ROKUJURO

Sales of this kind of swords with steel blades is prohibited in Japan. There are many hints that this was not made in Japan.

Stephen, these are of course not standard ones but converted private TSUBA. I have seen a fair number of them been mounted on GUNTO, all different and most of them not really precious.

Troy, many of us started with a disappointment, but maybe you can return the sword and not loose too much money. As Paul said, it is very clearly a fake. Having studied the originals for a while (NMB offers a wealth of good information), you will be able to see what is genuine and collectable. Unfortunately, this one is not.

Ken, welcome to the NMB forum! The pictures don't tell much about the blade. The shape is not bad, so a closer in-hand inspection by an expert is necessary to find out more. The quantity of the TSUBA is o.k. There is rarely more than one going with one blade... It has traits of the KINAI school, but it is not easy to judge with photos. The MENUKI replacements might just be pebbles or flint stone pieces which is not so rare with this kind of mounting. It looks indeed like SATSUMA. Please read here on the NMB about sword care and maintenance! You never know, there might be a master blade hidden under the dirt!

Well done, Gerald! A real improvement! But please talk to Ford Hallam about this matter and try to learn from him what can be done and what should not be attempted! There is always a possibility of an irreversible damage! AIZU SHOAMI is a good guess, I think.

Ford, I understand perfectly well what you and Michael are referring to. I don't really know where all the wonderful 'science of the crafts' was lost. A good craftsman used to be a serious person with a lot of knowledge that was confirmed by his own experience. I often watch videos on forging - it is a professional desease, I think - and I am surprised and disappointed at the same time to see that many of these 'smiths' obviously never heard about forging technique. They just hammer the warm steel and hope to give it a shape. They don't care about stance or height of the anvil, and they don't even know how to hold the hammer correctly. In the videos we can't see or hear it, but I am convinced many of them never heard that even the breath flow is important. These are all basics, and I cannot believe that all is forgotten! There must be something like an exaggerated self-confidence that makes these people think that they are real smiths and could teach others. But the real craft forms on the long range by watching the master and then working many hours at the anvil. What makes it look so easy when you see a master smith working comes only from having trained the basisc over and over again.

Dave, to me this looks like an open welding, and I don't consider it fatal. As far as I know, it is not a KARASUGUCHI which is found in the very tip of the blade, and I find some other mistakes in the chart you included. Maybe TORINOGUCHI is another term for that flaw. This flaw may indeed reduce the value of the blade to an extent, depending on the rank of it.

Chris, that is indeed a clean KAGA JIRI.

TARO SAN's E-Mail address is: 浅野 太郎 <asanokajiya@me.com>

ASANO TARO's website: http://asanokajiya.com His art name as swordsmith is FUSATARO.

Sorry, no NIHONTO KOZA! I admire his amazing work, but watching the video made me a little dizzy!

Wayne, a nice blade, possibly handmade. Take good care of it! The date is SHOWA JU HACHI NEN SHO GATSU HI - a good day in the first month of year 18 of SHOWA era, so January 1943. You have got the signature correct.

CHEN CHEN, I like the work on the iron plate of the New York TSUBA, but it seems indeed that the soft metal execution is better on your TSUBA. Maybe all these TSUBA were made in a school workshop by different hands.

Gerald, is there a crack on the URA concealed by the HABAKI ? Or is that a line of corrosion? Difficult to decide after the photos, The marks on the MUNE are the number of killed opponents! Concerning care and maintenance: we have many informations here on NMB. Don't oil the SAYA inside! Concerning DAISHO: A matching KOSHIRAE pair of KATANA and WAKIZASHI is called DAISHO, the ideal DAISHO has also blades from the same smith.

JINGANG, if this is not your proper name, please sign all posts with your first name plus an initial as is required here. It is generally a good idea to learn from Japanese swordsmiths as they are real masters of the craft. Read as much as you can, and look at photos of high quality blades; you will find a wealth of information here on NMB. But also use every opportunity to watch a master smith at work, and of course, train yourself at the anvil! Make a drawing of the intended knife blade beforehand every time and stay close to it when you work. And: Have fun!

Gerald, la TSUBA est très joli! But what about the DAISHO? Or did you mean DAITO? In any case, remove the HABAKI and try to get rid of the rust underneath! Use a piece of pure (!) copper to scratch it off! And please make better photos without your shadow on them! It seems another TSUKA was attempted to be mounted, and a former owner tried to drill a new MEKUGI-ANA. But I cannot see this precisely, the photo is too small. For cleaning, alcohol is sufficient. Alcool à brûler ou dénaturé works fine, but should only be used outdoors. Acetone is quite harmful for your health and not necessary unless you have to remove a lot of paint, hard grease or wax.

Stephen, is that chocolate or iron? If the latter: very nice patina!

Thank you Ford! I always feel a regret when books are made/written without care for the language and spelling. In this case the photography may be nice, but the English is horrible, at least what I could read in the sample.

The 'artistic' HAMON with elements of KIKU SUI - if not artificially made by HADORI - says SHIN SHINTO to me. But the photos don't show enough for a KANTEI.

Gary, if you look at other signed TOSOGU, you can compare and see, how these are signed with a fine, very sharp chisel and in which place the artist used to sign. MEI are cut, not scratched, and of course never etched. I understand that you wish it was a signature, but I am not confident that more than '44' (Thomas Helm, Mark Jones) will come out of this.

http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b653-kaneiye-tsuba-ikeda

Grey, I have seen the same, and it is not found on handmade TSUBA. Also, I am missing definite traces/sharp lines of chisel work. Yves, have a look at the many KANEIYE TSUBA you can find in the internet, and compare (http://www.shibuiswords.com/Kaneiye%20Tsuba.htm). Their design and execution are different.

Alex, the design may be TOMOE (Comma shape), mist/clouds, and water. It is certainly not a TOSHO or even KO-TOSHO, but I think it is a modern TSUBA, independent from a school.

Yes, it is not a file but a rasp. The same tool sold by NAMIKAWA is 15.000 YEN (http://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/122)

Chris, a photo would help a lot, and then try it in the translation section. Perhaps it is a MAMORI KATANA? (TANTO or AIKUCHI carried for protection. Also first sword for a boy presented at boys' day)