ROKUJURO

Chris, thank you! I have read elsewhere that swords of this early period had been imported from mainland China. Sword making in Japan seems to have started earlier indeed. Great information!

Gentlemen, I have seen much worse than this one. At least it seems to have been made from ivory, the sculptural work is fancy but rather good quality (if one likes stuff like this). I can't say anything about the blade, but as far as I can see it isn't the usual 'rusty nail'. See it from the funny side, as the best thing about it is the text: ....Lame fine en acier. Signé 3 fois. Garde démontable. Fin 19 ème siècle. Long : 64cm Lame signée WAKIZASKI. Assemblage NAGAZA. Sculptures d'Unokubi SUZUKI (selon la tradition familiale, offert par l'Empereur du Japon à Monsieur Léon ROCHES, consul général de France à Tokyo de 1863 au 1867..... meaning: fine steel blade....signed three times (!).....mounting NAGAZA. The ivory carving was done by the famous artist UNOKUBI SUZUKI (you should know him as he is famous). As emperor HIROHITO was born 1901, the sword was probably bestowed upon M. Roches by the last TOKUGAWA SHOGUN.

John, is there a photo I cannot see? Which KAO?

....I know that these namban tsuba(s) are fairly common and not highly regarded. I tried to find a similar one on the Internet, but I did not succeed. My question is on the inscriptions inside the circles. What are they (family crests, chinese characters,...)?..... Bernard, NAMBAN TSUBA are certainly a special subject but in terms of quality yours is a very good one in my eyes! I am sure the ten Chinese KAISHO characters will tell a story to the experts, maybe a poem! The unique TAGANE marks may lead to identify a school or even a maker.

Denis, I understand what you mean. But I think there is a difference between those times of living tradition when swords were still being made in large numbers, and times like ours when these items cannot be replaced because history has made a step in another direction. Today, when you cut down an old blade (I don't speak about damaged swords) it is not just recycling metal but it is a loss. But that is only the way I see it.

C. Lewis, yes, why would someone do that? Perhaps to make knives out of it. Today, swords are less useful and seem more dangerous to some people (governments included) than knives. In addition to that, many people are not very educated and don't know about/don't respect other cultures or their history. This results in a lack of sensitivity. It is sad but it underlines the importance of institutions like NMB.

David, let me emphasize that my questions/doubts are based on the pictures shown. It would be nice to see the TSUBA here again when the restoration to the old glory is finished.

Christian, I don't complain and, yes, it is probably genuine when you say so. What I was referring to was David's expectation that we might be able to confirm it's authenticity only by photos. I like YAGYU TSUBA in general, but this one would not be my favourite. There are some points of doubt, at least in my eyes (glasses on!), and I have marked some of them in the attached photo. Maybe it's just the picture which proves that the task of authentification can be difficult that way!

..... Answer(s) reminded me of someone under oath in a court of law trying not to self incriminate himself. Making it very hard to judge.... David, while I like your KANTEI games, I cannot believe that you obviously expected a firm statement concerning the provenance of your TSUBA. It may well be a YAGYU, but in the end we have only photos to judge upon. It could also be a cast copy as this surface looks almost the same and can only be differentiated by close-up looks into the NAKAGO-ANA or other openings. The last photos in Christian's post are not very convincing! It is not that easy and almost never safe!

Fred, I like this TSUBA, it is really a nice one! I wished I had birthday, too! As to the active rust, I would remove that in a traditional way: a fine bamboo or horn tool and the toothbrush of your girlfriend. As it is for Chrismas too, it represents probably a HOHOHO bird :D

Hoanh, thank you, that is a good one! Making a positive remark even when there is nothing to say is at least a proof of an inventive spirit!

MRH, welcome to the NMB forum. Please sign all posts as the board's rules require. Your item looks as if it could be used as TSUBA for a YARI, which would be quite unusual. It seems to be a coin design.

Jason, you might also look at http://www.twinoaksforge.com. Dan o'Connor is a member here.

Mike, this is evident! A master of his art, a painter in metal! Thank you for sharing these items we would otherwise rarely see - if at all!

Patrick, could be SANSHU....no JU MINAMOTO YUKIMICHI, 74 years old. Somebody here will have the good books to look this one up. Pictures of the whole blade and details are always appreciated!

Salut Bernard! Your TSUBA doesn't look like a 'standard' SOTEN, but much better, to my eyes at least. If it is an iron TSUBA, it seems to be very well cut. I cannot help with the signature; the first KANJI might be CHIKA, the third could be a KAO. The gold inlay for the MEI is not that uncommon.

Grev, the comparison of the NAKAGO ANA and the KOZUKA HITSU to the overall dimensions leads me to believe that this TSUBA is not larger than about 75 mm, perhaps even smaller. KO-TOSHO TSUBA had a tendency to have at least 80 mm diameter and no HITSU, so it is probably not 'KO', but maybe TOSHO style made later in EDO JIDAI. While your TSUBA looks rather thin, the originals had only 3 to 1.5 mm thickness. As mentioned, there is a possibility that it was made to be decorated later or by another artist. I don't dislike this TSUBA at all, it certainly has it's age and interesting history, but it may represent some work to bring it back to the original appearence. If more of the steel quality becomes visible, it may be a nice and appealing one!

David, it looks like a YAGYU theme, has YAGYU surface and dimensions.

Chris, you cannot prevent people from doing silly things, and probably we cannot save the world from going down. Hopefully you got some reasonable TOSOGU parts for a few bucks, and that's it. I don't see it as supporting foolish behavior. If the blade was definitely ruined beyond repair it could still serve for scientific research purposes. Sometimes you find the information on a NAKAGO that the steel of a TANEGASHIMA was used to forge the blade. While this is sad on one side, smiths have always recycled steel, and I for one would be happy to use steel from such a blade to forge something else - maybe a TANTO - from it, so that it is not lost. The MEI could be TOMOSHIGE, but I am no expert.

Chad, all depends on your intention to learn something about blades and signatures. Many if not most of the NMB menber have gone through this process, spending hours looking for a KANJI translation, being stuck with the second reading which makes no sense. It is in fact half of the fun to go the way yourself without being 'carried' to the solution, but perhaps not for everyone: It is SUISHINSHI MASAHIDE. The KANJI are quite nicely written and so this task would have been an easy one. But you may want to try another time by yourself.

Chad, the first KANJI is the one for water, the second for 'heart'. The whole signature is the name of a very famous SHIN SHINTO smith, but chances are small that he actually made the blade. It may be more of an hommage to him.

Grev, the TSUBA does not have the dimensions of a TOSHO and it is signed (on the wrong side), so why should it be a TOSHO? Perhaps it is just a plain and simple EDO JIDAI TSUBA, possibly painted/repatinated. The lack of a decoration does not make it a TOSHO, I think.

Tony, you can't tell the age of a sword by the signature. First you have to evaluate the signature. Does it confirm the overall appearence of the blade? Do all features comply with the usual details of this maker? When everything fits fine, then you may have the smith (or a very good GIMEI blade), and then you can look for the possible age. And then again, what does age tell you? It has not much to do with quality and value. There are 'old' blades with little value and 'new' blades of high quality and value. It seems you do not understand that we would like to help you by giving good advice. I am convinced that in the long range you will not enjoy a blade that you buy now in a rush, just hoping to grasp some nice quality. It is a bit like firing a bullet in the sky hoping to get an eagle's tail feather (Only Chuck Norris can do that - at night).

Probably both are tiring methods :D

John, it would be easier for us to help if the photo was well focused (try it at a little angle to avoid reflections and with daylight) and NOT posted upside down.