Toryu2020

The highlight of our calendar year is the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Display - when our members share their favorites with the public…

Looks like Kato Kiyomasa and Takeda Shingen - 1900's definitely Boys'Day...

Nice Getto!

Ikeda Kazutsugu - one of few soft metal tsuba in my collection.

That is a woman's hair ornament what you see on their heads is just hair...

Dan - those are topknots, just long hair bound in a tight bunch, oiled and laid upon the head - only string is used no metal. Kanzashi which are ladies ornaments are made of wood and lacquer so very light but they are not Kogai and Kogai were never worn in the hair. Ever seen a secretary scratch her head with the dull end of an ink pen - that's what Kogai do. Ever seen a comb with a long thin point at one end? That point is used to tease a single piece of stray hair back into place - that's what Kogai do... If you wear long hair everyday you need hair implements close at hand... -t

Could we see overall pictures of the blade and an overall picture of the tang on both sides. Might shed some light... -t

Dmitri - Thank you for your interest in the NTHK Shinsa, we have not to date done a Shinsa in Europe - we understand that there is interest but all the elements we would need have yet to come together. -tch

Not sure if this was posted previously... 鎺（ハバキ）写真／ホームメイト (touken-world.jp)

Alex - There was likely more than one smith using the Kunimune name so the two-character signature is not that much of a concern - you have papers that should reassure you. -t

Mark - the information came from Itoh Sensei himself - there is a team working on the translation, no ETA currently so no links to follow just yet... -t

I would be very surprised to find that the NBTHK had a database of all the swords they have seen - Perhaps all the swords they have papered, and even so I would not think they have them compiled by smith so that you can reference them (oshigata?). I have been to the research room at the old sword museum and it was full of books - the usual books we all have access to, there were not however file cabinets full of oshigata or ledgers from past shinsa - just the usual books. Thats not to say they don't compile oshigata and make them available to the general public, however that is only at the Juyo level - Juyo To-ken Nado Zufu - an excellent reference if you are collecting at that level... -t

永要耀　maybe？ No idea how to read this...

Alex - you make good points and we have to hope someone gets to see it in hand at some point. However these pictures are not that bad and I believe using the same references that the shinsa teams use one can make an educated guess at the authenticty of a signature. Yes there are exceptions but the well known names are well recorded and comparisons are easily made. Yes the rule is blade first and then the mei but if all you have is the mei, people are still gonna have a go. Sorry if we made you angy... -t

The first thing to note is the Yasuri-me - they are not clear cut kesho yasuri - Masahide always has a very clean clear finish to his nakago. The SUI kanji is just wrong. The horizontal strokes all have a slight curvature - the shoshin shows strokes that are straight. The spacing of the kanji is off - the KAO should almost be touching the HIDE kanji. There is NO kokuin. The closest thing to correct here are the characters for TSUKI and HI - maybe the faker had some relationship to Masahide? Kajihei perhaps? The horimono is just wrong.

SO Yoroi-doshi became a thing in the late Muromachi and you would expect that most would be from that era - however in the Shinshin-to period shapes of all kinds were recreated so it should be no surprise if we find an ancient shape by a more recent artist. Does that make sense? Are we talking about a particular sword?

Footslime - is there something better we should call you? Here is a genuine signature and carving - 1806 and 1807 respectively. Hope this helps…

Hnery - do you mean the shape (Yoroi-doshi) suggests an older piece while the signature seems newer?