DRDave

Congrats Alaen!  Very nice.

Just in case you hadn't seen it, I thought I'd post this link in hope that it might help.  https://nihonto.com/the-yasutsugu-school-康継系/

I'd be excited about that one, too; nice find.  Congrats, Ed!

My WAG:  1 - Once upon a time in Japan   2 - Mino Den   3 - Seki Ju Something or other.

In addition to links in a recent post here, there is also info posted here.

https://www.toukenko...i&katanaA111118.html

Ray started a thread on it 5 years ago.  

Although I have very few tsuba, one is Kiku.  Perhaps due to their popularity/abundance?

Looks like this one is on hold now.  When I saw the date, I wondered if it might be the last sword he made.  What do you think?

On 12/25/2023 at 11:24 AM, Bruce Pennington said:

1944vMasaaki for sale HERE.  Opening bid only $11,000!!!  The tsuka isn't in good shape, even.

Avoid the auction fees by buying direct from the seller here .  

Terrific sword, Chris.  Congrats!

Some links that may be of interest.  Info on Shigetsugu , Info on Toyama Mitsuru , Example of Shigetsugu's block script dated 1932

George,  With the current exchange rate you should consider taking you wife on a trip to Japan.    

And if I'm not mistaken, the second one appears to be Izumo Daijō Masamitsu.  Can someone confirm?   Some info on Hozon papers here.

Apologies for being off-topic, but speaking of Darcy...  I know it's trivial, but I would like to see him awarded a ranking of Grand Master.

Lots of good info here about importing/exporting to Japan.

In the past I've often used the Aoi Art Museum to look at mei and so forth; but today I found that it no longer has a search function.  Just curious if anyone else using that resource has noticed, or if the problem is on my end.  TIA

 Here is a Shigetaka (2 gen) listed by Aoi Art years ago that was said to have been owned by Takasugi Shinsaku. 

Nice going, Manuel!  That's a a wonderful piece of work.  

I wouldn't worry about it.  You'll probably see it move again pretty soon.

Nice helmets! 

Nice one.  I like Akasaka because they often impart a sense of movement.

The 

On 1/1/2023 at 9:16 AM, Wim V said:

Dear all,

 

I started this juyo and tokuju "pass rate exercise" already a while ago, based on the results published in Token Bijutsu, and you can find my overview in attachment.  For Juyo the table is not complete as my collection of Token Bijutsu only goes back to 1968, for some years the results are not listed in the magazine (for example juyo sessions 21 and 22) and I don't have the Zufu books.

 

As some already have mentioned, you can see that until juyo 28 the pass rate was indeed quite high (sometimes over 50%).  From juyo 29 on the pass rate seems to be more around 10 - 15%.

 

Wim

NBTHK_Juyo_Shinsa.pdf 221.76 kB · 25 downloads

Thanks for the info!  Yes, the difference between Juyo 28 and 29 is remarkable, both in quantity submitted and percentage accepted.  Looking at your data with those two sessions as a diving point; and presuming I haven't made an error, results in the following:

10 sessions up to and including 28 - Average number submitted = 886   Average passed = 396  Average % passed = 44.7

40 sessions starting at 29 and up -  Average number submitted = 1373  Average passed = 194  Average % passed =  14.13

Matt,  Yours looks very similar to the one I had, but the colors on mine more closely matched the one you have laying on the table.  Had a nice Osaka Shinto blade (Tanba no Kami Kanemichi) that fit perfectly.  Wish I had kept it.

Anybody know what happened; accident or illness?

On 5/8/2022 at 4:18 PM, Curran said:

Ayasugi hada is fairly common in the Sa school, though different in appearance to my eyes than Gassan ayasugi.

 

Bill Miller with his many fine Sa school blades empirically taught me this last Fall as I looked at several of his blades with his assistance.

Very kind of him and a good lesson I will not soon forget.

 

The signature is more likely to be added than authentic,

but at least the workmanship is in the right ballpark- I think.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt, as fittings are more my wheelhouse.

Interesting.  Fred mentions ayasugi hada in Jitsu'a den blades here:  https://www.nihonto.com/jitsua/