Toryu2020

Should we be expecting an updated/corrected copy from Alpha now? -t

Welcome Joe - As Stephen has pointed out you live in the absolute best part of America for sword study! Sorry to say you just missed our public display at the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, and actually at the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival this past weekend. Please note we have moved our May meeting to the 22nd to avoid Bay to Breakers congestion, it costs nothing to attend and I hope you can join us. If you've any burning questions between now and then you can hit me up here, send a PM or an email. -tch NCJSC.President@gmail.com

Never be discouraged, but always be realistic! -t

The problem you will encounter is that the major families used three or four principle mon - the combination of these helped people to recognize not just the family but the generations. Over 250 plus years many second sons, cousins, retainers and servants were granted use of mon, therefore unless a mon is very unique it is a fools errand to try and associate a single object with a single family from a single mon. Add to this the fact that once the Shogun fell, everyone was encouraged to adopt a mon so anyone could be a Tokugawa, a Toyotomi or an Uesugi if they wanted. Mon books in Japan are thousands of pages long, listing thousands of families. If you are dealing with antiques and the object has several mon on it you need the Taisei Bukan, The Who's Who of Tokugawa Japan - it lists all the major Daimyo and Hatamoto along with their titles, income and mon. Keep in mind also that there were several editions of the book printed throughout the Edo period, so the families and mon do change over time... -t

I'd say that is a bit of a stretch since many families, including branches of the Matsudaira continued to use the mon long after Hideyoshi was gone...

Looks like a good match on the upper right...

Tsuneishi says that the eldest son of Myoju was "Hikojiro" - I think you may be looking at a later generation. I would look for some sword signatures for comparison...

Count me jealous! I very nice find. I think it says 桐華 "Paulownia flower" you'll want to see if there is a good seal script dictionary online to say for sure... -t

Thats wild - there appears to be no Shigetsugu among Kanabo swordsmiths so you gotta wonder what if any association this maker has... -t

Very interested to see this Mei when she comes back. -t

What are the kanji used in the Shigetsugu signature?

have we tried the old trick of closing yourself up in a completely black room and then using the flash on your phone to capture a photo? -t

Yanchen - The shinsa process is exactly the same as in Japan - the personnel are exactly the same as in Japan, they will just be in Burlingame this time around. No one should get us confused with the NBTHK - we are much more a collector focused organization, in every instance we attempt to provide attributions to particular smiths, including generation and time period, we do this even if an item is rejected for some reason and ours are the only paper that includes the attestation "Shoshin" stating that the article is genuine, this is legally binging in Japan which means that we can be sued if we are not absolutely correct, this is why our standards and our fail rate are so high, making our papers the more valuable choice for the researcher and collector. -tch

Do we have better photos of the boshi?

I think HUGE is a relative term and we all need a better reference in our minds eye...

Most sites have a section for "Sword accessories" or "Other" listing new and antique sword stands. Try Meirin Sangyo - www.nipponto.co.jp -t

Anyone know a supplier of CUSTOM boxes for tsuba, preferably in the Tokyo area? Any help appreciated, -tch

Yeah, not true Baba and frankly your habit of pissing on the walls of every thread you join is getting annoying...

So one of the best resources for identifying flowers on tsuba is the CHURCH catalogue - I would peruse that and you will see lots of plum with similar buds and leaves, I think thats what we are seeing... -t

I think you are looking at plum or some other flower, perhaps there were other elements that have since been lost or rubbed off? -t

Thats a neat one - Bishu Sakai? ju Kanemitsu 2603 years from the founding of the nation - made this for certain victory in the Great East Asian War? The last is something sword, so maybe auspicious? can't see but I am sure someone with better eyes will... cool. -tch

Stop me when I achieve Britishness; "2500 Bloody Pounds!?!" now "Almost 8,000 bloody pounds!?!" Unbelievable - we are all behind you on this, if you need letters of support just ask, if you need letters from the NTHK just ask. -tch

I would look at Kanewaka and consider the mei an homage... -t

Imagine a kantei session - you allow your guests to examine your sword blade with the nakago covered - once all the bids are in you remove the "covers" and everyone can see the attribution - you only need to remove the handle once a year for cleaning... I had a friend in Japan with a Sadamune with a Shumei - he had a special order tsuka and wooden habaki that would "clip" onto the nakago rather than slide on and off. And Richard I would say this is not common... -t

Sword show in August George and Cherry Blossom every April! -tch