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Due to the shape of the nakago-jiri, we should think about Kaga as well. Darani Katsukuni is also known for his sanbonsugi hamon. The third generation was working around Kanbun.

Ah, Morita-san, you are my rescue I need Nakamura´s article on he Tenkyuwari-Kunimune. Can you PM me a scan of the pages 2-13 if you have time. There is no hurry. Thank you very much!

Dear members, I am looking for No.446 of the Japanese Token-Bijutsu magazine. I think it should be the March 1994 issue. If anybody has an archive going back so far, I would be happy because I need an article which is presumably published in this issue. Thank you for your efforts.

John, thanks for the update.

The missing character is "chakushi" (嫡子), meaning "legitimate son" or "heir". I am not aware in which context this stands to the rest of the signature (heir of whom?). Am just about to leave the house, so maybe someone is able to check the connections of Masataka to shed light on this one...

I agree with Ian on this one. I saw a couple of oversized blades (tanto, wakizashi and tachi) which were presented to sumo wrestlers.

経済第一部長: keizai daiichi-buchô (assistant chief of staff, economics) 愛媛縣部長: Ehime-ken buchô (head of Ehime Prefecture) 熊野徳次: Kumano Tokuji (or Yoshitsugu)

Lou, it is not a common day to day phenomenon to stumble over an inscription of chinese proverbs, so it has to be regarded as let´s say "rare". More usual are inscriptions of the sword´s nickname, and much more frequent we find the name of the owner chiselled on the nakago. I can´t say from the pictures of the nakago if your sword is unshortened, so we have basically three possibilities: 1. The owner had him chiselled these proverbs when he ordered the sword. 2. The owner had him chiselled these proverbs on an unsigned sword he owned or obtained at a certain time. 3. The owner had to shorten a blade due to whatever reason and had him chiselled these proverbs on this occasion on the new nakago. I am sure someone can jump in for more possibilties :D

Hi Lou, These are Chinese proverbs about mastering/cultivating onself. The first one reads: 有所恐懼、則不得其正。 Kyôku-suru tokoro areba, sunawachi sono sei o ezu. When you are awestrucked, this hinders you from correct decisions. And the second one reads: 有所忿懥。則不得其正。 Funchi-suru tokoro areba, sunawachi sono sei o ezu. When you are full of rage, this hinders you from correct decisions. [i´m still on holidays without my books, so please forgive any careless mistakes ]

Hi Chris, Please don´t consider this as an offence, just a tip which is dear to me, but I suggest to touch all non-ferrous tsuba and fittings with gloves. It would be a pity if the one or other pieces patina gets damaged through exhausitve touching with bare fingers.

The reading was correct: "Hidenobu" (秀宣) He was a Seki-based smith.

I will be there too. Looking forward to see interesting stuff and - of course - you guys again

I would say, YES I found another Kanenami on bidders: http://www.bidders.co.jp/item/122357332 If he is recorded or not does not matter. There is "Kanenami" written on the tang, and that´s that.

I just have to emphasize Ford´s observations with a double-underline, and I take the liberty to add something for the context. The clerical script (reisho) which was chosen by Natsuo was especially in fashion at that time (from the mid-19c into the Meiji period). It was Ichikawa Bei´an (1779-1858) who gathered and systemized rubbings from Chinese monuments and bronze. He worked for the Toyama fief as well as for the Maeda in Kaga (which is present-day Ishikawa, the neighboring prefecture of Toyama, and Toyama is where my girlfriend works, so that´s maybe brutal off-topic but the explanation why I spent some time with this subject ). So because of this "boom", we find also - frequently would be exaggregated but from time to time - Shinshinto blades with a reisho (or parts in reisho) signature on the tang. BTW: The meaning of the (nostalgic) poem is (maybe Koichi can correct me if wrong): "When I raise my head, I can see the moon from beyond the mountains - and when I then bow down my head, I can recall my home village."

Noooooooo (please imagine flying birds from my house, hearing my cry;)

Well, badly (unaesthetically) shaped kissaki does not mean always Chinese fake. Just stumbled over this one... http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/09127.html (This post does not criticize the sword in question nor does it bear any discussion base for authenticity or not. Just wanted to show.)

Are you referring to the one on the right? The design needs no more refining. It is a dynamic representation of the Musashino motif as its best, interpreted according to the aesthetical principles of iki as expected from the Akasaka school. BTW: I have an identical piece in my collection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iki_(aesthetic_ideal)

Hi Ford, Here are some additional pics from the "Shinsen Kinkô-meikan". I dont want to lean too far out of the window, but I think there is the possibility that your (the very left) mei is a gimei (wow, how politely expressed;) ). My assumptions base on the character for "katsu", because it is too "straight", whereas the moon radical to the left of the shôshin mei is always a bit slanted. And also (力) radical to the very bottom right of the right radical (劵) seems too big. Well, just speculations so far...

Hi Brian, This is a poem of Takarai Kikaku, one of the best pupils of Matsuo Bashô. It was intended for praying for rain, and reads: "Yûdachi ya ta o meguri no kami naraba" (夕立や田を三めぐりの神ならば) "If I was just the god responsible for the evening shower and the fields."

Forgot to mention... In my opinion, the translator did a good job and experience had me shown that at projects of the scope of a "Tsuba, an aesthetic study", it can be hard to hit all the nuances on the head for each sentence and paragraph. But it is very interesting and informative that we are "working" now at exactly those "nuances", and it is always a good thing to leave things not untouched but revise them for an overall improvement. This reminds me of the saying "権威の謬説は一世紀を誤まる", "A wrong theory of an expert leads astray a century".

Hi Ford. For a supplementation to this thread, I checked the Japanese "Tsuba-geijutsu-ron", or rather the chapters on Ônin- and Heianjô-zôgan. In chapter 6 "Heianjô-zôgan tsuba", the corresponding passage reads: "When comparing the shinchû-zôgan of Ônin and Heianjô, we can see that at the former, the decorative elements (i.e. the mon) are produced just via casting (lit. it reads "by putting it into a mould"), whereas the latter show also some additional carvings on the mon." I think I found the corresponding passage in chapter 5 "Ônin-tsuba". Here it reads: The suemon of Ônin-tsuba is different to those of Heianjô-zôgan-tsuba, namely in the way that various casted and differently sized mon are combined and set onto the tsuba (lit. just "combined and set", suete aru 据えてある). But it was just the time when the arrangement and combination of such mon showed a considerable progress. Regarding pieces with ten-zôgan, it is said that this mostly concerns early pieces, but there is no such a chronological discrepancy. Towards the rim, a concentrical linear element is applied, and in between, rows (four at old pieces) of ten-zôgan are inlayed. These dots are small and in relative close formation on older works, but get larger and more sparse as time went on." So the Japanese text does not mention literally that the ten-zôgan elements are cast. Well, I must admit that I don´t have the English version so it is possible that I just don´t got the right passages.

The last time I bought a tsuba at Finesword, they responded as far as I remember after two days. But you can also try to contact them via the site of Choshuya, referring that you try to buy something of their Finesword section.

Hi Vaidas, Thanks for the clarification. It´s always better to know a bit of background for giving an advice. Don´t withhold, this is exactly why this sub-section "Military Swords of Japan" was opened.

On the basis of the sugata (i.e. the shallow sori, the length, and from the position of the signature on the tang I assume it is not [at least not much] suriage), I wouldn´t say Kanbun but somewhere close. This in combination with the accentuated gunome repetitions which allude with much phantasy somewhat to sanbonsugi, I would go for Shitahara, which leads finally - with incorporating the parts of the signature (namely a "Yasuyoshi" [安吉] and the remnants of a 大 which could also be a 太) - to Tôta Yasuyoshi (藤太安吉), who worked around Enpô (1673-1681). Just my 2c so far and maybe far-fetched.