Curran

It is as Pete was able to explain.

Tony- you aren't alone in that. I like them too, but whenever I find one I want to own... always outbid. Wife is borderline clutter-phobia, thus I have to be extremely selective. Otherwise I would own a lot more lacquerwork. It does fairly well here.

Ah, Sado Island- penal colony, then goldmine boom-town, and modern day tanuki reserve. Interesting place with an odd evolution of history. I wouldn't have guessed this for Sado Island tsuba, as most have a dark shipwright - ironworker feel to them. *Not* a very large group, but sometimes interesting. Brian seems to have nailed it. Thanks to Morita-san for yet another Japanese lesson.

There was a display in Tampa Sword Show of O-kogatana kozuka. Having seen about a dozen exceptionally fine examples, I am inclined to believe they were mounted somehow. There was an early Goto one that I wondered if it was Juyo or not. It was that exceptional. I was not expecting the level of workmanship seen in many of them. It made me wonder at what level of social heirarchy they would be associated. Definitely up a notch or two from any previous notion.

_Place name_ ju [artist's name on other side is illegible]. From the look of it, it is probably one of the visible grain tsuba often done by the Myochin school. Condition is not very good.

Determine first if Arnold is correct about the other part being an arrowhead. When I saw it, the first thing I thought of was those archery tools used like an archer's thumb ring. Though most that come up in a Google image search are rather fancy archery thumb rings, I seem to remember the 'ying' or 'yang' comma type was also an archery tool of some sort. [as per my avatar, I have a longstanding interest in archery. It is part of how I ended up in Japan in the late 1980s].

In general, I prefer the Shigetsugu tanto. I think a fair number of people here may not understand the appeal or worth of this sword. Still, I think Shigetusu's value should climb a lot over the next decade or two. We are already seeing signs of it. I stick to fittings and sold my Shigemasa, but it was a very beautiful blade. It would have been hard to capture the tight shifting sands jigane in most photography, but it was mildly hypnotic to me. If not such a minimalist, I would have kept it. Joe, congrats on the tanto that recently showed up. I'd love to see a display of your works from this line.

Waseda U. was that expensive, eh?

Jean, Per che? This one? http://nihonto.com/10.18.13sale.html It was still available when I looked. Yoshiyuki is one of the much better artists in the shadow of the kings of the 1800s. He is the maker of a favorite pair of fuchi-kashira that I own. I admit that I was tempted, but I have another item as my current goal. Curran

Feeling the loss of his presence in the Tosogu section.

I don't see anyone here has posted it, but it is possible I missed it. Fred W. having a bit of a Flash Sale: http://nihonto.com/itemsale.html

L'art Japonais: https://www.amazon.com/Lart-Japonais-French-Louis-Gonse/dp/1286104459 https://archive.org/details/lartjaponais02gons Published 1883 Free Downloads available. Waves of European profiteers looking to buy up crates of Japanese items to feed the desire for Japonisme. Serious western collections would begin forming in the next 20 years. Baur Collection kicked in 1906 Bashford Dean was more interested in the Armor, but he and the NY Met documented extensively and you can request of them what they will share online. Since they did a dedicated presentation - display on him a few years ago, you should find quite a lot there. The shift from weapon to art appreciation happened long long long before the Haitorei Edict. Many items already being commissioned and signed as 'not to be mounted' gifts before then. The Japanese gentlemen you mention largely educating and helping westerners understand what they were buying.

Should be here:

I'll never understand ebay.

That would be one of the nicest versions I have seen in a while. Jim Gilbert had a similar one, and I briefly wondered if it was the same one: http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/kyoto.htm I didn't pull Kremer's book for comparison.

In addition to the 3 no-reserve 7 day auctions I have up on eBay: _________________________________________ (1) Signed Bushu tsuba: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Edo-Antique-Signed-Iron-Bushu-Tsuba-Orchids-w-box-katana-koshirae-/322534344781?hash=item4b188b884d:g:B2UAAOSw1WJZK1~w (2) Old NBTHK Hayashi Tsuba Papers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-NBTHK-Tokubetsu-Kicho-Papers-for-Higo-Hayashi-Miyamoto-Musashi-style-/322534361711?hash=item4b188bca6f:g:NRoAAOSw3gJZK2eq (3) Old NBTHK Goto Kozuka Papers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-NBTHK-Tokubetsu-Kicho-Papers-of-Goto-Kozuka-related-tsuba-katana-sword-/322534366898?hash=item4b188bdeb2:g:4B8AAOSwtGlZK2t6 __________________________________________ I am also 30 day listing offering out one of my two Hazama tsuba: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Large-Mushroom-NBTHK-Hozon-Hazama-Antique-Tsuba-for-Japanese-katana-koshirae-/322537433264?hash=item4b18baa8b0:g:-0oAAOSwCQZZLqVr -- Proceeds guaranteed to go to other kodogu related expenses.

Ford- love the new avatar image you chose.

DAB- As NMB Chief Brian said: No, not worth shinsa time and expense. It is a Hikone tsuba. Says "Hikone" on the tsuba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikone,_Shiga Google Hikone Tsuba images and you will get some similar. It is not of great value, nor is it a drink coaster. If you go down to the Tosogu / Kodogu section of this message board and post images of your two remaining tsuba, people will help you identify them.

They've been awake and snorted the coffee for a long time. They are what they are. High volume, so lots to see for those of us Nihonto channel surfing. Anything with high RPM, watch your fingers and don't lean over if wearing a tie.

I don't mean it as snark when I say that I wish you the best of luck with that. I mean that specifically in regards to Aoi Arts. While it would be nice to have the luxury of time and talent to write a Darcy B. or Arnold F. top down complete reply as to why I feel this way, the practical zip gun version is to say previous experience is that Aoi Arts generally feels (1) It is product they will move one way or another and (2) {Aoi Arts specific} while they may outwardly listen to you, they are inwardly dismissing you. You live there and might get more play. Still, prior personal experience and that observed from other's experiences with Aoi over the years makes me think it a very poor return on time and effort. Aoi is neither the best of shops, nor the worst of shops.

It wouldn't be the first time. Quality control at Aoi slipping a bit. As least these are more convincing that a few of the cast tsuba they've posted. You also have to be incredibly careful of many fakes on Yahoo!Japan these days. A friend was fooled by a kozuka the other month, and it fooled me at first glance too... then we found 2 more just like it. I can see Aoi easily being fooled by these in their current high volume small floorspace operations. Also, are they not moving some time this summer?

I was wondering why no one went this route. It was the first thing that came to mind.

I love this smith.

Thanks for the link. The Tampa images are more than half in. Some good shots of Arnold, Danny, and a few others.

Prices tend to be dear on them, and one collector has done a good job of cornering the market on the better ones I have seen over the last 5 to 10 years.