Curran

Yep, it was me. Gilles, thanks for remembering to do this. And that is the biggest image I have seen of Tombogiri, not counting the oshigata I saw in San Fran. Congrats to John for jumping on the book. I'd never seen it before. With thoughts in my head that I shouldn't be buying anything I wasn't looking for given that I may need haul it 1200 miles later this year.... I hesitated. Tombogiri is a bit over the top with all the horimono, but it is an impressive blade. Must have had quite a presence in battle.

I thought it might be a pretty cool item to own for a while, but couldn't expand the pictures. Not sure whether it would be nice or just quirky in person, but caught my eye. I haven't used Bing as a translator before. Funny that it has a censor! Microsoft wanting to be more family friendly?? When you say you edit, do you mean you are running it backward through the translator and it reappears? Ie. maybe it runs a word (vulgarity) check in english only and the visual version it sends out to you is overwritten in ****, but remains vulgar in the code?

Don't know if I've ever posted in this section before. I saw this on Yahoo!Japan while trolling around and looking for two books I am trying to track down. http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/121185388 I thought it kinda cool and didn't know if it would interest anyone else here. Not sure how unique this minature naginata is, but I don't recall seeing another. Good or bad comments anyone? Between a possible move, a few remaining house expenses, and a nihonto restoration project I may be funding next month, I shouldn't take a stab at it. Anyone else here interested, go for it. Curran (*** Incidentally, anyone who wants to try and pry a tsuba off my semi-permanent collection- the next month would be a good time as the restoration project is almost a certainty and going to be 2k to 3k I'd like to come out of the Nihonto part of the personal balance sheet. I'm pretty much bare bones on the books.... so gotta come from somewhere else > )

John, I figured as much. It isn't the sort of mistake that Bob Haynes would make. I have much to learn about Goto schools. I should at least learn or memorize the main-line writing and reading of names.

Moriyama-san and John, I understand now. The menuki attribution is Goto Kenjo. Old papers (older than me). I was relying upon the Haynes Index, but for whatever reason Bob Haynes used a different kanji for Ken in his entries for 'Kenjo'.

Moriyama-san, I considered "Kenjo" as a possibility, but I do not understand this reading as an attribution. I do not have a record of an artist named Kenjo using these characters. What are mumei "Kenjo" menuki?

This is for a pair of menuki. It has me stumped for now. Help please: 顕乗 First character is 18 strokes and can be read (ken, aki, teru, or several other ways) and second is normally 'Hide', but can also be read 'Jo'. What is the correct reading?

This is too impossibly good of a film. Mind boggling project. Having only seen an image of the original, I had not realized the striped were inlaid. Brian, okay to cross link it in the Tosogu section? (Done - Admin) I almost missed it in this section.

Yes, many of us waiting for pictures. Won't be able to afford the book for a while, but doesn't mean I cannot appreciate it. Hope someone brings a copy to the Tampa show.

You are right- that would be pretty strange. I don't know what to make of it....

I believe he is referencing this one on JSA: http://www.l-wise.co.jp/super-jsa/aucti ... ode=detail

No more problems for me, after trying to clean up everything on my computer and waiting a day or so. Very strange problems. I couldn't post to a particular thread or PM anyone directly from the existing posts in that thread. Then two days later... back to normal. Curran

Someone in this thread linked to the Boston Museum collection. That should be a thread unto itself, given the collection is so huge and there are quite a few master works in there. However, the attributions are not necessarily correct on a fair number of them. Also even in just canvasing the collection, the signature of a few is not correct (ie. gimei) in my opinion. The cataloging of this great collection should be greatly appreciated, but not relied upon. ---Seperate thread, I suggest--- To answer Chuck's Question #2: By looking at it and by experience. In the photo of the tsuba, I see all sorts of signs of rust that need cleaned. Knowing Norisuke iron in general, it does not develop rust that easily. However, when it does- it seems hard to aesthetically minimalize. The Norisuke tsuba you showed has rust bloom all over it, and it would require significant work between the flower carvings to clean it up. Chuck's Question #1: Rarer. Carbon content may vary. Read up on ko-tosho / tosho tsuba and on ko-katchushi / katchushi tsuba. Yoshikawa NTHK papered example: Very Hard. Very thin: About 2.75 mm.

Couchman (please use a proper name), For good tsuba: Aoi Arts can sometimes be okay, but with the Yen becoming so strong you are paying +50% of what you would pay for these tsuba 2 to 3 years ago. I recommend Nihonto.com (california) or Nihonto.us (minnesota). Authentication of NBTHK or NTHK papers is good, but both those sellers are extremely honest and knowledgeable. Some Japanese resellers dump flashy but not so great or gimei tsuba on eBay. More than a few are modern tsuba antiqued a bit and sold as Edo period. Be careful of ebay. Good luck and welcome to the hobby. I would have purchased that Norisuke on Tokugawa if it were in better condition. Norisuke work is very desirable to some of us, as he and his adoptive father (Norisuke I and Norisuke II) are very well documented artists. I have two books dedicated to their works. Curran Sarasota, FL

I cleared out everything myself. I still seem to be able to post except in the one thread mentioned earlier. Now I get the message "Internal Server Error"..... yada yada. Weird.

Brian, I am now getting this: "Oops....there seems to be a temporary glitch and you don't have permission to perform this action. Please try again in a few minutes, or notify the admin and we will do our best to rectify the issue." I am only getting it in the Tosogu "Couchman : Newbie looking ...." thread. After posting there once, I cannot post again. I seem to be able to post in other threads. Will try cleaning out cookies later.

The third one is an NBTHK Hozon tsuba papered to Norisuke (Owari-Nagoya work). Not sure why he asked for comment on that one. I like the second tsuba and, being a fan of Norisuke, the third one. However it is sort of middle of the road for his work, and it needs some clean-up. I think this is reflected in the price a bit, but might seem a tad expensive to some since the USD$ has gotten crushed by the Japanese Yen rate these last few years. Unlikely to get any cheaper though unless the Euro implodes. Even then, not much. Probably long gone are the days of 120 to 130 yen to the USD.

John, At this point, better photos for the Goto gurus might yield more knowledge. I nervously circle the Goto mountain, but haven't attempted to climb it until I have considerably more time and opportunity to read the books and speak/see a vast number of goto pieces. It was either Rich T or someone from the KTK that showed photos a few years of getting to observe "hands on" a long line of near identical works by many generations of Goto: that would have been worth a pretty penny to me. Difficulty for me is the time to get to Japan.

You weren't kidding about the resin. My advice is under no circumstances should you try and remove that. Many years ago Jim Gilbert once advised me how to do so, and I removed very similar from the back of some waki goto menuki. I regretted doing so. Just shooting from the hip, I suspect these were made with a negative mold. Maybe finished thereafter. People like Peter K and Rich T know more about interpreting the finish of the edges on the menuki. From what I can see without being able to expand the photos, it looks like the edge (lip) of the menuki are fairly complete and complete all the way around. Maybe they or Boris can date them better.

John, Any images of the backsides?

John, Thank you. I took several of the Goto books in trade for a tsuba, but they remain the least familiar part of my Nihonto library. I don't own any Goto or waki-Goto works, though you know my appreciation for the occasional Kaga Goto piece. Going to pull that book today and give it a review to see if I can't commit to memory more of the Seijo information.

Until John posted those reference mei, I would have assumed the signature was gimei. John, what text did you use to research the Seijo mei variations? I remember trying to verify a Seijo signature years ago, but not having the necessary reference texts at the time. Incidentally I have seen a very nice fuchi kashira matching well one of the examples you posted. The f/k has a Yoshioka signature that doesn't look quite right and may have been added later. Interesting to see its twin as a reference example of late Seijo line work.

John, Chris, Henry, Thank you for the follow ups. Takase-san's website was interesting. I didn't figure out where she is in the USA. I will put it on the mental back burner for a bit and visualize what the saya would look like resting as it does with sayagaki. Personal aesthetic is to keep it simple as it is, but a basic well done sayagaki might make it more of a visual bridge point for others who visit our home. Decisions big and small. John, thank you for the lead to Takase-san.

E.V. I live just north of Venice. You live anywhere remotely nearby? Been a while since I have come across another collector in the area. There is a fellow up in St. Pete too. My interest is mostly in fittings, but still enjoy seeing a blade now and then. If in the area- come visit. Otherwise, be sure to attend the Tampa show. Curran

Grey- I certainly understand and agree with you about poorly done sayagaki. I knew two Japanese gentlemen that I felt nihonto qualified to do it. One was a friend and artist that I believe may have permanently retired back to Japan. I would have liked to ask him to do so, as he was a mentor to me for a time. The other is very knowledgeable, but his writing is very robust artistic- I think you can imagine what I mean. For a slender koto blade in shirasaya, it would look mismatched. So I figured I would ask. One could hope that Tanobe-san would take some time in retirement to come to the Tampa and San Fran sword show to do a few and pay for his trip, but I also know that is what they call a pipe-dream. Conflicts of interest and what not. I don't agree that there is no-one qualified in the USA. But both "qualified and good calligraphy skills" are quite something else. Others may have the calligraphy skills, but not the Nihonto knowledge. So once again- anyone know anyone??