Hoshi

I'd have never guessed. I associate Ayanokoji with Sadatoshi, which generally displays a finer hada, ko-nie, and profuse nijuba. These are also traits of Sanjo/Gojo. I think you style of photo really brings out the traits, but on the downside it makes work seem much rougher than they really are. I was also unsure about the hazy white upper portion, whether it was utsuri, or something else. Those tobiyaki all over the place, the irregular nie and relatively coarse nie and hada, the bright contract with the ha, these attributes bring me elsewhere. Utsuri (if this is utsuri) rules it out though. I went through the records and found some Ayanokoji work (although, in the minority) with tobiyaki drawn in the Oshigata. So much to learn. An enriching experience all in all.

Thanks for posting this. Interesting blade. Tobiyaki, irregular nie clusters and incrustations, nioiguchi with violent fluctuations, I would put it squarely into muromachi, Sue-Soshu. Clearly harkens back to Hiromitsu/Akihiro, offshoot later branch. My guess is Shimada.

Weight and balance were not really a factor since the end of the Muromachi period. Occasionally you'll find massive iron tsuba for Nanbokucho slashers. Sturdy and relatively thin was the goal back in the days, for added protection. You'll also find rawhide tsubas that have been lacquered for waterproofing. These were made and used with functionality in mind. In Higo you'll find remnant of this function-first philosophy.

Pretty much slam-dunk Kanemoto school. The Sanbonsugi pattern is highly regular with sharp peaks, at the same time is looks well made and high-quality. I would put it a generation or two after Magoroku. Likely 1570-1600.

I am not certain this qualifies as Nijuba, it seems you have here two structures: a finer nioi-based ha, with a coarser ara-nie based structure above it. In my experience Nijuba has a similar structure to the habuchi (i.e if it is nie-based, the nijuba is nie-based) - but these are technicalities beyond my expertise.

Hi Giulio, There is indeed Nijuba drawn in the Oshigata. See section below. Hope this helps!

Hi Gulio and welcome. This is a patch of clustered ara-nie with a tendency towards nie kuzure. These form large crystals of standing-out nie that are discernible easily to the naked eye. What's occurring here is that the hardening process fluctuates between nie and nioi, with unevenness in the expression, density, and size of the nie crystals. This can be due to either materials being unevenly mixed, or to the quenching temperature differential between slightly different between sections of the blade. The ara-nie of smiths such as Shizu Kaneuji is a valuable kantei point, and considered a positive trait and deliberate (i.e. reflecting the smith's intention). Ara-nie has a strong presence in the mino tradition, and later in Shinto (which was inherited from Mino, broadly speaking). As you move away from Kaneuji, Ara-nie is considered more accidental than deliberate. Hotsure appears as fraying threads of fine nie crystals, typically a trait of Yamato-den. Nijuba you'll fine as a parallel repetitions of the nioiguchi, typically on early Bizen tachi and Yamashiro work more generally. Hope this helps, good luck in your study. Don't hesitate should have any questions.

Very typically Mino. You have distinctive and sharp gunome elements, which evokes the Kanemoto School although without the three-peak pattern. The masame in the ha with sunagashi and intertwined nie comes from Yamato and harkens back to Kaneuji settling in Mino. I would situate it between Koto Naoe Shizu and Muromachi Kanemoto, as it fits well in between as a transitional piece. Early-to-mid Muromachi Mino.

From the shape: Nanbokucho, Momoyama or Shinshinto. Now elimination begins: From the Boshi: Ichimai with long kaeri. Koto: Go/Sa school. Momoyama: Yasutsugu, Horikawa school, Shinkai. Hamon: angular (box-like) choji in nioi-deki with profuse tobiyaki, long ashi. No direct koto hit. Hadori is a little hard and follows a notare pattern while the work is executed with angular ups and down. Hada: standing out itame with nie and chikei. Soshu vibe to it. The combination of the boshi stucture, jihada and choji doesn't fit neatly in any obvious Koto box. The work feels one level above shinshinto. Condition: There is either a slight machi-okuri, or none at all. This points to a sword made with nanbokucho sugata in later period length. It is probably ubu, with a second mekugi ana added either to fit a new koshirae or done at the same time the signature was erased to appear koto. Near the Nakago, the hamon begins in a shinto-like fashion. All of this leads me to a Momoyama period smith. Out of these, The Horikawa and Yasutsugu school were some of the most prolific. They have some work compatible with the shape of the boshi, hada and box-like choji. There is a certain koto renaissance inspiration to the work with mix-and-match of the five gokaden. The sword is well executed with a lot of jinie and active hamon which feels slighlty contrived, something with you often see in these koto revival work. This brings me far from my area of focus, but I'll bite: Idea 1: Iga no Kami Kinmichi Idea 2: Yasutsugu

It has the typical shape of a Kanbun shinto piece. The Shinogi is a little wide, but such pieces do exist. Based on the photos, Kissaki has some geometry issues and appears to have been severely re-worked. I can't see the boshi clearly but it appears to run-off on the photo. However, your Oshigata tells a different story: The boshi speaks against Shinto (it has wavy elements, Shinto generally have a continuous straight boshi). The hamon you've drawn also speaks somewhat against Shinto, it appears there is Nijuba (double hamons) and other types of interesting activity (Hataraki) near the Tang. In addition to Nijuba, I see you've drawn some Tobiyaki (floating dots of hardened steel) which are also a trait of some Koto schools. If your drawing is accurate, it's not trivial to conclude what it is. While the shape speaks strongly for the Kanbun period, your oshigata tells a somewhat different story. Good work there trying to understand and illustrate your sword visually, I wish this was a more common practice - and probably one of the best educational tool to truly "get" a sword. Hope this helps.

While I knew that the logo of Mitsubishi had a deep historical footprint in Daimyo history as a Kamon. Little did I know that the Mercedes-Benz was once a Daimyo clan. It all comes together now Jokes aside it's looks to me like an honest Edo period koshirae with a consistent and well executed formal theme.

Sold and upgraded along the way. Same rule here: buy one, sell one, keep the count low and the quality high. Tastes evolve over time, and what was once interesting turns less interesting as one's tastes matures and learns more along the journey.

Lovely argument and very true. Set a time horizon and abide to it. Reselling and upgrading is part of the fun also, and not too difficult as long as you set yourself to a few blades at the time. I saw this one and I thought it was fine piece for the price, I do not know if this was a kirikomi or just a flaw. I like Kirikomi, so these tend to be neutral (or a positive) to me. In any case it's the best place to have a flaw, in the mune. Often one can negotiate a little off the price, depending on the dealer's belief about opportunity cost of providing the discount. This is where investigation becomes interesting. Some dealers add provenance because of a mon on a koshirae (which is very weak as an argument) - most often, there is some other evidence, such as writing on an old sayagaki, ranging from weak to strong. In any case, these need to be investigated carefully, and sometimes one can find absolutely stellar stories behind a sword. Like here. Few things are more rewarding in the hobby! The level of photography precludes any strong conclusions, and this is the case with 95% of dealer photos unfortunately. I have someone in Japan who is highly trustworthy and quite exceptional at taking videos and inspecting blades which are candidate for acquisition, his name is Ohira and he speaks excellent english (info@shoubudou.co.jp). Highly recommended. Agree! Issaku Koshirae is where it's at. I would however object about "none of these" - The Nubukini tanto koshirae linked here, and perhaps the Naoe Shizu Koshirae (needs better photo) have collectible value in and for themselves. Some simple mon-based designs with fine nanako and consistent presentation are attractive and collectible like here. At the highest level one can find things like this sublime Ikkin issaku here. Most often, these get separated to extract an extra million yen or so. Best protection against this practice is the mention of the koshirae on the Juyo paper (Some examples here.)

Indeed, I did raise the cost factor - but the reality for most of us is that one purchase down the line leads to another. That’s one of the main reason that patience is the king of virtue in the hobby. It’s wiser to wait, study, and buy one wonderful piece than to scatter into many lesser ones. Grow your bonsai garden. For the cost of two mid grade Shinto blade, you could get a Koto piece with period koshirae, some putatively interesting provenance. That’s a qualitative jump.

Here is an example of something good to aim for: https://aoyamafudo.co.jp/product_en/1134/ -Naoe Shizu, an upper tier school of the late Koto period. -Real Koshirae (not some cobbled-up mess for westerners) -Some interesting history of ownership which can open up interesting discoveries.

Big no. Wouldn't touch any of these with a ten foot pole. Be careful with Shinto, the slightest flaw, suriage, machi-okuri, or worst offender - mumei, will squash the value of these blades. If you do opt for a mumei shinto/shinshinto blade, wait for a big badass name as attribution on the paper - it probably won't be that guy, but it at least says "it's a great blade". You can get a Naotane, Horikawa, etc, this way. The thing is at the starting stage of your journey, you don't even know what to like. If you want something for your budget which is nice and priced for fast clearance, go to the least traveled roads. And I don't mean dumpster diving on YJP! either. Go the the little guys without a big western audience. For example: https://tokka.biz/sword/ietsugu2.html https://tokka.biz/sword/suesa3.html https://tokka.biz/sword/nobukuni5.html https://tokka.biz/sword/tsunahiro3.html https://tokka.biz/sword/aoe2.html https://tokka.biz/sword/sadatsuna.html This dealer specializes in buying lowest and selling low within the 8-10K range. Just refresh frequently enough and inevitably you'll find a nice Aoe, Sue-Sa, Nobukuni, Bizen, Naotsuna school, etc, with once in a blue moon a real koshirae (not made up stuff! For example: how cute is that?). Aim for pre-muromachi if you can. Much more forgiving period in terms of condition and you don't need a microscope and a PhD in Nihonto to avoid getting burned. Once you find one you like, just don't hold the tire kicker and ask a million questions. PM someone knowledgeable if you feel like it, and just buy it. Just arm yourself with patience and good counsel. Avoid Facebook-Sensei, and especially the type of Sensei that want to sell you their secret blades. Another great way to find a good blade is to look at the forum offerings, sometimes you'll find great things here. The better path is to invest into a ticket to Japan for 2022 when the country finally opens up, and good look at treasures there. Train your eye, learn what you like, build you war chest and prepare the fertile soil to grow your bonzai garden (a lot in common between bonzai and nihonto).

The mega yari's were most often shrine offering. They were sized to be wielded by the Kami. You'll find a similar thing with massive O-dachi that no human could possibly handle.

Congrats. TH for tosogu is a lot harder than for swords (where it's a checklist, more or less). I think in the case of this fine work it was an easy pass. The Battle Royal for Tosogu is at Juyo, it's even harder than for swords (and arguably, a little bit more luck involved). Teruaki doesn't have any work at Juyo: it's all first Masayoshi, then Masatsune and Masaaki accounting for 90%, with a few Koreyoshi and Koretsune, and a few later students here and there. Some contemporary of Teruaki too. I wouldn't rule out that one day a Teruaki will be accepted and pass. Overall it's one of the supreme schools of Tosogu.

It's quite simple. The politics is "make money". The credence is zero, except for buyers, in which it becomes real papers. The aficionados are also known as externally as "Suckers" and internally as "True connoisseurs". The factions are "make money" and "make more money". The drama is the usual drama: NBHTK is corrupt, fake, etc, green papers better than new papers, join our facebook group, all these things. Now since it's Osaka, Osaka vs Tokyo is a well-known factional warfare. The selling point I suppose is "those Tokyo people know nothing. We are OSAAAAKAAAAAAAAAAAAA" I still think we should issue NMB kanteisho.

A typical kanteisho issued by Swindle-San from the pre-facebook sensei era.

And indeed, most "Koshirae" today you'll see on sites such as Aoe Japan are patchworks bought by the kilo, and fitted to the blade by filing inside of the tsuka. The reason is obviously business: swords with koshirae sell better than single swords. The biggest difference between Japan and the West is that the Japanese see these items are naturally separate, whereas we Westerners seek the full package. Preserved high-level Koshirae from late-mid to late Edo tend to follow a single theme, or more specifically a single story with motives following tradition. You'll find flowers and shishi, waves and marine life, dragons and clouds, tigers and bamboo, chinese sages at different moments of their journey, dragonflies and pond foliage, deities with auspicious symbols, etc. More often than not, there is a real fable to each and it needs to be read in context. Each piece contributes to the whole. The closer you get to Meiji, the more conspicuous the expression, the greater the relief, the more daring the interpretation. In the wake of Somin's creative (and norm-shattering) genius, offspring schools specialised in certain themes: birds and foliage for Ishiguro, waves and marine life for Omori, etc. Early to mid edo, conventions were much stricter. There you'll see most often Clan Mons and formal attires. Sometimes multiple Mons are present to celebrate a particular union between clans, such as weddings and new allegiances. Another classic come to us from the early Goto masters, where formalized designs were repeated with little (but significant) variations between the early masters. Then you have Higo, which was its own world really. Higo had a classical form of mix-and-match: you'll see Ko-Goto Mitokoromono, often sea themes, with F/K and Tsuba by a Higo master. These reflected the austere tastes of the tea ceremony, and for many it is an acquired taste. For the Shoguns of the early days, mix-and-matching did occur quite frequently. A nobuie tsuba with solid gold F/K comes to mind. Not everyone was allowed to play with such formal things! A good way to think about Koshirae is in terms of sumptuary laws. Only few were allowed to do this, and the rules became quite formalised over time: you simply weren't allowed to go with the fashion of your choice at the Shogun's court. Treasured swords had multiple koshirae for different occasions, reflecting the social code of the time and the rank of the wearer. See here for an example - one koshirae for the most formal of occasions, and one for the more relaxed setting. Older koshirae of the muromachi and nanbokucho period often had flower motives engraved, the so-called Ezo and Ko-Mino classical themes. Unfortunately, the curse of knowledge makes it that once you've gained familiarity on the topic, you never quite can get satisfaction back from those patchwork koshirae. Beware! Finally, the tradition of "boxing" tosogu didn't start with 20th century collectors: Old Daimyo families did box their precious Ko-Goto Mitokoromono, and these were accepted as gifts for special occasion - and spare part for the fabrication of new koshirae. In old family catalogues, you'll see remnants of this practice, with vast collections of Tosogu preserved in boxes and documented by the Goto family for their provenance, makers, and various notes. Nowadays, breaking up a Koshirae to make an extra million yen on the sale of the box breaks my heart, but financial incentives being what they are - and with sufficient time - it is probably the case that the few remaining Koshirae will suffer the same fate at some point in the future. Pity!

Early Juyo setsumei need to be further contextalized. They are often quite "critical" especially compared to more modern ones - I believe they benchmark their comparisons to the Jubun/Kokuho, and everything else feels a little tired in comparison. This is a great sword. Early Juyo with Daimyo provenance. I especially like the Boshi's nie structures and the well-preserved, ultra-fine hada.

Koshirae feels Meiji to me. Omori inspired certainly and well executed, but Teruhide? I have doubts. Good question...