Markus

Ok, then I will include that in the masterplan. I thought I ask because the first supplement sold in homeopathic numbers what made me think that the first two volumes are maybe enough. I have about 200 new blades around right now which have to be sorted, translated and wrote up. Will be something for late summer/early fall I guess. Thank you for your cooperation so far.

My holiday starts towards the end of the coming week and I have to plan how to rank upcoming projects. I have planned to add another Kantei Supplement with more blades than in the first supplemt (koto, shinto and shinshinto). My aim is to provide a decent reference with this series but I want to ask you first if this is wanted at all. So I would be greatful for a short reply if this series should be continued or not.

I don´t see a "hime" (姫) here. I think the character is just "shin" (臣) shifted to the right because of the mekugi-ana (but maybe I am going blind in my old days;) On the basis of this the mei reads: 應川越臣筧蔵人需 "Kawagoe-shin Kakei Kurondo (or Kurôdo) no motome ni kotae" Made according to the order of the Kawagoe retainer Kakei Kurondo Some months ago I wrote an article on how to read such mei. Please take a look here: http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... ignatures/

As a reference, Ieyasu´s kaô.

To recapitulate: We have quite a decent offer but are still at the hurdle of only 100 copies. As Brian said, with the cancellation ratio in mind, we are far away from the desired fix 150 copies to show up with money at the printer. My royalties are freely negotiable so at least I don´t want to be an additional hurdle in this project if we are just lacking $ 1.000 or so (that means I would refrain from a quarter or even a third of my royalties if it is this which makes it work in the end). I guess now it is the time of the (book) dealers. Brian said in a previous thread "50 or more copies would always sell at sword shows afterwards". Otherwise I fear we will come up magically with 50 participants. And when we have it open that long to get these 50 parties eventually, we will maybe loose 50 at the other end, i.e. of those which were with this project right from the start and lost interest or motivation over the months. In my opinion, everything depends now on getting at least 50 more participants in a reasonable period of time. Only then I think we have reached the point to ask those interested in transferring some real money... PS: I am on our Nihonto Club meeting tomorrow so I might not be able to reply before Sunday evening.

That´s true. As additional info, I add the relevant page from my Nihon-shinto-shi. Nihon-shinto-shi25.pdf

For those interested in then sword prices, please see also my last month´s post on my blog: http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... ed-swords/ And here the link to the Measuring Worth site for those who want to play around with the prices: http://www.measuringworth.com/japancompare/

Interesting find! Thank you for sharing. Look at the price today:

That´s a pity. I will be there on the 22nd and as you can see in our two catalogues, there are always fine and interesting blades to see, hands-on of course. :D How long do you stay in Germany Justin?

Hi Morita-san! Thank you for purchasing my book. The problem with the soejo was for me that they are rather "intangible" and even more rare than the extant origami so I left them out. That means I was not able to find any information about a certain "rule" regarding soejo, if such a rule existed at all, as they were mostly just highly individual notes regarding the blade in question. Also I have no knowledge about a tendency from which Hon´ami appraiser the most soejo are extant. Do you have any article on soejo? If that is the case, I could translate it/them and provide the info on my blog.

The name "Heianjô" for "Kyôto" was in use during all eras. Also Meiji-era and later smiths still used the old name for Kyôto from time to time. But I fear I don´t know who made them by default. I only stumble over some special order pieces by noted swordsmiths or armorers now and then in the net.

But "Heianjô" means just Kyôto, without any indicator of production time.

I am not sure about the last one, maybe "zô" (蔵), but the first three characters read "Heianjô" (平安城). And with this in mind, I think the other mei reads "Yamashiro no Kuni" (山城国).

@Christian: It is basically as Brian suggested. The term "uchidashi" means just "embossing" or "hammered out work", regardless of a sheet is embossed to resemble a same or a menpo. I guess "to make it look like iron" is just an infelicitous wording. Maybe the writer meant that his special skill was to perform an uchidashi which makes the piece look like solid iron.

I have two Yukihisa from Bungo in my index: Yukihisa (行久), Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Bungo – „Hōshū Ōno Yukihisa“ (豊州大野行久), Yukitada school (行忠) Yukihisa (行久), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bungo – „Hōshū Mie-jū Kainomoto Fujiwara Yukihisa“ (豊州三重住甲斐本藤原行久), „Bungo Ōno-jū Kainomoto Fujiwara Yukihisa“ (豊後大野住甲斐本藤原行久), „Fujiwara Yukihisa“ (藤原行久), „Hōshū Takada-jū Fujiwara Yukihisa“ (豊州高田住藤原行久), he beared the first names „Naiki“ (内記) and „Matazaemon“ (又左衛門) and lived in Kainomoto (甲斐本) in Bungo´s Ōno (大野), „Kainomoto“ is also pronounced as „Kaimoto“ and written with the characters (賀井本)

Some additional info from my book "Handbook of Sword Fittings Related Terms": sogetsugi.pdf http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Markus-S ... rkus+sesko

The first line reads "oborogin-ji" and "katachibori" and the date is "spring Showa 36 (1961)". And the inscription on the lid reads "shishi-menuki".

Thank you Brian. Corrected his artistic period from Showa to Meiji.

The term "sanshichinichi" (三七日) has different meanings and does not mean 37 days but three weeks (i.e. 3 times 7 days). First it can refer just to the period of time of three weeks but in this case I think the special Buddhist memorial service is meant held on the 21st day after a persons death (in this respect the term "sanshichinichi" is read "minanoka" or "minanuka"). This special day is connected to the special stages the soul passes after the death according to Buddhism. And in a third context, the term refers also to the 21st day after a person is born. Maybe this sword was made as commemoration of the death of a person in his close vicinity.

It´s Chôryô (張良). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Lian ... ern_Han%29

Some minor corrections: There was a Fujiwara Yoshisada ho worked in Suruga province around Tenmei who made katchushi style tsuba. There was a tsuba craftsman active in the same province who signed with "Nobuie" and who bore the pseudonym "Fuyôtei Ashifû" (扶陽亭葦風, reading according to Haynes). There is a work with the inscription "made at the age of 84". This craftsman lived in Shizuoka in Suruga province and it is said that he died in the early Meiji period aged 105. He worked in iron and made tsuba in maru-gata with kaku-mimi and takabori with eccentric/novel large-patterned designs and tekkotsu.

@David: You can find all the NBTHK presidents at the site of the NBTHK: http://www.touken.or.jp/gaiyou/kaicho.html Your name in question is Hosokawa Moritatsu, the first president depicted at the top left. He was in office from 1948-1970.

That´s true Chris. I also have to change "Sanekuni" to "Masakuni" in my index BTW as I just relied on the "Tôshô-zenshû" where he is listed in the chapter "SA".

You pointed it out, he did not change his "name" but the character(s) for his name. As (幸) is more often read "yuki" than "yoshi", this is an out-ouf-the-context translation without knowing the background of the smith. That means just by seeing the characters (正幸) the reading "Masayuki" is more likely but in this very case, they read "Masayoshi".

Some time ago I announced that there will be an English version of my Nihon-shinto-shi, and well, here we go. :D I quote from the blurb: "This book should bring the reader more near to the no less interesting era of the „New Sword“, the shinto. With the transition to the peaceful Edo period, the Japanese sword experienced considerable changes which are briefly touched in some other sword publications. This book now tries to present the historical and scholastic changes of the shinto in a comprehensive manner. The reader should get an idea about the activities of the Edo-period swordsmiths in all the provinces and how – if at all – they were connected in terms of school or workmanship. The classification based on the traditional gokaden is no longer applicable in shinto times and so a more geographical processing suggests itself. In the beginning we have the large sword centres of Kyoto, Osaka and Edo. Subsequently, all other provinces follow, arranged according to their „significance“ in the sword world and in context with each other to avoid as much as possible big geographical and theoretical jumps." Paperback, 440 pages, b/w pictures, price $75.00. It can be found here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/n ... 72126.html And the eBook version here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/e ... 72130.html Thank you for your attention.