Markus

This motif is referred to as "oxen released to the peach orchard" (桃林放牛図) or "returning horses, releasing oxen" (帰馬放牛). It goes back to the legend when King Wu of Zhou defeated the Yin, he returned the war horses to the place they were taken from and released the oxen, who had carried war material, to the peach orchard. That way, he was demonstrating the population that the war was over, for good, as horses and oxen for war would never be needed again.

Please quote correctly from my books. The Kunimichi (国道) in question has nothing to do with Dewa Daijō Kunimichi (国路) (who just happened to sign with the same characters 国道 in the early years of his career). That's the smith you are looking for: KUNIMICHI (国道), Genroku (元禄, 1688-1704), Iyo – “Yamashiro no Kami Minamoto Kunimichi” (山城守源 国道), he also worked in Yamashiro and carved a chrysanthemum onto his tangs

@Brian All good, thank you! Just not much active online lately. @Blagoy No worries at all. Already had two inquiries about this blade in my inbox when I got up, one saying that the blade is also discussed on NMB and if I could take a look at the differences in descriptions. Well, I think it is quite an interesting blade, so here we are Now my take on this is that regardless of school/maker/blade style, everything earlier than mid-Kamakura is by itself quite rare and special, the more if the blade is ubu. Having such an uncommon style here, plus the fact that it is virtually ubu, brings us right into unicorn territory. So what are we facing here? As Kirill pointed out, maybe an (one-time) homage to an ancient blade style? Or an experiment that turned out to be a dead end in terms of functionality (for a long sword), hence very few produced and even less survived? @Rivkin Point [c] I remember seeing a few uncommon blade styles coming from the Ko-Aoe group (or, more precise, with blades that were attributed to Ko-Aoe), i.e., hira-zukuri and shōbu-zukuri on shorter long swords which were not reworked naginata. So, maybe this "eagerness to experiment" played a role in this attribution. In other words, in case an early blade shows Chūgoku region characteristics and has an odd shape, it might go into the Ko-Aoe drawer. But, I am very much armchairing here. Maybe the hada is not as prominent as one would expect from Ko-Hōki. Would be a nice candidate to see in hand.

I was pointed towards this thread. Checked the listing, and I hope I can clarify a few things: 1 The Jūyō paper states that the nakago is "almost ubu," although they do not point out what was altered (sometimes they add "just tip was cut off" or "slightly machi-okuri" in parenthesis). The paper also says "dates not later than mid-Kamakura" and "no other examples of such a tsukurikomi for the time period in question." 2. Tanobe sensei says in his sayagaki that the blade is ubu, that it does not date later than early Kamakura, and that "such a tsukurikomi is not only rare for this school [Ko-Aoe] but also rarely seen in blades from other provinces around that time." That is, he is playing it safe, not stating that they do not exist at all. 3. Aoi Art dates the blade on their Japanese site to "end of Heian to early Kamakura period" and indeed state ō-suriage. However, this might just be a website template error (or some other copy and paste error) as they write later down for the blade's characteristics that the blade actually does have an ubu-nakago and is thus an extreme rarity.

Thank you very much Ian! I have received a scan of the issue from a friend in Europe who had read this request and who happened to have this issue. I really appreciate your offer to have a staff member of yours scan the copy for me as well!

Not sure if this should go in the General section, but is there anyone who can provide me with a scan of Token Bijutsu No. 239 (12/1976)? That would be very much appreciated, and thank you for your attention!

Thank you Pete, but I got some help, which I am very grateful for Otherwise, this would have been a lecture for 2021 or so.

I was planning to post a transcript and pics on my site to compensate my lack of clarity, just need to find a minute.

While we are on the topic, the Met too has a tsuba which falls into that category. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/28616

I have my troubles reading everything but this is what I got: 真鍮地　無銘 丸形　径弐寸弐分 両◯ 地◯鉄◯厚味一分二厘 文字、◯模様入 右桃山期太刀金具師 稀品也 昭和五十二年十月吉日 鳥越在耶誌 Shinchū-ji, mumei Marugata, kei ni-sun ni-bu Ryō ? Ji ? tetsu ? atsumi ichi-bu ni-rin Moji, ? moyō hairi Migi Momoyama-ki tachi-kanagu-shi kihin nari Shōwa rokujūninen jūgatsu kichijitsu Torigoe Saro shirusu Brass, unsigned Round shape, diameter ~ 6.7 cm Two ? ? iron ? thickness of ~ 3.5 mm. Has a décor of characters and ? pattern. Above described is a rare tachi-kanagu-shi work from the Momoyama era. Written by Torigoe Saro on a lucky day in October of 1977. As for the third line, I would expect something like "two hitsu(ana)" (両櫃), but as Steve pointed out, the characters that appear to be stated there (両家 or 両字), don't make sense.

Hm, I think that this tsuba is actually signed "Matsuyama-jū Shōami Nobutada" (枩山住正阿弥信忠). This would mean that the artist was rather from the Iyo-Shōami than from the Aizu-Shōami group. Nice tsuba BTW.

As I just killed my Facebook, I try to be more helpful again here on the NMB.

As Grey said, Volume 3 should be out at the end of the year. Regarding the quality issues of Volume 2, I rescanned the ENTIRE series with a new scanner (that I bought just for this project) and different parameters etc., what should eliminate that PDF glitch. Just took about 2h hours off each day of my life for a few months, but yeah, we are getting there

Appears to be a "lost in translation" issue I often come across when being approached via "I already ran it through Google translate". Confirming Henry, it is a Bushū (武州) School tsuba with an openwork design (sukashi, 透かし) of the Musashino (武蔵野) motif.

The blade in question is featured in Toyama/Kawashima's book that I had the honor of translating five years ago: https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=kanesada&type= First, the mei, which reads: mei, omote: “Aizu-jū Kanemoto – Kyōsen no toki juryō – Izumi no Kami Kanesada gō” (會津住兼元・京戦之時受領・和泉守兼定号, “Kanemoto from Aizu who received the honorary title Izumi no Kami whilst staying in Kyōto in time of war – [Now] called Kanesada”) mei, ura: “Okada Yasumitsu no tame Yasuhide no okuru ni saku – Kimibanzai – Keiō gan ushidoshi jūgatsu yokka – Hatsu ninodō tameshi Yasuhide” (為岡田安光安秀送作・君萬歳・慶應元丑年十月四日・初二ノ胴試安秀, “Sent on behalf of Okada Yasumitsu to Yasuhide – Long Life for the Sovereign – On the fourth day of the tenth month Keiō one [1865], year of the ox – First test by Yasuhide via a second body cut”) In the description, Kawashima writes that the strength of the chiseling and the rust at the bottom of the chisel strokes suggests that certain parts of the mei were added at different times. He assumes that the initial mei was: "Aizu-jū Kanemoto - Okada Yasumitsu no tame Yasuhide no okuru ni saku – Kimibanzai." No date. We know that the smith went to Kyōto in Bunkyū three (1863) to receive his honorary title Izumi no Kami whereupon he changed his name from Kanemoto to Kanesada at some point in time. Kawashima thinks that the Kyōsen no toki part refers to the Hamaguri Gate Rebellion which took place the year after, i.e., in the seventh month of Bunkyū four (= Genji one, 1864), and when Kanemoto/Kanesada was still in the capital. So, Kanemoto made the blade in Kyōto, likely in the second half of 1864, and had it forwarded to Okada Yasuhide, probably Yasumitsu's son, who later performed his first cutting test with it on the fourth day of the tenth month of Keiō one (1865). Kanemoto was already back in Aizu (he returned some time in Keiō one, 1865) at that time and so the Okadas' asked the smith to add the result of that cutting test, plus the info that he was now named Izumi no Kami Kanesada, to the tang.

Hi George, I've seen it but just returned from SF yesterday. Will get into Mr. Toyama's and my notes on Kanesada XI asap.

Thanks for letting me know George, and sorry about the confusion. Not sure why the docents were referring to nihonto and tosogu at all as Asian Art does not have any of them in their collection. I am actually meeting with one of the Genji curators tomorrow morning because two of our (Arms and Armor Department) swords (both Rai Kunitoshi), an important armor, and several tsuba (one by Umetada Myoju) will be featured in her Kyoto exhibition, starting July this year. So I will let her know that anyone guiding through Genji should be up to date.

The Genji exhibition is indeed stunning but I can reassure you, not a single Nihonto had to leave for it . The exhibition is held by Asian Art and all Nihonto are with our department, which is Arms and Armor. So there are still swords, fittings, armors, and related objects on display in the Arms and Armor galleries.

Thank you Dwain I think the mei reads: 関小治郎兼辰・於江戸造之 Seki Kojirō Kanetoki - Edo ni oite kore o tsukuru "Made by Kojirō Kanetoki from Seki in Edo"

Hi Daniel, I am still trying to find more info on some of the obscure smiths and then have to go through final editing/layout but work has not stopped. Hope to get it out soon as well.

Hi Ron, not an old style kanji but just a different term for "generation", i.e. (世) instead of (代).

The part that Steve pointed out is a wording used by Hon'ami Chōshiki (本阿弥長識, ?-1893) for his sayagaki. It reads: 洛北鷹峰隠士徳友齋光悦九世之劣孫 Rakuhoku Tagamanine inshi Tokyūsai Kōetsu kyūsei no resson. "Ninth generation after Tokuyūsai Kōetsu who had retired to Takagamine located in the north of Kyōto."

The very last part is: 研并記之 kore o togi narabi ni shirushite "polished and recorded this (on the third day of the twelfth month of Taisho two)" And 極月 (gokugetsu, kiwamarizuki) is another term for the twelfth month.

This ensemble of three swords and koshirae parts preserved in the Kiyomizu-dera was designated in its entirety as a juyo-bunkazai in 1981.

What Carlo posted is the one from the Kurama-dera. Regarding the other sword that allegedly belonged to him that is owned by the Kiyomizu-dera, I only have its depiction in the Shuko Jisshu.