Ken-Hawaii

Alexey, your photos are quite good for someone new to this field. Please take a few shots of the completely bare blade, including the habaki. For now, we don't need to see anything else. The sugata (shape) will indicate the age, the patterns on the steel (jihada & hamon) will indicate the school, & we can see if the signature (mei) matches with the rest of the blade. Even then, without sending it off to shinsa (Japanese evaluation team), we won't know, for sure, but we'll have lots of opinions. The tsuka has no sign of wear, or body oils, so it's likely modern. Harder to tell on the saya, but probably also modern.

I also have a "singing" Kunimune.

Good guess.

Several of the key images won't show up in any of my 3 browsers, even in Photobucket. But Japanese swords are not signed where this one is, so I doubt it's real. Please go to your Profile & add your first name, so we know how to address you. And welcome to NMB.

I also met him years ago, when he was doing a show in Los Angeles. Very nice & softspoken, even through his translator. As soon as I pcked up one of his blades in shirasaya, he had a big grin, because he knew that I was a sword-swinger.

Got a tsuba from Germany in 4 days. That's fast, too. Awaiting another from the UK, after 10 days.

Les, may I suggest posting photos of your blades? The condition of many blades doesn't warrant spending huge sums, & we can give you opinions on yours. Not sure what you mean by "restoring" blades, as that can range from a polish, to rebuilding koshirae. Bob Benson lives a few miles from me, in Hawaii, & he has done great work on several of my blades, but he isn't inexpensive. Welcome to NMB.

Great work, Chris. My collection is still a hodge-podge, partially in Excel, some i Word, & with photos in Photoshop PSD. Your book is a kickstarter for me!

Nice tsuba,Omar. Good color, & well designed.

Don't exactly have your answer, but he had a Ph.D. & lived from 1921-1969. His interests were focused on Mongolian archaeology and Mongolian, Tibetan and Japanese art.

Some very nice tsuba! Wouldn't it be nice to always be able to zoom in that far?

That may turn out to be the most-expensive $75 you ever spent, Arnel! Welcome to NMB, & an expensive hobby. Please don't try to clean the nakago! I hope it wasn't you, but the dark "crust" provies a lot of information on jidai (age), & should never be messed with. I have a Gendaito with almost exactly the same sugata & yokote placement, so I don't see anything unusual about this blade. Shinshinto Mino.

It's a great show, if it comes back on.

Looks more like Wolfman Jack than a monkey!

Agreed. Have you invested in a few reference books yet, Mark? It's time.

With prints, what is considered as "modern?" Post-WWII? Post-Meiji? I don't have a clue.

I used to make a lot of jewelry as a hobby, & silver is very malleable & easy to work with, as is 18kt gold - unril they are flattened. The molecular structure changes, at that point, & they become much "stiffer."

+1

Blade, tosogu, ukiyo-e, pottery, or what?

I agree with Ian. None of us would be in this field if we were sane - only we could see a treasure in something in such poor shape, & then go turn it into our vision. Great project, Piers!

Thank you, Darcy.

Hopefully, this will satisfy your need for comments, Roger. Enjoy. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4076-heianjo-or-approximation-thereof/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/24584-unusual-kaga-yoshiroheianjo-tsuba/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18119-heianjo-zogan-tsuba-serial-productioninfo/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23059-heianjoyoshiro-tsuba-1/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23060-heianjoyoshiro-tsuba-2/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23087-heianjoyoshiro-tsuba-3/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29818-heianjo-tsuba-or-not/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/22997-heianjo-tsuba-age/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/10831-late-edo-heianjo-copy/

You need to post a price, per Brian's rules, as well as your first name.

Buying from eBay can be a crap-shoot, even for the experienced, Vitt. The more you know, the less likely you'll get a bad deal, but it takes a lot of study to learn what to look for. The koshirae on the tanto is quite nice, but the blade itself is in bad shape, as Ray pointed out. Hit the books for awhile, & your eye will become more discriminating. There are many posts that list good books to get started.

Yes, welcome, Lorraine. There are quite a number of us who are scientists & engineers, so you're in good, if strange, company. There is an NMB section on translation where you can post photos of the mei (signatures), oriented with the point of the blade up. Overall shots of the blade can go into the Nihonto section. Also, please go to your Profile, & enter your first name, so it will appear on every post - saves time typing it each time.