Toryu2020

Larry - There are lots of great images out there. Check the Gallery page on my website for a few odd old photos. Sorry no Yoshichika but a few other fellows from his era. I have more that I hope to post soon so stay tuned... -t

Did not see a good topic or forum to add this to, but if you know where that is let me know. http://www.hokkesaburo.com/ A neat website I was recently introduced to. Maybe oldhat to some but thought I would share. If there is a place for links besides the ones on the top-page do let me know. Thanks, -t

Jon - We are indeed still having the NTHK Shinsa at the Tampa Show - Uncle Al Bardi is doing a great job promoting his event and ours - we anticipate a very successful weekend to rival the recent San Francisco Shinsa - I personally am looking forward to meeting our East Coast cousins and enjoying several days of productive sword study. Hope you all can make it, -t

Bunsei date, look for the san dai of this line and I think you'll find a good match. -t

Indeed nice sword, Student of Suishinshi Masahide - studied in Edo and then returned to work in Higo his home province. Would love to see more of that blade... -t

I suspect not all of Yoshichika's works were western milled steel... -t

Leonard you are most welcome - @John I think the original post had these as Goto - I think if you look at the presentation of the leaves you can almost see the gold dots of dew, also you've got gold, copper and shakudo - not Goto I'm thinking but under the influence anyway... -t

Gosuriage Kotoku (kao) Hon'Ami Kotoku perhaps? -t

Leonard - I didnt see the signature in the earlier photos, though I do want to see it - I was speaking of the blade shape - if this is a "tanto" it does not appear to be the right shape for Shodai Nagayoshi - check whatever references you have and try to match this shape to a period (era) - from there we can look for schools and then maybe your smith... -t "licking the mune"

Leonard - First off, not bad. Not great either but the image is uncommon enough that they are a pleasure to see just because they are different. As stated the immediate impression is that the quality is not first rate but there aren't a lot of those floating around undiscovered anyway. Goto themes and Goto style was copied all over the country by generations of artists so Goto-esque is not such a bad call even if no school is apparent. Pics of the back would be cool. And I think your theme is Myoga - ginger, but I could be wrong... -t

Curious to see the nakago/signature - It looks a bit big (wider/longer) than one might expect for Shodai Nagayoshi, might be his school but I would think later generation... -t

Yimu - First rule of a physician - "do no harm", to just preserve and care for this is all that is needed. Based on the photos the hada looks rough in spots and a polish might open some of that up but only a trained polisher with in hand examination can say for sure. From the photos it looks like yes, it could be restored but a full polish is expensive and a bit of a gamble. The finished sword may in the end look better but be worth less because of flaws that appear in the process. Take it to a trained polisher and follow his advice... -t

Piers - I should be interested in what exactly you are seeing - generally cuts to the tsuba are to be avoided at all cost in Japanese Swordsmanship - blocking was done with the shinogi and even this was to be avoided. Contact with the tsuba certainly occurred but was rare, multiple strikes to the same tsuba in the course of a single fight does not make sense to me. I think iron would provide the best protection but the idea of using a "soft" tsuba to capture a sword blade scares me, I would'nt want to rely on my tsuba for that kind of protection - if your attacker is getting that close to your hands you are soon to be dead anyway... -t

Piers - I would have said Choshu - not being a Kodogu guy - still I do know that Shoami groups existed just about everywhere. I say Choshu though from the Crysanthemum - that one little flower seems to appear in all kinds of Choshu works. The "Aoi" like leaves do look a bit like Echizen Kinai but given the primitive presentation of the butterfly I would look for Choshu pieces to compare with. FWIW -t

Amen Keith!

DOH! we see what we expect to see I guess... -t

Piers your box says "Dai monji tsuba" so you are absolutely correct about the theme... -t

I have to cast my vote against this one, Curious to see if the buyer is a member or one of our number knows them. Really seriously doubt this will prove to be a valid work but also very interested to see what happens... -t

This is a Tosu and not your standard kogatana... -t

Kinai tsuba are prolific, Good signed copies are easliy had - most show good plate, good carving. There are many Aoi pattern tsuba out there based on the Tokugawa-mon. Certainly should not be too hard to find them... -t

Why not an Echizen Kinai tsuba? -t

That would be J-Mart... If you really want the wakizashi free of the bone handle, try boiling it off. These were often glued in with a kind of pitch. Be careful not to heat the blade too much... -t

Yes, the folks on Kyushu found it so ugly they threw it in the ocean and it washed up on the beach in Okinawa! Nothing in the image or the materials used suggests Okinawa. I am afraid that Jean is quite right... -t

Gary - Any photos of the blade/kissaki and the mounts? -t

Cris - Morita-san has already answered your question. To fill it out a bit; Omote 1満2鐵3鍛5之(wo)4造 or Mantetsu kitae kore(wo)tsukuru (made this using Mantetsu forging) Ura 1昭2和3甲4申(doshi) 5春 or Showa Kinoe-saru (doshi) Haru (Spring, year of the elder brother of the wood-monkey in the Showa era) This is a rather unusual signature, not rare but not ordered in the way the signature of most individual smiths would be. Showa era signatures are tough to work with since there tends to be more use of Chinese order in the kanji (Kanbun) and zodiacal (?) dating as in this example. If you are interested in learning to translate signatures it is not that difficult; remember that the last two kanji are usually the smiths name - if the last kanji is saku (or tsukuru) then the two above that are the name - learn to recognize common kanji like kuni, kami, fujiwara and ju - these can be used as landmarks like saku and you can often work the rest out from there. Best of luck with your studies, -t