Yasaka Azuma

Well, it's been a year since I started this thread. I've covered most of the (blatant) tricks that have been circulating lately, so at a good stopping point.
I think that's the end of my updates. Thanks, all.

June.

The staple products.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/k552984449

https://www.jauce.com/auction/s828320735

https://www.jauce.com/auction/n510319983

https://www.jauce.com/auction/c912721837

https://www.jauce.com/auction/o484358392

https://www.jauce.com/auction/g531464028

https://www.jauce.com/auction/x784229289

https://www.jauce.com/auction/b548611075

Isn't Mimi's darkening of skin a trace of electrodes?

https://www.jauce.com/auction/d532126887

I'm not sure if Showa's kiwame of being Nagatune's early name is correct. However, there are cracks in the casting defect on the back side that is not worn.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/w475070782

Yin and Yang Kon remains perfect without Chikara-gane. Is there a Ko-Goto that hasn't worn out even a single Dragon's Scale ?
Isn't this a casting burr or soot? There are many doubts. But looking at the NBTHK paper, I have no choice but to silence.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/g509223321

At least in the case of the Goto school head family, the direction of the dragon swallowing the sword is fixed except in rare cases. It is often the case in modern replicas that they are turned upside down.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/q455098325

https://aucfree.com/items/v611509961

A clever piece of casting with chisel added to the recent casting, as usual, comes with paper. I criticize not whether it is a period Mito-kinko or not, but a technique.
A slight amount of paint sticks out, and that smoothes the casting mold with a brush. These are difficult to find without a magnified image.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/d528270232

Not punched nanako, unengraved dragons and clouds, but good at casting. Also, the finer the work, the more difficult it is to paint every corner.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/f518570249

https://www.jauce.com/auction/561793735

It is not clear from the image alone whether it is assembled by brazing or casting. However, I hesitate to make a successful bid for such a tube-marked item for more than $ 1,000.
He might say "Just stay out of my business!" However, it is a relatively common design and is sold at specialty stores for about half the price.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/x787403053

reference sample

http://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/fs/sale/kodogu/3201_3250/3209/ｋ3209.htm#

Mito-kinko bamboo and tiger big tsuba. It weighs nearly 10 ounces and seems to have never been fitted to a sword. Buyers may be able to impress someone.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/r494060689

It looks like they are using the exact same images even though they are for sale separately.

The cow is fat and looks happy enough. In the past, Japanese cows were thin and had bones showing in their hips. The Cattle body condition score is below point 2or3.　
https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/e/f651c8fd65136e7690ba4e030eeba8f9

This is an Aridooshi by Sukeyuki of Hamano School, which is known for its dynamic style of Takaniku-bori. Item No. 53 ; I imagined it to be an early work, since it  was done in the Nara style of Usuniku-bori.
蟻通し宮図鐔 銘 助随

http://www.katana-hattori.com/tsuba/sukezui.html

Dale, it's exactly as you said. This makes your discovery the third, no doubt about it that someone is making a mold from a picture.
Buyers can buy a file that removes burrs, and then they can complete their tsuba and enjoy the self-satisfaction of owning a museum piece and the same type product. If it is made in Japan, it will be repeatedly found in online auctions. Maybe it is made in a foreign country?

Aridooshi　蟻通

http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/a/aridooshi.htm

https://matuyonosuke.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/01/08/蟻通_ありどおし_ありとほし

蟻通宮図鐔  銘 打越弘寿

https://www.facebook.com/SenOkuHakukoKanTokyo/posts/547901495333682/

蟻通宮図鐔 銘 安親

http://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r1/010/00_yasuchika.htm

蟻通宮図鐔　銘　長義(花押)

http://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/tsuba/21_40/35nagayoshi.htm

蟻通宮図鐔 銘 常重

https://www.kusanaginosya.com/SHOP/305.html

If there are any errors in the machine translation that I pasted to present the basis for the scores, please correct them. I only know a superficial amount about Kiyomaro. If you have any information about his works, please let me know.

I can't say anything about the judging of Juyo-Token, but I'm sure that Kiyomaro has already been a topic of conversation among the judges. Because it is a work that rarely comes up as a new discovery. They must be waiting for it to come, imagining what kind of re-polished finish it will be. From now on, it is up to the owner to decide, but I too am looking forward to seeing it displayed at the Juyo-Token New Designation Exhibition.
 

On 5/29/2021 at 10:47 PM, Yasaka Azuma said:

Kiyomaro Minamoto was known for low production, and as far as I have been told, he forged only around 130 swords in his lifetime. 

I'll paste the evidence I saw online.
”The highest price ever paid for a sword was 150 million yen for one made by Kiyomaro Minamoto, the most popular of the "Edo Sansaku" swordsmiths.

Kiyomaro Minamoto was a swordsmith active in the late Edo period, but he suddenly committed suicide at the age of 42, pessimistic about a concussion he had suffered from drinking heavily. He was known for his limited production, and is said to have forged only around 130 swords in his lifetime.

The value of works by such a master craftsman changes over time, and depending on the state of preservation, the value of a piece that once cost tens of millions of yen may drop to several million yen.”

https://nihontoukaitori-hikaku.info/column/marketprice/

May.

The staple products.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/t807319654

https://www.jauce.com/auction/t805493496

https://www.jauce.com/auction/x781031509

https://www.jauce.com/auction/m492510693

https://www.jauce.com/auction/547004652

https://www.jauce.com/auction/558488108

https://www.jauce.com/auction/h554640431

It is difficult to tell from the image, but the gold coloration is unnatural. Also, the fact that the back side is filled with resin is also artificial.
However, the front side looks good at first glance, so you may be tempted to bid on it.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/j728501552

I have seen Ishiguro schools with the same design but slightly different details in online auctions. However, all of them do not look authentic.
This time, it came out clad in a label from a famous auction house.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/x779638076

This is the new world of Natuo, finished with paint. If you read the year as "kanotou", it might be 2011 instead of 1831 or 1891.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/j728402197

The price is fixed at 181,000JPY, but it is a cast product as you can see. In addition, the pipe hole is visible.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/554507415

As stated in the product description, the paper does not match the actual item. This is an example of how paper in the Showa era was either bullshit or suspected to be counterfeit.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/o441767475

These two are low-end mass-produced products that are often found. On search sites, you can find many tsuba with the same design. A thorough comparison and inspection should be done on all of them to see if they should be avoided.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/l685966835

https://www.jauce.com/auction/p850130753

This month we have seen some tsuba titled Higo. This is what the seller claims to be Nishigaki School, but the certificate doesn't even say Higo.
The inlaying skill that is characteristic of Higo school is not seen, and there are still round traces.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/t809058488

If you lobby an author or editor to include them in a book, these may be called "Higo's masterpieces.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/o476882597

https://www.jauce.com/auction/f514288835

I offer you my hearty congratulations. (I'm sorry about that.)I actually didn't trust the appraisal at all until I saw it. The fact that it not only passed the examination, but was also certified as being "Own kirituke (cut off) signed" is precious.
The act of testing the sharpness of the sword was very costly at the time. The client would have to pay a gratuity to the tester or assistant. And of course, additional gratuities for kiyomaro.
Kiyomaro Minamoto was known for low production, and as far as I have been told, he forged only around 130 swords in his lifetime. That it was found in Austria, and at an official auction, is nothing short of amazing.

Houou seems to have flown away somewhere, but the branches of the pine tree are the same as my tsuba. I suspect that it is a "蓬莱鍔(Mount Penglai Tsuba)" made in the Kaga region.

On 5/23/2021 at 8:11 PM, JohnTo said:

Re: tsuba #46,

I have a very similar nanban tsuba (pics attached) and just have a couple of questions.

1.       Both tsuba, like other iron nanban tsuba I have, have no trace of rust. Do you think that these were cast?  The texture of the iron and softness of the carving makes me feel that they are cast, but the finish seems better (no mill scale) than Japanese made cast tsuba I have seen (our tsuba may have been made in Nagasaki, Japan, but presumably by Chinese craftsmen or Japanese craftsmen using Chinese casting techniques)

2.       The tsuba have the usual dragons and the tama jewel at the top.  In addition both have a stick shaped gilded character at the bottom of the tsuba that looks like a stylised man.  It resembles the kanji 出 (Shutsu, sui, da, de) meaning to put out, or leave but the ‘legs’ at the bottom point downwards, whereas the ‘legs’ on the kanji point upwards.  Does anyone know what they represent?

Any thoughts on my observations?  Enjoying the glimpses of your collections, but I have to remember to reference  which one when replying as the list is getting long.

My tsuba: Height: 7.6 cm.  Width: 7.1 cm.  Thickness (rim): 0.45 cm.  Weight: 102 g

Best regards, John

 

 

Hello,John.

Good nanban-tsuba. Seppa-dai with  lotus flower watermark is one of the fine.

1.There are two types of nanban-tsuba, plate and watermark. At least all of the watermark tsuba are cast.
2. Pagoda-shaped reliquary is made into a design.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/l653721803

It's true that when the new owner, who doesn't know the situation, puts it up, it suddenly looks solemn, like a real icon or cross. I won't severely criticize that metal plate, lest I incur the wrath of Christians.

This is off the topic, but it is reported in Japan that there is a huge cicada outbreak in the eastern states of the U.S. Mito Eizui's cicadas also appear repeatedly in all seasons. And someone buys it at an undeservedly high price.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/t777400699

If my poor English misunderstands the subject, I have to apologize and correct it.

"The temperature was too low 50℉." Was heard from the broadcast, and Yoshihara himself said. I didn't look at the video and make that decision.
 

It seems that the broadcaster has closed the online viewing. The entire process of Yosindo Yoshihara in its heyday is available in video in English.　In the commentary of the video site where he himself is linked, it is written as "Yohindo Yoshihara". It may be rude to him, but wouldn't it be nice if he could be identified?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxwWf-MfZVk

A sword that would be exhibited in a contest would take 30-40 days to produce. Whether the video is 13 minutes or an hour, it is essentially just a cut and paste (with some exciting moments edited out).
During the program, I noticed a lot of bottles of chemical reagents in his workshop (no explanation of what they were used for, of course).
Also, the scene where the sword smith was heating the mune of the sword with a gas torch after the hardening process was finished. It was a very short cut without narration, but it is a process known as"合いを取る (Ai-wo-toru)".
It is a process known as Ai-tori, which is a preparatory work to correct the unintentionally bent shape of the sword, as well as to remove the ugly mune-yaki, and is rarely shown to the public.

In a TV documentary broadcast the other day, Yohindo Yoshihara said 
"In my opinion, the choji-midare, with its varied and gorgeous patterns, is the best. It is the most difficult (to create choji-midare) and the most gorgeous. It's hard to get to the wonderful things of the old days when it was made."

 In fact, the sword he tried to make in the show did not reach the intended choji-midare, as he said, " The temperature(when quenching) was too low 50℉...". 

https://www.nhk.jp/p/professional/ts/8X88ZVMGV5/episode/te/G96M96GWX8/

2 hours ago, Curran said:

Conclusion:   ignore the Kanshiro attribution on the Yahoo!Japan one and hit the old big books to understand what the originals were.

I want to say that they were attributed as Mirror Maker tsuba, but the old attributions might simply be Ko-Kinko. Yours would be a later homage or utsushi of that style.

 

I had an online discussion with a ko-kinko collector in Japan, comparing some of the items listed, and he was of the same opinion.

That vendor has been on a roll lately. I have a feeling that all of them are going to be expensive again.

Oh, that's the example.
I've also seen some with colored metals in Japan, but I don't think it's possible for swordfittings to be crafted in such a way as to interfere with Seppa attachment.
In other words, it cannot be used as tsuba.

The producer is making an effort. I have learned that it is a tearjerker.

Oh! I put them together and they are indeed perfectly identical. Do you think they mass-produced tsuba by indenting hard iron, the same way they made coins?

That demon is the worst I've ever seen. It is low end to the extreme. I saved it to my image library.
Meotoiwa's scenic spot, which I found, is a cast reproduction of which Japan is very proud, and is relatively elaborate. Diagonal composition images seem to be all the rage.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/l675674702

A Noh song Fujito had a story after the event, saying, "A fisherman's mother appears and grudges Morituna to return her child. In front of the crying old woman, Morituna is herself. I apologize for confessing the atrocious. Then, while running a grand memorial service for the fisherman, the ghost of the fisherman appears and resents again. "The work of Motokiyo Zeami, a Noh actor in the early Muromachi period.

1 hour ago, Darkcon said:

With all due respect I thought suguha is the most difficult 

 

 

John

Traditional craftsmen do not tell the truth when asked. I read in their hearts.

With the introduction of powered hammers in modern times, all processes of Japanese swords can now be done by one person. As the competition system becomes more popular, it becomes secretive.

Another thing to add is "sales talk" when the sword dealer says. Well-made suguha is a very good product, but it tends to be a long-term inventory as a product.