Mark S.

With the help of Markus Sesko’s Swordsmiths of Japan A-Z… Blade is signed: “Hyōshinshi Hideyo” 氷心子秀世 Kaei Era 1848-1854 Musashi Province

Don’t have my books readily available. First kanji is Kane. Second is yoshi? 美

Reviving this older thread. Picked this tsuba up a while back and I think it kinda fits the theme of this thread. Anyone know the significance of spider webs and nails? Also, I am used to iron tsuba, but this one is ‘brown’ and has a smooth finish that almost looks ‘painted’ on? Lacquer or something else? There are also a couple red kanji in one of the openings, but your guess is probably better than mine. Thoughts and opinions welcome.

Sometimes textured bowls can be tough on a chasen (bamboo whisk) and can be difficult to properly whisk the tea… but, your’s is frothy, small bubbles, no lumps… what’s not to like? Thank you for sharing.

As always, thank you Steve. Seiryu can be “Azure (blue) Dragon” or “Clear Stream”. In this context, I’m going with “Clear Stream”.

Sorry to have to impose again. Picked up a second chashaku and need help with translation of the ‘art name’ in the red boxes. I know the temple info from some previous help. THANK YOU in advance. Mark

Very nice! The 3 things that make a ‘good’ tea bowl: 1) Can you make a good bowl of tea in it? (Most important) 2) How does it feel in your hands and how does it ‘feel’ when you drink tea from it? In other words, will your guest enjoy it? 3) How does it look and how does it fit the atmosphere of the tea room for that specific event? Next step is to get a couple pics with some matcha whisked in it! The bright green froth will look beautiful against the rustic white background.

I missed out on book #8 “An introduction to shinshinto“ the first time. Grabbing it now. Payment to Brian and shipping PM inbound.

If no one grabbed it, I was going to go for that Intro to Shinshinto book. Glad you got it… kinda.

A few more:

A few pics from the yari / naginata book as requested:

Books arrived already! Now that’s fast! Brian made payment as easy as could be and Mark delivered some excellent and interesting books. His communication and ease of making this happen were second to none. Here is a quick pic. I will try to take a few of the contents tomorrow. Get what’s left quick! Thanks Mark and Brian!

Not sure if this one will be ‘special’ enough, but the nakago/mei is from a yari made by 11th Generation Izumi no Kami Kanesada in 1867 and opinion of NTHK-NPO is authentic. I haven’t seen many yari signed on all four sides of nakago with “who”, “when”, “where”, and “for who”.

Payment sent… requested pictures will be… $80 Be happy to post some pics once books get here. PM’ing Mark with shipping info. Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

I will take #1, #4, #11 & #12 Brian deserves a nice trip

Hmmmm???… interesting statement located in a post that is pretty much one long screed of moralisms… I think ‘hypocrisy’ was the term you are looking for? I’m sure low-ball private offers had NOTHING to do with $$$? And to be smarmy about the whole thing says a lot…

Kunihiro

Just to add, every once in a while I gently clean the inside of the habaki of old oil with a Q-tip. Not necessary every time, but I think it’s good to keep it clean on occasion.

Worked for me and a good idea! Maybe every once in a while, highlight an article or reference, and include links to the above mentioned ’reference and resource’ areas that I think a lot of our newer members should use? There are books, research, and articles that really need more exposure and are totally free!!! I will work on getting the image re-sizer. Being technologically stunted is a curse…

I don’t want to disappoint you, but something very ‘off’ with nakago and kissaki of this blade… Mechanically buffed/polished beyond recognition?

I try not to put all my eggs in the ‘worksheet’ basket as really the final paperwork is what counts and the worksheet is more notes that the Shinsa team takes back with them and they can do further research before issuing papers. But I also asked my questions just to be sure. I am glad the NTHK groups give out the worksheets as it adds to the learning, but I rely on the final papers more.

What do you feel should have been the result?

Realized I promised to post about daisho tsuba… and forgot. There is a story behind why it was submitted to Shinsa, but probably only interesting to me. The set passed as a daisho set with a score of 74. I was a little confused by the worksheet as it did not state “Saotome” (which I thought was pretty much a slam dunk). It also stated “2nd generation”, but not 2nd generation “Who”? It just states Aki (Geishu) and the era. I contacted Chris B. with my questions and he said he would check with Shinsa team for verification. I figure it’s better to get it worked out BEFORE official kanteisho papers are sent out, although I’m sure team would have probably put more specifics on the papers.

Kaneshige? According to the Nihonto Compendium by Markus Sesko, in the 8 stroke category, Kane and Kin (along with a couple others) are attributed to that kanji... although it is slightly different.