ROKUJURO

It is a typical NINJA TSUBA. They could stand the TSUBA upright and hide behind it to not be seen. There is some literature about the "Invisible NINJA"! Secret lifted!

I cannot see the images. Please upload them here.

Correct, but even with differential quenching/hardening, these homogeneous modern industrial steels do not behave the same way as blades made in the traditional composite design. One of the reasons to follow the traditional way is that those old blades were (often, not at all times) battle tested which is difficult with recently made swords.

Well, you could make your own! It is a lot of work, but it is possible. It would be good to have a small team, though. I am willing to help with theoretical basics, if needed. Please sign all posts with a first name and an initial, so we could address you in a polite manner. It is a rule on NMB.

Very interesting! Still a traditional method of steel-making, but a bit different in the outcome, obviously. Could you please describe in short where and how the quality differs in these swords?

I think it is because the NBTHK wants to preserve traditional techniques in the first place. It is not so much about making many swords or using any material available. If everything was allowed, we would probably see titanium swords just because black iron sand can contain a small percentage of it.....

Interesting TACHI MEI? How long is the blade?

Compared to what?

Big fire in the house? Everything stolen or destroyed in an earthquake? I'm good at finding excuses.... On the other hand, it is perhaps an honour to be asked or invited.

From my own collection:

This was probably made in Japan after the war for sale to tourists (or GIs). Often wrongly called KAMIKAZE TANTO, but had nothing to do with WWII. It is a souvenir, unfortunately not more.

So he used his family name YATA as well in the MEI:

Yes, that was the initial question. If I had to do it, I wood use KIRI (PAULOWNIA) wood. It is easy to work on with sharp tools, lightweight, and does not shrink or expand with moisture.

The iron of this TSUBA has some ductility as we can see from the TAGANE ATO in the NAKAGO ANA, so it is not cast. The cross-hatching to fix the gold NUNOME was definitely made by hand, so, as stated above, it is not a beauty, but I think authentic. Stylistically, it has HIZEN traits for me.

John, are you sure that rays are depicted on your JINGASA? I believe it could also be symbolized KEN blades. SUHAMA MON on TSUBA:

It look me a moment to guess what you may have meant. BOSHI would have been closer, but probably you meant KISSAKI?

Perhaps TOSHIHIDE?

A 15th century sword blade with a KASANE of 9 mm might be a very rare thing.

Just think about when these "flashy" TSUBA appeared fitst in the market. If they had been made in MEIJI era, they would have appeeared in numbers long before. But exactly this type of TSUBA with very good casting and guilding technique surfaced rather recently in my observation. We have been discussing the fact that modern reproduction/copying techniques have become worringly good, and the fact that we are now troubled by such an item is the proof.

So what do you think?

Looking at the SEPPA-DAI without any traces of use, the over-abundant use of gold colour, and a few technical flaws, I am not so sure that this TSUBA is Japanese. NAGOYA MONO have some age, and most of them have been used for a while, and this left some traces. Also, NAGOYA MONO were finished by hand (not by high-class artisans!), and they often were a bit crude in the smaller details (faces...). The gilding technique of that time was different. On his type of modern TSUBA I do not see traces of hand-tools (TAGANE), and seemingly this one was never mounted. I may of course be wrong in my observation. Dale will probably be able to provide a number of images of similar TSUBA.

Much better Rodriguez, but with a DARK, NON-REFLECTING BACKGROUND and photos NOT taken at an angle, there will be some improvement. Cutting-off a part of the NAKAGO would be called SURIAGE in Japanese, in case a part of the MEI is remaining. In any case, Jusii has read the signature correctly, so now you can research the smith. And of course, we are curious to see the full blade!

Ray, if you don't mind, what kind of ORIGAMI is this, and if it was issued in 1972, how reliable is the statement?

If the nice fairy tale was true, I wonder why no one of these highly decorated BUDO masters was able to care properly for this sword, so that it ended in such a deplorable state!

That looks like very good craftsmanship! I like and admire it! But let me ask: A new SAYA for an unpolished blade?