Geraint

Hi George, Thanks for the caveat but don't worry, I'll probably leave well alone. Cheers.

Hi Jim, Never thought of it as odd but here is a picture of one with the two hangers though the lower one shows no sign of being removable as George suggests, must give it a try.

Hello Jim. I am sure Kevin won't mind me posting this link to a sue koto Mihara blade on his site. I look forward to hearing your theories when you have got them to a point where you feel ready to share. http://www.ryujinswords.com/masatsugu.htm I will also look for an article in JSS/US which appeared some years ago on a mumei Mihara wakizashi. All the best.

But just for now, here is a link to a yoroi doshi which exemplifies what we have been talking about. http://www.sho-shin.com/yomit.html

Dear Edward, I too really like this tanto koshirae in terms of its overall design. The most obvious distinguishing feature of a yoroi doshi is it's thickness at the habaki; normal tanto appear to be a normal thickness whereas a yoroi doshi will be significantly thicker at the back edge to make for a much stiffer blade in order to penetrate armour. There is a term for menuki mounted outrside the ito which I am afraid escapes me at the moment though I am sure others will step in with the information. Cheers

Dear Ron. I share your pain, perhaps you should take him on a trip to Don's shop? I can imagine your relief Mark, glad they turned up safe and sound.

Dear Edward. With reference to both your koshirae I will post a couple of photos. Our itomaki tachi might be twins though the fittings on mine are silvered with a gilt edge. I have understood it to be a sword made for the coronation so Ian's observations regarding plain fittings are interesting. The second sword is in 1935 kaigunto koshirae and strangely is also signed Kunihiro though with a nijimei, pretending to be the Horikawa Kunihiro though I believe pretense is as close as it gets. Not too much to add to your knowledge but I thought you might be interested. Regards

Hi Dean. I think the answer to your question is, "Yes." As in, "Yes, it's either Meiji or Showa." According to Fuller and Gregory 1996 it would be the mounted police hanger (shortsword) Type 1. The sword that Eric shows is the Type 2. No date is given for the introduction of the sword, to quote, "Dating of these weapons is uncertain." The sword is similar in design to the 1895 pattern Naval Prison and Shore Patrol sword so perhaps a date around there would be a good guess Fulller and Gregory also observe that the blades in the examples they have seen, "often appear to be contemporayr hand made with a narrow straight hamon of konie." Hope this helps a little.

Gentlemen. Just for your consideration: "In later times (Muromachi and later) the blade became somewhat shorter, more markedly curved, wider at the upper section than at the base, with more complex grooves and with the shinogi ending at the mune a few inches below the point." (Ogawa, Nippon To: Art Swords of Japan).

Hi Jan. Nice blade! From limited experience these, when signed, usually have the mei quite far up the nakago so would not be lost unless considerably shortened for us in a wakizashi mount for example. The sugata looks good as do the hi which leads me to think that it is much better than most naginata. If you have either of Knutsen's books they might help but for a similar one have a look at this. http://collectorsloot.homestead.com/polearms.html Leads me to a late koto conclusion but I am sure others will jump in. Cheers

Hi Janusz, I must say I really like the look of the whole koshirae for the first sword, any chance of some more pictures? All the best

And nothing to connect it with Shibayama, strange choice of description.

Ah well, if you ever make it over here come and have a chat, with a Cornish father we are practically related.

Hi Dimitri. I think I see the sekigane across the bottom of the nakago ana, correct? (And perhaps also at the very top?) Don't be discouraged, you bought a kinko tsuba to mount on your sword and from the images it certainly looks good on it. The fact that it is perhaps not a masterpiece means that you can afford to buy it and mount it without fear of damaging it, if I had seen it I would have been tempted too. Don't even think of it as a mistake, everyone here will always suggest learning before you buy anything but most of us are giving that advice somewhat ruefully as we wish we had heard it. For myself my interest started, and first purchases were all made, well before I had a chance to study anything. Hard to believe but pre internet even meeting someone who knew anything about Japanese swords was hard and there were only two books that I could find, Sword and Same and The Arts of The Japanese Sword by Robinson. Both books show the signs of hard use but there was a limit to what I could learn from them and so I learned a lot more by buying the odd piece when I could and studying it. From the looks of it you have done well from the images you have posted here. Have a good look at the surface of the tsuba with a hand lens, it should be clear whether any marks are worked rather than casting flaws. Above all else enjoy. Cheers.

And everyone is going to want pictures of the blade in more detail......... Cheers

Hi Dimitri. Can I suggest that whatever you do you hang on to the tsuba that came with your sword when you bought it. (I haven't checked back to see what it looked like). I appreciate your desire to find a "matching" tsuba and the one you have found does look good. However after a little more time you may come to prefer the one that came with the sword. Sometimes tsuba have been swopped before we ever get to see a sword and sometimes the tsuba is the choice of the person who owned or mounted the sword. My advice for what it is worth is to keep your options open with both tsuba at lest for a time. By the by, koshirae with fittings that are all of the same material are sometimes called issaku koshirae. Have fun.

Hi Brian. The signature appears to be Kunihiro, I seem to remember another one with the same signature recently on the board so have a look around. Usually the face with the signature is towards the hilt, (tsuka) and the kogai hitsu, is to the left as in your image. Your other thread asking about menuki, may I suggest that before you do anything you post some pictures here. It would be a shame in my opinion to strip off the ito from your sword just to clean up the menuki unless it was really necessary. I have a sword with damaged ito and nice menuki which I have resisted the urge to tamper with. Your sword might be better served by leaving it as is but many knowledgeable friends here can advise you on that once they see images. All the best.

Hi Jasper, Great find, I envy you. On the subject of the kabuto, from the pictures the plates appear to have some thickness, though this could be built up with lacquer. A similar helmet that I have has some weight to it and I wonder if perhaps this is a nerikawa kabuto? The magnet test might be in order. Enjoy.

Hi Luis. Well already you have narrowed the dates down quite significantly, only first generation Shigetaka and second generation signed with the Harima daijo title, hence the comment from John. I am particularly interested as I have looked at their work and would love to see pictures of your blade. Especially as there seems to be a narrow shinogi running very close to the ha on the signed side of the nakago. Is the blade an unusual shape? Worth getting a copy of "Cutting Edge: Japanese Swords in the British Museum" By Victor Harris as there are three blades by Shigetaka illustrated well. For what it is worth, which is not a great deal, the signature seems to have a characteristic upward flick on the left hand side of horizontal strokes, something which I have noted in second generation signatures. Once again pictures of the blade may help more knowledgeable viewers assign a period and hence a generation. Good hunting and please share what you find.

Oh, and by the way the link you provide should help you with the translation of the other side.......

Hi Jussi and (No name). Pictures of the whole sword would help but just because it is in army koshirae it does not follow that the blade cannot be older. I am puzzled that finding an identical signature on an NBTHK origami would lead you to think the sword is gimei, for most of us that would lead to the opposite conclusion; a genuine signature on a blade which was later mounted for military wear. The condition of the nakago would support this though, as I say, more pictures would help. Well done for the translation, it is a nice feeling when you get one right.

Dear Ed, I am sure you have already checked this one out but just to say that it conforms exactly to the description and illustration of the senior officials dirk in Fuller and Gregory, "Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks". The only slight difference is that they describe is as having a gilt hilt fitting decorated with a phoenix and raised cross. They report that only a few examples have been encountered so rate it as rare. Introduction dates are given as either 1886 or 1902. Like Ian I came across a dagger once that had a tortoiseshell grip with three flowers on a brass plate, the type identified by Fuller and Gregory in their earlier work as a Chinese nationalist dirk. Nearly bought it, something about the quality put me off even then. Nice find>

A long time ago I said I would add images of the koshirae, sorry for the delay. Fuchi, kashira and menuki are a set, shakudo nanako with armoured samurai in boats on water, gold foiled tachi habaki, gold foiled seppa and a single shakudo o-seppa. Simple ishime black roiro says and a rather nice wiasted tsuka. All on a shinshinto blade papered to Inshu Kanesaki. Sorry about the photographs.

Check out this site. http://www.guntoartswords.com/ And before anyone else gets around to it, protocol is to sign your posts............... Cheers

Hi Kim, Just to clear this bit up;"there are 4 smiths or more showing up with the name Hizen Kuni Tadahiro, cant find any with Hizen no Kuni Tadahiro