Geraint

Here you go Scott. From Christie's, 28th March 1995. Described as, "A pair of Got Ichijo tsuka plates. One of shakudo decorated with a hot punched design of snow flakes and the other of shibuichi similalry decorated, each sealed Ichijop, late Edo period with box. 13cm. The shibuichi plate is of extremely high quality and the pear skin effect of the separation of the two base metals is clearly visible." You will also see the daisho pair of Ichijo tsuba, lot 92, an Umetada shakudo tsuba from the Sasano collection, lot 94 and a shakudo Bushu tsuba, lot 95. Lot 92 sold for £17,250.00, quite a price. The tsuka plates sold for £1,995.00. Again from memory but I can't recall the source, I believe that I have seen metal embossed to resemble same on a sword. All the best.

Hi Scott. Some time ago a pair of tsuka gane were offered for sale in one of the major London auction houses. From memory they were Goto Ichijo work. I will see if I can find the catalogue and scan the image for you. I have never come across them other than that and of course in the type of tachi mount that you illustrate save for some commissioned for a koshirae shortly after the auction.

Dear Edward. I like this one as well as the other. Relatively simple job to replace the horn kashira, polish and there you are. I have read that generally good quality yari are found mounted as tanto but I cannot recall the reference. I have seen one or two in hand and have always found it to be an attractive combination. I own one which is a ryoshinogi yari in aikuchi koshirae, when mounted in it's koshirae it is quite a frightening prospect. Do you plan on having this one polished? If so I am sure we would love to see some pictures. All the best.

Dear all. Tanto fest! Whatever it is I love it. For what it's worth I attach two images; one is of what I would call an aikuchi because of the lack of tsuba, the second is what I have always understood to be a yomeiri tanto. The first has a shin shinto blade signed by Seishin shi Masayuki, the saya is a rather fetching lacquer with aogi used to create a brocade effect and pale horn fittings plus a mini bashin. The second is unsigned and probably Taisho, mu mei blade with hi and a pretty lacquer job on the tsuka and saya. This tanto has no kurikata but it has a bevel on the kashira like the one you posted. This is to make it possible to discern by feel which side the edge is on when the tanto is worn in the folds of a robe. As with most things in the fascinating hobby I am sure there are exceptions and oddities to every rule but what the heck, they are still pretty.

Ah, Thierry. I am surprised that you don't recognise this for what it is; this form of kozuka is often found mounted with a kogatana blade like the one in the attached picture with a companion piece whose blade is rather fork like. A pair of these would be mounted in the saya of a bento tachi mount for use when samurai were going on a picnic. Rather like the so called hunting tachi koshirae.

Don't get excited guys but check out this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-WWII-Japan ... 233wt_1396

Hi Terry. Not sure what references you have but this mei is listed in Hawley TER117. Date approx. 1673. Pictures of the blade may help confirm this. If this turns out to be the smith he has a 40 point ranking in Hawley which is pretty good. All the best.

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.