature on the tsuba reads: 西陣住 - Nishijin Juu - residing at Nishijin (a district of Kyoto) 埋忠 - Umetada ("Maker's" name) Nice score with the blade! Doh - Uwe beat me to it.
  19. Now you mention it, yes but I can't remember any more about it. Maybe someone else's memory will be jogged?
  20. Hi Henry, Do you mean like the blade pictured in this thread? If so then, yes, all the time but there are also various ways of preserving the mei when a blade is made suriage (if the mei is thought to be worth saving or if time permitted I guess): Orikaeshi mei where the part of the tang with the signature is thinned down and folded back so that it appears on the other side of the tang; Gaku mei where the part of the tang with the signature is cut off, thinned down and welded (or otherwise joined back) onto the tang in the form of a panel; In the form of an attestation by the smith doing the shortening as to the original signature. If you mean something different then, as Alex says, it would be helpful to have a picture of what you are asking about.
  21. Hi Piers, That's what it looks like to me, but I've googled Sanshu Masaharu with nil returns but there's lots for Bushu Masaharu so it might be our eyes that are the problem.
  22. My pleasure. Somewhere, I'm sure I have an old book on Nobuie somewhere - when I say old, I mean that the illustrations are oshigata rather than photos and it's in Japanese. I don't know how much use it would be but I'm happy to dig it out and see what's inside if you like. Edit: I'm pretty sure that it's this one from Grey's website, that's where I got mine from anyway. https://www.Japanese...hu-with-translation/
  23. Hi Greg, Could you dust the tang with some talcum powder to try to bring out the kanji and re-post a photograph please? It won't hurt the blade and will make it smell nice too!
  24. Hi David, here you are- I hope the pics are good enough for what you need, if not let me know and I’ll try again.
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