Henry Wilson

It could be a something like an early style of arsenal stamp, if that makes sense.. Or a bit like branding a horse or carving your name on your weapon (easy their Mr Powers...... ) Just thoughts .....

Pretty sure cherry blossom with a flake of snow on it.

Don't fancy the koshirae. The blade looks nice thought....

I would say both Higo school at a quess...... I think Akasaka are more brown in color because of the metal used (generally speaking) and a bit more imposing and thick....

Hi Brin The writing is katakana and I think it reads "MA SA N SA" (マサンサ). Not sure about the the third character n / ン　as it could be fu / フ (MA SA FU SA?) or maybe something else. As for the meaning I have no idea but katakana these days usually has a connection with things foriegn....

Hi Splidge From my experience with working for ICI, proponal, which is basically alcohol anyway, I think (could be wrong as my chemical days are long gone) should not do any harm to an iron blade directly and should remove light oils quite easily. I would imagine that newly bought propanol fresh from the bottle used sparingly would be best. It evaporates quite quickly (use it with good ventalation ie outside) and if you use it do make sure you really give the blade a good wipe to remove all residue as you never know especially with old blades and what they could have been coated with previously. A previous low grade oil with dust and other nasties could have a negative effect if left to its own devices with a solvent. Also propanol in a scabbard could have a negative effect too with woods, glues, dust, laquer etc etc...

Thank you very much

Can anyone post the link to the NBTHK yearly schedule? I am intertested in the dates of the Hozon shinsa of this year. I hope to submit my pride and joy sometime when I have the time / money / nerve :x Thanks all

In that case a "katana futton" may be in order too.

Congratulations on the house.... I don't think you need a futon in the sword room unless you are going to sleep in the room. Or the swords are walking around, getting tired at night and get cranky after 8pm..... I bought a katana case awhile back, made in the Meiji period, which is good for keeping the swords in. It has some scribblings inside one of the draws of a Hinomaru which looks like a kid did it. It is a nice, useful if not a little fragile as the wood is quite old. It has a little side drawer for sword maintenance stuff. Japanese rooms tend to be quite spartan when it comes to decorations http://www.haikudesigns.com/images/shc-tatami.jpg So less is best with plenty of neutral (calming) colours in mind that reflect the feeling of nature..... A bare light bulb is useful (essential) for viewing swords. A magnifying glass can be useful but are a bit awkward to use. You will need a cushion we all see in sword shops (do not know the name of it) to rest the point of the swords on when they are out of the koshirae. A book case would be handy for the all the books.

Thank you Guido and of course Mr Wiki. Very interesting. I had a feeling that this would be a Guido-type-question.

What is the origins of the name Japan? As we all know, to the Japanese it is Nihon / Nippon. So why Japan? Where did the name come from? I heard that it has something to do with silver but that could have been 1. a rumour 2. a lie or 3. a dream I had once.......

I have about talcum powder being used.

What I did with the condell conundrums was first get the name of the smith (last two kanji) and try to get the area (the first two kanji). The kanji chart in Hawleys was my point of reference. Using Hawleys I looked the smith up and pin pointed him with the area kanji, as there can be a few smiths from different locations / time frames with the same name. If all was going well Hawleys would have the test mei listed with a romaji translation as Hawley tries to list common mei. Next step was to look in Fujishiro for examples of verified mei to compare them. If all was not going to plan my last resort was to thumb from every last example of oshigata I had and compare them with the test. Quite time consuming but you start to get familar with what is in your books quite quickly. At the beginning it was very frustrating but after a few goes you start to get into the swing of it.

Also someone could have knocked it against iron railings in the garden

Great idea. Why not have a translation forum?

One query, I thought that all sword making was banned up to the early 1950's (1953 ish). If so, was it possible that a smith could make a sword for the emporer in 1949?

Hi Simon Just a thought but have you tried the Showa Museum in Kudanshita in relation to the Mon and TAYA inscription? It has a library of sorts that might be a start in helping you track down families during the showa period . It is a a brief walk from Yasukuni shrine on the Tozai line. http://www.willamette.edu/~rloftus/showakan.htm

Hi Reinier If you ask me I would say cool down a bit and study. From what I have gathered (I could have my wires crossed thought) you have bought a new sword, looking at buying some armour (as well as a house) and also looking at this sword in the koshirae. To me the general look of the sword is a bit wierd and I think that it may not be that good a buy. To me the koshirae is not in a reseasonable condition and the fittings are not that special. I think what you are experience is what all collectors have experienced, the urge to get stuff. In about six months as you learn more you could be sorry if you spend too much now. It might be more worth your while going to a sword show or doing a Japan sword tour... Just my two pennies worth

The nakago on the top two intial swords look strange to me. F22 Raptor wrote That is true but I think that the gentlemen above are not trying to spoil your post, just giving their opinions based on what they see. Have you determined this from the pictures?

I have a Heianjyo tsuba with brass inlay of pine neebles. I think it is quite a common design. I think that the blue and the red lines are the same and represent the broken neeble of the pair and all the needles are resting on the overall all design of a sakura.

This is nice isn't it? http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/katana/07103.html

I have been informed that a re-print of this book should be available from the NCJSC around July 2007. It is an esential beginner book on tsuba and not that easy to get these days. For more info contact Jack at jack.e@ncjsc.org

A mumei, polished and papered sword is the way to go for a first purchase IMHO. You can usually get them at a good price.

Reinier wrote I think Rich T and I managed to post similar posts....