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Thanks Brian! A preview can be found at the descpription page at Lulu.com. Its hidden right under the cover pic. All pictures are from shoshin-mei or at least from reliable sources. But of course I can´t give any guarantees and please dont sue me when buying a piece on the basis of just my book and when then it turns out as gimei when submitted to shinsa. http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/s ... 86801.html

I have been a little absent lately because of working on several projects at the same time. So I apologize for rushing in again for just advertising my latest publication. It is a classical meikan, a signature comparison, namely for sword fittings. It contains about 4,100 pictures of about 2,000 Japanese sword fittings artists. Its purpose is to serve as a reference for the comparison of signatures on sword fittings and is thus practical for both the collector and for antique dealers and auction houses. Thus it can also serve well in the run-up as an aid to see if a signature is promising enough to submit the item to shinsa. For more details on the book and for where to order please take a look at my blog: http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... s-artists/ There is also an eBook version available which should be a very practical aid when comparing signatures spot-on at buying. Thank you all for your attention and Happy Easter to all of you. I am on vacation from tomorrow but around to answer mails until tomorrow morning (European time) and I will be back on April 29th.

Also not sure about the one above "naga". Can be "Mune" (宗) but also "Hide" (栄・榮) is possible although I wasn´t able to find such a Hidenaga in Haynes. As for the right side, it is definitely "Yanagawa-jû" (桺川住) using the older variant of "yana(gi)" (柳).

Its not Mototaka but Motozane (元孚) (H 06004.0) alias Genpu. He succeeded as 2nd gen. Oyama (mostly read as Taizan), was born in 1741, and died in 1830. His go which also appears on the tsuba was Sekijoken (赤城軒). Pretty famous and prolifiic man.

The term mentioned on the sheet is not "Shirotoma" but "Shirokuma" (白熊, also read Hakuyû), the gô of the 2nd gen. Masahide. So the entry says basically just "work of the 2nd Masahide-generation Shirokuma".

Yes, the sword introduced by Honma is today owned by the Tokyo National Museum and a detailed pictures can be found here: http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100465?x=& ... l&century= Incidentally, over the years I came across two or three more swords with the very same nickname.

Although the second "numa" kanji on the right side is signed in an uncommon way and the last one is only half legible, I think the mei is: 小沼庸利・時年七十 "Onuma Tsunetoshi + kaô - jinen nanajû", "made by Onuma Tsunetoshi at the age of 70." But I couldn´t find this artist in Haynes, even after trying the other readings for the character (庸) which are for example "Nobu", "Nori" or "Yasu".

Chris is right. If there is a big name shodai and a "not so big" nidai, it is usually a work of the shodai when the kanteisho does not give any further specification (e.g. in parenthesis).

I have dedicated the Kaga-Kiyomitsu line a chapter in my Nihon-shinto-shi. KagaKiyomitsuSchool.pdf

Sorry for coming back to the topic so late. Just want to mention that if we have to go via larger shipping units and ship then individually, I would be happy to take over the distribution for the EU part (or Europe of course;)

I backtracked the sources. The Toko-taikan says in the Dotanuki Munehiro entry that his family name was "Oyama" but does not mention any signature variants like "Naohiro". The Tosho-zenshu says in the Naohiro entry that his civilian name was "Oyama Hisataro (also read as Jutaro)" and that he also signed with "Munehiro", "Dotanuki", and "Naomitsu". Apart from that it is stated that Naohiro was a student of Naomune who in turn was a student of Suishinshi Masahide but that Munehiro was a direct student of Masahide. The pretty different signature style suggests that they were not the same person, i.e. the meiburi is too different to attribute this to different stages in a career. So maybe they were somehow related. I would love to have some more reference material here so that I might also be able to update the corresponding entries in my Index.

I almost bought that tsuba some years ago! Enjoy it, its a nice one!

Sorry for hijacking this thread and my comment has nothing to do with the blade itself, but did the brush/pen slip here at the one oshigata? Come on Aoi Art, I know you can do better than this.

Nice! There is nothing more elegant than a well-proportioned tanto in suguha.

Peter, you are absolutely right with the ducks and their symbolism but the haiku is not connected to the motif. Bashô tried to encourage his readers to go out and "feel" and "experience" the snow rather than meeting for a stiff snow viewing gathering. Maybe it was the favourite poem of the commissioner of the piece or had some other context.

Thanks a lot Ludolf! Edited my post above.

Hi Peter, The poem is a haiku from Matsuo Bashô and reads: いざ行む雪見尓古ろぶ所まで Iza yukan, yukmi ni korobu, tokoro made. Well, let´s go snow-viewing till we slip and fall. The mei gives me a litte headache. I think it reads "Kishôtei Iehiro + kaô" (其升亭家弘) but "Kishôtei" was the gô of Ôtsuki Mitsuhiro (H 05188.0). So maybe I´m wrong with my reading "Iehiro" or there is also the possibility that we have here an unrecorded early name of Mitsuhiro... mei: "Seiryûken Yoshinori + kaô" 雙龍軒義則

I introduced a blade of the 1st and the 2nd generation in my book Shinto & Shinshinto-kantei Zenshu. Masanori1and2.pdf

Thank you Koichi san for your correction! I was wrongly looking for the characters (分合) whilst (會) is the old one for (会) of course. Problem was that what I found made a bit sense too, otherwise I might had been able to spot my mistake soon. Sorry for the confusion. @Adam: You can find a little info about me on my blog Unfortunately I don´t have the time at the moment as I am leaving in a couple of hours to our NBTHK-EB meeting.

The writing on the armband reads: Na, Shôwa-ku (名、昭和區) - Na(goya), Shôwa Ward Shôei-bungô (松榮分會) - Shôei municipal mergers and dissolution Seems that the man was an officer or staff responsible for one of the many municipal mergers and dissolutions carried out during the former half of the Shôwa era. Shôei was once a district of the Shôwa Ward.

Although not a teppô guy, I think the family name reads "Igawa" (井川) and not "Horikawa" and I think the reading for the characters (重尭) is "Shigetaka". Just to mention before Justin starts his investigation.

@Jamie: Can you provide us with a larger and sharper picture of the mei on the ura side?

The 30% off offer is valid for until Sunday 9th. Please check the link below. http://www.lulu.com/home

Thank you Paul! I don´t want to rush in here just to advertize my books but the 30% off coupon of Lulu.com is now available up to Sunday 9th and there might be some "surprise offers" coming. Please see link below. http://www.lulu.com/home Sorry for my blunt advertising.

Was informed about a new groupon code today. 30 % off only for today! http://www.lulu.com/shop/home.ep