Yasaka Azuma

That's right, Dale. You find quickly. It's a different product, but it must have been made from the same mold. In Japan, it is described as "like so many mushrooms" that similar products are immediately put up for sale even if they were sold at a high price before. Phew, what a relief ...

Maybe it's because I don't understand your writing well. Is it a quiz that you don't try to show the front side? The kibata, which is slightly visible in the image, is well carved, and the shakudo is also in good color. The kobakuchi (edge) on the back side is also thin and evenly finished, so it may be the work of Goto School in the early Edo period or related metalworkers. If I can't see any of the ne (pillars), it is possible that they have already dropped out. What is difficult to understand is that the mugi-urushi that fills the back of menuki remains new, and there are no visible marks glued to the katana handle. Genuine mugi-urushi becomes stone-hard over time and is often impossible to remove. The image is a modern cast menuki. The back side is filled with resin to cheat that it is a casting, and it looks like a mugi-urushi. That is not the case with your item. It's just a reference.

Thank you Dale. The example tsuba seems to have been canceled by the seller even though he competed for up to 131,000 yen. "A variety is one of the Seven Deadly Sins."

When I looked closely, I noticed that the chicken scratch says "互十". If the number is 50, write "五十". "互十" is a Buddhist term for "十界互具", that is, the Mutual possession of the Ten Worlds.

Japanese collectors (maybe just self satisfaction?) think of the difference between mino and kozenji as an image. If it wasn't made in Shakudo, it wouldn't be considered non-mino. A kiwame called kyo-kanagushi, which suddenly appeared in NBTHK's treatise, confused or resented collectors. But it is accepted with giving up. The left side is kozenji (Nagoya), and the right side is mino in the late Edo period. https://twitter.com/yakozen777/status/1230979387144560640

Here is my "wanted man". The evil-looking demon that was sold the other day. I will catch it somewhere. https://www.jauce.com/auction/j704571739

Hi Dale. Sure, this is a relatively good embossed. It is amazing that there are 12 patterns in this Jhomeiken design. It must have been a very popular product. Since the culture of samurai is macho, the idea of giving a sword a pattern that a woman can hurt a man is impossible in the first place.

Hello Darius. Tuka-maki is a winding method called twist winding, which is common. The material of tuka-ito looks to me in mixed spun fabrics, which is lower grade than using silk. https://twitter.com/machida_77/status/1284754616979058688 At first glance, kashira looks like shibuich, which is an alloy of silver and copper, but copper is exposed in the worn part. Its design is similar to umetada, but unfortunately it has lost fuchi. Menuki is mizuchi (rain dragon) and the design does not match kashira. Tuka-same uses large, good quality shark skin from oya-tubu.

BaZZa. I understand. I think it's the same as selling only an empty sheath with saya-gaki. Dale. This product has gone abroad. On the back of the lid, as far as I can see, it says "showa 42nen (1967)", but it doesn't look like it's been over 50 years.

Dale. Aluminum alloy Tou Yasuchika is certainly a bottom. This is where I sighed. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w444074484 These are just the sale of empty boxes. However, when I imagine the future, I have a bad feeling about this.

I don't want to talk about individual products anymore. In general, avoid buying Japanese swords at online auctions. Not strongly recommended it, but do you hate Aoi-art, where foreigners often buy swords? You can contact them in English for the products they handle. https://www.aoijapan.com/

Want a sword with the names of a Japanese comedian and the emperor on it? 明治天皇恩賜大村崑秘蔵傑作『筑州住信国』彫見事寒山鞘書献上刀 https://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/w110297343/ 大村崑 https://asianwiki.com/Kon_Omura

"How enduring is thy heart and how cunning beyond measure!"(Andrew Lang)

Dale. The winning bidder for "w435977803" was like a foreigner. I don't know the others. Mokume-gane should have mokume on the surface and masame ( straight grain pattern) on the sides. I have bad eyesight, I can't see masame well.

Dale. I agree. The tsuba was overpriced. There were other items that were sold at high prices, and I was amazed. I have no particular opinion on these. It was just a high price. Successful bid price 1,001,000yen https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w443777586 679,000yen https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w435977803 351,100yen https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g479872306

Dale. In Bruno's post, I was amazed to see the design recorded in 1910 carried over to modern replicas. The archive you found is also surprising, the two are different individuals from the same produce.

Foreign, especially Western collectors are hot to ko-kinko, so if there is demand, supply will occur. Yotsu-mokko wave and squirrel, why does the same type of tsuba appear on the market over and over again? https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/T-831.html Inadequately refined copper Yama-gane does not necessarily guarantee the Muromachi period. This time, I uploaded an image of a product (ID p812260011) that was judged to be a copy that has not passed the age. I think I will continue to find "it" and post only the URL as "staple products". Have a happy new year.

I am also watching several types of tsuba, including this Yagyu wave. But even if it is infinitely suspicious, at least we need evidence that everyone can understand as plausible. For example, I also caught a suspicious tiger's tail, but not all of it was exposed.

I posted on social media about the Oomori sculpture that had been restored by a particular craftsman in Tokyo in the 1970s. Now, those that have been duplicated more elaborate casting techniques are no longer distinguishable. It is left to the buyer to subjectively choose "this looks real".

Dale. If left as it is, a mint of a non-malicious replica. This is also beautiful with the design of tsuba, Hokusai-Katushika, which is a non-malicious ornament. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k520766995

Thank you Brian. I have a different perspective. Despite the recent rise in the yen's rate against foreign currencies, it is probably the overseas commission broker who are making a successful bid. So I'm a little worried that it might ruin someone's Happy holidays shopping.

The replica tsuba, which is said to be a mild steel plate press, has been around for a long time, and it was easy to understand made by a turret punch press machine. It took a lot of time to add embossing like this product, and especially when there was no NC, the wages would be high. https://twitter.com/yakozen777/status/1128125017714151424 What I recently discovered is a low price of several thousand yen while showing through such a complicated pattern. I was wondering if it was a product without a press even though it was over 5mm(0.2 inches) thick. However, if I look closely, it also appears that there is a boundary between the sheared surface and the fracture surface on the side of the wavy watermark that could not be chamfered. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n470282523 But the process is too mechanical, as the replica makers were still unfamiliar with the design of the tsuba seme-tagane. Pressed replicas often use chemicals to corrode the surface to make it look old. The tsuba seller on the left in advance that it was a modern product, which is unusual explained . https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d484506377 https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h522307378

December is a peak season for sellers. The staple products. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t776386130 It's multicolored, but they're almost the same. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p813303186 When casting with a sand mold that allows gas to escape easily, the surface roughness becomes apparent. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w438649785 The golden stripes of the tiger were drawn with a brush, so they are thicker than iroe, which is cut out of gold foil. In addition, the paint spreads along the hair carving. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s788294749 reference sample https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/e/0cf90897fd4e2113719a76edfda5c771 https://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/e/67950a34a415c87f71bb0ea7f1a81da8 On the left, there is no Katakiri-bori that Nagatune is good at. If I thought I couldn't find this pose in his drawing book, another seller begin selling a male mold that was exactly the prototype. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/q412711852 https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e484519399 Sellers explain that it is ko-kinko tsuba from the Muromachi period to the Momoyama period. Regardless of whether the age is correct, the reproduction will appear soon because it was evaluated at a high price. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p812260011 https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/c873696380 The two are very similar, but is another clone. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w440420274

An image that proves your opinion. ↓As you can see, no translation is needed. https://twitter.com/yakozen777/status/1195466920281038848

Barrie. It's a good tsuba. Seme-tagane is similar to Kyo-sukashi that I owned before. Bruno. Thanks for the additional images. As Pietro says, I didn't seem to have Seme-gane attached. If possible, I would like to grab a magnifying glass and go see it.