kissakai

Thank you both The mei seems to have a few more strokes a bit like this one 隋 than yours 随 But in the Haynes it looks like a mixture of the two, another of an anomaly or just my eyes which have seen better days When the granddaughters gone to bed I will now have a look in Haynes under shozui I had read almost all of his mei are false although I thought the quality was quite good, it is competent but not special Any idea why someone should be pulling a log? I think the they are lead plugs Grev UK

Hi I bought this tsuba today and was told the mei was Seizui After looking in my books I can't see this as correct Part of the second kanki is obscured and may be 'zui' I thought it unusual that the copper insert accomidated a round form to accomodate the sword mune Any additional information would be appreciated Grev UK

Does anyone know of any dealers that will be at this antique fair I intend to go on Friday 11th April Grev UK

Thanks again The bigger the image the better One question there is a sword between the late Kamakura & Early Muromachi that is not labelled Would this be defined as an era/period of late late Kamukura & early early Muromachi or just by date or both? Can anyone give me the normal size for this sword as it is one of the largest so I can attach a scale? Grev UK

Thank you both This was the image I was looking for Grev UK

Hi Can any point me in the right direction for an image file of sword shapes I had seen it before and it gave the general sword outline I would like to get the image blown up and use it as a guide Grev UK

I wasn't sure which section to use for these items so I've no problem if the moderators wish to move this post I have the chance to buy these but I'm completely out of my depth Ian Bottomley thought it may be dated around 1600 I would be interested in the mei and any other information If possible also any idea if value It was purchased on the continent around the late 60's Grev UK

Hi John Just read the Wiki article: Mixed readings A jūbako (重箱?), which has a mixed on-kun reading. A yutō (湯桶?), which has a mixed kun-on reading. There are many kanji compounds that use a mixture of on'yomi and kun'yomi, known as jūbako (重箱?, multi-layered food box) or yutō (湯桶?, hot liquid pail) words (depending on the order), which are themselves examples of this kind of compound (they are autological words): the first character of jūbako is read using on'yomi, the second kun'yomi (on-kun), while it is the other way around with yutō (kun-on). Formally, these are referred to as jūbako-yomi (重箱読み?, jūbako reading) and yutō-yomi (湯桶読み?, yutō reading). Note that in both these words, the on'yomi has a long vowel; long vowels in Japanese generally come from Chinese, hence distinctive of on'yomi. These are the Japanese form of hybrid words. Other examples include 場所 basho "place" (kun-on), 金色 kin'iro "golden" (on-kun) and 合気道 aikidō "the martial art Aikido" (kun-on-on). Most interesting point in this is Aikido as I'm a 5th Dan in this Martial Art. Still beyond my comprehension but some interesting points raised Grev UK

Hi Read the link and copied this part: Aaaah... brain hurts. If you said "less likely to find kun'yomi readings" then I might just about be able to agree with you, but saying that "you won't usually find kun'yomi readings" in jukugo is like saying that you won't usually find salt in the sea because it's mostly water. My brain is also at breaking point Again like so many questions I've asked it's all down to experience so I'll try to walk a bit then sit down then much later build up to a steady run! It is all down to the Haynes splitting the kanji into two groups I thought it was a bit easier if I was looking a one set Such as this example of a group of two or a group of 8 but now I'll have to look at all variations = 10: 生 = SEI - SHŌ - iku - iki - nama - ubu - o - ō - mi - ari Back to the drawing board Grev UK

Many thanks John Grev UK

I'll bump this one more time as I've no idea why there hasn't been a single reply Grev UK

Hi Is this a difficult question or does it just show my naivety? Grev UK

Hi Can anyone help re On'yomi and Kun'yomi Is it normal for the mei to be On'yomi or Kun'yomi style or can it be a combination of both styles. Grev UK

New There are the only other two tsuba in this style and I’ve only shown one face as they are both identical Recalled No1 so they can be viewed all together 1) Size 80 x 79 x 4.1mm - Ca.1650 Cira - School Hizen 7) Size 80 x 53 x 5mm – Ca.17C – School Hizen Size 85 x 80 x 3.1mm – Ca.1620 – School Hizen Number 6 was acquired in 1967 so I will ask the museum if this was a gift or purchased. Hopefully there may be more information available Grev UK

Hi Just an odd selection this time. I've added the museum description and sizes and any comments would welcome 1 Size 80 x 79 x 4.1mm - Ca.1650 Cira - School Hizen 2 Size 59 x 49 x 3.7mm - 17C - 19C - School Shōami 3 Size 72 x 66 x 7.0mm - Ca.18C - School Hirata 4 Size 60 x 53 x 5.0mm - Date Not known - School unknown Grev UK

Oops done it again Would one of the moderators move this to the translation section Grev UK

Hi This is more tsuba than I would normally post in one go but it is because this is the last set of the museum tsuba mei I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the NMB members for all the help and advice I’ve received Without your help this project would have never have started. For me personally it’s been a fantastic learning curve. I know more now that when I started but less than I thought I knew In my naivety I thought the museum descriptions and catalogue were 100% correct and it was just a matter of adding my images to their descriptions. How wrong could I be! My conclusion is that well to do collectors were sold tsuba with a false description due to the fact that there were so few experts in the 1900’s. When gifted to a museum the incorrect description was used for the museum’s records and no one had the knowledge to challenge these descriptions. I suppose it is the same today, so buyer beware. The details below are a combination of the museum description, my research and via NMB PM’s 1 Ca.1830 - School unknown - * Masasada 正貞+ kao. I do not know the first kanji 2 Ca 1850 - School Tanaka - Looks very Tanaka school or associated with Ichijo school. I can not read the mei 3 Ca 1850 - School unknown (Hamano style and using the 'yuki' favored in the school). However there may be an alternate reading like how the founder of Hamano 'Masayuki' is read "Shozui". 4 Date not known - School unknown - The first kanji my be Kane or Mitsu. I do not know the second kanji 5 Ca.1800 - School Akasaka of Yedo - * 吉 Yoshi. First kanji unknown 6 Ca.1800 Cira - School Myochin - RH Myochin 明弥 Minbu (no) 民部. LH 烝宗定X ; (no) Jo Munesada ? maybe saku? No idea of the kanji on the back. 7 Ca.1820 Cira - School Sadō - Sahu ju 住 Toshiuji Risei 製 of Sadō. Not Risei?. 2nd kanji maybe hisa 法 or yei 住 or tama 玉 The final research will be to find either schools/styles and dates but another almost impossible task Many thanks Grev UK

Hi I really glad I posted these due to all your replies. As I said this may above my comfort zone but don't forget these descriptions were in the original 1915 catalogue! They can be examples of tsuba to be wary of for the new collectors I know realise that if I can do a book then do I print all good and bad or just the best? As the project is possibly only half way so at least another year before I even decide what to do with the amassed information Grev UK

Hi There are only a few soft metal tsuba in the museum so I’ve selected a few As before this is the museums description and I have no idea if they are correct in date or school I personally like No's 3 and 6 1) 19C Tetsugendo 2) Cira 1800 Ichinomiya of Kyōto 3) Cira 1800 Nara - Hamano branch 4) Cira 1800 Nara - Hamano branch 5) Cira 1780 Nara 6) Cira 1820 Nara - Hamano branch I think I will add a couple of cloisonné tsuba next Grev UK

Hi I realise that I was not a good idea to post this just before the Tampa show doh I see that these tsuba have had over 180 views but no replies Would anyone please let me know if this mean they are too vague or obscure to make a suggestion? If this is the case I will just say to the museum that they are undecipherable With thanks Grev UK

I thought this was the last set but I will still have a few more queries that are a bit more obscure. I wasn’t going to puts these on the NMB as they are so indistinct, but that was before I saw the mei ‘Hoanh’ translated and I though anything is possible! Obviously without help from the NMB I would never have got this far, so again many thanks and I have had the opportunity to learn so much and buy some great stuff! To date, with the help of the NMB and some PM’s there have been over 150 mei translated. The tsuba shown below, as before are a combination of the museums descriptions with my input 1) 75 x 72 x 3.6mm - 18C Tembo: LH Tenho 天法 RH ** Tembō 天法 (Tenho, Tenpo or Tembō) Generally which is the most commonly used term for the above school? 2) 91 x 83 x 5.0mm - 16C - 18C Myochin: Mei too faint for me to read 3) 88 x 84 x 5.5mm - 1650 Cira Shōami: Saōtome Iyehisa 4) 72 x 70 x 6.0mm - 1760 Cira Chōshū Nakai: Nakai Zensuke Tomotsune 任積 Nakai. RH side Chōshū 長州 Hagi 萩 ju 住 (Tomotsune II) 5) 75 x 73 x 3.8mm - Date unknown School unknown: Mei unknown - Too faint for me Grev UK

Again with so many tsuba to choose I hope you like this selection. I liked the last tsuba as it takes some nerve not to extend the leaf stem to the rim. Not sure if ascetically it looks OK or is out of balance but asymmetry was a speciality of the Japanese Any comments welcome but not required, that will be on my next post Due to a comment previously made I’ve slightly reduced the size. If you want them bigger on my next post please let me know Grev UK

Christopher Klojer let me know the mei for number 5 is Masachika Looking up Masachika I found the following Nara Masachika 昌親 H03867 Two in Sesko Genealogies Tsuchiya ? – 1861 - This would be my guess at the correct school Bizen 3rd Generation Also none used these kanji in Nara or Hamano schools So unsure which school this belongs to Grev UK

Hi all There are only a couple more mei after this set so again many thanks to you all I need the mei including the kanji. Any other information will be welcome This set is the museum description, date and maker I have added my guess at some of the kanji and the asterisk shows where I have no idea No 1 17C - 19C ~ Sōten of Hikone in Omi province Kaneshi Nomura Kanenori. Back RH = Goshu 江劦. Back LH = Hikone 彦根 saku 作. Front RH = * * *. Front LH = * * * kore 之 No 2 16C - 18C ~ Kaneiye Echizen 越前 ju 住 Myochin 明弥 Yoshihisa 女久saku 作 No 3 c.1820 ~ Bushū ** Tsunemasa 典 * + kao No 4 18C - 19C ~ Akao Akao 赤尾 Jinzaēmon *** - Kado* 門* saku 作 No 5 1840 ~ Nara - Hamano branch Shô/Masa 昌 Nari/Nori/Tada 規 Grev UK

The museum have around 60 Namban tsuba (non signed) and I have selected 7 samples Just showing the best side I know a couple really need some TLC but that life Namban is not everyone’s favourite school It was never a favourite school of mine until I bought two Namban tsuba and thought they were better in hand than I had thought they would be. So not converted but pleasantly surprised and there are two or three here I’d like to own I know lately there has been a great deal of research into Namban tsuba. These tsuba cover quite an important area so can not be overlooked. If any NMB members have examples of really good Namban tsuba then please share especially if any are signed As I said before I not looking for help/advice for these tsuba ( that will be in my next post ) but I’d be interested to know if there are any gems here Grev UK