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templar44

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Everything posted by templar44

  1. Morita San, Deeply appreciated. I am not a WW2 nihonto enthusiast but the price was just too good to pass over. Hopefully it will find a good home. Tony Martin
  2. I believe I have the last two kanji for this signature but the first two are proving difficult. Any help would be appreciated. Most probably a Mino maker. Any info would also be appreciated. These modern smiths are not something I have researched. My head is stuck in the distant past. I think that the last two kanji are MasaChika. The first looks like Maru but does not really match up with province or town names I have access to. Thanks for any assistance, Tony Martin
  3. Thanks Piers. The blade is good and was just hoping this might shed some light as far as pinning down where it was made. Thanks for your effort. Tony Martin
  4. Forgot to sign the post. Tony Martin and Tony Martin for this one :D
  5. The omote is signed "Yukihira saku" which is 99.9 gimei. Unless it is a long lost Hosho smith who is unrecorded. However I think these kanji may have been original. I can not decipher them at all. Any help would be appreciated. I added a photo of the blade for those who wished to see the overall blade. Thanks for your time, Tony Martin
  6. Curran I had a sword kept by Canada customs for longer than usual and got to know some of them quite well as I phoned them every day. Sometimes twice a day. I don't think they realized how squeaky a wheel could get. I think that being a member of the police service in Toronto also helped somewhat. I still have the names of the customs officials somewhere. If you need a hand give me a shout. Tony Martin
  7. Once again I thank everyone who helped. I was not sure how that last kanji would be taken for Tomo but the very reputable dealer from Japan stated it as a variant of Kanetomo but did not give the other version Kanemasu. As a result I could not try and cross reference. I have now found one point in the English (Afu) translation of Nihon To Koza that lists a smith Kanetomo who also used the name or was known as Kanemasu (pg51). This might have been what he was referring to when he gave the translation. Under Kanemasu (Era:1467) I also see three varaints in which this smith is known. It is very interesting. Once again thanks for all the help. Now I am on the right track.
  8. I have put this signature as a variant on Kanetomo. Does anyone see any glaring contradiction. If not can anyone hazard a guess on generation. Thanks in advance, Tony Martin
  9. Thank you very much John. It has been bothering me tremendously. I felt it had to be something like that but could not place it. Tony
  10. Forgot to say I believe the first kanji is Naga although it could also be Cho or Osa. I believe the second is Hide. The third is possibly Michi or To. Thanks again, Tony Martin
  11. I am unsure if I have identified these correctly. The three kanji all seem to match those found in swordsmith names therefore I am having trouble in reading this. i am unsure how it would read when it is all put together. That is of course if I have identified them correctly. Thanks in advance, Tony Martin.
  12. A few more views. Tony Martin
  13. Here are a few pictures. It is 18 3/8 inches long. 13/16 at the hamachi. it is 5/8 of an inch at the yakote. The kissaki is 3/4 of an inch. It has two mekugi one of which is square. There is no men . There is however a small horizontal nick! Gunome shifting to an elongated gunome near the kiss saki. Can't see the detail in the kissaki. There is abundant nie in the valleys of the gunome. I think it is not half bad for a boys sword. Tony Martin
  14. Thanks Chris, I am currently looking at one that I believe is Bizen and koto. Would you know how far back the boys sword practice started. I may be mistaken but I thought the swords were given when the boys came of a certain age. I am wondering if it was done inconsistently in the past and became more popular in the mid to late Edo period. The mounts on the one I am looking at are poor late Edo. Good enough for a young lad but certainly not for a Samurai. Tony Martin.
  15. templar44

    Boys swords

    Are boys swords common and treated in terminology as wakizashi or are they rare and not talked about often because they are rare. I am trying to dig up information on them but it is proving difficult. Were the blades treated as utilitarian or were they well made on average. I have only seen one other and have never seen one for sale that was listed as a boys sword. Obviously the blade speaks for itself regarding quality but I was more curious with regards to the overall practice. Were they often commissioned or were wakizashi used? When was the practice regarding boys swords started? Thanks in advance Tony Martin
  16. Good to know. I was probably being swayed by the fact that I do have a passing interest in Christian influenced Tsuba. Being that it was such a relatively small time frame and unique period in Japanese history I felt I would collect these type of fittings if I did start wandering down the fittings path. Tony Martin
  17. No idea if this is correct but as soon as I looked at it I was reminded of Jesus on the cross with the criminals that were crucified on either side of him. They were crucified on crosses that were not the same as the cross that Jesus had. Perhaps a symbol with hidden Christian meaning. Those who believed in Christ were persecuted so they were very subtle in the way they chose to identify themselves. I am probably way off the mark but as I stated earlier that is the first thing I thought of when I looked at the symbol. Good Luck, Tony Martin As I post this I see Curran has offered a possible solution. His knowledge in this area is far greater than mine so I would bet on his thoughts. I thought I would throw it in anyway.
  18. Barry this project reflects a key line from the film "Last Samurai" ...."too many minds".... Have Marius pick some leaders he knows and trusts and get the show on the road. I am still in for two sets. This post has become far too tedious. Tony Martin
  19. Went through a hassle in February/March 2012. There were several reasons given: 1. The sword I was receiving did not have the Japanese ministry permission to export slip taped to the outside of the package. (Canada Customs) 2. They could not believe a 700 year old sword was not a national treasure. (Canada Customs) 3. Fed Ex was being targeted by customs as part of a roving program by customs and every parcel was being held and checked before being released. (Fed Ex representative reason) Nothing was ever mentioned about the importation of swords and their being weapons. I was on the phone with Canada Customs for two weeks. Every day. I was very agitated especially when they told me it was being held and investigated by some unknown individual. I went through every detail about the handling and car of the sword. That there was no nicks etc.. etc.. prior to shipping. Reiterated the cost of a polish if it were scratched and that it may not polish and the potential cost to them of a 700 year old Norinaga blade that might be ruined if it was polished again. I faxed them all my transactions/ e-mails with the company in Japan that sold me the sword. The sword was released to me with the customs representative starting: 1. He looked after the sword personally and made sure it was not withdrawn from the scabbard and that no one else handled the blade. (I took this at face value) 2. The sword was being released to me because I had been very forthcoming regarding the e-mails and paperwork. As a footnote this particular representative also stated that customs was making a greater effort to crack down on the import export of items of national importance. Now, as a police officer that is familiar with airport trafficking one should realize that criminals do infiltrate private companies in order to set up smuggling rings. Perhaps we should look and see if it is just certain companies that Canada Customs is targeting. They may be a little lax of late in the Human Resource departments and we are paying as a result. If you need any contact info for the Customs investigators I dealt with at Pearson International just e mail me. They all seemed well meaning but they really did not have a clue regarding Nihonto. I even offered to volunteer my time to teach them handling procedure. They were not very receptive even though I pointed out that they did have a responsibility to care for a historical item that they had interfered with and that they evidently were not prepared to deal with. Tony Martin The sword is posted with a few pics on this website. under Norinaga if you care. It was worth every bit of the hassle.
  20. Thanks Jean I am already running down the Soten trail. Tony Martin
  21. Matt I have not been able to find specific details or photos of any signed Toshinori blades. I have seen a few examples of his students but I can not remember what the file marks were. Those on mine are sijukai. Like I said previously who knows. I want a second opinion on the sword. The shinza team did spend some time with the blade as it was the first one up in the morning and I was working the show so I watched how long was spent with the blade. It was between 5-10 minutes. A pretty good chunk of time considering the team went through 220 blades after that. Some barely recieved 30 seconds. Anyway, it still proves nothing. It was a fun experience and perhaps the katana was made by someone with some talent. Tony Martin
  22. Again, thanks to everyone. I put this blade on because i was interested in recent post about a wakizashi with a Bishu osafune mei. There seemed to be a lot of back and forth regarding the signature / age of blade with regards to length of blade. It was the first time I had encountered the small wakizashi length / shindig zukuri shape issue. At one point it went to it being a possible boys sword. The size of my blade is very similar to the other blade and I was curious if the same type of theory's might crop up. I thought the blade may have been earlier but common consensus says no for very valid reasons. Chris I like your positive outlook about a polish because I kind of like this little blade and I hate letting things go without knowing what was really there. I have a katana attributed to Hamabe Toshinori by the NTHK. I know what you mean in your choice. Is the wakizashi similar? Yes in some ways but a polish would really tell the tale. Is the katana Toshinori? I do not get a great deal of opportunity to talk sword talk so I really enjoy this type of exchange. Thanks for your input and if any more is on the way I look forward to it. Thanks again, Tony Martin
  23. I know I have those papers around here somewhere! Hmmmm! Thanks, Tony Martin
  24. Terrific. Thanks guys. Appreciate it very much. Tony Martin
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