ROKUJURO

Ken, it might be mathematically difficult to find such an amount of water in alcohol of 95-100%......Of course you can buy 70% isopropylic alcohol with the mentioned content of water which is probably what you wanted to say. In Germany denatured ethylic alcohol is 94% pure plus a small amount of a health hazardous or otherwise repellent substance not only to prevent misuse but to prevent alcohol tax evasion. While I find it suitable to clean a newly acquired blade chemically with a solvant if necessary, I would refrain from using it regularly.

While I like the old TSUBA with this design a lot, in my eyes the revival piece lacks good and visible workmanship. It seems to have been aged artificially by acid treatment, and this ended up in eroded spots on a relatively 'dead' surface, showing nothing of the steel qualities. I would have liked some TSUCHIME or a genuine MIGAKIJI surface, depending on the style intended. Just my one and a half cents....

Brandon, have a look at my post of Sept 26th.

Mariusz, with that familiy name he probably couldn't have handled it differently! :D

From the distance it looks more like a TSUBA for a YOROIDOSHI.

I have a related question: is it true that swordsmiths as a rule were not to work more than four hours per day? Considering their very concentrated work I could well understand such a limitation. Being in that business myself, I can hardly imagine that a smith could make a long blade in less than a week, even with assistants.

To me it looks like a SURIAGE (shortened) WAKIZASHI with the remaining KANJI for BIZEN (a province). Photos are only helpful when well focused and sharp, and TSUBA should be presented with the pointed part of the NAKAGO ANA (slot) upwards unless it is a TACHI TSUBA.

I agree with you. Maybe I have a general problem with films about Japanese subjects made by westerners as in many cases they are not respecting Japanese culture, behaviour, or historical backgrounds. As an explanation, these old films could be seen as products of their times, but in today's view I often find them made quite incompetently and superficially.

Pete:.....It's always had a cult following. My opinion is if you don't like it, don't watch it....... In my opinion, a cult is not necessarily a quality badge. And of course you will have to see it at least once (which I did half a year ago on YouTube) if you want to come to a personal evaluation. But I understand your sight: Some 30 or more years ago I might have seen the quality differently. At that time, I did not want to miss one of the David Carradine KUNG FU films!

Maybe it refuses to be loaded as it's a bad photo and standing on it's head....

Perhaps because it's a really bad film, even if you consider the times it was made.

...and the smaller version for WAKIZASHI is called Mini-Cooper..... .

I don't share this opinion. Japan had an advanced knowledge in their own and very narrow field of military technology, while the Europeans were not less skillful with their arms respectively. You will have to compare arms side by side and of the same period of time.

This is a typical 'shoot-and-forget-about-it' arrowhead, a standard type. I have seen HAMON on YANONE with a flat design but technically it is almost impossible to produce a HAMON in a small and compact piece of steel like the arrowhead shown.

To my old eyes, No. 1 is cast. Look at the corners of the SUKASHI. There seems to remain some residue from casting.

You cannot retemper a part of a blade. Trying this would always produce a non-tempered zone in the blade.

I don't believe this to be a YUMI YARI. There is no possibility to hook the loop in, and the long extension shows a hole, but nobody wants a screw or nail in his bow! I remember having seen a picture of a YUMI YARI which was quite small, so as not to reduce the performance of the bow. There is an old photo in my 'Japan department' showing my KYUDO teacher KAWASHIMA SENSEI in a fight demonstration with a 'palanquin arrow'. I am sorry not to know the technical term for it but it looked quite similar - a short but stout arrow, used for defense in limited spaces like palanquins. One could stabb with these arms but also throw them. Maybe the item is something of that kind.

Brian, your last purchase is really a nice one, congratulations! I like the shape and the overall appearance. Do you know how swords are stored in Japan? Have a look in the books! There is a reason why they don't have 10 sword-racks except for wooden training weapons in a DOJO. Presentation is not a matter of quantity. I know you like you weapons, but concentrate on quality, display one KOSHIRAE at a time with a TSUNAGI and leave your blades in SHIRASAYA in the TANSU!

If you proceed as given by the Japanese recommendations, there ist no danger. You clean the blade first, then apply A SMALL AMOUNT of oil and disperse it thoroughly on the surface, then remove all oil again prior to putting the blade back in the scabbard. Leaving oil on the surface (oil does not 'dry', but in most cases it will harden earlier or later, a polymerisation process) leads to dust sticking to the surface (which will cause scratches as you move the blade) and getting into the wood of the SAYA, thus preventing it to take up moisture. Preventing rust means keeping the blade dry.

Brian, as far as I know it is quenching, not drenching. Read, Brian, read books!

Never seen before. Could possibly have been made on demand for a lefty.

Yes, that ist the case with SHINKEN/GENDAITO.

Wow, what a wonderful collection! Thank you for sharing, very much appreciated! I understand now that you don't need to buy NEW arrowheads. As you are knowledgeable in this field, I'd like to ask again if you happen to know who forged these YANONE. In medieval times, European smiths had a tendency to specialize on a narrow spectrum of their respective craft, so we had up to 46 different professions in the vast field of forging, and of course we had arrowsmiths. Was it the same in Japan?

The same applies to me, but I will give it a try (arrow in the sky): Both are very skilfully made TSUBA (I don't want to go into details of the preservation). The details are very well designed and executed, and differ a lot from the many SOTEN copies on the market. Good original SOTEN TSUBA I have seen pictures of were finer in detail and displayed more SUKASHI. So if I said NARA, perhaps one of the more knowledgeable members here might tell us why it is not.....

Moisture is normal in humidity.