Lee Bray

I think it's just a deep kashira, probably for a tanto. Tanto fittings seem to be more open to differing styles. A quick browse through Aoi art's list of tanto shows several deeper kashira than the standard 'flat' style generally seen on wakizashi and katana. The narrower hitsu-ana would suggest a thinner ito which again is normal on tanto.

There were actual Nihonto on the page that was posted. Four of them at the bottom. All four had had their nakago cleaned to the point of shiny steel so potentially the shop is up to shenanigans and should be treated with caution, although they may have bought them that way. Probably best avoided at the prices offered.

Though not used defensively there is still a chance that the tsuba could be struck. I've purposely broken a couple of cast tsuba and it's very easy to do with a reasonably gentle hammer tap. I've also broken one when adding copper sekigane to it(pictured). Just the force created by the slight expansion of copper inside the tsuba ana caused the plate to break into several pieces. Makes me think that any force transmitted into your blade from either blade to blade/armour contact or even just a wild swing with the blade could break the tsuba. As you can see with my pictured example, such catastrophic failure means the tsuba falls off completely, leaving a large space with loose seppa and habaki. With softer materials, I doubt they would break so completely and I think the core, or seppa dai if you will, will remain intact and keep your tsuka tight and useable.

And yet another, though this one has no papers. http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-osaka-ju-takahashi-nobuhide-gotaiten-sword Same place as the Tadakuni but slants the opposite way. Listed as having hagire so Tsuruta-san does not differentiate between slanted or perpendicular cracks and rightly so.

The hagire can be seen in the sugata picture. I'm guessing it papered when in poor polish so the hagire wasn't visible, then a new polish revealed it.

I use a highly trained Ninja, cunningly disguised as a dog.

Have a chat with Roger...he's invariably at the DTI and knows the out of hours scene and who arranges it.

Carving detail can be obscured by poor patina application. I'm well aware of the porous look of the surface of a cast tsuba but they are generally of a uniform colour/patina whereas this one, to me, shows varying depths of patina under the nakago mune on the first picture. The patchy, thick rust in that area just looks very like poor patina jobs I've attempted before. To me, the surface looks like a result of poor patina rather than the porous look of cast. It may well be cast with a poor patina... Either way, it's rough, no dispute there.

Nobody else thinks it could just be a very poor amateur patina? I don't see any obvious casting marks, just thick layers of the modern 'flash rusting' that hasn't been rubbed down between applications.

It's in a friends collection but if I can, and remember, I will. It's worth mentioning that the the hakobore on my friend's sword was quite rough and had cracks in the steel that the gold inlay could affix to mechanically. The chip in the Morisuke looks quite clean so an inlay might not hold very well.

Battle damage from a wayward sword stand. A friend has a similar period blade with a larger hakobore that ran through the hamon, so fatal. He liked the sword but not the chip so had it filled with gold. Similar to kintsugi but not on the same level. Still clearly a flaw but it 'restores' the lines, so to speak, and who doesn't like gold?

Just went to order a dozen carbon arrows from Florida and shipping came to $85. Time to source them locally which does not bode well...

Thanks, Steve. I'll pass on that info. All the best.

He appears in Slough's, if you have that book. Some good info in this thread - http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/6316-echigo-sadaroku/?hl=sadaroku He made traditional blades and won a competition or two in the early 40's. The star stamp most likely affirms it is traditional. Certainly looks like Sadaroku's signature. He carved very bold kanji...I owned one once and was always impressed with his mei.

Happy New Year, chaps. A friend has inherited some kakejiku from her Grandmother, and would like a translation. I realise it's a lengthy translation so hope I'm not asking too much.

Seppuku with a Shodai Tadayoshi and a silly hat...what dreams are made of...

Looks like a Paul Chen with a rewrap. Hamon, habaki and boshi look very much like Chen work.

Mentioned above, Brian.

Here's some info on your torokusho - http://www.jssus.org/nkp/japanese_sword_laws.html I'd be wary of dealing again with someone who circumvents the rules but that's just my opinion.

You posted your reply in the wrong thread. Yes, I'm thinking it's some sort of prop for the movies or stage, or possibly a late export piece. At 2mm thick, you have to question its utility. Regular tanto are 6-7mm and yoroi-doshi 8-10mm(approximate sizes). The pieces pictured in the thread I linked to display similar thin blades and tsuba-ana which makes me think this is something along those lines.

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/15644-help-with-a-tsuka/?hl=kabuki&do=findComment&comment=164974

Glad that you picked up the sword, Wouter. Interesting back story that I hadn't heard. I'm the chap referenced by Wouter above for those that don't recall the Czech shipping thread. I originally said Kyo-kinko for the tsuba but I'd go with Yoshioka school now. It's great quality but maybe not Goto quality. But definitely wish I'd managed to get the seller to ship it to my place... I think I'd go with Shinto for the sword...and a longshot, but the pics of the nakago remind me of early Hizen work. Here are the original pics from the seller if they help anyone.

Thanks for the information, Wouter, much appreciated. I was in negotiations with the sword owner's friend, for the sake of translation, so perhaps he did not press the matter. I'm not going to pursue the sword so perhaps you would like the owner's contacts with regard to buying the sword yourself? If you're interested, PM me your email so I can send some pics and his contacts.

Wouter, I recently tried to purchase a sword from the Czech Republic which didn't happen because the seller could not ship the item due to the Czech customs laws. This is going to make overseas restoration or selling the sword difficult for you and probably something you need to look into. Hopefully, you'll have better luck than I...and if you do find a way, please let me know.