ROKUJURO

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Thank you for posting this interesting link!

Ken, before using the chalk, I would use a brass wire brush and get rid of the red rust, especially in the grooves of the MEI. I hope you get a good contrast then so that it becomes readable. Interesting item, by the way!

As Chris said, you would have to grind even the cross section cut and then polish it without inducing too much heat. In Japan they would bring out different steels or hardnesses that way, but a composite construction can also be made visible by etching the cut with ferric chloride.

You may have snow in Berlin, but hopefully no TSUNAMI.....

Gentlemen, just for a decorative high-light I would like to show again a set of MENUKI which I had put on display a while ago and which has been classified by many here as 'EZO style'. As I have learned later, they are very likely from the late MOMOYAMA period or from early EDO, as they are signed NARA. To contribute to this discussion I ask if it would be correct to say that EZO was a style or design elements historically based in earlier periods like KAMAKURA, but obviously used by later artists as well?

BaZZa, an interesting TSUBA with some unusual (NAMBAN-ish?) elements! It looks somewhat older than the other ones which may have to do with corrosion. I have the impression that a different technique to fix the SHINCHU than that described by Ford has been used. Could that be?

Henry, as she is now or as she was half a lifespan ago?

David, as usual, I don't get along with your website! The only TSUBA in the for sale-section I can find is the TETSUGENDO (sold). Is it me or the software of the site?

Andrey, I am sorry, yes, the first position was correct and I was wrong! Thought to be sure, but KAISHO script seems to be too difficult for me!

Gabriel, the MEKUGI-ANA look like they were drilled, not punched.

Ah, yes, I remember! David/SOSHIN was looking for one: ....... I need to purchase a new Batto training sword in the near future.....Jan. 04./TSUBA on E-Bay

If I remember correctly, we have discussed this before. It is a gardening tool, a HANAGATANA.

.....Where do you look for signs of lamination?...... Sean, is there any form of HADA to be seen? That would be a good hint for a traditionally made blade! Take care of the surface of your blade, there seem to be many fingerprints which will turn into rust quite soon!

......Not sure that this time it's not upside-down again..... Andrey, I am afraid it is!

Thank you, Chris! That is the difference between practice and theory.....

Gentlemen, I am not sure this is the right department to write in, but I found no better. Very recently, I bought a book from Grey Doffin. Although well packed, the parcel and book arrived in damaged condition. I informed Grey and added some photos of the damage. He immediately refunded me the complete sum, postage included, without even awaiting a confirmation of the assurance of the transport firm USPS. As a plus, I could keep the book, which is still readable. I think this is an extremely fair and generous service - you cannot expect to be treated in a nicer way! I feel this is worth to be mentioned here! Thumbs up-smilie and !

Gentlemen, reading through the many opinions on this subject, I would like to add my view as well. As far as I know, removing a MEI the Japanese way does not necessarily mean to remove material. In the first step, it is not done with a file, but very carefully with a blunt chisel, hammering down the 'cushions' on the edges of every single chisel cut. This works of course best with rather fresh signatures and might be more difficult with older blades. If the MEI strokes were not too deep and wide, a signature could be removed almost without visible traces by this method. Some patination would enhance the result. That is what I have been told. On the photos of the blade in question it is very difficult to see. I think you have to play around with light from the side to make any small irregularity visible. If a MEI removal is suspected to have taken place, I would also use a microscope to examine the surface and not only search for a concavity.

USkragnut, to address you politely, please sign your posts at least with a first name. You found a nice blade as far as one can see. The signature is perhaps MINAMOTO YOSHISUKE, but I have no information about the smith, sorry.

David, nice TSUBA which seems to have some age! I can see the irregularities in the surface, and I think they were probably caused by etching or corrosion (which is basically the same). Where do you see hammer marks and what type of hammer could have caused them?

I think it is a new Chinese metal decoration disc, perhaps not cast but from a press, and not a repro as there are probably no Japanese originals looking similar.

Jesper, these MENUKI very probably depict rats. Others will add their opinion on school or maker.

Curran, concerning the gold TSUBA: the seller carefully avoided a camera look into the NAKAGO ANA, so I presume it may be a SAN MAI TSUBA. Not a beautiful one, unfortunately. Thanks for the information!

Gentlemen, reading all these comments on fakes, I want to add my view on it. About thirty-five years ago, there was an auction of Japanese art at Lempertz in Köln, Germany. One of the blades on display was a gorgeous KATANA with HITATSURA HAMON and a very long O-GISSAKI. It looked very nice, but an advanced collector I met there told me it was GIMEI and not KIYOMARO as the signature implied. Nevertheless it looked very desirable to my untrained eyes. Later I learned that this sword was bought by a professional dealer from Japan. I could not understand this, because I thought he should have known it was GIMEI. The collector explained to me that the dealer knew exactly what he was buying (at a price of something around DM 8.000.--; quite a lot then), and he explained about the mentality of private Japanese buyers. He said this sword would very probably be sold at a much higher price to a private collector without mentioning the GIMEI - and without being asked about it either! If the sword was about the quarter of the price of a genuine KIYOMARO (or even less), the new owner would know what it was, be happy with it, keep it in his TANSU, perhaps even not telling his closest friends about the purchase, and never show it to someone to avoid being called a boaster. The German collector said, the price difference made the fake obvious, so nobody felt a necessity to talk about it. It would not have been polite to mention it. Later I learned also that O-MINOGAME, the 1.000-year-turtle, is not exactly 1.000 years old - it is just old. This and some others stories taught me that terms like 'genuity', age, 'truth' and 'original' can have different meanings in different cultures. To sum this up I suspect the Chinese fakers do not at all feel bad about their business. They might even not feel guilty when they are caught selling pirated products. To an extent this could be a question of Asian mentality.

Congratulations!