Katsujinken

Folks will definitely chime in with regard to the blade, but in the meantime do give this a read: http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm Please don’t touch the sword with your bare skin as this can lead to additional rust and permanent “etched” finger prints.

Can anyone tell me if this Hozon paper gives any help narrowing down which Sukesada this might be? Thanks as always...

Right on, thank you Ed!

Only in his early fifties. Such a loss. My condolences to his friends and family.

The omote looks pretty straightforward to me: Tango no Daijo Fujiwara Shigetsune The ura, just seems to stop though: Echizen ju- ? Markus documents two generations of Shigetsune in shinto, and the omote leads me to believe this might be the nidai, but one would expect the ura to read Echizen Toyohara or one of the variations to that effect. But this has me stumped. Thoughts?

Come on Luis, that's not what I said at all. I did not say only buy juyo, and in no way did I denigrate blades with "lower" papers. That was not the point I was making. And I think we both know there's a difference between a $300 blade on eBay and one that's dishonestly trying to be something it's not. The fact is with a little patience and guidance one can spend the same for a piece of junk on eBay as a decent blade with recent Hozon papers through a reputable source. So why go swimming with sharks? While it's true some dealers will only deal in blades that are expensive or of a certain level, most are happy to work with your budget if they make a reasonable return for their time and you're not in a huge rush as a customer. So please don't make this about something it's not. It's great that Ray sells on eBay, but that's neither here nor there because he's built a verifiable reputation. When I got started I spoke with multiple dealers looking for guidance at a variety of price points, and all of them were happy to help in some way. I still keep in touch with most of them regularly to ask questions or check in. This is not about Wal Mart vs. haute cuisine. It's not about cost. It's about common sense. Common sense doesn't have to be expensive. In fact, my point is that it will save time, money, and pain, especially for the inexperienced. It's fine for us to disagree, but please don't mischaracterize my statements. I completely disagree that telling new folks to avoid eBay auctions drives them away. That's just not a provable statement, and if anything I'm a data point of one that proves the opposite. Clearly my comments touched some kind of nerve (maybe you sell a lot on eBay?), but there's no reason to take them personally. This will be my last comment on the matter.

Great choice. Keep an eye out for the English translation of Nihonto Koza. You’ll want it eventually, but Markus’ stuff + Connoisseurs (and Fujishiro) will serve you well!

Well said. And this is exactly what I expressed, though I was scolded for it (not by Ray, of course, who is probably one of the nicest people on the internet). Ironically, I am the “newer” collector, relatively speaking. I’m in my 30s, and my young collection at this point is a single Juyo katana and a few fittings that speak to me (on top of the appropriate library and regular in person study of high end blades). And yet I was met with derision when I expressed the same sentiments as Ray (though less eloquently). I’m no Darcy, not even in the same universe, but he was run off this forum for essentially the same reason: speaking uncomfortable truths. My presence wouldn’t be missed but I know his is. Given the dearth of new collectors coming into this hobby, I think this would be worth a bit of introspection on the part of our forum, in general. These swords didnt fool me. They didn’t fool Ray. They wouldn’t fool any of the dealers who have a good reputation on this board. Avoiding eBay in favor of one of those fine gentlemen eliminates virtually all risk. Not sure why that’s controversial. We’re not curing cancer here, so I’ll leave it at that.

Neither of these swords could pass a legitimate shinsa. The only people this will fool are those foolish and greedy enough to try to buy swords on eBay because they think they’re getting a deal. I’ll say it again: when it comes to nihonto, the only thing you’re buying on eBay is trouble. If you’re not nailing the NBTHK’s kantei every single month (pretty sure that’s applies to all of us), work with a real dealer, buy papered blades, and stop this treasure hunting nonsense. :-)

Kanekuni is a great smith. Were this a bit shorter we'd be having a conversation, but I'll have to settle for bumping the thread for you. Best of luck with the sale!

Thanks to you all!

I know this book was made into what we now know and love as Connoisseur's, but I just wanted to confirm that if I have Connoisseur's I'm not missing anything from this volume. Thanks!

Do it.

You know something like is awesome because we all link to it every year or so! :-) Thanks for resurfacing with valuable added context, Ken. Love that about this place. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/22964-ha-bun-shu-a-Japanese-book-of-wave-and-ripple-designs-1919/

Remember that if we do our jobs right we are but caretakers. Hopefully you are making room for something more important and substantial that needs your attention, having earned the privilege by caring for what you are now passing on, hopefully to a worthy successor. And if you are just making room, that’s okay too. The most important thing is that these artifacts survive. That is the best we can do, because we can’t take anything with us. Onward!

Thanks. I think I’ll pass on this one. :-)

Hi folks, Hopefully someone can help me determine if this Hozon paper specifies the period or school for this yamagane tsuba. Anything you can tell me would be appreciated. No need for a full translation, as I’m happy to pay for that. Just hoping for the broad strokes. Thanks much!

Happy to be wrong, and there are certainly folks here who would know better. Could be the polish is just throwing me. Just looks off to me. Shape, nakago patina, hamon, etc.

I doubt that this blade is very old or Japanese, to be honest.

Impressive hataraki! I’m curious, with the 7mm kasane, what does it weigh in hand?

Indeed, there is the Shinshinto Sukehira, but his title was Ise no Kami according to Connoisseur’s. Also, something about the top of the nakago here is strange to me. Why is the end of the corrosion so straight and uniform? Here are some signatures of the Shinshinto Sukehira: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/8708-bizen-yokoyama-sukehira-oshigata-wanted/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/14612-sukehira-translation-help-please/ Quite different regardless of the title.

Ah Kanemasu! I couldn't find Kanemasu in Fujishiro (Shinto), and the two character mei kind of threw me, so I assumed I had made a mistake or something. Thank you Jussi!

I believe this is a Hozon paper for a wakizashi by Kanemasa, but I’m having trouble figuring out exactly which Kanemasa we’re talking about here. Would appreciate any assistance! Thanks.

Caveat emptor!

Perhaps connected to Nakamura Taizaburo then?