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SteveM

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Everything posted by SteveM

  1. Yes, the same guy as here https://www.touken-world.jp/search-harness/art0005250/ 加州住与三右衛門尉盛定作
  2. These are all entries for various yari, listing the mei and the institution (museum or collection, etc.) where the yari is kept. The first section is "Famed Yari of Literature", the second section is "Various Famous Yari" the third section is "Various Famous Yari (unusually shaped)", then "Various Saya", "Daimyo Procession", "Other", and lastly "Special Display/Exhibit". It would be a bit of work to translate this. Not difficult, just time consuming.
  3. I agree with the above. 囗 (unreadable) feels like the best choice, so the tokorosho feels more accurate than the kantei sho. I don't see how it could be 己. It should be 癸 as everyone mentions, but... somehow, its very far from 癸. It kind of looks like 以 or 北 or... 地 (none of which make sense)
  4. The reading is correct: Bishū Osafune Yoshitsugu I can't find this exact smith when I search for him, but I can find some similar signatures from the 1300s, which feels a bit too old for this sword. No need to insure it. Follow the advice regarding handling and care. Rusty, unpapered wakizashi will have a value in the sub $1000 range. If it is in good condition, and it has authentication papers, its value increases. But it has to be made by a remarkable smith in order for it to start attracting attention.
  5. Here's another Ido Hidetoshi sword made from "Special Steel". It says the steel was developed from research carried out in the steel-producing town of Yasuki in Shimane prefecture. And, as you speculated, it is of the non-rust type, but it seems to be different from the stainless steel blades of the navy. http://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords3/KT324551.htm
  6. 興亜一心満鉄作 昭和癸未 Kōa-isshin mantetsu saku Showa Mizunōto-hitsuji First line refers to the type of sword (made in Manchuria) Second line is the date: 1943 You can find similar swords in the thread here http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/ And there should be many other hits if you do a search for the phrase "Koa-isshin" on this site. Maybe leave out the hyphen to get as many hits as possible. Its a sword that collectors of WW2 memorabilia will find very interesting.
  7. And just to finish this off: The fuchi is signed 政随行齢六十又六 Shōzui (Masayuki) gyōnen 66 It refers to the fuchi maker, Shōzui, who made this item at 66 years old.
  8. Well done. Note it should be 於播州 (Oite Banshū) with the 州 on this one being the same version as the one that Uwe and I mentioned in a thread yesterday. I guess it is more common than I thought. Edit: I suppose it could also possibly be 勝永 or 勝重...all from the same group of smiths.
  9. It's a very unusual variant of 州. I've never seen it before, but I guess it was trendy among a few Sesshū smiths. https://glyphwiki.org/wiki/rui6-e02e See a similar example here (click on the link directly under the picture to expand the picture) http://www2.city.amagasaki.hyogo.jp/bunkazai/sitei/katana_kuniyuki/katana_kuniyuki.html
  10. Sesshū is the province. Osaka. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settsu_Province
  11. 摂州住藤原囗  Sesshū-jū Fujiwara / cut-off The last bit looks like it could be 宗. There should be a two-kanji name after Fujiwara, so I would expect something like 宗澄 (Munezumi).
  12. I think the description: torikabuto (鳥兜) refers to a particular kind of hat. See the attached. The same word is also used for the poisonous plant "wolf's bane", but I think the outline on the tsuba is supposed to resemble the hat. https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%B3%A5%E5%85%9C%E3%83%BB%E9%B3%A5%E7%94%B2-2068340
  13. The name has changed to ”Gendaitō Shokuten". It's open to non-members of the NBTHK, but all sword entries need to be registered, and in order to get registered the sword needs to be made by a licensed sword-maker (I think). Here is the info for 2019 (already finished in April). I guess info on the 2020 event will be available early next year. https://www.touken.or.jp/Portals/0/pdf/gijutsudensyo/2019%E5%B9%B4%E7%8F%BE%E4%BB%A3%E5%88%80%E8%81%B7%E5%B1%95%E9%96%8B%E5%82%AC%E8%A6%81%E9%A0%98.pdf
  14. SteveM

    yari signature

    I agree with the guys in the other thread. I think you are looking at 信屋 (Nobuie).
  15. SteveM

    Help on Tsuba?

    I would never have guessed that. This is completely new to me. Fascinating stuff.
  16. It looks genuine to me. The ray skin is probably the most replaceable part on an antique sword like this, with the wrapping coming in a close second (I wouldn't say this for all koshirae, mind you, but yours I think we can consider the wrapping and the ray skin to be sufficiently damaged as to be replaceable). Anyway, don't spend too much time fretting about the ray skin. You've got what looks to be an antique Japanese sword, and antique Japanese fittings, so the ray skin could be made from recycled Lego pieces and I don't think it would change the outlook for your sword. Anyway, get an expert to look at it close up, if you can, and then you can decide next steps.
  17. Next step would be to try to get it in the hands of someone who is knowledgeable about Japanese blades. We have a few Aussies on the board, so maybe someone is close to you, or, maybe you can arrange to meet at a convenient spot. Or, if there are Japanese sword clubs near you, you should be able to bring your sword there to show the group. If I recall there was at least one Japanese-trained polisher living in Oz, so it might also be possible to send the sword to that person for an appraisal. Beware of amateurs claiming to know how to polish Japanese swords, and self-taught polishers. Nothing ruins a sword like an amateur polish. And amateur polishes have a tendency to be permanently damaging - meaning once the sword has been gound down by an amateur polish, its impossible to bring it back to its beautiful state. The polisher needs to know Japanese steel, the shape the sword should be in, the shape of the tip, the way to handle the hamon, the way to highlight the various activities, etc... And a classically-trained polisher will also know how to handle flaws in the sword, if any. Just making the sword "shiny" is the kiss of death for Japanese swords. Until you show it to an expert, the best thing you can do is avoid touching the blade, keep it lightly coated in a very lightweight oil, and read more on this site about sword care, etc. Learn what you can about Morimitsu. You've got a massive head start with what Bazza showed you (and he's in Melbourne, so maybe he can take a look or help point in the right direction). There are a few smiths who used the name Morimitsu, so maybe you can try narrowing down the field of candidates. Bazza suggests shinto period (from the 1600s), but the way the sword curves up towards the handle makes it look older to me. And that hamon is fairly distinctive so I feel you should be able to make a good guess at which Morimitsu this points to. If the name on the sword is genuine, I would look around the internet to see if I could find any other examples of swords from the same smith. But this takes a bit of practice and patience to weed through the false positives and close-but-not-quite-the-same-smith results that inevitably come back. A polish would cost you a couple thousand bucks, and authentication would cost maybe another thousand after shipping and import/export charges. And that comes with its own pitfalls, especially in Australia as it seems the customs agents there can be fairly capricious in deciding what is an antique. Embarking on that path as a trader, well, you will have to make your own mental calculations of cost/benefit and risk/reward. But I'm intrigued by what I see in the shape and hamon, so I would first see if any collectors around you feel its as interesting as I think it is.
  18. Nice shape. Good-looking sword. Don't worry about damaging the habaki; they are considered, for better or worse, items that are normally replaced every now and again. (Obviously I exclude the very specially-made habaki that have intricate carvings or family crests on them). To me, this looks like a sword that might be worthy of a polish, a replacement habaki, and a new shirasaya. The WW2 fittings are interesting for militaria collectors, but this sword looks to predate WW2 by maybe 500 years, and looks like a true samurai relic. If it were mine, I would consider keeping the WW2 bits separately, and put this sword in a shirasaya - and if the signature is authentic I think I might be foolish enough to even consider getting a proper koshirae made for it.
  19. Signatures on the tsuba and fuchi: 藻柄子 Sōheishi 入道宗典製 Nyūdō Sōten-sei 江州 Kōshū 彦根住 Hikone-jū If the signatures are genuine, I would be tempted to get the tsuba restored (if it can be restored). The sword also looks genuine - that is to say it looks like a real, Japanese sword from what I can see based on the shape. The fittings too, look like real Japanese fittings, and not fake knock-offs. So you are presented with a very common dilemma: enjoy the family inheritance as is, or spend the several thousands of dollars getting the sword and fittings restored, and end up with a healthy Japanese art sword - but that would be an expense that isn't likely to result in an ensemble whose value would exceed the cost of the effort. Anyway, usually the next step is to get an expert to look at the various parts in hand. That should give you more information to help decide what to do. Also, keep your fingers off the sword because fingers and fingerprints only hasten the degradation of the sword. Edit: Robert was faster and more economical with the assessment. If it is a Sōten tsuba, I hope it isn't ruined, and that at least a partial restoration could be made. It certainly looks to be in the style of Sōten. And of course Ray's note is also correct.
  20. Ugh, I was close. In the case of the "classical" name like 五右衛門 (Goemon) or, in this case 助左衛門 (Sukezaemon), the reading for 衛, which traditionally was ゑ (we, or ue) has morphed into just え.
  21. 元禄六歳八月日 守益助左衛門 Genroku 6 nen, Hachigatsu-jitsu, Morimasu(?) Sukēmon Not a 6-year old birthday, but a date of Genroku 6 (1693) The last name of Morimasu is unusual...so I have some slight doubt about that, although I don't see what else it could be.
  22. I agree it sure looks like 伊 On the other side, I think 於㐂 ? (said without much confidence)
  23. Yes, you got most of it. 豊岡住甲斐定俊作(花押) Toyooka-jū Kai Sadatoshi saku Toyooka is a city in present-day Hyōgo prefecture.
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