Bugyotsuji

真恒、有恒....................(?) Masatsune, Aritsune perhaps? Plus kao 花王. Confidence level, 20% on the first kanji, 80% on the second. (Just reaching for my hat and cloak)

My bet is it will be pulled at... (name any price below ￥400,000).

Those delicate scholar's fingers are in a style that I have seen elsewhere, on Buddha hands possibly. The tsuba itself seems quite normal to my eyes, though I agree that the sensu and gumbai, while they do the job from a distance, look pretty weak close-up.

Peter, what do you mean by 'alien finger'? That curved forefinger?

宗峯子 高房 seems to be the first. Perhaps 'Sohoshi Takabo, (or Takafusa)'.

二難并 Ni (Futa?) nan hei… *If that is right I am not sure what it means or how to read it correctly.(?)

Recently I saw a sample of some reddish iron sand from Bizen, probably the Yoshii River, alongside more ‘pure’ iron sand from Tottori/ on the Japan Sea coast. My host was explaining how the impurities partly defined Bizen blades. Akomé satetsu from Bizen on the right.

Phew! 😅 That was a lucky 🍀 shot! It’s nice when the reading and the literature match!

Kenkōsai Kazutomo… But you’ll need to check that reading against known 金工　metalwork artisans.

Paris, try 'Chigai igeta' 違い井桁 違い井桁 - 検索 (bing.com)

Stoopid me! Or stoopid Bill Gates!!! Thanks, Jean. (Edited above)

The line says Heian Jo Ju Hayato Minamoto Yasuhiro Zō, Keiō. Keio is towards the end the Edo Period. Essentially Minamoto (title) Yasuhiro made, living in Heian Jō (Heian Castle, which indicates Kyōto, Yamashiro).

万治二年?

Well it's funky but... 信近 Nobuchika 製 sei, manufacture, is what I'm going with.

Glass reflections, yes, we can show more of those!

Agreed, with a full title and name taking both sides. Bizen accounted for around 50% of national sword production, and over 50% of National Treasure swords were made in and around Osafune, Bizen.

Yes Klaus, I agree that the reading Akitoshi is more likely in this case. (Actually I did write Akitoshi first but then replaced it with the more commonly known name Myōju.)

There are the two diagonal spears, crossed lances, Arma Christi instruments of the passion too. In order to understand the depth of Japanese belief, Martin Scorsese's 'Silence' portrays it rather well, seeemingly stronger even than the missionaries themselves had hoped. Some years ago I was at a national gathering of gun troops and a few hundred of us were wearing full armour in front of Hikone Castle. I was shocked to see the Otomo ones from Oita with large silver crosses hanging proudly over their breastplates. (This links back to Jake's post on Monday on the previous page.)

Hi Yv, Are you asking me what the red seal says? Forgive me, but I cannot read it. Where is it located? (The black character 男 looks like ‘-o’, perhaps the last letter of a vertical name.)

濃州関明寿作 No Shu Seki Myoju Saku perhaps

Quote: (Thanks to member "Nobody") Surely, you should thank somebody. On the paper it does suggest: 'later Chikuzen Kongo Byoei school...' Also seen, ...Moritaka, Morikuni, Morishige. Maybe not relevant... Nihonto Club https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/MOR600 Morihisa - MOR600 | Nihonto Club ウェブ日向守盛久. hyuga no kami morihisa. 金剛兵衛尉盛久. kongōbyōejō morihisa. 金剛兵衛尉源盛久. kongōbyōejō minamoto morihisa. Login or register to post comments; … Active Period: 1521-1528 ID: MOR600 Era: Taiei (1521-1528) Province: Chikuzen

Now, I will never say no to a drop of nice, cold dry cider. So throw in a blade like Kurt's above, and the world would be my oyster.

Over the years I have posted things and subsequently forgotten them, so now I need to go back and read everything again, which tsuba I have posted, and all the arguments for and against! One thing is for sure, though, it seems that you cannot talk openly about Christianity even today in Japan, unless it is at some specialist convention or scholarly meeting. I have noticed that people will try to avoid talking about it, like it's anti-magnetic, or they will subconsciously drop their voices as if they are somehow afraid of being overheard. Of course it is possible that Japanese people think I might be a Christian and they don't want to encourage me to start talking.(?) For this reason I have on occasion explained that although I come from a Christian background, I have done yoga and Buddhism, and we had a Shinto marriage, so I am not in the business of pushing the forms of religion in any direction. Here’s a fairly recent arrival.

With that one I do not see Buddhist or Christian iconography. In general though, talismanic (religious?) iconography seems relatively not so rare, if it is both decoratively pleasing and structurally functional.

Agreed. Very nice tsuba. Above and below must be tomoe (magatama) comma designs.