Jussi Ekholm

I think Han Bin Siong was of course correct, I think I would have greatly enjoyed meeting him. I am still missing bit from the magical 10k mark and I have something planned when I reach that. And my stats will be slightly skewed as I have my own idea what I am after and data what I am needing for it. For the specific time frame I am after I am including everything from Kokuhō to Hozon, and even including some items with other provenances. I should have now about the great majority of Japanese government authorized swords that are fitting to my interest. I know I am still missing some (maybe a lot) Prefecture Bunkazai and City Bunkazai items. The numbers that Han Bin Siong had in his paper very strongly correlate the data I have in total (even though he had just Jūyō swords). It seems in my database c. 39% is Bizen and Yamato is only bit over 8% at the moment. For the c. 750 Yamato swords I have, only 156 of them have mei (partial, orikaeshi, gaku included) and 4 are just fumei. That leaves about 590 mumei Yamato blades, and given the circumstances as I have already went through most of high level items the amount of mumei will only increase and mei will become even more of a rarity. I already know many of the upcoming ones as I go onward in Jūyō but they will be few in number compared to mumei ones. But signed Yamato swords (with the small exception of Tegai Kanenaga) are very rare in general.

Paul was this the Shikkake that was featured at Samurai Art Expo 2018? I cannot go into finer details that separate different Yamato attributions from each other but I can offer some statistical data as I've been tracking swords down for many years. It shows something about the attribution of naoshi a bit. So far my data group for Yamato swords is about 750 swords. For Senjuin there is 1 Tokubetsu Hozon naoshi with partial mei remaining and specification in brackets to Nanbokuchō period. For Taima so far I have 5 naoshi listed. So far 0 naoshi for Tegai. So far 0 naoshi for Hōshō. Then there is Shikkake. I have 1 signed and dated naginata for Shikkake Norinaga, 3 naoshi with mei and 1 mumei for Norinaga. For Shikkake in general I have 1 mumei ubu naginata and 15 mumei naoshi blades. Lastly I have 7 mumei naoshi with Yamato Shizu attribution.

I think this was a great find by Matsumoto and I was happy they put it through the Tokubetsu Jūyō shinsa. I just wished I would have been able to purchase it by miracle before passing in the session 25, when they offered it as an Jūyō blade on their site. Signed tachi by Jitsua are incredibly rare historical pieces, and this sword is also very appealing to my personal taste.

I know if you are sending through an agent etc. you will get the worksheet with the sword but when eventually swords end up back in the circulation it most likely wont have the worksheet. I know some that have been through recent NTHK shinsa in US by dealers still have the worksheet but I haven't seen pictures of the worksheets in any Japanese sale listings for NTHK items (maybe they might be included but I'd think at least someone would post a picture of one in sales ad). And even here in the western world it seems the worksheets get lost eventually (maybe seller don't want that to be added to the sale, maybe he doesn't think anything about, maybe he had lost it etc.). So as that number does not really get publicated anywhere I feel it is slightly irrelevant unless you are the one sending in the item but if you are sending the item it gives nice additional feedback.

I know we are not supposed to comment on sales but I think giving info on the paper might even help the sales. NTHK attributed the sword to Gassan Chikanori (den Dewa Gassan Chikanori 出羽月山近則) and dated it around Eishō (1504-1521). And as was noted by seller it says kinzōgan-mei: Gassan in the paper.

I has what was called as "blue papers" Koshu Tokubetsu Kicho. They were better than green papers. Naginata has mei by Echizen Kanenori.

As the points are not given anywhere other than the worksheet isn't it bit useless for anyone not sending the sword personally? I must admit I am not too familiar with NTHK(s) as organizations but I know they have some people with great knowledge in panels.

Hard to say based on your pictures but I'd think the sword has really sloping shinogi-ji and it is quite thin at the mune, this is often called high shinogi. I believe it was one way of weight reduction with minimal compromise to blade strength. However I think there is problem if you want to carve a hi in it as there is already only little bit material left. I believe that is one reason why you can see bit out of the norm bohi styles on some swords.

Unfortunately in the results NBTHK just has two general categories so you will have to manually pick the Shinshinto from the items. Session 65 only one passing was a katana by Sa Yukihide. Session 64, daisho by Suishinshi Masahide, katana by Taikei Naotane, katana by Koyama Munetsugu, katana by Minamoto Masayuki (Kiyomaro) and 3x katana by Kurihara Nobuhide. Session 63, katana by Ozaki Suketaka, katana and wakizashi by Taikei Naotane, katana by Hosokawa Masamori, katana by Koyama Munetsugu, katana & naginata by Kurihara Nobuhide, katana by Sa Yukihide, katana by most likely 3rd gen Satsuma Masayoshi going by date, katana by Ason Masayuki. Session 62 katana by Taikei Naotane, 2x katana by Sa Yukihide Session 61, wakizashi by Gassan Sadakazu (1906), katana by Suishinshi Masahide, katana by Taikei Naotane, daisho by Koyama Munetsugu, 2x katana by Sokan, katana by Unju Korekazu, katana by Kurihara Nobuhide, 2x katana by Sa Yukihide, katana by Nagasada, katana by Motohira and katana by Ason Masayuki. Session 60, katana by Gassan Sadakazu (1906), 2x katana by Taikei Naotane, 2x katana by Koyama Munetsugu, katana by Sokan Now that is just few latest results but those names keep popping up mostly when it comes to Shinshinto at Juyo. However I need to point out that Gassan Sadakazu seems to be upcoming, before those two I think there was only one passing in session 20. I am not too well versed in Shinshnto but it is these big names that pop up at Juyo level and maybe occasionally a sword by lesser known smith passes.

Koshirae is not really my strong point but as I do happen to own a good selection of books, here are two original koshirae (and their blades) from Uchigatana Koshirae book. Number 63 (that gets turned sideways) - Sword made by Kiyomitsu in 1514, koshirae can be dated somewhere around Kanbun - Genroku (1661 - 1704) Number 48 - This is the first and original one (second similar one to this featured in book was copied for Heshigiri Hasebe in early 1800's) - Sword made by Sukesada in 1524, koshirae can be dated to be made between 1598 to 1604.

As I was answering to another topic I remembered I had made this one too, so I can maybe update session 65 stats in here Swords - 1003 submissions - 101 passes (97 Kotō - 4 Shintō) Koshirae - 45 submissions - 8 passes Tosogu - 293 submissions - 29 passes In total - 1341 submissions - 138 passes As there was discussion about this being a tight session, the numbers say it so too. One of the lowest pass rates in the last 20 sessions. Of course unfortunately we dont have access to all the items sent to this shinsa but it seems to be really tough on later swords with only 4 passing...

I tried to calculate the estimated number of Hozon & Tokubetsu Hozon swords by their numbering logic some time ago. Darcy dropped some actual facts in there as number for Jūyō and Tokujū. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26496-nbthk-paper-numbering/ To continue on that above thread, I have Hozon 390646 saved so that would indicate at least 90,646 swords passed Hozon before they upgraded, then I have 3000026 so it was in first shinsa after changing numbering. Most recent paper I have saved is 3021948 from last year. Based on that logic at least 110,000+ swords have passed Hozon. Similarily for Tokubetsu Hozon I have 155697 saved, so at least 55,697 swords passed Tokubetsu Hozon before upgrade. Then I have 1000059 so it was in first shinsa after change. Most recent Tokubetsu Hozon I have saved is 1011475 from last year. Based on that logic I used in the thread at least 66,000+ swords have passed Tokubetsu Hozon. Then you can take the real factual numbers Darcy provided and maybe round them up a bit. So the list would be something like this (of course changing with sessions coming up). Hozon - 110,000 swords TH - 65,000 swords Jūyō - 11,500 swords TJ - 1,100 swords Well actually as the sword passes on to higher tier it is removed from earlier pool but the basic logic should give some idea about how many have passed in which level for NBTHK. Then there are of course interesting things to consider as what is passing high tier shinsa and when it is passing. I did a post on submissions in here http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/28933-j%C5%ABy%C5%8D-tj-pass-rates/

My condolences to friends and family. I will remember how much he helped many new guys in this hobby.

I am bit torn two ways. I find myself looking after the "stereotypical" Enbun-Jōji sugata (well not necessarily from that actual time frame but the massive grand shape) and on the contrary I am also liking slender and very curved tachi shape. For me it is the shape before anything else. Well of course in ideal world I could match great quality with the shape but need to stay in reality...

As there was a post about visiting collectors, there are so many book titles in these collections that I would love to browse.

I think Tom has it correct - 清宮 Kiyomiya

相模守政常 - Sagami no Kami Masatsune

The Tsukamaki book by Thomas Buck has many styles and instructions to do them. It is very nice book and I'd recommend getting one if you are interested. I sold mine a while ago but it was nice to have it. I believe these are the tsukamaki style sheets that Ian mentioned earlier. TsukamakiStyles Part1.pdf TsukamakiStyles Part2.pdf

Here is mine, I've been focusing on books for the last few years maybe even over swords. I just feel like I can't usually afford the swords I would like for a good while and on the other hand I can get super interesting books that bring me joy. I've been trying to focus my book collecting too, and I am trying to be more picky on what I will get in future. There are just so many interesting books out there that I would love to have.

I think it can be sometimes really difficult to date the swords ESPECIALLY for us beginner and bit advanced collectors, and even some Japanese experts have voiced that fact. I remember for example Hinohara Dai stating some small differences in NBTHK magazine articles that many beginning and advanced collectors often fail to notice. And it will take very experienced eye and knowledge to immidiately catch them. When working with loads of items and time restrictions you can of course miss some things even if you are an expert. I am not going to debate between organizations, as each of them have shinsa panel with knowledge far exceeding mine. However I must note that the problem I see in overseas shinsa are the circumstances. I must admit I do not know how shinsa panel makes the judgements and calls and what references they use but I would think if they are doing it in their "home base" they have all the possible references they have in use (for example NBTHK has a record of all items passed previously). When you are doing overseas shinsa I do believe they are more limited on resources. As I stated on the previous thread about this sword I have never seen similar mei reference anywhere. NTHK seems to have or they otherwise agree on it as they papered it. Granted I don't focus my interest on swords of this era but I do have quite many reference mei now in general from earlier times. Of course Dōtanuki works are quite rare but some can be found easily online. 九州肥後同田貫上野介 is by far the most common signature among this school. Here are some examples https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-010118.htm https://iidakoendo.com/2592/ https://tokka.biz/sword/dotanuki.html http://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords3/KT324342.htm https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/eng/product_details_e.php?prod_no=WA-0333 Here you can see Munehiro dated 1847 with small write up: https://nihontou.jp/choice03/toukenkobugu/tachi/061/00.html I was surprised to find out there was an article at Ohmuras site about the school: http://ohmura-study.net/040.html

Very nice catch. The second scroll is oshigata of Jūyō Bijutsuhin sword by Masatsune.

Seems like the issuing body for papers is 美術日本刀保存会 - Bijutsu Nihontō Hozon Kai. Unfortunately I have never heard about them before, seems like it was issued in Janurary 2019. I think I might have seen a paper or two issued by them at Japanese auction sites before but I've skipped them. With google I managed to find they probably are located in Okayama: https://www.hotfrog.jp/company/1123282600243200 I think the seller left out lot of information saying to you and that seems to be quite common with most sellers. He should have been able to tell you that Tadamitsu was dated as Steve translated to you, and that Masaie is attributed to Bingo province and not Bizen. There were many Masaie smiths in Mihara school and Muromachi period smith could be very likely. Also the fact that both blades fall under the modern wakizashi classification, which will affect the price, as well as the fact that they were most likely quite recently put together in matching koshirae. The sellers in Japan know well what they are doing and what will attract buyers. I hope you don't find this comment too negative as that was not my intention. I do believe you have 2 genuine Japanese swords from the late Muromachi period as is listed in the paper. Even though the issuing body does not hold commercial value their attribution seems to be most plausible one given one is signed and dated and other signed. If signatures are legitimate I'd guess other organizations would give the same answer.

So far I have got 23 signed tachi by Ko-Hōki Yasutsuna, 1 fumei tachi and 4 mumei katana attributed to him The second sword that Andi is asking about is owned by NBTHK and it is very often featured in Tōken Bijutsu and other publications too. So far I have it on 11 references. I think the most commonly listed length for it is 80,1 cm (even though it is 79,9 cm in your pic, there can very often be few mm differences between publications). It has 2,9 cm sori, 2,8 cm motohaba, 1,7 cm sakihaba and 20,9 cm nakago.

Posted this few days ago on another forum. Signature is 以安来鋼兼道作, smith is Kojima Kanemichi. Date is: 紀元二千六百年 Kigen nisen roppyaku nen = 2600 Imperial year which means 1940. There are plenty of folks here specializing on this period so you'll get more info. You can also google the signature and find other examples.

Thanks for posting the link Wim. Interesting results and items passed this time too. I just wish I could study all of them.