Henry Wilson

Hi Kevin and Justin Love the cat by the way Kevin. I thought I replied last night but I could have previewed my message and then closed the window with out submitting. The red seals are the seals of the judges that appraised the swords and the kanji in each stamp is probably that of each judge's family name. The number of seals does not effects the worth of the papers and sometimes I have seen the seals stamped no where near the box. The funny thing is that I have a Hosokawa Masachika tanto that is papered by the NTHK too.

Being a Yasukuni fan I am very keen on seeing a few snaps of the blade if it is possible.

I have used tough bamboo before and it worked quite well.

No problem. I have a sword made by him myself. What about the other side? There should be a date.

Bishu no Osafune Ju Sukesada Made by Sukesada a resident of Osafune in Bishu

Hi Mr Woodbridge If my remark can be in anyway verified I would dare say that is was a case by case situation depending on the owner. I would imagine that iron tsuba would have been used more in battle as opposed to finer items containing lots of precious materials, so they would have been more likely recycled. Just my thoughts though

I heard somewhere that there might have been a tendency to melt a tsuba down and re-us the metal to make another tsuba which explains why there are not that many battle damaged tsuba around. Can anyone agree with this? At the link below, the first tsuba (Nobuie) has a sword cut from a cutting test http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/ono.htm

Could it be of Chinese origin as opposed to Japanese? The calligraphy that is, not the sword.

I saw what was descrided as "a first state" example of Hiroshige's "A shower over Ohashi" a while back priced at about 14,000,000 yen. See the end of the enclosed link for details of the print I mean http://www.militaria.co.za/nihontomessageboard/viewtopic.php?t=1223&highlight=hiroshige The picture had two extra boats in the top right corner which I think made it "first state" but 14,000,000 yen??????? for a printed peice of paper!!!!!!

Thanks everyone and sorry Brian I should have search. The kao was familar and it did not occur to me at the time to do a search. Testugendo school is not listed much in the Koza. Is there a reason for that?

To me it looks old but the style (especially the convexed shape ie egg like....) makes me think it is new. Has Ford been busy?

Can anyone help me with this tsuba? http://www.finesword.co.jp/sale/kodougu/htm/0704/614/614.htm The best I can do with the mei is 栄寿 translates to Eiju and the only reference to such a person is from the Akasaka line (Yondai mon). I think I am wrong and any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Is that a brass in lay on the rim? The shape makes me think of an egg.

I am here too. Hi every one

Why not rub in some talcum powder into the mei and it might highlight it for a nice photo shot.....

Here is a link to some nice shots of a Yasunori blade on Darcy's site. I think it is quite nice. Check out the slide show. http://www.nihonto.ca/yasunori/index.html It looks a lot like my Yasutoku

I never thought of that. So the blade must be wood or plastic or something else?

Here is a kaigun tanto koshirae. It is in good condition but the condition of the price is not so good. I think it has a stainless steel blade. http://c104g5af.securesites.net/fittings/7100-7149/07121.html

To quote myself: It was meant as a joke (hence the smily face). Of course there are many things more collectible than them....... What appeals to me about Yasukuni swords is that they were made for warfare but are relatively new. As a result blades are usually quite healthy with lots of meat and appear as all the older swords would have before centuries took their toll. The Yasukuni smiths are well documented with lots of photos avaiable as well as written document and we can even visit the place were they worked in Tokyo. I think this makes the swords quite unique. As for the workmanship, there are a lot of mediocre blades but I have a nice ko choji Yasutoku that is an ex-museum piece and I find it delightful. Very subtle, but on the other hand, wild. A bit like myself (another joke)

The workmanship of the blade and the file marks look Yasukuni to me. The mei is a little bit unconventional compared to widely published examples (it looks confidently cut) and the kissaki looks like it has had a battering and the hamon looks like it could run of the end. Shame about that because as we all know (altogether now) : "There is nothing nicer and more collectible than a Yasukuni sword" :D

Comparing the pictures of the item's mei with documented examples above, I would say it is the real thing, in other words shoshin.... Just my humble opinion. Well done.

Hi Ed Scented or other wise hampered tissue paper is be avoided. Normal tissue is fine and a lot easier to get a hold of. As for shirasaya, koshirae can be very old and the insides get a bit dirty and messy from years of oil and and wear. They are very hard to clean (near impossible) so a shirasaya is used to prevent the owner putting his / her sword into something that could damage the polish. Shirasaya can be split to be cleaned and are easier to replace than a full koshirae. Also a sword in a koshirae can add stress to the koshirae that is possibly quite old and fragile. Imagine the koshirae as a tuxedo and the shirasaya as Jeans and a T shirt (or pyjamas). I find that swords need very little oil and general mainatance. I live in Tokyo and I think that the climate has something to do with this. I oil my blades about twice a year when the weather / seasons change dramatically. I think that if living by the sea (salt air) you would need more oil and more checking for colouring on the blade. With a sword, only a very thin coat is needed and very little oil should be used. If you find the blade has beads of oil on it after oiling then you have used too much. I think that a blade should always be kept in a scabbard be it koshirae, shirasaya, a roll of newspaper ... Murphy's law comes into play. Nihonto are very very sharp. Pets, children (two legged pets??? :lol: :lol: :lol: ), a bottle of whisky later, earthquake, walking about in the dark, tripping on the mat etc could lead to the unthinkable. Also swords are strong but a polish is very fragile and the wood of koshirae is said to let the moisture out but not let it in. The scabbard is basically a protector for us and for the sword. Just my thoughts

Thanks Pete. I saw them before. I am not aware of a specific significance of the shape etc but some how feel that there is one. Could it be a kinko trying to be original with a new design? Could it be a special order tsuba used by people from a certain group?

This tsuba has had me wondering for sometime http://www.finesword.co.jp/sale/kodougu/htm/0611/547/547.htm The mei reads something like "Hachiman Taro Hatomaru made by Munemasa" from the Myochin Ha. Hachiman Taro is also another name for Minamoto Yoshiie from the late 10th century who is famous in Japanese history. The Nihonto Koza 6 wonders if the making of the tsuba (it does not referred to the above tsuba directly) for the Hachiman Taro Hatomaru koshirae began with Munemasa. What do other members think of the above tsuba? I think it is a bit peculiar and wonder if there someting that I am missing as I feel that it has significants. Also does anyone have pictures of / links to the Hachiman Taro Hatomaru koshirae? Regards

Nice sword. Looks very koto and possibly a bit tired. Very nice pressie. I think my wifes family sold their swords long before I was on the scene. It was registered in Okayama Ken too