Marius

Oops! That shows that one should not comment on stuff that one has no knowledge about. Better to shut up than talk nonsense I give myself a ban as a punishment.

It is difficult to compare the mei on your pics, but I mus remark that the horimono seems very high quality. Hopefully this indicates that the sword might be genuine. No guarantee, though...

Dear Jean, I could not agree more I was just afraid, knowing the quality of some of your swords, that you would say shingane spots and a softened hamon would disqualify the blade....

Jean, An exquisite topic, thank you, although I am afraid that we have here a caseo f a What exactly ido you see as worn out?

Brian, I think my tsuba has a kozuka-ana not very dissimilar to that Mr. Haynes has drawn. Granted, his is a bit more pointed, but otherwise..

Here is another tsuba with a similar hitsu ana. It is said to be a very early (Kamakura/Nambokucho) yamagane tsuba. Very narrow opening, though still not identical to the one Mr. Haynes has suggested...

Ian, I can hardly believe that you have ever been a beginner Seriously - this forum is an indispensable resource. Thank you all

This is just a bump... after all that Masamune "discussion" and re-opening of a closed thread, I'd like to ask you kindly to determine what period - koto or shinshinto? here are some new pics: http://s1150.photobucket.com/albums/o61 ... shi_tanto/ Please read the description of the pictures if interested. Just for the sake of transparency - I am thinking whether I should keep this tanto or sell it. And I lean towards a sale. Many thanks for your kind help

Chris, please allow me to correct your somewhat romantic and naïve statement. The blade had a nasty looking flaw, an open blister (fukure yabure) perhaps, so someone decided to hide this flaw with an awful, amateurish horimono. The blade has not been given a second life. It has been damaged beyond repair just to sell it to a newbie.

Chip, do I see a hairline crack on the nakago mune (back of the tang)?

Guys, you do not believe that this is limited to Yahoo Japan? Shill bidding is common on eBay and dealers just use it as any other sales tool.

lɯʇɥ˙dılɟ/ʇǝu˙ʌɹǝɥs˙ʍʍʍ//:dʇʇɥ :ǝɹǝɥ punoɟ ǝq oʇ `ɹoʇɐɹǝuǝƃ uʍop-ǝpısdn ǝɔıu ɐ sı sıɥʇ

Grev, do not confuse rust and rust-pitting with good patina. Grab Nobuo Nakahara's "Facts and Fundamentals.." and read about what a good nakago should look like. Well, this one looks like it has been exposed to aggressive red rust. Do not try to read any age from it.

Chip, read this: http://www.jssus.org/nkp/japanese_sword_laws.html quote: "It should be noted that the Torokusho is not a certificate of authenticity; only the length, Sori, number of Mekugi-ana and the Mei (name inscribed) are stated, not whether it's authentic (Shoshin 正真) or false (Gimei 偽銘)."

Gentlemen, Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!

Dear all, am I right that this paper attributes the tsuba to "Owari" without stating the period? Thanks for your help

Grev, If you bought it from "hitendo" on eBay (the nakago picture seems be one of his), you have paid roughly what the sword is worth. Seems like a nice and beefy sword, you should be happy with it.

Gentlemen, does anyone know if there ever was and English Index to Nakamura's Tsuba Shusei? If so, where can I buy it?

Christophe, why do you have this impression? Is it maybe because there seem to be more wakizashi and daito on the market?

@Brian. Thanks Brian, you hit the nail on head, that is exactly what I wanted to say. Sorry, I am in bed today, can hardly move (a painful case of discopathy) and this has temporarily thwarted any attempts to be civil and forced me to show my true nature @ Alex no offense intended, please accept my apologies. You are right, this was cheap, sorry I would gladly introduce you to the principles of Japanese aesthetics, but this would probably take up too much space, so I will let the participants of a discussion here on the NMB speak: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7308 Also this thread is great and on page 7 you will find some book recommendations: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6795 Hope that helps

Late Edo kinko I am afraid that you find its looks interesting precisely because you don't know much about tsuba

Curran, I guess we could say that about most of successful schools - they have been aspired to, imitated, faked etc... Look at Yamakichibei, Nobuie, Kaneie or Goto. The number of cheap knock-offs is astounding. I can also imagine that with Yahoo auctions it is the same story as with eBay - you have to dig for months or years in this heap of crap to find something worthwhile. I have only glanced a few times at Yahoo - whatever is decent in terms of tsuba (and I don't say excellent) costs in excess of JPY 100-150k. For that money, why bother with Yahoo?

Chris, what have you taken? I want some

OK, I will answer myself to an extent: wave at 10 and 5 o'clock - chidori wave at 2 o'clock - sea-waves objects at 9 and 3 o'clock - squid objects at 7 and 12 o'clock - no idea

A friend of mine has asked me about the motives on this tsuba and their symbolic meaning. While it is a easy to identify karigane the wavy stuff and the objects which look like some weights are a mystery. Any ideas?