Ray Singer

I found this sword back in 2001, had the current restoration done in Japan and owned it for several years before selling it to knowledgeable Hizen-to collector (who had the present koshirae made). The difference in the nakago yasurimei is due to the fact that the sword has been shortened. The kiri yasurimei were done at the time of the suriage/machi-okuri. The sword has NTHK papers from 1993 verifying the work as an authentic shodai Masahiro.

The first two kanji in the date appear to have been obliterated by later added mekugi-ana (both open and filled). What is remaining reads niju nen ni gatsu hi: A day in February, in the 20th year. The specific era name is missing. I cannot make out the mei. Looks like an interesting piece, I would love to see more photos. - Ray

My impression is that are providing the two mei captions on the right side for a signature comparison against examples from Motoshige, perhaps to show similarities in 重. I may be mistaken...

Thanks Chris, would you be able to help with the translation? Best, Ray

Hi, I would greatly appreciate any help that can be offered with the attached photos of a sayagaki and surrender tag. Many thanks, Ray

Echizen-ju Hoki (no) kami Fujiwara Hirotaka Here is another example: http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/H1 ... PUP_E.html

It depends on the ken, but there have there have been several ken which sold recently in the 6-7k price range. They were earlier pieces though (Yamato Senjuin, Heian through late Kamakura). Personally I would be happy to spend $7,000 on a ken, if it were the right one.

Exactly why I asked Thanks for the feedback and mei sample John. Best regards, Ray

Here are better photos of the kozuka face and mei. The quality is good, but I will need to defer to the group whether this is good enough for Goto Mitsunaga. As you can see below, there are serious condition issues. The kozuka has been remounted as a pin and the patina on the shakudo needs to be restored.

Additional photo attached.

I am at an antique show and was hoping that someone could assist with verifying this mei (I believe Goto Mitsunaga w/ Kao). Apologies in advance for the cell phone-quality photo... Thank you, Ray

Speaking of Soshu and the Antique Roadshow, a very interesting blade did surface at the Miami Beach event this past summer and no, they were not able to tell him anything about the sword. It was a 73cm daito, mitsumune, with niju kinmoku hakabi (sukashi mon) and kinzoganmei to Norishige. Fortunately someone at the show was able to put the owner in touch with a friend of mine and I was able to purchase the blade shortly afterwards. A wonderful soshu-den piece, but I'll try not to get overly excited until after shinsa...

Thank you. She does not read Japanese but may have a friend who can assist with the translation... Kind regards, Ray

My wife is a Nichiren buddhist and asked a sword-related question that I am unable to answer. Hopefully someone on the discussion forum can assist. In her copy of Gosho (the writing of Nichiren Daishonin) there is a passage discussing two swords which had been donated. I showed her an oshigata of the meibutsu Juzumaru by Ko-Aoe Tsunetsugu which was worn by someone within the Nichiren group but could not answer whether 1). The Juzumaru is one of the blades discussed in Gosho or 2). If Juzumaro was owned and worn by Daishonin or one of his disciples. If anyone has further information, it would be greatly appreciated... - Ray

Hi George, the Ko-Aoe measures 2 shaku 6 bu = 62.42cm. It is approximately 6cm machi-okuri, so this was a tachi of more conventional length when ubu... Also interesting in this piece is that there is a faint mei there, signed tachimei (which is less common for Bitchu Aoe). The kanji for KUNI is the only one that can be read clearly... Best regards, Ray

Thank you Moriyama-san for the quick reply and translation. Here are a few photos of the Ko-Aoe as requested...

Hi all, would greatly appreciate translation of this sayagaki for Bitchu Ko-Aoe kodachi I own... Many thanks, Ray

Thank you both for the feedback, I did not catch the lack of sori in the mono-uchi. Ted, that excellent diagram makes it very clear what would have been there before. I have to wonder if another smith/polisher would have been able to do a more elegant naoshi on this piece, but do so by removing even more of the original material from the mune. Perhaps a future owner will want to revisit this. Just by way of comparison, another naginatanaoshi that has been greatly reworked... https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/img/tem ... 1709_2.jpg

Hi all, I am having a hard time understanding the sugata of this sword. https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/en/auct ... 1213703271 The shape is incorrect for the time period, unless the sword is a nagamaki/naginata naoshi (which I am assuming this is not). Is there a precedent for other such swords from mid-kamakura with a sugata we would ordinarily kantei to Nambokucho? - Ray

Hi George, if memory serves that is the same mei. It was an ichimonji utushimono and described by Tsuruta-san as being Shibata Ka's work... - Ray

Hi John, I was looking through a friend's copy of the Kinko Jiten when I saw the kao. Unfortunately I am back home now and don't have that reference, otherwise would send a scan. I was looking under both Ikkin and Ichijo when I saw the kao, so perhaps someone here has a copy and could post an image of that page? Best, Ray

I recall that the last Ka sold on Aoi Art had the Mitsuoki mei. Nakago and date were otherwise typical of Shibata Ka... - Ray

Thanks John, I checked but was not able to find a match for Ikkin. I did see some examples of Goto Ichijo with what appeared to be the same kao though. Was this kao used by anyone else in his mon? Best regards, Ray

Hi all, would greatly appreciate translation assistance with a tsuba I found last night. It came in a deluxe, fitted box with hakogaki. Please see photos below... Thank you, Ray

Even within their Soshu works, Sadayoshi and his son did not always produce such a flashy uzumaki-style hada. Here is an gassaku katana I used to own, which had a much tighter itame hada (than the ebay example) with just a few smaller pools of mokume mixed in. http://www.swordsofjapan.com/SadayoshiSadahito.htm