paulb

Hi Moss, I will take a look at the books this evening regarding the mei but expect others will get you an answer before I can. What you are describing is pretty classic Bizen. The fact that you are seeing abundant utsuri is a plus, especially if the blade is in less than perfect polish. The lack of nie might also be expected and help pinpoint the date a little tighter. I will have a trawl later on and see if anything comes up Best regards paul

Hi Moss, I think it looks to be a good sword. Certainly a lot better than many we have seen recently. I cant comment on the signature without go through my books, neither my memory nor my knowledge of Bizen work are good enough to make an off-the-cuff comment on its authenticity. Looks to be a powerful piece. I am not sure whether it is the the images or the polish but I can see too much detail in either hada or hamon. Can you describe them? Is there much going on in the hamon? I am assuming it is nioi based but is there any nie showing in it? More importantly after a year of looking what do you think you have? best regards Paul

Hi Bob, A noticeable point about this is the plate is very flat and the mimi square (marginal roundness on the corners) . The only thing I think I am sure of is it isnt Akasaka

High Lorenzo, no I am not particulalry confident about the attribution/mei. The mei is weakly done. As said above I did not have great exepctatiton of it so didnt pay a lot for it. But in hand it has good colour and finish and as said before I really like the composition.

Dear All, Below a tsuba bought recently at a non-specialist auction. Bought with little expectation as to quality other than I very much liked the design. Having received it I was pleasantly surprised. It is big at 8.6cm in diameter. The colour is good and it has a pleasant sheen to it. The mei is fujiwara Shigekuni saku. A friend informs me a Kyoto smith signing this way was working between 1650 and 1700. Personally I would have put this much later. Anyway have a look and see what you think. regards Paul

I am not sure I agree with the Chinese fake view. Admittedly I am not fully up to date on what the Chinese fakers are now doing but I dont remember them copying late naval swords. Also there is none of the other characteristics such as course attempts to produce grain, bad shape and poor nakago that is normaly seen. The signature is admittedly low quality and "clippy" and I cant read it either. But for the rest it looks like a non traditionally made late naval sword in low cost and late naval mounts. So not a piece of high art but more likely a piece of WW11 militaty history. I am sure the military enthusiasts can confirm orr otherwise the authenticity of this sword. regards paul

Hi Jason, Fittings arent my strong suit but these look to be rather late pieces (i.e post 1800) and of lowish quality. They are the sort of thing you tend to see on numerous country made swords. They may very well have come off an old blade but this doesn't mean they are old. As you know blades were refitted for different koshirae throughout their history. One of the many blades I have spent a lot of time with dates from around 1320 but has a koshirae made in the mid Edo period. I am sure others may be able to place them better regarding likely school and timing Best Regards Paul

Marcello,Below four images (with apologies for my poor photography of muneyaki on a Yamato Shikkake Naginata naoshi. Hope this helps

Dear Rckard, dont get too carried away with the Minamoto clan name. this was used by many genrations of smiths throughout sword history and does not refer to the Minamoto Shogunate that you found in wikepedia.

No problem Chris, even after more years than I care to admit, sometimes enthusiasm can take me beyond the facts and in to speculation. No harm in coming down to earth occassionally :-)

I stand corrected and chastised!

Just to pick up on another point in an earlier mail. It seems to be suggested that shirrake utsuri might appear as a sword is worn down or over polished/ I would value some comments on this because I think it is wrong. As Chris, Ted and others have said utsuri is nioi based surface effect created by various elements of the process coming together at the right srage. Shirrake utsuri is more random than either midare, or bo utsuri and there is a school of thought that regard it as accidental rather than contrived. If this is the case polishing a blade down will eliminate utsuri, shirrake or otherwise, not make it appear. It is possible that polishing may cause a cloudy effect in the steel as softer core matrial starts rto show through, however this should not be considered or described as utsuri. Could others confirm or correct this? regards Paul

Just to jump on the band wagon I would also start with Yamato. However with what can be seen of the boshi it has the "old mans beard" look which is a kantei indicator for Shikkake. Also from what can be seen of the hada there appears to be a mix of itame mokume and I think masame running in to the hamon. If this is the case then again shikkake would be a reasonable call. Trouble is as you progress in to the 1400's the differentiation between the 5 schools becomes a little (or a lot) blurred and unless all features are clear which in this case they are not, accurate assesment becomes even more difficult. All that said it is an interesting looking sword. I wouls love to see it after it is polished. Rgeards paul

you can find examples of all sorts of materials being used to bind hilts. You are right that the majority are silk. Leather was also used a lot. I have only seen cotton used on later pieces noteably those listed as "Satsuma Rebellion" swords. I am not sure whether this binding was original or if it was ever used earlier. As you say cotton would have a much shorter life and would be used on lesser swords therefore much less likely to survive.

Rich, I was not, nor am I, critisicing your motives or your sword. What you do and why is entirely up to you. As another collector of Percussion revolvers I have great sympathy for your position of functional piece Vs show piece. The point I was trying to make is that from a pure commercial point of view I would personally not invest money in putting good quality old fittings on this blade. It would not add value to the sword and might detract value from the fittings. If, as you say, it is purely for your pleasure and you get a kick out of it carry on. Re: Marks comments. He obviously has the advantage of seeing the blade in hand. I would be very interested in what koto characterisitcs he can see because from the images there is nothing to point ot a pre 1600 date. However you asked for opinions as to when it might have been made and other attribution and I would stand by my original point that based on theses images and in this condition it is almost impossible to say. I wish you success in your search for fittings regards

Rich, As I am sure Mark will have pointed out it is almost impossible to give a realistic opinion on a blade in this condition and from photos. His guess of early shinto is as good as any. Just based on statistics alone it is likely to be mid shinto. There is nothing I can see in the images to suggest it would be any earlier. It has had a very hard life. Before spending money on antique fittings and having the tsuka rebound I would recommend that you determine what you want to achieve from the exercise.

Jason You may find it hard to believe but people are actually trying to help you not criticise you. However every time someone says something you may not agree with you seem to take offence. If you dont want the opinions dont ask the questions. All those who are tryng to help you have had many years and numerous numbers of beginners following exactly the path you are. To date it hasnt stopped them trying to help but I am sure they must sometimes wonder why they bother. I have not yet commented on any of your buys or intended buys but for the sake of clarity: 1. Your first buy was a poor sword in bad condition. The fact you were able to sell it was luck, good for you bad for the new owner. 2. The other blades you have shown have little merit and will not teach you a great deal. You would do better to save your money, build up a "war fund" and buy aomething in better condition with more features visible than any you have illustrated to date. This is not being elitist, arrogant, snobbish or any other nergative which seems to be thrown at students who strive to obtain the best they can afford, it is just common sense. I can promise you and I think without fear of contradiction that it is better to save your money and buy one reasonable piece than it is to buy numerous tired pieces of junk which will become increasingly difficult to move on when you realise how little they can teach you. Regards paul

Hi Jean, Yes I totally agree with you. My favourite binder is a gentleman trained in Japan, unfortunately he is sinking under a major museum project and was unable to take this on. The person who did it has talent but has yet to achieve the consistency I see in fully trained work. Unfortunately his pricing is equal to or more than the more experienced person. I am hoping this doesnt result in him getting fewer commissions and failing to gain the further experience and reaching his full potential. Overall I think the koshirae works well and I think the binding will settle with a little handling. It is the last of my long outstanding projects so I now have to decide what to do next! thanks again for your comments Best Regards Paul

Hi Rich, you are asking a very big question with regard to what you might expect to pay for a sword. In some ways your taste for wakazashi is fortunate in that they are generally less popular (and certainly less expensive) than long swords or Tanto. So in terms of quality you will get more for your $ in wakazashi than you will in katana or tachi. This is because they were not used exclusively by Samurai, Merchants were allowed to carry them for defence. There are therefore many more wakazashi about. Wakazashi realy came in to being at the end of the koto period, so the vast majority date to the Shinto and Shin-Shinto timeframe. With regard to price you could expect to pay for a sword in good condition, anything from the high hundreds US$ to many thousand depending on the School, the maker and the condition. Where to buy- as has been said here many times talk to well established and reputable dealers. they will be keen to help you and will want you to come back again. There are many listed in the links pages on this site. There are many very good swords out there in good polish and fine state of preservation. There is also a vast amount of low quality tat in poor and unretrieveable condition. The best advise is as always study a lot seek advise from other local enthusiats and enjoy the experience. good luck Paul

Dear All, Some time ago I mentioned that I had a long outstanding project to complete a koshirae which I had planned since buying a fuchi kashira in 1998. Well I finally got there! I had a Hizen Katana polished last year and decided it was an ideal candidate for the FK and tsuba I had been holding on to. I managed to pick up a reasonable set of menuki on Ebay which followed the same theme so was ready to go. Continued horror stories about shipping blades in and out of Japan made me look for local talent to make and lacquer a saya, make a tsuka and then bind it. Probably for the reason listed above the people I have used in the past are fully booked and unwillin to take on new commissions, so I had to try newer talent which has developed over recent years. The end result is illuistrated below. Overall I am very pleased with the result.Certainly the quality of finish to the lacquer compares very well to work I have had done in Japan. As it becomes increasuingly difficult to ship swords around the world it is good to see a number of young people taking up these skills and developing their talent alongside those who are already well established in this field. See what you think regards Paul

Hi Ken, There are many examples of leather bound tsuka dating from both koto and shinto periods. there have been two recently on http://www.nihonto.com one of which had been awarded Juyo status. Tensho mounted blades often have leather or doe-skin binding over black lacquered same. Tensho mounts were discussed at some length in a previous thread (sorry I cant find it) if you want some illustrations pm me and I can mail some images to you. Best Regards Paul

good luck in your search for your sword. it is a good idea to talk to the dealer about what you are looking for. I am sure NIhontoantiques will be very happy to offer you help and guidance. best regards Paul

My copy arrived today. As one has come to expect from Markus this looks to be a very good quality piece of work. I have only scanned through it briefly but it is well presented, the images are of good quality and the commentary very useful Thank you Markus it is a fine addition to anyones reference library Best Regards Paul

Dale wrote: Dale, the problem is that many think they are either knowledgeable or willing to take the risk and then when it goes wrong they realise they are less so. For every gem that we hear of there are countless hundreds, possibly thousands of bad buys. I have been looking at and buying things from ebay for at least 10 and possibly 15 years ( but I confess mainly books). I have been a members of this board since it began. I cannot tell you the concern, frustration and annoyance that you feel when you look at posts from young, enthusiatic hopefuls who watch this board for a while and then rush out to buy what they think is a national treasure that only they have recognised. It happens time and time again What is worse is when you get the aggresive defence mode kick in and people start trying to down grade the knowledge of those more experienced people who dare to point out the error. For the umpteenth time can I express the view which I think is shared by most serious, long term enthusiasts: 1. Ebay is definitely not the place for the beginner to buy swords and fittings. 2. Find good mentors, dealers with a reputation they wish to protect and those who are willing to help learners 3. If as a beginner or even a more advanced collector you insist on taking the risk, do not then "shoot the messenger" if they tell you what you have bought is bad. Its not their fault its yours. 4. Any comment here based on generally less than perfect images and the general level of learning can only be opinion. So comments about something being 100% right or wrong or definitely one thing or another are both inaccurate and misleading. Sorry to jump on the soap box but this thread is going round the loop again of ebay is trash to ebay is great if you know what you are doing and back again. Regards Paul

Sorry Jim but I also think the "definitely Nagamaki" is wrong. This doesnt mean its not an authentic Nihon-To, to be honest I cant see enough detail to comment. But on shape alone it does not resemble any illustrated example of a nagamki that I have seen in more than 25 years of study.