Xander Chia

I agree. It seems to be closer on the higher end of things in terms of quality, at least aesthetically. The one I posted above is being sold for about $3.8k including koshirae.

I don’t know anything about Komonjo apart from what you can already find in this forum. But what I can say is that the Chinese are capable of creating blades that seem fairly close to the real thing if they wanted to. At least in my opinion. Here’s a Chinese blade that looks quite similar to the one op posted.

Thanks for the identification of the tsuba up top Dale. Any clue what the “pillar” looking things in the background of the second tsuba are supposed to be?

Hi, I know the thread is dead but I just wanted to say that the mei says “吉忠/Yoshitada”, and not “忠吉/Tadayoshi” like Chris has mentioned.

These are the last 2 of the batch. I’m guessing the one on top has a chidori design. What are those things behind the torii gate on the bottom tsuba? They remind me of something you’d find under the sea but there are birds so that’s definitely wrong.

I find it amazing how all of you guys are able to find so much information on such things. I don’t have any reference books yet so all I have is google which usually comes up nada.

Thanks for sharing Pietro! Wish mine was in better condition like the ones in that thread.

Thanks Piers! Thought it looked like 寺 but knew that couldn’t be it.

Can someone tell me more about this maker? I think it says “江府住恒?” “Kofu Ju tsune-“ I can’t tell what the last kanji is supposed to be.

Thanks Cristian. I can see sellers hoping that the new descriptions would be more attractive than the old ones. Thanks Seth. I can relate to that, just purchased a handful of tsuba and realised that I may have spent too much. I’m guessing it’s probably easier to sell back to where you purchased from than finding a new buyer. Thanks Curran. Didn’t think of that. I wonder if I would be able to sell a part of my collection as I am quite sentimental. It’s interesting to see items being relisted after so long. I couldn’t find the images of a wakizashi I downloaded as my camera roll is organised by date. Turned out to be the oldest pics in the entire album, it was relisted after 9 years! There’s also a yari that I’ve seen been marked as sold like a couple times now.

I come across this from time to time and always wondered about it. I was downloading images of nihonto for reference purposes when I noticed something. Even though the item was just listed for sale, the information displayed regarding the image (forgot what it’s called) shows that it was taken months and occasionally even years ago. Questions started to pop up inside my head, why would a seller delist an item only to list it again years later?

Is this an inlaid piece of iron?

Thanks for the advice! I’ve seen some really nice tsuba in those threads. They seem like they would be out of my budget though. I’m still fairly new and I don’t think I’ll be able to appreciate the craftsmanship of that level as of now. These tsuba that I purchased are actually an impulse buy, I had already deposited a sum of money intended for some pottery. Didn’t expect the bids to rise as high as they did so I decided why not get another tsuba since withdrawing the money would incur an additional fee. Seems like I always buy more than initially planned and ended up with multiple. Also got some other items as well.

I’ve always been kinda confused as to why some items are “meant to be handled.” I kinda understand the importance of patination but I personally find it odd as preservation of these items is often held as the utmost important thing. If I remember correctly there is a thread about whether nakago should be oiled. Wouldn’t patination eventually remove all traces or at least diminish the mei and yasurimei? I mean to put it in simple terms isn’t it basically “destroying” the outer layer of the metal? I’m surprised there’s a paper being written in this subject though.

Thanks for the translation! Seems like I managed to translate them properly. The seller included a slip of paper which wrote 正広 instead. I was enquiring about a gimei tadahiro recently so the kanji is still fresh in my mind.

Thanks for the info on those tsuba! Was hoping that was the case with tsuba no. 3/4. Was concerned as the tsuba has a matte black look in person and the mekugi ana looked like someone had just filed it. I’m currently contemplating on selling tsuba 1 and 2 as my main goal was the heianjo tsuba.

Got a couple questions on these 3. Both the echizen kinai tsuba are signed differently, is this because the signature is shared by multiple people? As for the third/fourth tsuba, I found that the interior of the nakago ana is shiny. As in exposed metal shiny. Maybe it was cleaned? Or perhaps the tsuba itself is a fake?

I received the last of the items 3 days ago and finally got around to photographing them. Pardon my lack of photography skills (and the mess in the background). First tusba is signed 兼重? Can’t tell what the second one is.

I immediately started comparing the mei to know examples as soon as I saw this. I felt like it didn’t match any of those examples, especially the 正 character. Liked the koshirae though. Aside from that, I always thought these 2 styles of nakago were the same, being called “pheasant’s leg.” While the “fish belly” shape was more of a gradual decline in wideness. Edit: referring to funa-gata. Looks more like an actual fish belly to me.

I see… thanks for the reply. The blade is a gimei muramasa. I wonder if the shape of the nakago and the mei were done by the smith or altered and added at a later date…

What the title says, is this nakago a kijimomo or tanagobara? Or is kijimomo only reserved for daito? Thanks in advance!

Perhaps that is why they left it there.

Built in 1878, it was one of three forts (the other two being Fort Connaught and Fort Serapong) that had been constructed on the island to protect the New Harbour (later renamed Keppel Harbour) and the straits around Singapore. The Fort played an important role in the Battle for Singapore and served as a Prisoner-of-War camp during and after the Japanese Occupation. https://www.roots.gov.sg/places/places-landing/Places/national-monuments/fort-siloso Just sharing an ivory koshirae for a wakizashi displayed at Fort Siloso Singapore. I’m not too sure if there’s actually a nihonto hidden inside it. Last image is from Wikimedia Commons.

If I’m not wrong the honjo masamune is a mumei blade? If that is the case and the sword you’re thinking of has a mei then unfortunately I think it is probably not the one. Still interested to know more though, hope you find the tracing soon!

Thanks Richard. I thought the paint on the lobster seemed a bit off as well but just wanted to confirm. Hi Jean, I’m collecting such pieces as I don’t want to spend too much on tsuba at the moment. I normally wouldn’t get something like tsuba no. 5 but it’s being sold at quite a low price. And 3 as well because it looks like, as you mentioned, it had its patina removed. But the first 4 tsuba are being sold as a bundle. Thanks for the informations on tsuba no. 3, 4 and 8. I agree that I should probably spend more on books, thanks for the advice! I’ve actually got another one to ask about though. Is this a gimei tsuba (no. 2 in this post)? The first image is taken from aoi Japan for comparison.