Rich Thomas

Thanks Thierry, great pics; fantastic. cheers Rich T

Had one shipped a few weeks ago, Fedex, about 3 days to get here, no dramas only hold up was customs for GST (over $1000) = 5 to 10 days. Make sure you get them to write as description 'Antique over 100 years old'. Description of 'nihonto made by xx circa xx AD' might help get them to look after it. You can put the harmonised tarrif code on but not sure if it makes a difference in Aus. Just search harmonised tarrif code here and the post discussing it all should come up. I gotta fly cheers Rich

This is my favorite, and one that I would sell my mother, no sister, I mean car for. A signed mid kamakura example. I love this shape. It looks Ko Bizen to me, the shinsa team have place Sanetada in the Fukuoka ichimonji ha, limited references that I have access to place him at different times 1153AD ish or 1278AD ish if I remember correctly. Apparently it is gorgeous in hand. http://www.choshuya.co.jp/sale/sword/0904/sanetada/sanetada.htm cheers Rich Thomas

Hi guys, Thought this was a relevant example of one of his midare komi boshi in case anyone interested. Important Cultural Property - Motoshige (Boshi in the pic displaying the ura is more obvious) Click on it and zoom right in http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100491?word=&d_lang=en&s_lang=ja&class=6&title=&c_e=&region=&era=&cptype=&owner=&pos=89&num=3&mode=detail cheers Rich

Hi Curran, Not sure if you get their ginza joho magazine but it is featured. There seems to be something a little funny with the 'mitsu' character like it was added later or re-cut because filed over?? I'm not sure what they are pointing out with the mei in the insert pics on right hand page, my Japanese is not good enough! Anyway thought this might help you. I've looked closely at the magazine pics they have provided and there doesn't seem to be shingane showing through , but some tiredness and ware starting to open up.. hmm looked back at the online pics and not so sure, I'll shut up and leave that to the more experienced! Scan attached. cheers Rich Thomas

Hi Guy's sorry been asleep, now at work so can't stay long. :D Chris, no Darcy didn't sell this, I bought it from Ken-ichi san in Japan. Who I met when I was at the DTI in 2009 and spent a whole afternoon in his shop, some amazing peices. Darcy and I have been discussing this blade for a while particularly around getting some good photo's out of it, which was the original intent of my post I guess, as I had finally taken some shots that I was proud of! I thought it would be fun to also present for a kantei opportunity as I find Motoshige an extremely interesting smith/s whose work draws from many influences. I shared with Darcy my thoughts on the presented oshigata, (thanks Micha it has evoked some good discussion) in that I found it strange that this Juyo Motoshige was being compared to other Juyo Den Motoshige, tanto and naginata nayoshi to highlight that this Juyo didn't have a 'typical' boshi. I think in another post we established there were anywhere between 105 - 120 Juyo/Toku blades out there attributed to Motoshige, here we've presented 4 attributed to Motoshige to state that it is not typical. What is typical for Motoshige, a smith renowned for his flexibility and change in styles? IMHO as I said above I think (according to my research) this is one of the 'less common' boshi, (it must have fired Darcy up :lol: ). Here's another Juyo Motoshige oshigata done by Clive Sinclare possibly? - different again Anyway, I respect all opinions as that is how I learn, and this one has led to more discussion and learning for me and is appreaciated. I took the advice that you guys gave me three years ago and spent money on books and time studying rather than buying any sword I could afford (a trap I was falling into). I was after a Bizen den Nambokucho piece and loved this blade, the fact that it was attributed to Motoshige was a bonus as I think he/they is/are :lol: a very interesting research proposition. I've also gone off and started reading up specifically on Osafune Kanenaga to get a better understanding of Teds bid ! Thanks again, now back to work! Rich

Atari to Patrick, Motoshige it is........ Interesting on the boshi, it is different to most Motoshige oshigata I have seen, but I've only seen a few, most of the books I've read will describe his more common boshi as quiet or modest (notare) that are o-maru or ko-maru; or midare komi; midare komi with a hint of togari. I've also seen; gently waving asaki madare ba or notare to maru or togari head with nie hakikake, then in Connoisseur's (pg 192, Osafune Motoshige II) is says "and there is either a short or long kaeri" ... so I think this fits, and more importantly the shinsa team did as I'm the first to admit I have much to learn. Jean, Anthony, Veli thanks so much for your comments on the photo's/blade. These did indeed take a long time Jean! I don't think my camera (or maybe it's me) will be able to cope with a full length shot, I've tried before but most unsatisfactory results are usually the outcome... my camera is not an SLR but a Cannon G9 which was a great point and shoot with flexible manual operation but not in the same league as SLR. I could probably break it up into consistent thirds both sides.... but not what you're after. The only other pic I have of the whole blade was one I grabbed from the results of the NBSK polishing competition 2009 where it won a silver award, (polished by Watanabe Kogou, student of Nagayama Kokan - Living National Treasure) Veli I think it's a good idea, I've only started recently and don't have great technical knowledge with photography so not sure I can contribute much from that perspective. I find a lot of pleasure in trialling different methods of photographing (though with me it's still VERY hit and miss) I like to call it the organic approach :D Finding the time is the hard part. Anthony I'm not quite sure what you mean by proof of re-polishing? but, yes you can see the boshi in the kissaki here's a little pic from a different source, hopefully this helps? cheers Rich

Jean, Thanks so much, yes I dropped the ball on the kissaki looked fine on the cameras LCD, but after packing everything away and loading to the PC I realised the exposure was down a tad, there's lovely fine sunagashi within temper. To tell you the truth the technique was picking Darcy's brain, which he kindly shared, and then hours of trial and error on the right light source, exposure and positioning, but basically I set up (in a darkened room) as you would for viewing hamon and then getting the right distances etc. So this blade has been attributed directly to smith not den and we are on track with Nambokucho, Bizen osafune, though a different school to Chogi or Kanemitsu. I think the close ups may be some what misleading in that they are presenting things 2.5 times the actual size and focussing on relatively smaller sections of the hamon. Generally it is forming a seemingly straightish line within midare as per oshigata (trying not to give anything away :D ...). Patrick, like Omiya Morikage (though I have not researched his work) this smith can be compared to Kanemitsu (though hamon is generally mixed with more compact midare patterns according to research). P.s. Yasurimei is sujikai cheers Rich

Couple more pics

Hi guys just wanted to share my new baby, cos I'm v excited. Also thought it might be fun to put out as kantei opportunity : ) Details of the blade: Nagasa: 68.6cm Sori: 2.1cm Motohaba: 3.1cm Sakihaba: 2.5cm Boshi: 5.1cm Nakago length: 19.7cm Mune: Iori Kitae: Itame mixed mokume with fine thick ji-nie, chikei and midare utsuri Hamon: Nioi deki, ashi, yo, sunagashi, deep nioi guchi Nakago: Mumei, O-suriage (15 - 20cm) cheers Rich Thomas I spent a bit of time taking these trying to improve my photography skills, hope you like

So sad, my thoughts are with all Has anyone heard from Darcy B? He is over in Japan and we've been in fairly regular email contact, haven't heard from him since... I'm hoping he is alright.. he was heading back to Tokyo towards end March so not sure what part of the country he was in.... Rich Thomas

Thanks Grey, I had not been aware of the index i'll check it out, looks like significant work was involved in the brief look I've managed to have so far, nice job! Thanks Jean.. yep that blade was the one that prompted my quest for further research. I have a Taima blade from the same period, quite different features though! RichT

Hi guys, Wondering if anyone knows where I might be able to find more information on the work of early Taima smiths from the Late Kamakura/Nanbokucho period, or any oshigata? The Conoisseurs and Nihonto Koza have limited info, Sho shin has some....... but I'm struggling....As stated by Darcy: "Research into Yamato blades is always difficult, and the more rare schools like Taima are even more so. There are only 177 Taima swords of all types blades in the NBTHK Juyo Token index, and of these only eight bear an individual's signature. There is an additional section of about 25 directly assigned to the Taima smith Aritoshi with a handful of them signed as well. The extreme lack in quantity of pieces overall, and in particular signed pieces, makes attribution and understanding the relationships of the individual smiths in this school very difficult". Any hints or help would be appreciated cheers Rich T2

Hey Darcy, ditto to the above I loved your first book and will gladly prepay for any subsequent books. I am currently a technical writer / BA by trade so I offer any help I can in editing / formatting / proofing documents in my spare time. Rich Thomas

Would that be the African swallow? RichT2

Thanks all gents, very much appreciated. Beautifully summed up Guido. Does anyone know were I can get hold of these/this??? cheers Rich T2

Hi guys wondering if you could help me clear up a problem I'm having in my study. I'm learning about the characteristics of blades from various traditions, schools, smiths and putting together a single reference spread sheet for myself to help with kantei and as a way to try and make it sink in..... . I'm using the following books as reference material; - 'Connoisseurs', 'Nihonto Koza', 'Hawleys sword groups' and various others Compton collection, cutting edge, Japanese sword, plus various nihonto info sites like Rob Coles etc It seems that one book's mokume is another's itame... for example For the Yamato Senjuin scool the jihada traits are described as - Hawleys; Large midare masame hada Nihonto Koza; Itame with a taste of masame with jinie Connoisseurs; Mokume hada mixed with jinie and chikei. Shoshin; ITAME or ITAME-MASA mix, finely done. Can be strong and with O-HADA. JI-NIE. This difference in description happens in many references through most schools, 'Con' says mokume, 'Nk' says itame and occasionally mokume Would I be correct in saying that earlier books like Nihonto koza (translated from early references) would be less liberal with describing a hada as mokume, where as later books might refer to it more so? Is there a book or source (maybe that i don't have) that is more correct than others? One other question if I could Yamato described (loosely) as itame and mokume seen but usually a nagare - hada (running) combined with masame? Q;What makes a hada "running" thanks in advance Rich T 2

Hi guys, as a help to others starting out on this long journey of study I have built/am building a list of books for beginners with pics and details and a little ...drool metre - for a laugh (rating the wow factor of the pics). These are just the books I have and have found really useful in my areas of interest. This was prompted by the number of new members asking what books they should get to help with their study...hopefully this could help. here's the link (note still WIP) http://www.bushidoboutique.net/books.html cheers Rich Thomas

Thanks guys, appreciated. Hope everyone has a great Xmas. cheers Rich

Hi Koichi san, Thankyou, much appreciated, I had the same problem with this also and Meiji was the best I could come up with, but thought I must have had it wrong. Does it seem strange that it is so wrong even for gimei? It's not a variation of this?? cheers Rich

Was hoping to get some help with this one as I don't as yet have any good books for translation. (names of recommended books would be appreciated also) First pic is of the omote mei and then the next 2 are close ups, tho I missed the 5th character, the next 3 are of the ura mei. Any help with translation appreciated!! cheers Rich Thomas

:lol: Brian actually my words to him exactly first time were: Ok so I believe, (and this is only my humble opinion), that this is not a genuine blade, (sorry) the shape is all wrong, the hamon (temper line) looks to be etched/ground on? Not a usual shape for tanto of any era, even if it was the top portion on a larger blade cut down, it’s shape is wrong. It’s a Japanese shunga theme, but the mei (signature on the nakago) doesn’t seem right… a bit Chinese fake fake. Looks to me more like a Chinese copy? so looks like we agreed almost word for word :D ....but he was adamant it came from Japan after WW1... so I said it might be post Meiji tourist stuff then.....anyway just thought I'd share. cheers Rich Thomas

I don't want to get away from the original topic but since we went there I thought I show these pics that were sent to me from a guy wanting to know what it was worth, smith, etc. I suggested it was probably post Meiji tourist stuff...with a shunga theme - unusual I guess. Is this the sort of stuff that you were talking about Shan/Brian? Rich Thomas

Henry, V nice! Stephen, I count 54 plus a baby..... no 57 plus a baby....damn wish I never started Rich Thomas

I'd like to talk more about it...email me via my website if you want http://www.bushidoboutique.net cheers Richard T