ROKUJURO

Yes, for a water kettle.

Deanne, the blades are correctly positioned in your photos. Jacques is absolutely correct in his view on that point, independent of if the WAKIZASHI is too short or the stand is too wide. But from a technical (and less traditional) position, it is never good to put the weight of the sword on the TSUKA as this might damage the SAYA in case the HABAKI does not fit properly. This problem is often encountered when DAISHO are presented.

Piers, if I had the money I would buy it for the MENUKI alone!

Sam, usually the S is for SHAKUDO TSUBA. In this case, the maker made an error.

Deanne, https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/50790-caveat-emptor-buying-tsuba-from-Japan-on-ebay/#comment-529294

Yes, there are a few styles/traditions/schools (especially with OWARI influence) with rather simple designs, but they can have a special elegance although they would not be seen as refined or sophisticated. I like those a lot, as well as the early iron TSUBA. Look for KANAYAMA, ONO, HOAN, OWARI, AKAO and its offspring TATSUTOSHI, TEIMEI a.s.o. Your YOSHITSUGU TSUBA should be researched as there were six generations.

Clearly cast for me. Not EDO.

Deanne, I like them round and simple, and of course made of iron!

Paris, I have no idea about the intentions of this HABAKI's maker; I still think it could be a repair thing. It might be difficult to find out advantages and disadvantages of this alteration. In case you were very curious, you could melt the HABAKI down so the copper gets liquid. Then you will have the iron piece separate as its melting temperature is higher than that of copper...

He does indeed. Anything that helps people to post usable photos is welcome.

All the best for your wedding and a long life together!

I just saw this thread. Copper has a higher density than iron, so a pure copper HABAKI should be slightly heavier than an iron/copper combined HABAKI with the same dimensions. It is easy to solder a thin iron plate/sheet onto a defective HABAKI which could have been a possibility here. But it is highly unlikely that a piece of iron or steel got hammered into the copper of a HABAKI without noticing it.

Even in correct orientation, the signature is not KUNITSUGU, if at all Japanese. There is no KYOWA maker, and the shape is not SHOBU ZUKURI, but SHINOGI ZUKURI (with a weak SHINOGI). More and better photos (with plain dark background) in magnification are needed to clear that.

Yes Deanne, this is a well known procedure. One has to be careful and well informed - unless you have too much money. Good catch in my opinion, I also like AKAO TSUBA, especially round ones.

Reminds me somewhat of OEI BIZEN TACHI, YASUMITSU. But difficult to guess without HADA and more details. Must have been close to 70 cm long before SURIAGE.

The TOROKUSHO (registration paper) should have stayed in Japan when the sword was exported. The MEI seems to read YASUMITSU (not Yatsumitsu). It looks like a MINO blade, and I think it could be mid EDO. But judging only by photos is not reliable!

It does not look like NAGINATA to me.

To me, it strongly looks as if a MEI was erased by filing down the NAKAGO. In an attempt to add a new MEI, this was done very amateurishly. The last KANJI looks somewhat like SUKE 右 to me.

Tom, "adding" a DOTE MIMI is probably less work than cutting it out from a thick plate! It is standard work for a good TSUBAKO, and in your case, it looks quite well made.

Tom, the photos are upside-down. Better upload them here as we all do. The TSUBA seems to be in quite good condition, and touching it with bare hands is quite o.k. for iron TSUBA. Keeping it dry will be all that is needed. Wiping it with a fabric is always a risk for the gold onlay (whatever that is, NUNOME or IROE), so it's better to avoid it.

Dale, probably cast iron, made in EDO JIDAI. I recognize it even at a distance!

Thank you Glen, my little TSUBA is made of YAMAGANE, and it was obviously not pre-cast in a mold. There are several brass alloys having been used for TOSOGU, and they are quite difficult to patinate. Old brass TSUBA can have wonderful colours and surfaces (look at UMETADA MYÔJU samples), while old copper TSUBA will mostly turn to a blackish brown if not chemically treated to look otherwise. This is one of the many moments I miss Ford and his expertise!

Hi Tom, we are getting closer now, and with the help of one of our experts, Mauro, you now have a realistic time frame for your TSUBA's manufacture. EDO period was almost 300 years, so the positioning in the first half of it means it was probably made in the late 1600's or early 1700's. It does not show the NANBAN (Portuguese) influence of many other HIZEN TSUBA. The dragons are famous symbols in China and Japan, and your TSUBA is stylistically influenced by Chinese mythology. Concerning the decoration, we can assume that the dragons are not inlaid in gold but probably applied in IROE-ZOGAN technique. This is an onlay-technique. The TSUBA plate may have been treated with an etching technique to produce this special surface structure, but this has to be seen in-hand. It is an interesting TSUBA in obviously good condition, and other members may be able to tell you much more about it.

There is still a lot of error, lack of knowledge and information, and necessary doubt involved in the subject of TSUBA age. Here is one offered as "pre MUROMACHI": https://www.samuraim...MCV76k8AwSswt0JaIXQG and I bought this little KO-KINKO TSUBA with KUCHINASHI design as "pre-EDO" which I would love to have confirmed:

Tom, with these measurements, it would not be a TSUBA, and you would not be able to lift it from the ground. Maybe it is 77 x 70 mm with a thickness of 6 mm? It looks like a TSUBA with 'normal' dimensions. On the images, the SEPPA-DAI looks like copper in places. Did you test it if it is magnetic? If not, it is not iron.