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Here is some pics off my Daisho mounts . Tsuba's - nanban Fuchi and kashira - "Gumbai theme" ?? i think - ie war fans Menuki - Flowers with insects Any opinions on the mounts ! school , date etc would be good . The fuchi / kashira have six war fans one on each side off the fuchi and one on each kashira and the menuki each have one insect on each menuki in different positions and the angles of their heads give the impression their looking out at you ! ray

just noticed sayagata patern on a fuchi on the katana from a Daisho i have . will post a couple of pics here and post a new thread with the Daisho mounts . ray.

Thanks "to all" for the replies. My friend allready uses Namikawa ., but they had ran out off the stones he needed. Hence the reason when i mentioned about the the supplier who supplied Namikawa he was very interested to find out who they were and what their web site address was. thanks ray

hi Darcy can i ask a question please re - the "ANA" placement. i also have a wakizashi signed with the same Mei with three peg holes and all are above the signiture not in the postions you allready highlighted ? would this make the sword Gimie !! right away . I was going to post the sword at some point when i get better photo results, but now that you have made these points i now wonder about the placement off the ana and the Mei . regards ,ray

HI looking for information, that was discussed sometime back ! someone !! mentioned and posted a link about the suppliers off polishing stones , saying this was the company that supplied "Namikawa" dont panic ?? i will not be using them . this info is for a friend off mine and a polisher that resides in the UK he is having problems with the quality off stones from his usual source and is looking for more suppliers of quality stones. could someone point me back to the link please, i have tried but could not find the post. thanks ,ray

Hi , Rich and Koichi Thanks again for your help and comments and thoughts on the tsuba. I was at an auction few months back and actualy bid on the waki that this tsuba is on and backed off because i was after an other sword at the time. i could not remove the tsuka at the time and was realy having a go for this sword because i realy liked the tsuba . so when i was offered the sword a few weeks later from a dealer along with an other waki for small but honest mark up on the auction price i bought the two wakis and then found it to be a signed blade ! but the bonus was the Tsuba and the blade . The blade i have already posted in the Nihonto section under Hizento and still looking for any info Hizen munetsugu. thanks ,ray

Hi here is a tsuba that belongs to a waki i aquired a few weeks back. opininons please / school and date ! tsuba 75mm x 70mm x 3/2mm i have tried to scan the tsuba to see how it would work and for some reason ! it has slightly enlarged but hope you can see some off the fine detail of the horses mane and the body off the tree . what is not clear on the scan is that the fine detail off the mane goes all way down the tsuba ana on each side . thanks ray

HI STILL LOOKING FOR OPINIONS FROM THE HIZEN COLLECTORS. any opinions on the mei or any general info on this smith please. thanks ray

hi jock at work at the moment so no books ?? but think it is , ,showa 1938 and signed Ujifusa !! but could be wrong just a quick shot in the dark. good luck ray

Hi Stephen thanks for your reply again on this post I think my poor photos dont help the debate . I can see buy looking at the pics why you think the blade is straight -ish but in fact it has a 5mm sori and i think it would be more in the Kanbun shinto era ! than Shin shinto ? thanks ray

some more pics adding to the post as requested 1. tsuba 75mm x 65mm x 4/3mm 2. crab menuki 3 / 4 . coulpe of pics off blade and sword , i no this should be posted in the nihonto section so hope no one minds !! nagasa . 590mm [ chisa katana ! ] motohaba . 25mm / sakihaba . 20mm hada . masame again photos not great but rushed quickly tonight. thanks ray

Thanks , Rich / Stephen Rich. at work at the moment will try and post pics off the tsuba tonight !! and some shots off the blade ,as you no photos not my strong point. Stephen The saya is a plain wood saya with plain metal bands under the leather combat cover. this sword was once owned by a friend off mine and he had Mishina Kenji San look at the sword many moons ago and his opinion was a "Shinto Yamato blade" the blade is Mumei with a sugaha hamon. will add some info on the blade later. thanks . ray

thanks bill sorry do not have the book you mentioned , can you post the page !! or is it a copyyright issue or problem ? thanks again ray

hi all just asking the same question , any opinion's on the original question !!! thanks ray.

HI ALL just asking the same question any opinions on this tsuba "please " thanks ray.

hi all NHB any thoughts from the hizen collectors please on this wakizashi blade. only one i can find with the same MEI with the limited books i have on this smith ? is working around circa 1596 ?? mei . HIZEN NO KUNI MUNETSUGU . boshi . kaeri fukai nagsa . 370mm motohaba. 35mm sakihaba. 25mm tsurkomi . u no kubi zukri mune . iori muni nakago . kurijiri yasurime . kiri sori . saki sori hamon . sugha hada . konuka hada ! the hada is very tight and fine and allthough the polish is in a good state very difficult to make a postive call on the hada. thanks. ray

hi all A friend of mine just got this tsuba as a gift and asked if i could find out something about it, i told him i would post it to the NMB and see if anyone could help. All he knows about the tsuba is ,that it was brought back from Italy a few months back . when i seen a recent post about rope designs, thought this mite be good time to find out about his tsuba. afraid he never gave me any measurments just sent some pics . but from memory when i seen it a couple of weeks back it was about 85x80x5mm my first thoughts when i seen it was it was straw woven into rope and made into an archery target because as you will see it has a bow and archers cap ?on the front and a single arrow on the back. thanks ray

just added couple of more pics to the post The tsuka and the combat covered gunto saya . ray.

HI ALL civilian mounted shin gunto with copper fuchi / kashira / menuki . question is, Are they special commissioned showa period mounts!! or are they older and if so opinions on date and school please . had a bash at the signature and may be !!! " kazu michi saku " ??? The tsuka has a very nice gentle curve and waisted shape towards the kashira, and a brass / bronze moko style tsuba with a nanako punched surface style finish and not sure on its quality ! but i do think the crab menuki are very nice and the theme off the bamboo on the fuchi / kashira . Is there any schools that follow this style and design or was it common too any school . any opinions please thanks ray.

Hi Brian hope you dont mind me posting ! my "Tanto" on your post here is some pics of the blade and the mounts . i have been also thinking it may be cut down from a waki or something!! or perhaps also a boys sword ? also has a suragi tang and the nagsa is 280mm regards ray

peter thanks. i must admit i thought it was a good shout for a province !!! but was hoping it was a two charecter mei but you probably noticed the small mark under the inverted "v" part of what i said was sada which would suggest as you say the start of a mei . wishfull thinking on my part , a lot harder to deduct by the province than the smiths signature . ps . sorry for the duff posts again ,problems posting? ray.

having trouble with positvie ID with the first kanji is this first kanji a form off " kuni "?? sada as said in previous posts i have not got a lot off reference books on kanji etc, and with books i have i cant positively ID it. the two vertical strokes on left are odd if its kuni , i think or am i totaly wrong. just a "ramble" when i first started to collect swords etc, the thought off paying out good money for books or buying a sword when they came along the swords etc allways won the race . "hindsight is a wonderfull thing " or a crystal ball. so any help from the board would be very welcome. this is one off three wakizashi's i have aquired in last month will post some pics off blades etc later. thanks ray.

Sorry guys As i said in previous post , still learning my way round the camera techniques re- photographing Nihonto etc. some turn out fine and others "just crap " will get their eventually ? i hope. Will try in future to get the tang the right way up ! do not want any claims against me for whip lash or frozen shoulder. as for the wakazashi , sorry not a lot off details visible , can just make out a faint hamon. Boshi ... ? Hada .... ? Hamon ... Ganome / Midare ps. Rich thanks for the advice . regards ray.

here is the wakizashi blade i bought this week i have posted the photos of the habaki and fuchi , kashira in a seperate post. blade lenght - 51mm blade signed. bishu osafune ju nin . yokoyama kozuke daijo fujiwara sukesada As i mentioned already hope it is not gimmie because have a katana by the same smith. any opinions on the mei ! thanks ray.

thanks again for your help , koichi & rich Adding some additional photos off the fuchi , kashira and the habaki. rich the work on the fuchi , kashira sure look like Soten style work!!! so i take it if Kanenori was "faked" a lot he must have been highly rated ? what do you think ? ray.