Alex A

Swords and provenance so intertwined, like most art. When a sword meets a certain criteria that all experienced collectors know about, then one way or another it has to have papers, otherwise you wont be able to sell it, simple There are swords that don't need papers, either because its blatantly obvious what they are, low price end, or the owner does not care and is happy with his own assessment and its beauty. Sometimes a questionable sword may come along with such a fantastic old koshirae that makes ownership worth while without papers. Newbies need to gain experience and know what something is worth, with or without papers. This is all about personal opinion and what a collector is willing to live with.

Ian/Paul, your discussion about Bungo Takada and Bizen reminds me of a sword I saw online a while ago, and its short write-up. https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A090819.html As for papers, most of mine are not papered, because I know what they are

Ive had a few blades stuck in shirasaya. With the tsuka stuck, I just put a towel around the blade and gently tap backwards on the bottom of an heavy square table leg, never fails. Obviously, gentle and handle carefully.

Hi Reggie, i was just about to suggest some thin type of oil, but solder is a new one to me.

Limited info available but looks interesting. Could you take some pics of the full blade please, without the habaki, and clear pic of the nakago. Bo-hi suggests a decent blade, long, Kiri yasurime by the looks of it. Ps, in one of the shots there appears to be a bit of rust under the habaki, that needs looking at.

As long as there are no black holes Chris.

I think if you get to study a certain smith for a while and follow values online with sales, you will gradually see why some blades are more expensive than others. Lots of variables as mentioned and some swords more sought after than others. As an example, you may find that a sword with an early mei is cheaper to buy than that of a later mei (Edo period lots of changes to how some smiths signed), no doubt down to the level of skill and experience and the mei that confirms that. Ive seen this with a number of smiths ive looked at. It depends though, you might find one sword on the market by a certain smith and the price is high, then other times when there is three by the same smith on the same site with a significant price difference, this then lets you work out why one is better than the other. Top notch swords with top notch prices are swords where everything is has it should be for that particular smith, without flaws, mei discrepancies, ubu, etc etc..

Great to read and see that they were kept together, keep an eye out for matching Katana fittings Guido

Dwain, and I mean this with respect, if you need to ask you shouldn't be buying it. A purchase should be made confidently, end of, by ones own educated opinion. Dunno why this is in italics, but looks ok

Nice polish too

Nice one Chris, good to see another restored.

Very nice fittings Paul

Hi Dwain. If your happy with what you can see in the images and think its a great deal, that's all that matters

All I will say is you guys should know better.

Thanks Ken. Yes, always a balance from a monetary point of view. Originally, I had plans to restore the koshirae to a satisfactory level as well as have new shirasaya and polish depending on what the blade was like when it turned up. Difficult buying from images, the blade had a few tiny chips that kind of bugged me a little but when the blade turned up it was better than I thought. Il live with the chips because the old polish is actually really good with fine ashi, sometimes when I look at the blade it reminds me of some Kanefusa. I could have saved money and just had shirasaya made, but glad i splashed out a bit more. Goes to show you dont need to spend megabucks to enjoy the hobby. Unusual long saya, but it was made for the blade.

Being bored, as I expect a lot of us are, thought it might be an idea to start a thread about koshirae resurections or anything else regarding conservation or restoration ?. Think we have had a blade thread, but dont remember anything about koshirae. I bought this blade on NMB a good while ago http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26958-kanemasu-tanto-for-sale/?hl=%2Bkanemasu+%2Btanto There was no tsuba, menuki, seppa or kozuka and the ito was missing although there was same (ray skin) of good quality. There was an existing horn kashira which still contained a bit of old brown thread and a basic fuchi. I didnt want to throw lots of money at it, just wanted it to be simple as it once was. Grey did me a good deal on a tosho tsuba and the menuki came from Aoi, Edo and only around £70. Always a labour of love this kind of thing but happy the Kanemasu is back to how I presume...…..once was. I still need a Kozuka by the way, but may have to wait. Would be good to see other projects

Your welcome George, like these kantei when i have the time. Just one other thing I noticed, the position and appearance of the ware, which can be an indicator of Sue-seki due to masame in that location. Difficult to be sure, thanks for the quiz

Thought id kill an hour with this puzzle, it is a strange one. See why folk are saying Soshu and Mino. The only clear picture of the jigane is that of the boshi, clearly see Mokume/Itame. Dificult from pictures but the steel does have that black look which is associated with Sue-seki. The hamon line appears to be in ko.nie and even with better polish im not sure that it would reveal a great amount of activity?. The yasurime awkwardly point towards Mino also. The nakago shape appears to have a soshu influence, Puzzled, blade looks to be made around 1570, punched ana, unsigned, irregular yasurime and with some hada ware thrown in, so not a masterpiece, but a blade made to do its job. Been around in circles with school. I don't think its Shimada or Soshu. Il go Mino, but not mainstream. Ive read of a school named Ganmaku, they worked in both Soshu and Mino den styles, but that would require more research. As always, kantei from pictures is always a fun challenge

George, there are faint yasurime (file marks on nakago), easier for you as you have it in hand, clue maybe

Reading some of the above comments, anyone would think we were paying to use NMB. There are days when i wonder how Brian has the patience to run this site and this thread just comes across as frankly......ungrateful. Whats expected, Brian to monitor noob questions that don't look promising for further discussion and delete them ? Big deal, some clueless person asks a question that seems dumb, well, it will to guys that have been in the hobby for years and years. Folk will look on the internet rather than buy books and no doubt bump into this forum where they are likely hoping someone will help, whats wrong with that ? Not everyone wants to buy books, they just want answers, luckily there are many here that like to help. There are those that can be annoying, but that's just some people. Personally, few things bug me, good old days bull---- and elitism, on every forum though and really puts me off. ..

No, its posts like this that are more likely to kill NMB, chill, forums change as people come and go, sometimes good and sometimes not so good

Shinshinto

Hi Michael, was not my intention to sound harsh. You kind of some up my thoughts in the above sentence, hence my point. The blade has a nice shape, though let down for me by other points, hamon etc I was only referring to the blade, the koshirae is ok. .

I dont see anything outstanding about this blade, only the name. Nothing in this blade you could not find in a blade a quarter the price or less. Horses for courses.

Yes, same as dealing with customs. Just thinking, with a private courier its dealing with just the one person and their vehicle , not a dozen and sorting office/machinery etc. (see youtube disasters). Might be worth it for an expensive sword. Might look into that too.