ROKUJURO

Jean, thank you for your thoughts which may be helpful to many beginners. I am sure you developed your ‘rules of thumb’ over long years of studying and collecting, and as we all know, experience can not be transferred from one person to another nor being learned from books. My personal experience in this field is that when I dived into these vast and deep waters some 40 years ago I had almost no money, but many swords and TOSOGU seemed cheap in relation to today! I had no real knowledge, so I bought what seemed to be nice in my uneducated eyes and what was affordable. Looking back I can say that I did not make too many mistakes (which has to do with the low level of my purchases), but learned a lot from what I was able to hold in my hands for a long term study. Now I have a different look at the items on the market, and I feel that it has become much more difficult for beginners, not only more expensive! There are so many modern fakes which we did not have in the mid-seventies! They are easily identified by educated collectors, but may deceive beginners. So I think that your recommendations make sense but are only applicable when you start to collect on a relatively high price level. Many new collectors are probably not able or willing to do so. But this is the same as in most collecting fields. If you were interested in old classic cars you would get the recommendation never to buy a restored car if not all replaced parts were absolutely original and genuine. So you have a threshold where you find your new hobby starting at € 50.000.— (or the double, in $ or GBP). The alternative would be a cheap old car on which you work on weekends and with some luck end up by really driving it (which may be the greater pleasure for some collectors). In theory, practice and theory should be the same, in practice, they are not….

Perhaps MORITA?

Ford, thank you for this exciting report! It is certainly not the same as looking over your shoulder in person at your workshop but it helps a lot in understanding techniques and getting an idea of how much experience is involved. I will immediately go down in my forge and make large numbers of these, and then sell them on E-Bay as HALLAM UTSUSHI at low prices..... :D

Watch out for special items: No. 1138 is a SHINSHINTO KATANA by MASAHIRO dated 1944....

The parts remind me of the KODOGU on an AIKUCHI (SAYA and TSUKA). Could they be for a similar fitting system?

Matt, usually it is difficult to understand what Christian wants to express (I have been tempted to help him out one time or another!) but I think he only meant that you got quite nice TSUBA at a very low price - for an amount which he usually spends for his weekly errands which is probably a humble sum. Certainly not a negative remark, I believe!

Matt, I wished I had a friend like that! Nice SUKASHI TSUBA. The first looks like pine needles to me with possibly a fruit like persimmon. Is that a MARU MIMI? Then it could be AKASAKA. The second one might be a HIGO theme. I would love to learn about the provenience and school from the expert members here. I like both, good buy at that price I think.

Bob, are you sure about the KO-ITAME HADA? Are there any HATARAKI to be seen? It looks like a machine grind, the photo doesn't show details, but maybe it is these old glass eyes.....

Florian, je vais essayer: It could be SASHU no JU (X) YOSHI SAKU. The (X) is too difficult for me. Nice TSUBA, by the way! I have seen it elsewhere, have always liked it!

Does not look too bad, I think. Maybe a Japanese blade, having been beaten up a little and suffered SURIAGE with a hacksaw. The 'MEI' looks like an attempt with a screwdriver to deceive beginners. Probably more good photos are needed to reach safer ground.

John, I would have liked to help but I just received 25,5 Mio. US $ from a former Minister of Nigeria, so unfortunately my account is full!

It depends on what should be done, who does it, and how is it done. In the correct meaning of restoration one would just save the original look of an item without changing the intended appearance. It is not making it shiny and looking 'new'. In many cases competent restoration will just remove dirt and active coorosion and prevent further damage for a while.

Chris, photo upside down, no details shown, and complete lack of competent information.... Online bidders might find this a little scarce.

Stephen, have a close look at the HABAKI - it does not fit. Seems to be split as well.

It's probably a gift for a shrine. Their blades sometimes don't have MEKUGI-ANA, this TSUBA lacks a NAKAGO-ANA which means it was never meant to be mounted. Perhaps it is noted in Guinness's books of records? Edit: forgot the :D

Christophe, nice collection and very nice furniture, thank you for showing! Seems you have a good source living in Japan! Your quiver is standing upside-down, by the way.

Kurt, I won't comment your polishing attempts, but I want to mention that the cross section and the SUGATA of most TANTO are quite different from what you have got. As Brian wrote, you would end up with an American TANTO. If you are experienced in forging, why not make one yourself and leave the WAKIZASHI alone?

David, the following I extracted from WIKIPEDIA:....Gorintō (五輪塔) ("five-ringed tower")...

JUNICHI-SAN, thank you for your thoughts about this subject. Maybe that it is indeed acceptable to 'renovate' a beat up TSUBA - I for one don't like it and I would not buy one. What I believe to see in those 'treated' TSUBA is not subtle and fine restoration but instead it looks very bright and harsh, and often the gold is not only applied carefully on some detail but it goes somewhat over the lines (I have difficulties in finding the right words to express what I feel) My question was basically if there might be a recent 'source' where cheap but original TSUBA are being treated to look more attractive to newbies. Is this 're-guilding' (which I believe to see) perhaps common practice with some high-volume dealers? Or am I seeing rain dragons in the clouds?

Gentlemen, probably I am wrong with my perception that some TSUBA - perhaps not the finest on the market - look somewhat restored to my untrained eyes. I have seen some of these where especially the gold seems to be in pristine condition while the TSUBA shows considerable wear in other places. I may mention viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16472 or http://www.ebay.com/itm/330993555917. It is difficult to judge from photos, but is there something going on 'behind the SHOJI'? Could it be that TSUBA are processed and enhanced for the market? I am very interested in the opinions of the experts here.

Gentlemen, I think the 'tower' is a buddhist pagoda and the theme is called GORINTO. KUKURI-SARU are tumble toys. It is a wonderful TSUBA in very good condition. Thank you, David, for sharing!

JUNICHI, I would not emphasize the TAGANE too much as they could have been made also at a much later date after manufacturing. To me it looks like a quite nice late EDO TOSHO style TSUBA, and unless you find some very distinctive features in the steel or on it's surface it might be difficult to relate it to a school or a smith. The SUKASHI might even be just a decoration and not a KAMON, but I understand that you had to buy it!

Ken, maybe I am not well informed, but what has a sniper rifle to do with BUDO?

The last one is not so difficult, it could be found in the NMB information pages: YOSHIMICHI.

Amazing! The base metal looks corroded in some places, even on the SEPPA-DAI, but no gold/silver is rubbed off as far as I can see.