ROKUJURO

Gentlemen, Brian is right: everybody has a right to his own opinion and to see what is there. Cast MENUKI.doc

Mark, are you sure that it is tanned and not just dried?

I am far from being Ford Hallam, but to me the metal surface looks as if it was treated with a cross-shaped punch, a kind of stippling. I have seen similar techniques with different punches, e.g. little flower- or sun-like shapes on soft metal surfaces.

Ken, the HAGANE contains more carbon and thus is more easily attacked by acids and corrosion than the 'softer' JIGANE.

Henk-Jan, if your view was correct, it would be the best thing not to publish a thesis, but keep it under the desk!

Gentlemen, what might escape those who do not understand German is the bad quality of the text. An inexcusable number of mistakes, combined with faulty contents, that is another side of this paper. As an example she reports about early Japanese swords: '.....Diese Schwerter waren aus gehämmertem Stahl oder aus Eisen gegossen, aber es war auch nicht unüblich, sie aus Stein herzustellen...which can be translated as:...These swords were made from hammered steel or cast iron, but it was not unusual to produce them from stone....... Not much more to add from my side.

Ian, Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea..... :D

John, as has been said, your TSUBA is in KAMAKURA BORI style. But the NAKAGO ANA does not look genuinely old and some hints in the SUKASHI may prove that this is a later (cast?) copy. It has of course to be seen in hand to make a safer statement.

Mikolaj, as there was no comment on this part of your post I would like to recommend to be very careful with cleaning. The photos perhaps don't tell the whole story, but to my eyes the condition of your TSUBA does not look too bad. It is very easy to damage a patina, so before you plug in your angle-grinder with the wire brush, please read the chapters about cleaning and restoring TSUBA surfaces. I think it is a nice TSUBA, and it would be a shame to damage it.

Very nice collection! The shape of the black and red YUMI reminds me of a similar one I once owned. It was from KYUSHU. The quiver looks like a version of a SHIKO. The two separate unusual YANONE are perhaps not Japanese, as they do not look as carefully made as I am used to see. The writing on the red bow is KAISHO, difficult to read for non-Japanese.

At least he is a true expert, having his items "documented with NBTKH". Very convincing! :?

Please sign your post with at least a first name. How could we help without photos of the blade?

Gentlemen, these impressions have been made by forging, I am sure. It looks like very heavy hammer blows, not like material having been removed. As machining was not possible, chiselling would then have been the method, but the marks clearly say TSUCHI ME (coarser than we are used to). I like this 'BOHI' design a lot, it is unusual and bold. It probably could not be done on both sides.

Greg, the normal angle is 90°, and as far as I know, axes are basically tools in Japan. However, there are exceptions.

David, the gold is not inlay and it is very probably not gold lacquer either, which is found mostly on non-metallic surfaces. Did you think of simple 'fire-gilding' with mercury? Looking at the pictures, I do not see hints for an especially old or artistically important KOZUKA, but I am no expert and would be happy to learn.

The general shape is known from India and Persia. This axe does not seem to be very old, so I ask if it could be a firefighter's tool from China or perhaps Japan?

Hamish, if it was indeed a forged blade, it would very probably show these effects in several places. Is there more of this to be seen?

Medar, although the photos are not well enough focused to be sure, I think Geraint has hit the nail right between the eyes. To me the blade does not look Japanese nor Burmese, but it might be a part of a European sabre, and I think the year 1756 is genuine to the blade, so not applied later. Probably the weapon has made quite a journey in its life, and as in many cases the story is half the value of the item!

Rich, unless it was you who caused the bad condition of the blade there is no reason to be ashamed. We are not curious to see destroyed items, but in many cases we can help to decide if a blade could possibly be restored. Looking at the NAKAGO, it is probably an older blade, and it would be a pity not to make a preservation attempt.

An interesting find, thank you for sharing! I would have liked to know what kind of blade that was; probably not a traditionally made one. The results of the hardness tests are nevertheless surprising, and I wonder how they found out that: 5) Temper: Tests showed the blade had been air quenched from a temperature of approximately 1600 degrees F. . There are a number of ways to quench a blade and I think it is very difficult if not impossible to differentiate between a blade quenched in a warm liquid medium and another blade having been cooled in cold air (depending on the travel speed of the air).

Looks more like KANMURI OTOSHI ZUKURI.

Darcy, thank you for sharing these spectacular photos of a blade! Amazing! I have never been very fond of HORIMONO except BOHI, but this is another exception! Especially the bamboo fits nicely to the shape of the blade. The execution of the plum tree very close to the HAMON is masterfully done. In my opinion, the signature on the NAKAGO is in contrast to this work. It looks as if someone made his first trial with hammer and chisel!

Do you have a website? Where can I see photos?

The second starts with HACHI..... See also http://www.jssus.org/nkp/bonji.html

David, perhaps if you provided some more photos it would be easier to help. What is the shape/cross section of the MIMI? Is that corrosion in tiny spots I see on the surface? My first impression is: not KYO SUKASHI and probably not OWARI, but I am often wrong.