Wolfmanreid

My understanding is that Naginata were considered a primary weapon for warriors in the period of the Genpei War and later in the Kamakura period, and were only later supplanted in status. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a depiction of a Naginata Saya in contemporary art showing battles from the period however. Much later at the end of the Muromachi era Miyamoto Musashi specifically mentions his preference for the Naginata as a weapon for real battle (as opposed to duels) and that he killed quite a number of men with a naginata during the Seige of Gifu Castle and in other battles he fought in (I believe he was in 6 total including Sekigahara, although that last one is subject to some doubt). He never mentions what he did with his saya unfortunately.

That blade looks like it is likely unsalvageable unfortunately. I would stay well away from it at half the asking price...

Wow I would love to see those Odachi…

Wow where was it found somewhere in the Russian Far East near the Chinese border? It looks like some file marks on the nakago are still visible despite the abuse it has suffered. Hard to say much given condition but I will take a stab and guess not extremely old…

The oil will indeed stop the active rust. Simple chemistry. Active rust needs three things, water, oxygen and iron. Adding oil will starve the process of oxygen and water.

Nice looking kirikomi on the mune. That sword has definitely “been there, done that”. It would have some tales to tell I’m sure.

Like anything else it depends on what part of the market you are dealing with and how discerning you are. I have been fortunate in that I’ve made money on every nihonto I’ve owned. That being said I’m basically a bottom feeder in the world of nihonto. I collect non-nihonto arms and militaria, but I was repeatedly encountering nihonto in collections of estate items and in similar context. The owners knew nothing about them but were often amenable to a sale, so I began to educate myself both because I find traditional Japanese arts beautiful and intriguing, but also so I would at least be able to spot fakes and be able to have a rough sense of age, quality, etc. when I did encounter a nihonto. This has been fairly successful for me, and has allowed me to recover a number of decent pieces “from the woodwork” so to speak and get them into the hands of more serious collectors who can properly appreciate them. I wouldn’t want to make my living at it but I’ve been lucky in that pieces I’ve bought for a few hundred or a thousand dollars have sometimes turned out to be worth a few thousand. I keep hoping I’ll find a true gem while scraping through the dirt, maybe one day. It has been a pleasant opportunity to talk to the extremely knowledgeable and great people on this site and partake in the community here. Best advice I can give is to spend at least your first $1000 on reference materials and books.

I imagine that removing the softer steel from the inside of the curve of the blade must relieve forging stress in some fashion… I look forward to more informed opinions though.

It’s a tool for hauling eels out of the water I believe. The spike is supposed to stick in and hold the slippery eel.

I'd say it was well worth the buy for the fittings alone!

This is the only one at the Fitzwilliam although they have quite a nice collection of European and South Asian arms and armor otherwise. They do have a lovely kabuto in the shape of an abalone. Apparently this sword was in the family of the donor since the mid 19th century and the inheritor (a fellow Cambridge alum) donated it to the Fitzwilliam.

This sword is in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge England. Sadly the museum staff knew nothing about it and claimed it was a low quality mass produced piece. I rather doubt that as it looks to be in fairly high quality koshirae with a well executed bohi and complex hamon. Perhaps I am showing my ignorance and I would welcome any comments.

The duel in “Hara Kiri” has got to be one of the most perfectly shot scenes in cinema history…. The rest of the film is pretty bloody good too. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rn4FY_k9FyE&t=1s

Darcy can you possibly share where in Virginia the sword went missing and under what circumstances?

Spectacular odachi! Do you Have any more photos of it?

Here is a photo of some armor and swords that were supposed to be presented to Hitler and Mussolini by imperial Japan. https://www.alamy.com/.... Possibly one was this blade? Beautiful koshirae. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24721/lot/424/?category=list

Forgive me if this is outside the realm of this thread, but what about the following circumstance: Osafune Kanemitsu (or whoever) forges a sword but doesn’t sign it. Later, maybe even centuries later, some other individual, perhaps even a smith of the same lineage or school, inscribes Osafune Kanemitsu’s mei to the nakago. I suppose then that this sword is technically gimei, even though the mei is the name of the smith who forged it. Is removing the mei the appropriate answer? How would this hypothetical blade be treated if submitted to shinsa? I have read this exact situation was not uncommon particularly in the late Edo period when Daimyo were selling some of their clan treasures.

Fantastic news! Thanks for the update.

I signed up for the NTHK shinsa at the San Francisco show in August (apparently they aren’t coming for the Chicago show in the spring). Haven’t gotten any confirmation yet as to whether or not shinsa is actually happening though.

Funnily enough the scroll painting in the below link depicts a bushi wielding an axe damn near identical to the one in the OP’s photo. http://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2017/09/masakari-samurais-war-axe.html?m=1