Eric Santucci

@admins - this thread can be archived now. Many thanks!

Thanks all, it has been a journey with this one. USPS dropped the ball on this one multiple times. In fact shipping status still shows as undelievered even though it was. Airtags arrived the other day and will be used for future shipping. If I use USPS ever again, I will be returning to Registered Mail service, since that is tracked via a secured process. However, Fedex Overnight will likely be the preferred choice now.

Thanks Brian, that is an excellent idea about the AirTag and I will definitely be doing that from now on for future items. Hope to have another update by Tuesday once USPS reopens after the Federal holiday.

Hi all, The special order anti-rust Morimichi sword for the Maeda Family with horimono I had posted for sale was successfully sold this week and shipped on Thurs. Upon shipping via USPS 2-Day Express Mail, the package status stopped updating after leaving the Dulles VA Distribution Center hub on Thurs evening; it had been on its way to a buyer in Norfolk, VA. Reference link: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/45989-for-sale-1938-special-order-maeda-family-sword/ I’ve never had a lost or stolen package via USPS in 25 years of collecting antiques, but appears something is off here. I will be opening an investigation with USPS once their grace period is over. In the meantime, as this is a holiday weekend, I would greatly appreciate if everyone can please keep an eye out on Ebay, forums, etc. in case it was stolen and shows up for sale. This is me being overly cautious. Thanks all and please have a better weekend than me

And finally,…NMB donation $50 sent as promised, thanks all! (Cc @Brian)

Sold

On hold, pending payment

Interesting sword, thanks for posting. I always recommend accessing the auction site directly (in this case Dan Morphy Auctions) instead of Invaluable as you can see bids direct on the auction house site. Fees are typically lower too if you go directly thru the auction house. https://auctions.mor...RINE_-LOT566497.aspx

Greetings Mal, many thanks for these details; this is fantastic information! The relationship with Kanenaga was something that another forum member and I were discussing over messages as well due to the similiarities noted. Very fascinating information and thank you very much for taking the time to post these details and the additional details on the nakago of my sword, I greatly appreciate all of this and enjoyed reading it!

By the way, I will accept reasonable offers on this sword and still uphold free shipping, cover Paypal fees, and donate to the NMB too. Feel free to reach out, just be kind! 😁

I am not aware of the historical details of these experimental steel swords compared to the anti-rust; it is not really my area of expertise, since my focus has always been on traditional pieces. When I purchased it, the hada was described by the dealer selling it as tight ko-itame and it does look as such to me on close observation. I’ve seen Japanese style monosteel blades (e.g. Howard Clark’s L6) give the appearance of fine itame even though it is monosteel. Keep in mind the surface has a lot of scratches, blemishes as well so that can obscure appearance. For most, I would think the appeal of this piece is the history contained within the nakago and the nice looking horimono. It was obviously a very special request by the Maeda family when originally ordered. This may appeal more to militaria collectors rather than Nihonto collectors though.

Horimono - Yamato Damashii” “the soul/spirit of old Japan”.

More pics for here.

Greetings NMB, Cross-posting the sword I have for sale on Ebay here. I’ve actually had fairly good experiences with Ebay transactions recently (which is surprising); albeit this particular piece that been slow moving. I’ve had few, descent Best Offers thru Ebay, but I could not accept due to total fees and taxes charged afterwards. I purchased this sword from a reputable Nihonto dealer that is active on this forum a few years ago and original price paid was $2500+shipping. As such, I am offering this piece well below my purchase price with some additional price incentives when purchased thru the NMB here. -NMB price is $1,800 with Free Shipping -I will cover PayPal fees if you want to pay as a transaction, although Friends and Family is preferred. -Since you are paying here and not Ebay, that means no taxes charged saving you more money. -Upon successful sale I will donate $50 to Brian/NMB. Please PM me for any questions or interest. I’m only shipping within CONUS for this sword. By the way, I do have another rather nice sword (special order Shibata Ka I will be listing here in the months ahead as well). My Ebay sale link (for picture reference, etc.): https://www.ebay.com...r=artemis&media=COPY Description and Details: Special order sword for the Maeda Family made by the Showa period smith Morimichi. This is quite a hefty and imposing sword. It measures 26 and 3/4 inches blade length (nagasa) . At its widest part, it is 1 and 1/4 inches and the width of the mune (spine) at its widest is 1/4 inch. Weight of the blade is 2lbs, 2oz. The kanji on the nakago (tang) states it was made for a member of the Maeda family and it is dated a lucky day in May 1938. It has beautifully accomplished kesho yasuramei (file marks) on the nakago (tang). The sword’s inscription further states it is made with anti-rust steel from Japan Special Steel Co., Ltd. (Nihon Tokushu Hagane Kaisha) Morimichi’s mei (signature) is followed by his engraved kakihan on the nakago (tang). Kakihan are somewhat like a personal symbol that swordsmiths used. The blade has a beautifully executed horimono in kanji of “Yamato Damashii”. This essentially translates to “the soul/spirit of old Japan”. The hada (grain) has the appearance of a finer grain ko-itame and great care is evident in the overall forging process. The hamon is suguha. The shirasaya is made by John Tirado (one of the top makers of Japanese shirasaya in the US) and has a very nice copper habaki covered in a silver foil with pattern. The blade does have blemishes, scratches, and scuffing as shown in the pictures. There are no disceranble flaws (kizu). Comes with beautiful shirasaya bag as pictured.

Readily available online: https://www.rct.uk/collection/62630/field-marshals-sword-gensuito-scabbard-and-case If you are able to find a copy of the following, it is quite informative for those who appreciate Sadakatsu : https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b886-nippon-toh

Incredibly sad to have seen this news today. Like many others, I too exchanged several messages with Darcy over the years and he was always so helpful and forthcoming with his freely shared knowledge. My brother and I met Darcy in person for the first time at the San Fran Token Kai in the early 2000s, which is a great memory. My deepest condolences to all family and friends.

Sugita Yoshiaki. His work was very unique and quite good. Sadly he did indeed pass and it was in 2012.

Hi Wah, Yes, that appears to be the one. Although the pictures you have added are of much higher resolution than what appeared in the auction at the time I saw it and there are additional pictures that were not present as well. It's a beautiful sword and koshirae. I know some folks are not fans of that style of koshirae, but I quite like it. Thank you for posting these pictures - cheers!

There was a Gassan Sadakatsu gensui-to for auction a few years ago that was posted with a starting price well over $100,000 USD (yes, I wrote that correctly). We discussed it here on NMB so there should still be a thread regarding it. To my knowledge it ended without a bidder, but I have no idea if it eventually sold or not privately. It was a complete package having the koshirae, box with hakogaki, documents, the Admiral sword belt, as well as, the provenance associating with the Admiral it was made for. It was a lovely package and the only time I have seen a gensui-to for sale on a mass (public) sale. Gotta love the war-time history of these pieces. As Joe mentioned, Clive's Shigetsugu is a rather excellent example of what came out of that era and shows especially strong provenance. The Sadakatsu above was another great one as well. There have been other blades I've seen lately for sale with indications of big-name war time provenance, but the provenance is not nearly as strong (more hearsay really and you have to take it with a bit of a grain of salt). The Sadaichi sword noted above is nice - as Wah mentioned there is no provenance. However, we do not often see this mei being used, which is why it is a bit rare and why it is likely posted at a larger amount than what we are accustomed to seeing. By the way, I have seen this sword offered before either on the site it is listed now or sometime in the past as I have an archived picture of it. Regarding the TH papers, there are many WWII Gassan era blades achieving TH status now. This is probably the 4th or 5th I have seen achieve it, although most of those were Sadakatsu.

The Evangelion pieces may be forged with great care by the top smiths in Japan now and be aesthetically pleasing (to some, but surely not all); however, the base subject design of a majority of the pieces are overtly science fiction and pure fantasy. I would find it hard to believe that someone would seriously wield many of those weapons due to their size and configuration (refer to the giant spear for instance). Furthermore, it is quite easy to extrapolate that this exhibit was done in order to increase awareness of both modern and historical nihonto culture to the masses. I have read numerous articles over the years about how the younger population had not been taking interest in nihonto, the collector and enthusiast base has been growing “older” – on this very board the same has been postulated for quite some time as well . What better way to attract attention to this situation then to draw in a younger crowd with the fantasy-inspired pieces they have come to love in the anime universe? It is a great marketing tool and it provides an opportunity to showcase actual historically based nihonto as well. After all, the exhibit did mention they showcased antique nihonto as well and not just the Evangelion pieces. I’ve read on The Japanese Sword Facebook page that similar exhibits have had recent success drawing in a new, younger, female-based interest in nihonto as well. I think that is highly encouraging and wonderful news. I think this Gassan sword is very intriguing. Obviously manga and anime didn’t exist in 1843, so I am sure this particular Gassan sword was forged in this manner for a specific reason. The blade was forged by a smith of some significance back in the day and he is equally considered of some importance in our modern times as well. It was probably not meant to be a weapon used on a daily basis based on its configuration. It appears to be an homage to a crescent moon. Perhaps a special order, a dedication of some sort? Maybe someone simply dared Sadakichi-san to forge a highly curved, strangely looking sword to test his skill? I don’t know the answers, but my personal viewpoint from the beginning is that it is fascinating (to me at least) to understand the historical context of this piece – and any piece – that deviates from the norm to understand what might have been going through the smith’s mind when they forged this. So whether we think it is good, bad, ugly, unique, or interesting, the fact we are all talking about it so much 173 years later is a further testament to the sword. Awareness, education, interest…and some good conversation.

I am not familiar with Japanese manga or anime in any great detail, but several years ago there was an Evangelion series Japanese sword exhibit that saw traditional craftsmen forging swords and other items that matched the fantasy pieces from the series. The resulting exhibit catalogue is quite interesting and surprising given the typical traditionalist view of swords as opposed to the fantasy pieces out there. In any case, this Gassan sword (made in 1843) predates manga, so perhaps someone took some inspiration from examples similar to this sword along the way in history.

I agree that it is "interesting". This example is one of the things that I always find to be fascinating about nihonto in general regardless of whether it is considered a tasteful design or not (different strokes for different folks). I like to look at objects like this conceptually to understand why it was made this way and for what purpose. And that concept tends to extend to many forms of art and science as well. As one well-known nihonto dealer said to me a few years ago when I asked a similar question about a style both of us have never seen before he replied to me "I have learned one thing in my 35+ years with Japanese swords, that is there is always something new to be seen. We never see it all."

Update: I just confirmed directly with the dealer on the price and it is definitely not 695,000 JPY. I don't feel comfortable listing the quoted price, but think of a number that is a multiple of 695,000 JPY...and then add some additional Yen to that. I wonder why the 695,000 JPY price was listed in the bank rate section? Clearly other items have their price referenced in that section too as pointed out by others. Interesting there is a discrepancy...

Interesting, I see what you are saying. It is strange they would request that someone contacts them for pricing, but then indirectly lists the price in the loan detail section referenced against the percentage.

Hi, The section referencing the 695,000 JPY mentions a bank loan fee among other payment methods and is not the asking price. You need to contact the dealer directly to request the price in this case - if you look at the section referencing the actual price, it says to please consult them (by email or phone). Very interesting piece and thanks for posting it!