Kanenaga

https://www.nihonto.com/ima-aranami/ https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17926/lot/3085/ https://yuhindo.com/imagawa-shizu-meito/

Thanks again to Fred Weissberg, the NORCAL club, and the NBTHK-AB for another great SF show. A little smaller than prior years (as predicted by some here) but very lively. Many lovely things on display with pricetags, including 8 or 10 Juyos and 2 fabulous TokuJus -- and that's just the blades. Big-ticket and low-end items seemed to be moving well, mid-range pieces less so. Special treats were a lecture by Ted Tenold on the history and nature of polishing stones, and the now-becoming-traditional Saturday evening Kanikapila, this year organized by Mas Kawai and featuring Bobby Moderow, ably assisted by Wally Morishige and Yvette Nii. It may be true that the internet is causing shows in general to decline, but this one is still alive and kicking, and great fun. A few photos (hope it's not too many).

Nice haul, were they any swords of note? Nakamura's story doesn't say specifically, but with characteristic Japanese obliquity (I may have just made that word up) suggests "no."

Will you (or someone) have it at the SF show?

The story by Nakamura is in Volume 15 of the KTK books (2019) on pages 6-7. Apparently, Nakamura had the same inclination as you, Peter. He visited Gathof in Louisville and apparently had a good time.

There's an article by Nick Nakamura about going to visit Sgt. Gathof and the swords in Louisville. It's in one of the KTK books -- I'll confirm which one when I get home tonight.

Bob, By any chance, does the blade have an engraved poem? Les

FWIW, I have a shinshinto meikan more katana signed Chikuzen Sa Yasuyoshi (different "yoshi") which has a kanteisho from NTHK, tokubetsu hozon from NBTHK, and Tanobe sayagaki. It's a nice sword. I was told that both Yoshikawa Kentaro sensei and Tanobe sensei were unable to find any reference to this fellow in their libraries. So it is apparently possible.

Here you go, Greg: They must have been made together as a pair. The construction is unusual, practical, not sumptuous but likely special-order. They show a good deal of wear as you can see in the photos. I have no idea what kind of blades they held, but likely not of the highest grade. To me, they represent my limited understanding of the untranslatable term sabi: old, worn, and despite this -- or because of this -- beautiful.

For spectacular Bizen-style utsuri, take a look at the Kagemitsu tachi currently on Darcy's website. https://yuhindo.com/osafune-kagemitsu-tachi/

Just found this thread, very informative, thank you all. Perhaps it can be rejuvenated? Here (better late ...) is a somewhat unusual daisho set of koshirae in handachi style. The saya and all the metal fittings (except menuki) are wrapped in leather. The tsuka has leather instead of same, and the tsuba are nerikawa-ish leather. There is a lot of wear on the kashira and kojiri which has worn away the leather and you can see the underlying metal which is copper. These came from a well-known Japanese dealer who opined "early Edo." I'd love to know if anyone has seen similar koshirae?

Shimizu Jingo take on the crab theme.

Kudos to Mark Jones for putting on another fun show this past weekend, with assistance from Grey Doffin among others. The room was sold out, and there were many nice things to see, handle, and -- well, perhaps to buy. Many swords of course (a few Juyo pieces), lots of fittings, books, kimono, some matchlocks, some Eastern blades. Lots of activity going on. Many familiar faces, some new ones. The weather was weird: warm sunshine on Friday, a snow blizzard on Saturday, but we were all indoors anyway playing with toys. Education-wise the NBTHK-AB put on a hands-on demonstration of fine Yamato blades, and Bobby Block lectured about Horikawa blades. Mark made us feel welcome with a goody-bag on each table (including a band-aid just in case), and a party with food and drink on Friday night. This show is smaller than SF, but I have always enjoyed the ambiance, and have had some success finding "treasures" here. Sorry I have no photos -- perhaps other attendees could chime in with some. Les

You just missed the SF Cherry Blossom Festival (April 13-21) where the NCJSC usually has a roomful of swords, fittings and related stuff on display for the public. The SF Asian Art Museum is located right behind City Hall, and is well worth a visit, though not for its arms and armor display which is miniscule.

Consider bringing it to the next meeting of the Northern California Japanese Sword Club, third Sunday in Feb, 12:30 - 3-ish, Japanese Cultural Center in Japantown, SF. A number of experienced collectors will be happy to give you input about your sword. It's free, and all are welcome to attend. Les

Thanks, guys.

Colleagues, Could I get some assistance with this mei? Thanks, Les

Asking price for the Masayuki daisho at DTI: 80M yen.

Great thread! So..., sabi?? Or just a badly damaged swordfitting?

Many thanks.

Colleagues, Attached is a listing from the NBTHK Juyo shinsa results. I can read one katana, mumei, Aoe. Can someone translate the rest? Thanks. Always grateful for this Board. Les

Many thanks, Wim. My rough count is more than 150 blades, more than 50 kodogu. Seems like quite a lot!

Does someone have the list of blades?

What a wonderful insight! There is nothing to compare. Thank you all!

So, as I feared, the feedback has gone from being a useful metric for both buyers and sellers, it has now been watered down to a useless indicator of nothing. Pity.