Gakusee

I agree with the posts above. Yari are difficult to forge and jumonji are at the top of the difficulty range. Add to that the difficulty in polishing them. Add to that that they were considered utilitarian weapons, not to be preserved and cherished likes swords but to be brutally used and abused in warfare = not that many examples in great condition or by great masters remain nowadays. Size does not matter really - someone above was complaining about the size. In fact, the Aoi example is quite standard sized. I recommend those interested to have a look at the Knutsen book about pole arms. Also, it is the complete package with koshirae. In the U.K. I have seen worse examples commanding similar prices.

I also like it, Axel and do not think it is unreasonably priced. It comes with nice koshirae too. The thing is, polearms are underloved in Japan. They are too bulky with their poles and koshirae and there is not much “blade” in the package. Dealers in Japan have complained to me that no one wants yari and they have shown me drawers full of yari...... Of course, for the bigger names, eg Muramasa, there is always demand.

We really ought to hit the books more...... it took me a bit of time to prove the point Christian S was contesting....

I am a supporter. This is the least we can do.

Firstly, all of this is covered ground on this forum. Several times in fact. Just one such thread (but I think there have been others): Secondly, sword length was codified by Hideyoshi and his successors. So, we cannot say that “everything else was added later” for the use of “dealers”. Blatantly wrong statement.

John, the prices are on Darcy’s website. For comparison, at that level of quality, look at the prices at Iida san’s website , Iida Koendo.

Sorry, Brano, but this is just a label. I have been to so many dealers in Japan and have never seen water next to blades, let alone Juyo and above blades. I have, of course, seen the bowls of water next to tsunagi-holding koshirae, armour, kake, etc anything that has high-quality lacquer. I know it sounds petty, but it is time we became pragmatic and logical on this topic , rather than venture into wild and romantic hypotheses as to how it might get done, etc. I cannot count the number of times I have been to the Tokyo National Museum or the NBTHK museum - and guess how many times I saw bowls of water next to swords, or even koshirae or armour ? That is right, never. Even when the NBTHK displays koshirae and lacquer, they do not tend to put water.

Time is money, as they say...... Time (money) invested in researching, designing, procuring materials, building, fitting, etc.... Once you calculate all of that, you realise that you are better off buying one. Mostly, they are not expensive :https://www.accessdisplays.co.uk/cat/glass-display-showcases/wall-mounted/ Of course, they could become high-end too: https://en.katana-case-shi.com/product-page/刀展示ケース-漆-urushi-の複製

Hmmm, yes, the signature does seem to end in “....ju Tsunahiro” but the Tsunahiro part is engraved in a rather different style to the papered Soshu Tsunahiro blades I have images of. Therefor it is either an “aspirational” signature or some later generation. Opening a window could allow to evaluate how active the hamon and whether it follows the Soshu Tsunahiro style at all.

So, I have just suffered a minor hiccough too and want to share: - when people see that their item has arrived in the UK, and has been in Customs / the distribution depot , for 3-5 days, they should call Parcelforce International and start chasing what has been going on with their parcel - usually things go OK - but last week, some clever bod at Parcelforce (clearing agent for parcels arriving in the UK , eg from the US via USPS or Japan via EMS) had managed to make two crucial typing mistakes: misspell my surname and mistype the house number where I live, despite the parcel having all the correct information - as a result, the customs charge notice went to some neighbor of mine, who does not even know me and did not know how to contact me to tell me about that So, having read the above, I decided to call Parcelforce yesterday and clear all it up. Today, I am the happy recipient of my parcel, which had been in the clearing depot since 22 Jan.

Ah, Stefan, the wonderful miracle of hindsight.....

Sorry, John, where is the water in the cabinet with Juyo swords?

Well, wait a second here. The bowl of water is for the lacquer and not the blades. The really top end blades are never shown with any water next to them and in fact are safely tucked away in their shirsaya in the back room, away from eyesight. In fact, I will go as far as saying that if you see a naked blade and koshirae with a bowl of water, the value of that “package” is probably in the koshirae.

So, this reminds me of the Sukenaga, who signed as the 57th generation Tomonari. Also the 58 Sukenaga. Style wise and execution wise nothing to do with Bizen, let alone Ko-Bizen. Incidentally that lineage is also part of Yokoyama “Bizen”. The thing is, the example I saw had Mino influences. This exercise is useful in that we need to look into Shinshinto stuff more, at least I do. So, nice to keep learning.

Barry - completely agreed. I think choosing a “Bizen” blade from a period when there were hardly any pure Bizen blades but blades inspired by so many intermingled traditions is misleading. In reality, Mino and Bizen started dominating in 15-16c but then there were so many offshoots across different schools with hybridized features that it is difficult to point to pure styles, unless the smith deliberately chose the most obvious and associated features of the particular gokaden (eg Hankei and Soshu, K Munetsugu and Bizen etc). Mark S - I assumed it was katana mei as I took this for a later blade. You are right that actually a tachi side has been shown and if Kiril implied that the signature was on that side [as he obfuscated the mei and only tachi side was shared with us], then I have probably made a mistake and it might be signed tachi side. But much more importantly than guessing on which side the signature is, we should focus on the quality, workmanship, characteristics.

Indeed the bo utsuri points to at earliest Oei and more likely well into Muromachi. Super fine hada points to tatara-produced, uniform tamahagane used by united Japan. The nakago shape is also well into Shinto and there is a mei katana side. So one needs to find a Shinto/Shinshinto Bizen located or Bizen-name bearing smith who produced Yamato/Yamashiro inspired konie deki suguha hamon. in fairness, I would have gone for Hizen or Oei Yasumitsu had it not been for the clues dropped by Kiril.

Mark You could also get in touch with Igor (https://www.hochmajer.uk/fine-art-Japanese-sword-gallery/) or Ian Chapman ( https://nihonto.uk) both of who can steer you how to become a member of the ToKen Society of GB (https://to-ken.uk) and also give you some personal advice or potentially even sell you something. if I were you, I would leave behind the concepts of original polish (really only feasible for gendaito, showato, gunto, etc) or fittings (unless you are aiming at a very high end blade with high end fittings, which are probably papered themselves). As others have said - focus on learning first and do that by digesting the more accessible texts first (Yumoto’s starter book is priceless for that). As a beginner, you will struggle with F&F or Connoisseur’s as they are for the intermediate / advanced student. Some of the Compton collection books, which are rich in colored photos and glossaries and introductory text should also work as a starter. Importing antiques over 100 years old in the UK attracts only 5% import VAT. There is no excise or import duty but the items needs to be declared properly. This is a long and fascinating subject. Welcome to the minefield.

I enjoyed the video very much. However, his tests suffered from the poor placement of some of the objects. they should have been placed probably on harder and more stable ground and stabilised / attached firmly. That way, there would not have been unnecessary vibrations and flip-outs. Notwithstanding all of that, his sword did very well.

Well, no words are needed here. This is the topmost, the pinnacle of tosogu and should serve as a textbook example of what is high class workmanship and style.

Yup, that is truly high class tosogu. I was afraid the thread had really deteriorated to “my favourite piece” as opposed to high class, but that Juyo Natsuo F/K of Fujin and Raijin is something else..... thanks for sharing

Antiques at 5% vat and exempt from import duties otherwise for modern things we keep standard rate VAT, which currently is 20%

Piers, I am afraid it is 16x9=144, which is the same overall answer as Francois got (but I am not sure why he was multiplying 12x12). Way to go, Bob. I am sure one can put them in a nice tansu so you can buy more (this space less of an issue unless you are storing the wooden boxes too).

Agree with some of the above statements: variations do occur across schools and even smiths, as we well know. And it could be that among the remaining hundreds / thousands of Taima blades, some of the blades were substandard to start with or were ‘optimistically’ appraised by the NBTHK. I like Taima because of the finer workmanship on average and, while I find Hosho distinctly quaint, I mostly cannot come to terms with the ‘acceptable’ longitudinal hadaware. In fact, to me, such ware should not be acceptable and are detracting from the beauty of a blade. While good examples of Yamato work do exist in the other schools (Shikake etc - eg in the 2019/20 NBTHK Juyo exhibition, ie the last one before the impending one, there was a beautiful Shikake), the top blades there seem to fewer. Most of what Yamato I have seen outside of Taima and Hosho has been mundane. Some Hosho examples are quite nice (cf, https://yuhindo.com/hosho-sadakiyo/). I believe the two examples below (Kokuho and TJ) illustrate why Taima got its fame. In some of these blades’ surface areas, there is some minimal jigane tiredness, but the majority of these two blades show the compact itame/mokume and gentle nie that characterize top blades across schools/traditions. That level of skill is what the unnamed and mumei Taima blades must evoke to some degree for the attribution to be justified. In fact, I believe that the fact that some top Taima blades possibly get attributed to Yukimitsu or other Soshu, is a strong compliment to their workmanship. I am not sure I would get as far as saying some Taima would go to Sadamune or Norishige (as these two smiths produce to a degree of exuberance and temperament that is beyond Taima, I believe).

Love it - Kirill has bitten. Senjuin looks significantly more rustic and cruder. Tegai is not bad indeed but could be more flowing, right? As to Taema, hada seems finer. In fact, there are some Yukimitsu which are probably Taema - if you look at the construction, etc. Even when certified as Juyo. Is the comment about nie and nijuba about Yamato swords or in general? As there are plenty of Sanjo/Gojo/top KoBizen that have nie based nijuba.

I wonder if this is an oshigata of the Taima Kuniyuki sword which was formerly owned by Shigemasa Fukushima and passed Juyo in the 17th Juyo shinsa session. See the attached image below. There are some minor differences (eg the bottom ana has been slightly enlarged, and also I wonder about the spacing between the first and second ana). Taima swords are viewed very highly, and are known for their fine jigane and elegant ko-nie. In fact, I dare say they are the most highly rated Yamato swords in general (happy for a friendly debate to ensue, following this bold statement, as I yearn those:). Having a signed one is tantamount to owning a treasure. Zaimei Kuniyuki are, in the words of the NBTHK, ‘extremely rare’. He is rated at 1500 points in the ToKo Taikan. In fact, I wonder what happened to that sword. Having passed Juyo in 1968, I do not think it has re-surfaced recently, and I cannot find it in the Tokubetsu Juyo volumes, but believe it should qualify for that status given the length, mei and the reputation of the smith. The actual blade must be a beauty.