general_piffle

I really wouldn't have any idea. Perhaps you could enlighten me? What a fascinating character Omura Kaboku was. Someone who certainly did things their own way. I'm so proud to have one of his swords and will certainly look after it with respect. Thank you for having provided so much interesting information about him. I'm intrigued to find out more!

I found the following fascinating and hope you also enjoy it. Having just bought a katana made by Omura Kaboku I thought it best to research him. The more I discovered the more I liked him... Omura Kaboku. Born in Suruga Uegahara the 2nd son of Mori Sukeemon officially he was Shintaro then Jirozaemon then Goroemon and finally Jibuzaemon. Early signatures include 義博Yoshihiro, 義秀Yoshihide and 康英Yasuhide. He studied medicine under Tsunoda Kyuho, and he seems to have started forging swords at an early age. According to legend because he had taken up the study of western medicine and he was not satisfied with the scalpels that were available, so endeavoured to make his own. He was employed as the On-Geka, Lords Surgeon, for the Echigo Takata Matsudaira family serving Mitsunaga, here forged many swords and seems to have had access to the family’s swords. There was a dispute over the succession of this household that finally reached the ears of the Shogun. All were punished according to rank, several of the lords counsellors were ordered to commit seppuku and this branch of the Matsudaira family was abolished. When the time came he walked with his lords procession, as it headed back to Echigo, to the outskirts of Edo, where he knelt beside the kago and asked to be relieved of duty. With his princes’ blessing he now stood beside the roadway, the procession disappearing in the distance, a ronin. At this same time in Edo, Zhu Shunsui a minister of the Ming government was living in exile, working to restore his own government and return to China. He was known as a great scholar and this attracted many learned men to his door. Kaboku is known to have visited him, perhaps he was researching a question of medicine or of ancient literature or perhaps he himself sought to restore his own lord and found in him a kindred spirit. Whatever the circumstance both men soon found themselves in the employ of Mito Komon Mitsukuni. Zhu Shunsui as a scholar working on the Dai Nihon Shi and Kaboku as physician, companion and swordsmith. Now we mentioned that Kaboku was a singular individual, Fukunaga Suiken calls him a first rate eccentric, the tops among swordsmiths. He was an adept at Jujutsu, he studied western medicine, Chinese medicine, as well as the forging techniques of many of the great koto swordsmiths. He must have been very well educated to appeal to Mitsukuni and to be included in his rare group of scholarly friends and advisors. He was a fanatic believer in Shingon sect Buddhism and was by many accounts very much convinced of his own superiority. Add to this the tale that he was enamoured of sleeping in the nude and was known to relieve himself in public in this state. It has been said that he protested the noisy passers-by in his neighbourhood of an early morning, by defecating in the street, in full view. Of course if anyone complained they found he was personal physician to the lord of Mito and the complaints stopped there. It is not clear where he learned sword-making, though some sources suggest it was with Hojoji Saburodayu Masahiro. He made katana and wakizashi in Bizen or Soshu style, itame hada tachi with masame in the shinogi ji. He liked to copy the Dojigiri Yasutsuna a blade which he said he saw often, perhaps during his time in Echigo. The Kantei Dokuhon describes the works as rustic but I personally found the Kaboku blade at the 1997 national Museum exhibit to be one of the more interesting pieces. It had outstanding hada, visible utsuri and a finely cut hi. You’ll find it is item number 283 in the Nihon no Katana catalogue but the photos do not do it justice. His earliest dated work is from Shoho 3 nen, when he was still employed in Echigo. His signatures include: 越後幕下士大村加卜作 Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku tsukuru 作武士大森治部左衛門号大村加卜慰作 saku Bushi Omori Jibuzaemon go Omura Kaboku isaku 越後幕下士大村加卜慰作之　真十五枚甲伏造 Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku isaku kore Shin-jugomai kobuse tsukuru 越後幕下士大村加卜慰作慰作真十五枚甲伏安綱伝 Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku isaku Shin-jugomai Kobuse Yasutsuna den 越後幕下士大村加卜慰指図鍛冶欲聞 九百年来の物語子非鍛冶 Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku i sashizu Tanya yoku hosuru ki kyuhaku-nen kitasu no monogatari ko hi Kaji 常陸国水戸住真珠五枚甲伏鍛大村加卜作 Hitachi (no) Kuni Mito ju Shin-jugomai Kobuse kitau Omura Kaboku saku. Other works date from Kanbun 11 and Empo 4 and 5 this is a rather long span, giving rise to the theory that there may have been a nidai though this remains unproven. If he was twenty years of age say when he debuted as a full fledged swordsmith in Shoho 3 he would have been over 80 when he finally met his end in Genroku 17. As you can see from his mei he seems to have done most of his forging while a young man in Echigo, though he is thought of as a Mito smith (Tsunaishi says Edo). He seemed to stress that he was no swordsmith at all but a samurai making swords for pleasure including the term “isaku” in many of his signatures. This is supported by the fact that Mito employed his students and his job seemed to be Physician or companion to Giko. We can surmise that he was in Edo most of his time while in the employ of Mitsukuni attending upon the lord where he in fact had to spend most of his time. We do know that he forged swords in Mito at the Kyotofuji Temple a rather out of the way spot in relation to the castle town but a Shingon temple with a large following in his time. We know that he forged here because beside the records that tell of his work there, there exits a kusari-gama that he forged for the village headman at whose home he stayed while working at the temple. He was known to be deeply devoted to his Shingon practice, one can imagine him feverishly reciting sutras as the monks burned piles of fuda, chanting along with him and his assistants Boku-O (卜翁) and Boku-yu (卜宥) as they hammered steel into blade. These two were actually the Edo Akasaka smith Shimosaka Kunihiro and the Hachioji Shitahara smith Yamamoto Fujio Yasukuni. Another of Kaboku’s students would style himself as Bando-Taro Boku-Den (卜伝). It is testament to Kaboku’s faith and personality that these men took Buddhist vows to become to his co-workers and officially took the names he bestowed upon them. Incidentally one of Tokugawa Mitsukuni’s reforms was to abolish the practice of laymen shaving their heads when they took Buddhist vows in retirement. One wonders if that policy was influenced by Kaboku in anyway. Kaboku’s works were thought of as wazamono or excellent cutting blades. As a young man it is said he himself cut off the head of an oxen with one of his own blades. This earned him the nickname of Ushikirimaru. On another occasion one of his swords is said to have split a Saotome helmet, and as testament to the fame of this event there is a gimei Kaboku blade with the name “Kabuto-wari” engraved right on the tang. Miura Okiemon Yoshimasa a master of Shin Tamiya Ryu Iaijutsu tested some of Kaboku’s blades on the executed at Mito Akanuma prison. One of his works carries the go of Gyotoku-ken or “sword of meritorious action.” There was also a ho-no-tachi or offertory sword that Kaboku dedicated to the Suwa jinja but sadly this was looted by the occupation army. This author at least is one man who would love to see it if it made it’s way to America. Since his works are rather scarce Kaboku’s greatest contribution might be considered his book Kento Hiho (劍刀秘宝) ; Secret Treasures of The Sword. There were many impressions of this book printed and it is also known as Token Kaji Hiden (刀剣鍛冶秘伝) or Secrets of the Swordsmith. He opens his work with the statement that only four swordsmiths understood the true secret of making a masterpiece; Hoki Yasutsuna, Kamakura Ichimonji Sukezane, O-Sa and himself! He came to this realization “thanks to heaven and the light of the tachi which I myself have forged!” There are some writers who say that Kaboku was not mentally disturbed at all but that pronouncements like the above were not at all welcomed by his contemporaries and that is when people started saying he was crazy. His book is a fascinating treatise on the construction and workmanship found in the great swords of old. He looks at Yasutsuna who was a favorite of his, Masamune, Sadamune, Ichimonji, Nagamitsu, Sukezane, Hosho, Hisakuni, Yoshimitsu, Yoshihiro, Norishige, Gassan, Sa, The Aoe and Mizuta schools as well as others. He focuses on the jigane and construction methods from which he “rediscovered” the secret of Shin Jugo-mai Kobuse construction. A fact he notes on his nakago and his students used the method and also note this on their nakago but just what the details are of this remain unknown. The superiority of his method is widely touted throughout his book by him of course. It is not clear what exactly his New fifteen fold method of kobuse was However his writing drew many to take a second look at the old masterpieces. Suishinshi Masahide was inspired by Kaboku’s book to do his own research and reexamine the methods of the old swordsmiths. Kaboku left the employ of the Mito family in January of 1699, Genroku 12. Some say because he did not get along with his immediate superior the Karo, Nakayama Bizen no Kami, others that his peculiar behavior and egotistical manner was offending too many people and this reached the ears of the lord. House records from 1698, record that his health was failing and it was decided that he be “retired” to Mito. Perhaps he did not wish to leave Edo and be confined to Mito. Whatever the reason the house record notes that he officially asked to resign and left to devote himself to his religious studies on that date. Five years later found him in the far north living in Oshu Nihonmatsu where one night he stood naked in his garden where he was confronted by an assassin. To this day no one knows who the man was nor why he might have been sent to kill Kaboku but his intent was clear enough. Without hesitation Kaboku, who held a mokuroku in Shibukawa-ryu Jujutsu, charged as his attacker charged him. He grabbed his left wrist with his right hand and used his own left arm to block the cut that was descending toward his head. Still clutching his severed left hand in his right he closed with his attacker and thrust the jagged bone into the mans mouth, here he fell upon him and smothered him with the bloody relic. Kaboku then went back into his home, perhaps something the assassin had said struck him, perhaps he understood from his own wounds that he would not survive, it is not clear why but using only the right hand he drew out a tanto and took his own life. A strange end for one of the sword worlds strangest characters. There is no mention of a wife or daughter in the histories but at least one says that Musashi no Kami Yoshikado became his son-in-law and took the name Bokuden.

From reading the posts here and doing a bit more studying online I'm coming to the conclusion that actually - identical to today (so no surprises there) - having a theme as such was and is a personal choice. So some would have a clear theme in mind when briefing a craftsman to dress their sword and others really wouldn't be that bothered. In effect no different to today say if one of us was buying a new car and deliberating over optional extras, metallic or non-metallic paint, matching trim, etc. or simply saying "yep, I want the 2.5 manual 5 door and that's it".

Apologies for yet more newbie questions but the knowledge here is too good to ignore! So I wondered if a shortened nakago would devalue a sword or make it less attractive? Specifically a katana. Part of the mei is still there but just the place and province not the sword maker's signature. I understand that the practice was fairly common to enhance a sword's characteristics at the request of a new owner but was curious to find out what view is today as in what collectors think of such pieces? Thanks. Joel

Thanks for the advice gents. Asking questions here, as well as reading online, and going to see pieces such as they have at the V&A (which I've done several times but am due another visit - thanks for reminding me Geraint!) is all part of the learning for me. Eager but not devoid of reason

Now I've returned what was my first and only Katana to the seller I'm keen to find a replacement. Considering the sword in this link was made exactly 100 years before I was born I'm tempted to go for it. But wondered what some of you experts thought? Especially of the surface anomaly about halfway along the blade as shown in the pictures: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281809220149?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Also I've already taken the advice of this forum and have invested in a copy of The Samurai Sword: A Handbook by John Yumoto. Thanks.

Hi Chris, that's correct. In his defence he's sent the refund before the sword has reached him. So all sorted, thanks.

Thank you for this insight Brian, could you or anyone else make a recommendation as to who could create Koshirae for me? Thanks.

Ray skin yes? From his site he uses genuine whole ray skin not strips or imitation.

Sorry Stephen, too cryptic or I'm too tired but you've lost me?

Ah, thanks Stephen / Jason, wasn't thinking about getting him to polish. Just to create a good quality Tsuka and Saya that I provide the Tsuba, Menuki and Fuchi Kashira for (only because I'd rather mix and match my own from genuine antiques to give my sword my touch if you see what I mean). Thanks.

Dragging this one up as I don't want to start a new thread when I have the same question! I've been thinking about using Mr Lohman to help me with a new saya and fittings, handle, wrapping etc. I'd be supplying early Edo pieces in keeping with the age of the blade so Tsuba, Menuki, etc. Does anyone have any experience of this provider that they can share? Hopefully positive? Thanks. Joel

By how were these elements of a sword's 'furnishings' chosen I'm talking about their design. Say you have a Tsuba with bamboo as the main part of its design do the Menuki and Fuchi Kashira then also follow suit and have bamboo somewhere in their design. Or were choices more random? So you could have (for example) a spider in a web as Menuki, dragons on the Fuchi Kashira and maple leaves on the Tsuba? I'm curious to know the thinking that went into marrying these elements to a sword and what if any continuity there was between them. Thank you. Joel

More good advice. Thanks gents. Joel

Thanks very much for the info! I have the option to return this to the seller so think I might take that route on this occasion and keep looking.

Thank you for the replies gentlemen. Could you shed some light on Shinshinto Loyalist blade? I've just tried Googling but drawn a bit of a blank. Thanks.

Thanks for the welcome John. I've added my name into the signature, wasn't aware of that. If the tang is that rusty does this mean the sword is probably older than circa 1650? Assuming it is authentic of course. I've just taken some more pictures to help give you a better view. I do hope it is genuine! See what you think. Thanks - Joel Would appreciate your views. Thanks.

Hi, this is my first post and also my first Katana. I've added some pictures of the tang, which is pretty rusty but to my untrained eye the rust looks stable, old, and not progressive or active. Although it's made the signature very hard to read fortunately the seller gave me some info about the sword: The blade is signed "Hizen koku ju Tadakuni 肥前国住忠国", shinogi zukuri shape, Edo period ca.1650 era made blade. The signature is barely visible due to rust. The blade is in old polish, no rust, no stain and in excellent condition. There are no nicks and the cutting edge is sharp. The temper-line is suguba with konie active temper pattern and has deep temper at the point. The forging grain is tight itame-hada, no opening, no blister and no forging flaws at all. It is rested in ho-wood shirasaya mountings, no crack and in good condition. It measures 64.5mm cutting edge, 30mm width, 6mm thickness at the notch, 48mm from centre of mekugi to bottom of shirasaya grip and top of habaki, 7mm curvature and 91mm in shirasaya. If anyone here can add any information or insights about this sword I'd be really intrigued to hear. Thank you.