Teimei

Well done Fred, really nice piece! The european customs can be a huge pain in the xxx, no matter if you want to send or you want to receive something.

Did i missed something here? I´m sorry but i don´t know anything about a meeting, i think you mistook me for someone else. But thanks anyway! :lol:

Nice looking blade, Shinshinto (new new swords 1781–1876), actually many types of armor were worn and used for the entire Edo period, these types of thick tanto would have been quite useful in the right situation. Yes, you´re right they were wearing all kind of armor, you can hide quite an amount of chainmail under a kimono. I think even today this tanto could be useful! Depends on the situation right?

Agree. Nice example with date. What is the thickness at the mune? I have a similar Shimosaka one that came original to a koshirae I bought. Probably c. 1865. The tanto was nice enough that I had a shirasaya made for it and a tsunagi for the koshirae. Surprisingly nicer blade than I expected when I purchased the koshirae. The thickness at the mune is right about 8,1mm near the habaki and tapers to 4,2mm towards the tip.

@ Markus, Brian and Stephen: Thank you for your kind words! Sometimes a nice blade is hidden inside a shabby ol´ shirasaya :lol:

The evaluation paper is from Juho Token Kenkyu-kai, a polisher/dealer in Osaka.

The newest part of my small collection. A Yoroi-doshi(-esque) Tanto from the shinshinto period. Yoroi-doshi means armor piercer like a Misericordia in europe. In the shinshinto period, these kind of Tanto didn´t served a real purpose since nobody was wearing armor any longer, it was just kind of en vogue. It´s stored in an old shirasaya with a silver habaki, the mekugi is of poor quality. signed: Masakage (i think? ) saku dated: 1866 nagasa: 26,9 cm moto-haba: 2,5 cm moto-kasane: 0,81 cm hamon: suguha hada: a mix of masame and itame Any comments are welcome! (don´t be too harsh )

Hi Scott, nice blade you have there. The nakago looks okay could be ubu (or not ), the second mekugi-ana is looking a bit "sloppy". Is it worth getting polished? Mmh... the blade is not heavily damaged, it looks like the hamon goes down the whole sword... If you have the cash and you´re willing to spend some, go for it! Just my 2 cent. Regards

A very wide hamon is a typical feature of late shinto period blades. 200$? Lucky shot!

Thank you very much!

Very interesting indeed. At first glance i thought it was my tsuba!

I don´t think that this theme is uncommon at all. I saw a lot of sword fittings with related themes especially around the later edo period. A lot of well armed librarians and accountants, i suppose. @Curran: I´ve bought nearly every book by Mr. Sesko and they are better in german anyway! :lol:

I didn´t know that shop, thank you for mentioning it.

As a beginner i believe everything that more skilled people are telling me! Unfortunately it´s difficult to buy literature like the kinko meikan in germany, the prices are ridiculous high! Thats why i´m very grateful for any comments. From now on this tsuba is a nineteenth century piece!

Thanks Brian! It´s the best i can afford at the moment, librarians aint gettin paid so well :D

#3 Jurojin Menuki And now to something totally different... An quite uncommon pair of edo period menuki, designed after the walking stick of Jurojin one of the seven gods of luck (Shichi Fukujin) in Japan. They are made of shakudo and yamagane partially patinated and show the smallest engravings i ever seen! I don´t have slightest clue how they´ve done that measurements: menuki #1 62,00mm x 8,00mm menuki #2 60,00mm x 9,00mm

#2 Jingasa Tsuba A quite interesting edo period ito-maki-gata tsuba with the motif of a Japanese helmet. I would be very interested in the meaning of the kao, some suggestions? (please ) measurements: 8,2cm x 8,0cm x 0,4cm decorated with some fine kin-zogan

As a new member, i wanna introduce myself by showing you my little newbie-collection (you can find the first part in the nihonto-section) #1 The inspiration for my username: A large iron sukashi tsuba from the 18th century signed Kishu ju Sadanaga or Teimei. The design is inspired by Japanese woodblock books. I thought that this theme matches me quite good as i´m a librarian by profession. measurements: 8,6cm x 8,6cm x 0,45 cm both hitsu-ana are plugged with shakudo

@ Jean: Thank you very much! Enough sneaking around here unregistered :D @ raven2: Yes, i bought it from hitendo, one of a few respectable sellers on ebay. @ hoanh: Sorry, i took the pictures from the ebay listing. I don´t have the skill or the equipment to make my own pictures, but i stated the origin in the file comment.

# 2 Katana with quite impressive dimensions (it was discussed here before but i cant find the original post :?) A shinshinto blade forged around 1800, stored in old shirasaya with koiguchi-, fuchi- and mekugi-area accented with horn. nagasa: 29-5/8" or 75.3 cm nakago: 10" signed: Sadayoshi Tsukuru Kore (quite sure it´s not Gassan Sadayoshi :lol: ) moto-kasane: 9.4 mm or 3/8" sori: 3-8" hada: itame/mokume hamon: suguha notare-ba

As i´m a new member of this forum, i thought it would be a good start to show you my little newbie-collection. #1 (my very first nihonto) It´s just one of those plain late edo wakizashi, nothing special at all. Stored in old shirasaya with original gilded copper habaki. hamon: hotsure-suguha nagasa: 57,5 cm moto-kasane: 0,5 mm moto-haba: 2,8 cm saki-haba: 1,8 cm