Marius

May I suggest that the admins close this thread? It seems to be going nowhere....

Perhaps another http://www.tachisword.com I am sorry Alex, it but the one above is just hillarious and it is Russian scam. Fortunately, we have some serious Russian collectors here on the board. Of course your chokuto may be 100% genuine. But judging by photographs? Impossible.

Good for you, why do you ask, then?

I think not. This looks an elderly couple, so possibly Joo (尉) and Uba (媼)? Then again, I miss references to a pine, and what does the tiger mean?

Yes. Paulownia wood box. Pleanty of these on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=hanging+scroll+box&_frs=1

Rai Kunimitsu it was! I have eaten the banana, though. Congratulations

That makes as much sense as this kantei with one photograph, or the JP kantei by description, but at least it is fun. So let's do it. Uwe, this is not a critique of your effort. Your pics are great, the threads are fun, but let us not fool ourselves that this has something to do with studying swords. This is just fun and should be treated as such. OK, I know, I am a pompous bore John, I just thought about a sword. Late Kamakura. Now you guess what it was.

I have heard that there are kantei games in Japan where the participants get just a description of the sword and have to make an attribution based on the described characteristics. I think we beat the Japanese with this kantei

Here is the link to Matthew's previous post: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/24593-rcently-aquired-old-tanto-for-id-please/

In Matthew's pics this looks more like a wakizashi. Correction. A tanto, indeed. The cutting edge is 12", which is ~30.5cm.

The blade is only out of polish, the condition seems good. In order to determine age, looking at the shape is the first step. Actually, I will save you my babble, just go here: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/appreciate.html

I hope Richard posts some pics.

Here.

Has anyone seen the incredible pics Richard George has taken of blades? I have seen some, and they are awesome!

I was referring to the gomoku zogan tsuba, which is iron.

17th century? Doubtful. I would say this is a 18th-19th c "tosho" which has been adorned (read "defaced") by the zogan, most likely some time after the tsuba was made. I will give you a tip regarding attribution... Whatever is not obvious, you can attribute to "Shoami". Of course this is pointless, as Shoami is a grab bag. But if you need an attribution for your guards, this is the way to go.

Craig, Please forget the "koshirae". It is pretty obvious that the tsuka does not match your sword. Have the sword polished, put it in a new shirasaya. Keep the mountings as a souvenir.

Josh, Thanks for your comment. I have posted this naginata to show that there are always exceptions in nihonto. Of course, I agree the naginata shown by Alexandr is mid to late Edo. But this does not mean that a pronounced saki zori in a naginata proves it is of a later make. The blade in my photograph is an early Kamakura naginata, displayed among other swords in the Futarasan shirne in Nikko. Attached is the full picture, with the nagaye of this blade. Many early naginata seemed to have a strong curvature. Have a look at the Heiji Monogatarki Emaki (Heiji scroll).

Hi Pablo, The hollyhock mon has nothing to do with Tokugawa. It was often used as a sign of prestige after the demise of the shogunate. What you have here is a sword in Meiji period tachi mountings (koshirae). The blade looks like a real Japanese sword (nihonto). Please do not do anything with this sword - no cleaning whatsoever, or you might damage it and significantly reduce the value. If there is any rust, apply machine oil (no other kind of oil!), but very sparingly. The sword is out of polish, which will make an identification a bit more difficult. Please do not attempt to polish it - only a qualified polisher can do it. Whatever YOU do, you will damage what seems a healthy sword. In order to say more about your acquisition, we would need to see the shape of the bare blade. Do you know how to get it out of the hilt (tsuka)? Here is a guide for you. Please do READ it, BEFORE handling the sword: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/swordcare.pdf and some more of the same kind: https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/care.htm http://weblog.tozando.com/Japanese-sword-mainteance-guide-part-2-how-to-maintain-your-sword/

While I agree with the statetement about the shape, here is a short naginata. Can you say something about it? This is not an attempt to hijack the thread.

Forum search: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/15007-tsuba-by-naoaki-student-of-jirotaro-naokatsu/?hl=%2Bnaoaki+%2Btsuba

Luis, yes, definitely. Please proceed cautiously and don't overdo it. It is too nice a tsuba to allow the patina to be damaged. Here is a thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/12837-restoring-the-sheen-of-iron-tsuba/?hl=%2Brust+%2Bclean+%2Biron+%2Btsuba

A tsuba that would look nice on a koshirae. Simple iron, go stone shape. Interesting mimi. A nice Edo piece reminds me a bit of later Hoan work.

Thanks, Henry, a friend is in Tokyo now, I have sent this to him

Sorry. I have misunderstood you. Stupid me