Marius

I think the reasoning is as follows: 1. Not all naginata had naginata hi (eg. nagamaki). I 2. In naginata with a torii zori the kaeri might have been preserved because the boshi was left intact (actually, I used to have such a naginata naoshi, a sue-Soshu cut down to a rather broad wakizashi) otherwise there is no reason to see it as a former naginata...

Dear All, I used to own a sword, a Shitahara school wakizashi by Hiroshige. It had 1979 Tokubetsu Kicho papers from the NBTHK. I have recently sold it and the buyer (a pal of mine), upon closer examination, has come to the conclusion that the blade is in fact osuriage. He has found what looks like the original mekugi ana close to the tip of the nakago, and I agreed, it looked quite like a plugged hole. I have offered him to take the sword back, but he did like it that way, speculating if this could be a wakizashi cut down from a naginata and not gimei. I have insisted it is osuriage gimei with crap origami, but he thinks the signature might still be original. What do you think - anything in the papers that would support his theory? Attached are some pics.

There is an excellent article by Boris Markhasin and Andy Mancabeli - it deals with the technical and functional side of tekkotsu. You might want to google "Muromachi Period Iron Tsuba & Armor – Similarities in Material, Function and Manufacture"

Dear Yimu, I don't want to be a purist, but it should be "two tsuba" The plural for tsuba is... tsuba :D

My two cents: get a Mac

Bob, no early Akasaka in my collection, unfortunately. But, whatever I do with my nihonto collection, this tanto will stay. Hence, your opinions will only advance my studies. They wil not be used to facilitate selling.

Chris, many thanks Anybody else to agree/disagree? I should have posted better pics, I know, but I don't have them at the moment...

Dear All, I have gone recently through my shrinking nihonto collection (I am moving more into tsuba and need funds to fuel my lust for early Owari), and I have found an interesting tanto (in Higo koshirae). I don't quite know what to make of it. The blade is a hira-zukuri takenoko-zori shape tanto. The forging is tight ko-itame/ko-mokume, hamon is suguha made of bright ko-nie with regular, short ashi. I think I can see bo-utsuri, and it is more visible in the area closer to the hamachi. The tanto seems to have been polished quite a few times, still rather thick, with a ~1/4" (6mm) moto-gasane. At the rsik of making a complete fool of myself, I would say (or my gut-feel would) that this tanto is a: Nagasa: 8 7/8" (22.55 cm) width 7/8" (2,23 mm) motogasane ~1/4" (~6mm) sorry for the pics, if the sword is interesting for you and any more are needed, I'll take them with great pleasure.

No need to look for the picture, here it is...

I don't mean to hijack this thread, just wanted to ask Martin about this splendid sukashi tsuba. I just love Muromachi pieces like this one (I like ko-kinko and tachi kanagushi), any comments on it?

Peter, they are not exactly fakes, just not kozuka BTW, is this a kogatana I see in IMGA0056.JPG ? You might want to make a better picture of this particular item. It looks like a kozuka to me, and a pic would help.

Peter, your pics don't really help, but from what I see (and I don't see much), most of your kozuka look like Meiji souvenirs. I am tempted to guess that IMGA0049.JPG could be the real thing. BTW, "kozuka handle" is not exactly correct Kozuka IS the handle of a kogatana, an accessory knife.

Jason, looking for comment? I am afraid it is a rather tired sword. I see a reshaped kissaki with a broken tip, very rough and bad polish, and the hamon very close to the edge in some parts. Shirasaya was made outside Japan, I presume? Don't want to discourage you, but why did you buy it? Sorry to be so blunt.

Dear Andreas, Many thanks :-) Danke schön :-) PS: I need to focus on tsuba, and I need money for further tsuba books acquistions, so two of the nihonto books here are now for sale.

Dear Grey, that would be very kind, indeed, as I don't have the JSSUS bulletin. I will look up the Compton catallogue, thanks for the tip :-) Dear Craig, thank you for all sources. No need to scan (very kind offer, thank you!) - I will add what I don't already have to my library :-) I will browse the Haynes catalogue and index as well. Thanks, gentlemen, I appreciate your help

Dear All, where should I start trying to learn about this school (if it was a school at all)? I have seen only three or four tsuba described as Ono in Sasano's "Early Japanese Sword Guards. Sukashi Tsuba" and two more in Jim Gilbert's short article here: http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/ono.htm I have recently bought a tsuba said to be Ono. I would like to do some research on Ono. Any hints or clues where to start would be highly appreciated. Thanks for your help

Grey, Craig, All, Thank you ever so much I am rich Now it is time to extract some priceless knowledge from these books :D

Dear All, I have got a few books in my library, I haven't registered in my file upon purchase (BTW, I use Delicious Library - great application!). Could you help me identifying those and, perhaps, give me a clue as to the market value? I know this is an untypical request, but maybe you would help a failed librarian? Book 1 has English description of all tsuba, book 7 has an English index by Alan Bale. Any translations or English indexes would be great, do you know if these books have them? Thanks for your help

Stephan, thanks and sorry, I haven't noticed that. Silly me

Hi, Has anybody read tis book: Japanese Swords: Cultural Icons of a Nation Colin M. Roach Any opinions? Worth buying? It is available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/4805 ... _sbs_03_03 Thanks for your time

Jacques, thanks, not that I am surprised Thanks for the oshigata :-)

Eric, many thanks - the upper pic does not show yasurime, these are lines generated by a crappy scanner. Thanks for posting examples of the mei - could you tell the source?

Dear All, a friend of mine has acquired a katana, the tachi mei reads: Hizen no Kuni Omi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro. It has a shallow sori, a wide yakiba with a gunome midare hamon (albeit very flat gunome, almost suguha) and a very tight nioguchi. Seems to be nioi-deki, but the light was bad when I have habdled it and I had no magnifying glass... Very tight hada, looks indeed like konkuka-hada. I know his pictures of the nakago/mei are terrible, but maybe the Hizen specialists here could tell me if the mei stands any chance of being genuine? If it does, I promise to post pictures of the blade. If not, sorry for bothering you with another gimei Thank you for your help, it will be highly valued

Yimu, First of all, if the sword is so crappy, may I have it for $200, please? I have always needed something to get rid of the weeds in my garden I have an identical tsuba, well actually... two suksashi tsuba with the same motif. The first one has pronounced tekkotsu in the rim andf it is solid and heavy. I have bought this as an Owari early Edo piece. The second one is very delicate and light, no tekkotsu. I think it might be a Kyo-sukashi. You might want to have a look at them: http://gomabashi.blogspot.com/2010/03/t ... tsuba.html Despite the obvious fact that I do not know enough to make any attributions here is a word of caution about attributions in general (read the last comment by Steve): viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8712 Many Forum members share Steve's cautiousness.

Gentlemen, honestly, I do not think the seller in question uses shill bids. His/her items are genuine nihonto and tosogu, sometimes of good or very good quality. The usual pattern of the price skyrocketing in the last minutes is normal. eBay is a huge market and everybody has access to it 24/7. Expecting bargains there is naïve, to say the least. Suspecting a seller, just because his items cannot be bought at a bargain basement price indicates ignorance of eBay, sniping, proxy bidding etc. In plain English - do not expect to buy a $1,000 tsuba for $ 100 just because the first bids do not move the price above $100. You will pay the full price eventually, and if you happen to be stupid enough to pay top $$$$ for a mediocre or bad blade in a late Edo jumbled koshirae just because a few thousand idiots around the globe want to spend their $$$$ to play with a real "samurai sword", then blame yourself, not the seller. And please do not defame people who just sell their stuff both to nihonto collectors and to samurai-obsessed idiots alike. These sellers don't have to be crooks, just because you don't get a super deal. In a global market you will never get one. Having said that - I am in no ways connected to any eBay seller or any dealer, for that matter.