Peter Bleed

Ford, Thank you for opening an interesting conversation. I look forward to learning a great deal. The old saw we all heard that the brass embellishments on "Onin/Heianjo" tsuba were created with repurposed Chinese coins never struck me as reasonable. But I also just can't believe that brass came to Japan along with firearms. I just have to believe that the whole situation was more complex. I have little 'data to contribute to this discussion, but I checked Kobayashi Ushisaburo's 1922 "Military Industries of Japan" which offers lots of historical details about the modern growth of the Japanese arms industries . . and Japan's 'military/industrial complex". Now obviously, this is not historical period you are directly asking about, but I you may find the following quote of interest. " From ancient times zinc ore has been commonly found in combination of copper and lead ores, but it was not much sought after for the sole reason that its presence was detrimental to the refining of copper and lead. When, as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, there came about a large demand in Japan for zinc, but no way was available to get this stuff in consequence of the disregard of the metal in the past. In the 38th year of Meiji (1905), recourse was had to the exporting of zinc ore to foreign countries in order to import it after being refined there; and since then a large amount of the ore has been exported annually…” This volume also has data on the cost of imports during the early Meiji era. It looks to me like Japan was spending a LOT of dough importing zinc.. Zince was being paid for at the same level as copper and lead, and tin. Again, I think this is a great topic and I hope you will keep pushing it ahead. Peter

Thanks for reminding us, Peter. Dean has long been one of my heroes. Peter

It is easiest to understand this system if you simply remember that thee is no ZERO year. Every year gets a number and when a new era is declared, the REST of that year is "Year 1" . As I recall TAISHO 14 (which is 1925) ran until December 25 (Ho ho ho).. Pistoleros watch this closely because since Nambus are dated with a number and no kanji you occasionally find pistols dated 14.XX. These are RARE Tasiho guns and not to be confused with more common 1939 bangers. Peter

The tee shirt is marked "Wolf" with an interesting variation of the the "o" character. P

Thank you all, especially Steve in Tokyo, for these additional discoveries. I've learn a lot in this adventure. My naive assumption was that a rather nice kozuka on what seemed like a nicely tempered kogatana with a a "naga mei" could be a collectible item. Now, tho, I am seeing this as a tricked out souvenir a mid-Edo period traveler got to remember a weekend to an Onsen along the Tokkaido. Kampai! It is like a commemorative letter opener from Yellowstone Park with a Tiffany's handle. Peter

Ron, You sure know how to organized sword adventures. I'll jealos. when are you - and your crew coming down to visit me? Got plenty of room in Arkansas. I think you have pushed this one as far as it will easily go. I'd guess it might read :"MICHITAKU" but who was he? . . . some kid would hung around his local kajiba before he moved on to a "real career". P

Wow, look at this. We've been here before! http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4404-kozuka-inscription/ P

Thank you Ford and Franco! I suspected this fitting had a Goto look, but I have developed neither the experience nor the library that could support suspicion. With you guidance I have done some digging, learned a bit, and enjoyed sword collecting! I deeply appreciate your help. The NMB certainly worked on this one. Peter

Nagoya stamp, ain't it? P

I see it as KANEMUNE Peter

Dear Friends, Please allow me to beg the help and insights of the Board. This week I acquired a kodzuka - kind of 'out of the woodwork" but not really at the 'undiscovered treasure' level. It is in FAIR condition but it still begs for careful cleaning. Here is the surface and the ura with a signature. . It has nice fine nanako and seems well crafted. I make the signature to be MITSUKATSU with kao. I checked KINKO MEIKAN but I find no listing of a kinko by that name. Am I reading the signature wrong? Or do I need more books? And then there is a rather interesting kogatana. I have not had a lot of experience with fancy signed kogatana, but this one seems pretty nice.I am not sure how to read the mei It has what looks like a panel of very finely cut kanji in the middle. These seem to say right "Oite Noshu something something," left "something something Minamoto KANEYOSHI" Then there are larger kanji above and below that section Top might say something like KANEYUKI, or at least KANEsomething and then bottom might say something like YAMABAYASHI something The small characters look like a swordsmith's name. And there are a couple of Shinto Mino guys who signed that ways. The larger characters look like names, but not swordsmith type names. Can anyone offer suggestions. Thank you! Peter

Thank you Peirs. In looking thru this site, I have had the feeling that I have walked into a "new neighborhood," And that is, course, one of the joys of life in Japan. After a while in Japan you can begin feeling that you know what's going on. But then you take different route home, stop in a new store, or get off at a new train stop and suddenly there is stuff that you hadn't known about. That is, of course, one of the joys of Japan.It is hard to stay bored. Discovering "http://www.japanesew...ui/english.htm" had that kind of impact on me. Wow! I had no idea about the shooting range near Narita. And altho I kind of knocked around the Old Country, I never met anybody who was at all - to my knowledge - interested in tanegashima. And to tell the truth, until about a year ago, I hadn't reallyt been interested in them either. Now I really want to explore how Japan modernized its weaponry during the Bakumatsu/Meiji period. I sure hope that interest doesn't seem divisive.I feel curious rather than argumentative and I certainly don't want to be divisive To me it is just my current and peculiar handle on the topic of traditional Japanese armaments. Is this a great hobby or what? Peter

I asked for advice and I appreciate the responses. that were posted. I have also spent a bit more time exploring Japaneseweapons. Having done that I have to say that I am not sorry for having raised this web sight on this wonderful venue. In fact, I think we ought to go out of our way to encourage the folks behind Japaneseweapons. Yes yes there are factual and editing issues. But these guys are making a effort to communicate with non-Japanese. I expect to follow Japaneseweapons for information on tanegashima because there is not a lot of other information available on that topic. If I want data on copper handled NCO swords, or current dogma on the Gokaden, I'll look for it here on NMB. Peter

I just iscovered http://www.japaneseweapons.com/ This site seems to have both lots of the standard "old" stuff, but there is as well material that I have not seen. Likewise it presents information on modern shooting that I had not seen. And there is a link to what seems to be a weapons discussion board. I found only Nippon-go entries, but I wonder if it might be worth wading in. Has anyone on NMB explored this site? I would appreciate information and advice. Peter

Who was Inoue Sanemasa? Or should we be working on Mr Nakada? Peter

I've seen these before but never in this nice readable condition. I always thought they were simply shop stickers. The ones I recall all seemed to be on black wood saya. The English language PASSED sticker is pretty interesting. It would be very interesting to data these things. Peter

Looks Chinese - and not in a good sense. Peter

Carlo, I just re-read the extended version of you 2009 your articles in the JSSUS NL.WOW! This really and truly is a masterwork. I assume that your presentation in Nihon-go has drawn out some reactions and new information. I sincerely hope that you can and will keep us informed. You really and truly are doing important work. Your audience wishes you well and awaits more contact. All the best! Peter

For heavens sake, "Ontario Archaeology" do NOT start with eBay. Go find the established collectors in your area. Make nice with them, visit them, look at there stuff and pick their brains. Build a network and see real swords. Diving into the eBay pool is not the way to start. Visit the folks you know at the Royal Ontario and look at their stuff.They may not have stuff to sell, but dealing with real people will give you insights into values. And buy some books. Peter Bleed

I see a "Hiro" there, as in "Sadahiro". And I agree that these grooves could be original. Peter

This has been an interesting thread. I happen to have seen - and then corresponded about - the nidai Kunikane that was offered by Aoi-sama at the same general time this sword was on the block. I decided NOT to get involved on that sword but corresponded with the winning bidder after it closed. Recall that it had had old "green papers" but that it would not be guaranteed because it was a "consignment." Obviously a living collector could resubmit a sword to shinsa, but I can easily see where heirs would not do that, and that they would not want to monkey around with returns. They may have wanted - simply - to dump it! Thus the "no guarantee. As the whole world seems to know, big name Kunikanes are all suspicious. Expertise about these smiths also seems pretty thin - at least in Tokyo. Still, in looking at this blade - after a bit of polish improvement and in really nice images, and looking closely at the mei, I am convinced that this sword is VERY GOOD. The fact that the average collector can not predict the assessments of the "Gnomes of Yoyogi" is absolutely true. Still, the fact that a "old origami" is associated with a blade CANNOT be taken as evidence that it is gimei. Ahhh, let's see ...the rule is . . . "buy the sword not the papers" right? Peter

Hey, I need a link to see what we are discussing... P

Recycling and 're-purposing' of fittings seems to have been a reality of the Edo period. Read the stories presented in the book Misui Story which clealry shows that there was a trade in used and old fittings in mid and later Edo times. There must have been a market at the low end for trendy fittings. The most obvious old tsuba that were reused are the so-called "gomoku zogakan" guards that have jumbled of brass bits caked on one or two surfaces. Sometimes these look like nice old tosho guards that had gone out of style and were embellished. It seems to me that many later Heian-jo pieces may have resulted from a comparable process. This tsuba seems to me like a rather generalize iron guard that had stylized Onin or Heian-jo elements added. I would imagine that a trained brass inlayer could start with an old tsuba found at a temple flea marker and produce this in a couple of hours. The guys who did the inlay were unlikely to have been involved in producing the iron planes so re-using finished old tsuba would have been a small step. Peter

I have a volume - a pretty thin one - in Iwate-ken smiths, but it is packed away at the moment. It also turns out that the Nambu-han was not quite the same as modern Iwate-ken. The Nambu folks held property on the east side of what is today Aomori. They did some pretty serious iron mining up there. How old is is blade, Bill? Peter

My efforts at translation have been minimally successful of late, but I think the "Nambu" portion of this mei may refer not to the south side of this mountain, but rather to the fact that it is in the Nambu-han. Way up north... Peter