Toryu2020

John - That theme is Toryu-mon - the gate to enlightenment - a carp swims up river for years until one day he transforms into a dragon. Love the way it is presented here, very nice example of the school as well. -t

Love the design! -t

Ray - I'll try to dig something out to help illustrate the idea. Two things to keep in mind, Number one and most important is that the yokote is not "forged" into the blade. The general shape is created on the anvil, after tempering the smith may use files and scrapers to refine the lines of the shinogi and hira-ji. I suppose toward the end of the process he could rough out the yokote but the few blades I have seen at this stage did not have the yokote yet. That is the job of the polisher who is the one who decides just where it should go. There is a possibility your swords has never been polished and that is why it has not yokote. The other thing you need to recognize looking at polished swords is just where the lines of the shinogi curve up to the point, on ko-kissaki, chu-kissaki and O-kissaki. Imagine them without the yokote and after a while you'll see the obvious differences and know where to place your own blade. -t

Ray - Kanmuri-otoshi can be generally assigned to late Muromachi and Bakumatsu but apears at other times I am sure. generally it is a shape seen in tanto and short swords, sometimes on katana. For a long sword this is obviously a standard kissaki without a yokote and kanmuri or or unokubi would look very different even if in pristine never been polished state. Don't forget the NCJSC meeting this Sunday - after you've seen a few examples I am sure it will be obvious to you to... -t

Well I can see the way to go here is to say something is rare and then watch as all the photos come out! I confess I am not much of a kodogu guy but in all the years I have been looking at this stuff I do not recall seeing any peacocks. Ho-o birds yes but no peacocks, now I have seen a lifetimes worth. I wonder Hilik or anyone else if there are photos of "Kakeya Rangaku" out there besides the set I posted earlier or that which may be found in the Futokoromono book? -t

Hilik - Not that I want to start an argument but I wonder if you or anyone has a Japanese reference that calls this or a similar theme "Sekigahara"? The Japanese love of mono no aware, pathos, the impermanence of life was well established before that battle. The reeds and grasses as mentioned reference the plain of Musashi. It could also be Sekigahara or any other battlefield for that matter but there is nothing in the image to suggest it. The Kaneie reference posted above does not mention any place names but rather more examples of poetry. I would also reference other arts; painting, textiles, ceramics, literature and theatre. Are there frequent depictions of Sekigahara in these? I remain skeptical... -t

The Kaneie reference to the impermanence of life is literary as well, according to the text posted. Not meant to depict any one battle. for faceless men in raincoats dragging a rock - that is a depiction of coral harvesting, not that usual but not unheard of. Peacocks, and they are clearly menuki, get my vote for most unusual so far... -t

a sweet pair of Pachyderms... -t

Jeremy - I am sure you are not asking questions here just to get one of us to write a book on swords. That said, without the dimensions, especially the depth and nature of the curvature and an accurate description of the jigane what you describe could be just about any sword in any time period. As Chris has pointed out, you need to be asking your questions based on a specific example even if you've no photos to share... -t

Gentlemen - I am pretty sure that the skull and bones theme represents "Musashino" or the plain of Musashi. Which in ancient times was a lonely and forlorn spot to which unfortunate members of the court might be exiled RE: the tales of Ise. So this is a literary reference and not a historical one. If there were pieces of armour present then you could argue it represents a battlefield, possibly Sekigahara but more likely reference to poetry yet again; Natsugusa ya Tsuwamonodomo ga yume no ato or any number of other similar poems from the great old collections... -t

Ford - Terrific stuff! The zogan is indeed a very nice touch. Roger can not be but very well pleased. Thank you for sharing. -t

Guido is correct, Hachi in this case means the top of the head and Kabuto-wari (Helmet breaker) sounds so much cooler than Boshi-wari (Bowler buster). I wonder if anyone has seen illustrations of these weapons in use from prior to 1600? I am also dubious of the reverse curve explanation, a big bottle opener you say? I cannot agree. Are these not all oriented with the curve uppermost in the belt? In that case, once drawn you would be using the curved outside edge just as you would with a sword. Great stuff BTW, very interesting thread... -t

Gentlemen - I believe these are not so much weapons but more like a doctors bokuto. Made to resemble a sword but not to violate laws proscribing commoners from carrying them. I am just talking about the sword like objects not all the iron truncheons. Walking in the dark and dangerous streets of edo something like this would present just enough of a silhouette to put off would-be robbers. the addition of the sageo makes the illusion complete. I have a kabuto-wari in a wakizashi koshirae, again just my belief, but I have always believed that it presented the outward appearance of a sword but should the wearer be questioned it was "only a harmless skull busting stick of iron officer..." -t

Bernard - The Nihonto Koza translations by Watson contain an excellent article on gimei by Kajihei, a legitimate smith in his own right who was forced by circumstance to make fakes. There was also a thriving business of knock-offs at Kuwana, it seems this was a place to go to earn your stripes by cranking out swords for tourists. Not unlike art students copying the great masters in Paris. The problem being that they were copies, so they did their best to produce swords in the style of another artist, you'd be hard pressed to identify the original artist from the workmanship - if you could you'd have a gimei and it would take some pretty twisted logic to value something that is meant to look like Kotetsu but was made by Gassan at Kuwana with a bad signature... -t

Kusunoki san May I point out that Sonno Joi is a decidedly anti-bakufu slogan - extolling the Tokugawa to do as instructed by the Emperor, excercise their mandate as Seii Tai Shogun and defend the nation against the foreign incursion. They were powerless to do so thus they failed... -t (for To-baku!)

The Fujin and Raijin have to be pretty rare I agree, The telegraph clearly puts these into Meiji when there was in fact a backlash against westernization and lots of rumor and suspicion surrounding such magical objects as the telegraph. Not sure those could really be called menuki but a very neat subject anyway. fish turning into dragon = Toryu-mon Man on turtle = Urashima Taro ninja frogs? = Gomoku all fairly common... -t

There are styles of shirasaya based on the place or region of manufacture, I have not seen any good documentation on this in English or Japanese, an area of interest for me so if anybody knows of a good source I'd love to hear it. I was told that Daimyo at least had saya-shi to make shirasaya for all the better blades in their warehouse. Early sayagaki were often little more than the mei or "catalog" numbers inscribed by the lords curator of swords. With some study I suppose you could guess at age but without a dated sayagaki and lacking evidence of machine tooling all you have to go on is patina of the wood. Most importantly inside the tsuka and koiguchi... -t

Lucky Barry! Teishitsu Gigeiin is the Meiji equivalent of Living National Treasure, I would research the mei carefully. Do post some photos of the blade if you get the chance. -t

You are all indeed welcome, No matter the area of interest in this field one cannot know it all, though I apologise if I sound like that some times. The rabbit holes are so deep you can never exhaust your thirst for knowledge, for my part I learn something new everyday here, I had wanted to say "indeed RARE" in my first post but dropped it somehow. -t (for tom)

Michael - The Meikan lists at least thirteen Shitahara smiths that signed with these characters. Thus there is a good likelyhood that this is not a fake signature. The work will bear this out, close ups of the jigane (the grain pattern in the metal) will be the next step. It may be hard coming up with the exact generation as there aren't a lot of good references for all but the best in this line. If it were dated that would be the the biggest help. If genuine not a bad sword to find in gunto koshirae by a long shot... -t

Keith et al - Satsuma-age was not a practice from the rebellion, rather Satsuma was a place where the population had a greater proportion of Buke than in other Han. This created a great deal of hardship on the members of the class, farming and other labor forbidden to samurai in other han was authorized even encouraged in Satsuma. Since it was poor farmland to begin with the average income was quite modest compared to other places. In addition there was long standing disdain for outsiders especially those associated with the Tokugawa regime. This fostered a very different kind of culture and aesthetic than was found in the capitols of other han. Here the attitude was one of pure machismo the sword as pure weapon absent all but the simplest adornment, "not like those nancy boys in Edo" you could almost hear them saying. The practice of Satsuma-age comes from this attitude and the stingy economy under which the Satsuma Samurai had to live. There have been good blades with well known signatures that have been reshaped in this way but they are indeed... http://www.bidders.co.jp/aitem/142223961 -t

Ken et al - Leather was used more often prior to 1600 and it is popular in Japan now as it stands up well to the mold and humidity there. Silk became the norm in the Edo period because of the variety of colors and patterns that could be produced, the peaceful times allowing for a wider market. Silk is preferred by some as it is generally better at absorbing sweat while still providing a solid grip. As you point out the burn test really is the only way to know for sure, if your ito is frayed you may only need a tiny snippet to confirm your suspicions... -t

Weidas - I am afraid you will need better pictures of the overall nakago and close ups of the mei if anyone is to help you... -t

Steven et al - my understanding is that there was a thriving school of tsuba makers at Akasaka in Edo (now Tokyo) that fed a thriving tourist trade with Nobuie style works. I would seek out examples of their work to compare. This is more 19th century in my humble opinion... -t

Akao as has already been said, and thats the last name Stephen not the first... -t