Spartancrest

Deer skin tobacco pouch with "tsuba" decoration: https://www.jauce.com/auction/f1145159920

Big fan of tsuba https://www.ebay.com/itm/305594920008

Jake is right the tsuba looks perfectly correct, just a little tired - not surprising when it could easily be three hundred years old. [I won't look that good in that time span - in fact I don't look so good now!] Some variations on the design here- https://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-mumei　warabite/ https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/395382660323 https://www.ebay.com/itm/124607707600 https://yahoo.aleado...uctionID=p1131935208 https://japaneseswor...i-koshirae-complete/ There is one in the Cleveland Museum of Art [possibly by Kaneiye, but his signature was often copied] https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1919.515 https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/156312864300 https://www.ebay.com/itm/285897197391

Highly contagious and no vaccine either! [The only thing to slow the spread is an empty wallet!]

They are all beautiful pieces - I really like the Fuji san one

Probably useful with this bottle of Saké - - https://rakusake.com/product/detail/658 or this 21 year old Shōchū - https://www.jauce.com/auction/t1139222519 Bottoms up! 乾杯

It doesn't mean much but the design turns up under a "Fan tsuba" Google search - it is like a lot of art, all in the interpretation of the observer.

Either way the owner liked the girls!

So close except for the sekigane - the slight difference in size would make a good daisho. Great spotting Peter!

Something for formal attire - https://www.ebay.com/itm/305038903971 The description says Chinese but I think they are modified menuki and therefore Japanese. Do people still wear cufflinks?

https://www.samuraim...samurai-sword-t-372/ I personally think the design is Grape leaves and grapes - the samurai museum has an interesting description on the symbology of the grape: "In Japanese, there is the word Budou (武道) which means martial arts. As Budou (葡萄, grape) has the same pronunciation of this word, it is considered that grape pattern shares some underlying ideas with Bushido (武士道, Japanese chivalry). That is why many Samurai appreciated the grape motif."

https://www.jauce.com/auction/g1144607646

The bulging forehead makes me think it could be Otafuku (?) The profile view on the kozuka doesn't help.

They look like they are based on this design https://www.touken-m...uct/shousai/MEN-2546 but the reverse is not what you would expect. https://www.ebay.ph/itm/256530038696 https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/255378773008

https://www.sothebys...l07680/lot.1040.html

https://www.finarte....-naga-126411?lang=en This has the lower image above. https://www.aoijapan...zen-ju-kinai-saku-3/ https://www.ebay.com/itm/305262181544 https://www.ebay.com/itm/166867412692 https://www.ebay.com/itm/326086720705 https://www.ebay.com/itm/394966059648 https://www.ebay.com/itm/116180403602 [Bloody awful !!!!] https://www.ethnoart..._Kinai_School.html#/ https://www.penn.mus...ctions/object/278050 https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1919.510 AND https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1919.244 Plenty about, some good some not so good.

The Iron guard is not military and is OLD a genuine piece - someone can probably give you a translation if you drop the image over onto the translation forum. The other is what your friend says is a Gunzoku Tsuba and is likely some sort of civil service sword. [I have even heard they may have been 'civil defence' like the home guard but I would have expected many many more examples to have been evident] Bruce Pennington says he has not seen this pattern before in the above thread but I have seen maybe a dozen and owned one myself [which I regret I exchanged for something else]

Thanks very much Clive. I noticed the book is now listed on some other sites - but not very impressed. https://booksdirect....ok_9798331168889.htm RRP $131.00 https://booksdirect....ok_9798331169169.htm RRP $205.11 What a joke with the prices! I will be lucky to sell any at those prices! https://www.magersan...RTICLES-FOR/26872288 more reasonable but who can find them? Really there is no incentive to do books, the middlemen make money from it but that is all. I am not bitching about book sales [I could care less] but about how others are really ripping off the general public.

https://www.aoijapan...hu-hagi-ju-tomohisa/ https://varshavskyco...collection/tsu-0104/ https://sword-auction.com/en/product/19299/af23451-鍔-長州萩住友久作/ https://www.zacke.at...&sd=1&pp=96&pn=2&g=1 https://japaneseswor...oshu-tomohisa-tsuba/ https://www.aoijapan...gi-ju-tomoyosi-saku/ https://japaneseswor...145-choshu-tomohisa/ https://www.aoijapan...aku/#google_vignette https://www.ebay.com/itm/326170894996 https://collections.mfa.org/objects/11328 https://tsubashi.com...tomohisa-daisho-set/ Daisho https://onlineonly.c...9th-century-82/20579 One in a lot of four guards. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of them, There are few more pages of examples on Google. There may be some mistranslations in there, some sites say Tomihisa others say Tomoyoshi [?]

Choshu Hagi Ju Tomohisa Sakunoshin Tomohisa

One on ebay, described as "Tsuba Samurai Sword Guard Leaf Pattern Rectangle" I think the last word has become scrambled it should read "Wrecked-Angle"

https://funbid.com.h....php?aID=c1131547542 Which style of guard are you looking for there are several Mitsutoshi. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/9979 https://ameblo.jp/ha...422-10589586611.html Sorry I must be having a Biden moment - I didn't read the title to this thread but you might find something here

I recently acquired this small Kanji designed guard which the seller describes as meaning "Kotobuki" = longevity. 62 mm x 52 mm x 5 mm slightly dish shaped [Wan-gata] 寿 However if I look up the word Kotobuki I get this image of a Chimera made up of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac and a translation of 寿, "congratulations" is it both or neither? [I hope it is both as in "Congratulations on a long life" ] Could it have been a present to a elderly gentleman? Or was he a Rat-faced old goat with a long scaly neck?

Just found the new book is listed - https://www.barnesan...53?ean=9798331168889 https://www.amazon.c...2C286&sr=1-1-catcorr Other book sites will probably come in within a few days. Check the retail price, who gets the profit? NOT ME!