b.hennick

Hi I would suggest that both factions were the "original under Yoshikawa". One faction is overseen by his son. The other is not. My papers are from the group that is not overseen by his son i.e. NTHK npo. (non-profit organization).

Hello: I have a signed and dated Bungo Masachika katana that earned 78 points at a shinsa in the U.S. As far as I know they have never given 80 points to any blade. I also have daisho koshirae that earned 78 points at a U.S. shinsa. I believe that in the same shinsa a tsuba earned 79 points. Finally as there are two NTHK groups doing shinsa I do not know which group is doing things in England.

The sword is better in hand than the pictures show. Rainbow colour from the nie...unbelievable. Saw this one and perhaps tonight I will see a ghost...GO ON... :D

One grain of sand from sand paper and your sword will be scratched. I do not think that sandpaper is the thing to use. If you value the sword I believe that a sayashi such as John Terado is the way to go.

At the meeting no mention of a magazine was made. I would expect something to be published as it would enhance membership. Many noted the changes in Token Bijutsu of late. Kenji Mishina no longer does the translation of parts of that journal. Tanobe san is not doing the kantei pages.

Hello: I attended the KTK conference in Toronto two weeks ago. At the members meeting Nick Nakamura, Terutaka Kawabata and Yoshio. Watanabe explained that a new organization is forming under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. Here is the inforation I put together from that meeting. Nihonto Bunka Shinkoku Kai (NBSK) Ministry of Culture asked Terutaka Kawabata to be an advisor and to organize the group. The official beginning of the group will be December 2008. The president is going to be Mr. Yasuhia Tokugawa, the great grandson of the last Tokugawa shogun. The board of directors includes four living national treasure artisans: Mr. Amada, the national treasure sword smith. Nakayama Kohan, the national treasure sword polisher. Gassan Sadayoshi, the national treasure sword smith. Mr. Muroasi ,the national treasure lacquer artist. Other board members include: Miriri, Yoshio Watanabe, N. Nakmura, Miya Kudo, Kazuo Jono, K. Mishina, Kunie Yoshihara, Takayama Masayuki, and Mr. Ida president of dealers association. There will be non-Japanese board members once the new organization is up and running. The groups focus will be: education, communication and authentication (shinsa). One of the mandates of the new organization is to interact and to co-ordinate international activities on swords and tosogu. The shinsa teams will be composed of the foremost people who kantei blades and fittings. There will only be one level of paper. It will indicate if an item is shoshin and worthy of preservation. The purpose of the paper issued by this new organization is to focus on authenticity rather than on workmanship and on monetary value. They mentioned that they informed the NBTHK of this about one month ago.

Hi Ford: There are some on this newsgroup who posts I look forward to because I can learn from them. You are certainly one of those. I will miss your insight and shared knowledge. I appreciate both your metal work and you insights. I know that work comes first. There is no need to answer many posts. Lurk and them perhaps PM some who would appreciate what you have to write. I will miss your contributions and will have to spend more time looking at your metal work newsgroup.

Hi John: The answer to question 3 is the easiest. There are tons of fake netsuke. Some look great. Fakes are most often ivory or wood. I have seen a few fake deer antler but not many. As for price $60 at the low end for an ivory fake I have seen them for less. Around $10 for wooden fakes. I have seen fakes go for high prices but they were represented as real. Real netsuke sold by people who know what they have start around $200 and go up from there. Real netsuke can be bought for less from dealers who have no idea what they have. Fakes are a definite problem. Many come with great stories believed by the gullible. What to look for is the hard part. I look at the holes the string passes through. I look for wear as real netsuke have been used and new ones have not - new sharp edges, old worn edges. I look for quality of carving - detail where needed. Plain is often better than too much detail. Since I live in Canada and can not take ivory across the border I tend to avoid ivory. Deer antler ones are less often faked and can be of good quality. I do have ones made of wood and even mammoth ivory. I hope this helps. Finally I would stay away from things I know little about. Try trading for swords or fittings. Even there one can get burned.

Hi John et al: Grey Doffin has made an index to sword literature. That would cover much of what you mentioned. You can easily look things up that way. The Index is available from the JSSUS and will soon be available on-line on the JSSUS web-site (http://www.jssus.org) I have many shelves of journals. I use them regularly.

Any members of the board who are going to the fittings conference in Toronto Ontario please contact me either by PM or at barry@hennick.ca Thanks

John Yamoto did write one sayagaki and did get hell for doing it. The blade is not a wakizashi but a large katana by Tadakuni. The sword is in his book twice as there is a photo of the three body cutting test and the Tadakuni mei. Nabeshima did the polish, habaki and shirasaya. It was the first great sword I ever held and after the death of the owner I was able to buy it from the estate. Previously it was never for sale.

I have a great tanto by a Hizen smith Shigehide - a samurai smith.

I can hardly wait for the volume! You have got the Go now you need to photograph a ghost or 3 to go with them....I would be happy to start a pre-sale list. I am prepared to pre-pay as well. Keep up this great effort!!

I have started my packing for the San Francisco sword show. A friend who collected swords and fittings about 20-25 years ago has consigned them to me. So please drop by and see the offerings. They have not been out of his hands for a couple of decades. Six swords under $2k, a bunch of tsuba and kozuka +++. He is interested in liquidating them and I have priced them accordingly. Please drop by and introduce yourself. I know the names of many on the list but not the faces.

Yes he is back in the States. He placed an ad in the last issue of the JSSUS Newsletter.

I recently had an opportunity to make an offer on a very expensive rare sword. So expensive that I had to consider selling most of my swords. This made me consider each one and decide what I could, with regret, let go. It was an interesting experience. How far are you willing to go to reach for something outstanding? I had several sleepless nights and in the end made my best offer. It was refused, as was my over the top offer. I am sleeping easier now So what did I end up putting in the keep pile? Just three swords - my best sword, a sword that an older collector entrusted me to take care of (late Heian early Kamakura Naminohira one hole ubu tachi) and the first good sword that I ever held. That sword was a senior collectors treasure - not for sale. He moved away, passed away and I bought the sword from his estate. So although I am not expecting you to write what you would offer or keep, I think that the exercise is a good one for you to go through.

Hi: It looks like a Chinese copy of a Japanese koshirae - early one. These are not as good as the more recent copies.

Can I suggest that you look at this page on Masahiro blades that I did a long time ago http://www.barryhennick.20megsfree.com/index.html Or if you go to http://www.hennick.ca there is a PowerPoint presentation on Hizento you can also look at. Click on the Hizento link on the left side. My problem is not with the mei but with the jigane. Please compare what you see in your blade to what I have in mine. If interested in an first or second generation Masahiro please PM me.

I was sent the jpg below to translate. I think that it reads Yamashiro ju ? Tada. I am not sure of the last two characters. Even the Tada is doubtful. All assistance is appreciated.

Although the blade has masame hada and lots of it I do not think of it as an early Yamato Hosho blade. There is not enough hataraki in the hamon and the boshi is not as strong as early work. I do not see enough fimbari as well. The patina on the tang is also not black enough for me for an early koto piece. If koto I think it a late piece.

Hi Ford et al: I remember reading the term "Trotskyite" and wondering about it myself. I guess it was a joke... They got me on that :D

Hi: I see Bob at the Tampa sword show every year. His table is usually worth the time to look.

I have seen two Soshu Norishige blades with evidence of actual use in battle (kiri kome, hakobori). Certainly artful pieces by a famous smith but also true weapons. I do not think that most koto smiths went about making art but they did make weapons that happen to be artful. (Non-sword related - congratulations to the Spanish among us for a good final win - well deserved!)

Thanks for the addition! I agree that one has to see a good suguha to appreciate what can be done with "the simple" hamon. I also agree with your thoughts on "good tsuba". At the last show in Chicago Fred Geyer had a wonderful tsuba display. It could give a person cause to reevaluate what a "good tusba" is. My final point about learning and study could use your view with reference to tsuba. How can one improve one's knowledge, taste etc.?

One's view of what is art or a great blade varies with time and experience. How many new collectors think that the suguha hamon is bland and not worth much. In contrast to that many more experienced collectors enjoy and look for the suguha hamon. What, as new collectors, we thing of as great, later on we may think of as showy or gaudy. It takes time to develop taste in art and in swords. So as a beginner what you see as art you may in later years not think so highly of. The point is that our knowledge of swords and feel for swords changes. When I started collecting in the mid 1970s any sword was art to me. Now I am more picky. As a beginning collector I wanted as many swords as I could buy to study and learn from each. Now I look at many and see only a few I realy want. My view of art has changed. To learn what you actually have and to learn about your blade I recommend taking the time to draw a full oshigata. With that exercise you will examine every millimeter of the blade and see things for the first time. Once you have done that you will appreciate more what you have in hand. It will help you to see more as well. If the opportunity arrises ask a polisher to look at a blade with you. Ask him to describe what he sees. You wll be amazed at what he saw and you missed. Both of these learning experiences will help. (Thank you again to the polishers who have shared their knowledge with me in the past! )