sabiji

If this is correct and if I have calculated correctly (and have not mixed up the previous percentages), then this would be the highest failure rate to date at 93.23%.

I see it the same way as Florian. On the one hand, there are koshirae who show or have to show kamon/futsuumeishi on formal and official occasions. On the other hand, we have the fashions of "urban bourgeois culture", or even those who follow these fashions. These are purely decorative aspects without any deeper meaning. It's just meant to please. You can see certain identical designs on tsuba in different qualities in order to be able to serve a broad clientele. Of course, some tsuba may have a direct connection to a clan. But often people simply wore what they liked - which is the main purpose of an uchigatana koshirae in civilian life. It is a calling card of the wearer's status, aesthetic taste, education or simply certain preferences within the social rules of the time. At least that's my opinion.

Well, I think I can still recognize the kanji "kane" just above the suriage in a way that was common in the Sue Mino. Then also on the omote as katana mei. I would rather be in the Sue Koto than around 1300.

Then I will have to be patient...

It's not my area of interest, so I don't have any literature on it. Unfortunately, I can't find anything online either. But my question relates to another problem I'm currently researching: does anyone have any information about the location(s) of the Goto workshops during the Momoyama period? Many thanks in advance!

Looks more like a Yamashiro utsushi at first glance. Momoyama to early Edo. Tanto from Kyoto have always been in demand (Awataguchi, Rai). After the Kyoto exodus with the end of Kamakura and at the latest from Onin the source dried up. So many smiths copied e.g. also Rai. It seems to have Masame, or at least Nagare in Shinogi-ji, plus the Sakisori. Therefore my idea would be something between Tensho and Keicho.

Well, I'm surprised! Am I the only one who sees it that way? Take a finely woven fabric and lay it in several folds. That's all. I once owned a Kunikane and a Suifu Masakatsu (I think a nephew of Katsumura Norikatsu). If you look closely at the hada, you will find a fine ko-mokume between the layers of masame.

To come back to Masame-Hada. Basically, in none of the examples we have a pure Masame Hada, but rather a combination of a primary Hada (komokume/koitame) and the secondary Hada, in which the Ko Hada is then placed in parallel layers (Masame). The corresponding ratio of this combination and how cleanly these layers run (more even or wavy) would be an important aesthetic factor, at least for me. Utsushi in particular sometimes seem too deliberate and too stiff for me. But that's just my opinion.

Really? I don't think that the sword market is declining. On the contrary, it is growing and growing, and adapting to the times and opening up more and more to the foreign market with English language websites. The Samurai Museum is the example of this. I think we've become quite spoiled by now. 20 years ago, buying in Japan was an adventure, communication was very rudimentary, paying was really exciting, and there was no tracking. Only customs was easier, at least in my cases. Back then, if you were looking for a sword of a certain school, you would get one, rarely two offers with a price that said buy it or leave it. Today, with a little research, you have a wide choice. Pure luxury. Also the service has become much better, swords polished, swords to Shinsa, experts can ask, literature, sword forums, etc.. Yes, this brings opportunities, but also problems. Chances to find with a little patience exactly what meets the own demand and budget. But also the problem to bring something on the market, which does not get the desired attention and the once invested amount is halfway recovered, because interested parties have a wider choice. Where real quality always finds a corresponding customer.

That is relative. This year I was interested in a sword at Aoi Art, which was quite fresh on offer there, and unfortunately already turned out to be reserved. Upon further research, it turned out that exactly this sword was previously offered at the Samurai Museum - and above all: cheaper.

The Ukai school goes back to the brothers Kunitomo and Kuniyoshi. Both of them, apparently also in Kyoto, forged swords for Emperor Go-Daigo and received from him the kanji "Un" (Sino-Japanese reading for cloud). From then on, the blacksmiths of this school used this kanji in their names (Unji, Unjo, Unju etc.). Unjo, for example, means "living in the clouds" which is a synonym for the imperial court. Ukai itself is a place in Bizen, but Kunitomo and Kuniyoshi adopt the Yamashiro style and bring it to Bizen, influencing Osafune forge as well. Unji is considered the best ukai smith, and the sugata of his swords often matches the elegant sugata of Yamashiro blades of the early Kamakura period, which became popular again in the late Kamakura period. A trademark of early Ukai blades is a stained-appearing utsuri, which looks as if someone has grabbed the blade with fingers. Go-Daigo slowly began to set the course to overthrow the Hojo and Kamakura Bakufu beginning in the 1320s. During these years, a conspicuous migration of swordsmiths to provinces from which Go-Daigo hoped to gain support begins. After the Kemmu restoration of Go-Daigo is eliminated by Ashikaga Takauji himself and the country splits into supporters for Go-Daigo or for Ashikaga Takauji (Nanbokucho conflict), the Ukai smiths continue to make swords for the Go-Daigo faction. This juyo dates exactly from the time of the Nanbokucho conflict and shows the typical shaping of Nanbokucho blades. Unju is an Ukai smith from the late phase of this school starting around 1350, so he is not necessarily comparable in value to smiths like Unjo or Unji from the founding phase of the school in the late Kamakura period. This may be something to consider...

Looks like a tsuba from Ms. Tsukada-san. Very nice piece, I have been watching for a long time. I'm also expecting a tsuba from her that I just couldn't say no to recently....

My quick opinion: I am always very careful with the age estimation. Really old yumi are very rare. There are many "old looking bows" because they are built that way for certain ceremonies, festivals, but also for kyujutsu even into modern times. The one short, almost symmetrical bow is a hankyu, a "half bow". It was used at that time in confined spaces such as buildings. The largest yumi is still relatively short, even by Japanese standards, at 74", but it is not necessarily unusual. Bow number 3 is not Japanese. I think it is a Mandchurian bow. It's too big for a Korean for me. The bow unfortunately lacks the "benches for the bowstring", which catch the string after release. The quiver is certainly late Edo in its essential parts. The arrows are early 20th century. Traditionally eagle feathers are used, which unfortunately do not last long. Old arrows with well-preserved feathers were usually "restored" with new feathers at some point. Some of the arrows have the typical nocks and the sand tips for shooting at an azuchi, where the mato (target) is attached to a sand hill (azuchi) at a distance of 28 meters. The other arrows with the cone tips and the wider and forked nocks are used for quick nocking in Heki ryu Kyujutsu -> https://lightinthecl...ryu-kyujutsu-part-2/

Thomas, thank you very much! Yes, I was at the Kaji-Machi in Awata. In the Muko-Jinja (Myojin) I was not, that was too far for me and has not given the time. But above all: there is nothing - at least I have found nothing - that connects this shrine with the Rai school. Not even the shrine itself points to it. This surprises me, because there is usually some sign or stone with inscription. Well, Yawata is also considered a swordsmithing site, and Muko would be closer to Yawata than to Kyoto itself.

As part of a lecture, can anyone point me to the local sites of the Gojo, Ayanokoji and Rai schools? All the notes I know from sword readings turn out to be unverifiable. Although there are small signs or monuments for everything in Kyoto, or temples or shrines often had connections to local swordsmiths - even on site I could not find anything in the area of the Gojo, Ayanokoji or Aburanokoji streets. The only proven forging sites I could find are Awata in the Higashiyama region (Sanjo, Awataguchi) and Yawata between Kyoto and Osaka.

It is relatively common for Hizen swords of the main line, as well as the secondary lines, to use "Hizen" for katana, and the variant "Hishu" for wakizashi.

Hi Nathan, welcome here! Well, there are quite a few Osafune Sukemitsu, more important, and less important. For me, it would be important to check the style of your blade to see if it matches the typical Sukemitsu way of working. But if the signature is shoshin I'm afraid it will be more likely a blade made on a large scale during that period, with no way to attribute it to a specific Sukemitsu. If you do a little research, you will find that in the Osafune forge, a large part of the blades were made in the second or eighth month. The Japanese were very superstitious and blades made in these months tended to have a positive bias. It doesn't matter so much when exactly it was made. One could see it as a sales promotion measure.

Attached is a link where you can find the Chinese anecdote where a message about the whereabouts of a prisoner was tied to wild geese that flew far into the Han Empire. http://www.harimaya....mon/column/kari.html

Thanks Dale, that's the kind of thing I meant. Maybe geese were a middle class variety compared to cranes....

Hi Florian, enclosed my Kyo Sukashi. I too have heard the myth that geese were the bearers of good news. And that one also wishes to the (poor) geese attached, or tied to feathers. I have read that somewhere, but can not prove it.

Just based on the regular pattern of the lighter appearing yakiba and the alternation between tani and gunome elements would that be typical of the Sue Koto, specifically Bizen and Mino. Although a koshi no hiraita with kani no tsume elements had developed from swordsmiths like Morimitsu in Bizen, the popular hamon was quickly copied in Mino and can be found in variants well into the Shinto period. Along with the Taka no Ha Yasurime, I would certainly see the sword in the direction of the Mino tradition.

Maybe the second and third kanji (Chu, Kuni) misled your friend into thinking that it had something to do with China...

Hi Curran, I sincerely hope that you were, or still are, satisfied with my tsuba? I don't want to be one of the bad Germans!

In some cases, even only hardwood. Historical hunting bows are very rare. This has several reasons. Firstly, the hunting of mammals and the consumption of their meat for religious reasons is not as common as in, for example, historical Europe. Only with the massive population growth did the meat of wild animals become increasingly interesting. Another very important point, however, is firearms. With their appearance, the bow was soon replaced for hunting purposes. What hardly anyone knows: although the peasants were systematically disarmed from the Momoyama onwards. Firearms for hunting purposes remained with the peasants in not insignificant numbers. The reason for this is the actual purpose of hunting, which was not primarily the procurement of food, but rather the protection of agricultural land. Securing the food supply of the population by protecting it from damage caused by wild animals was very important to the shogunate. Funnily enough, firearms were considered agricultural implements in this context. By the way, the importance of this point can also be seen in the various orders to disarm the civilian population after World War II - which we are particularly concerned about because of the swords. Hunting rifles were specifically excluded. When my daughter worked on a farm in southern Kyushu, the main problem had been monkeys, which could destroy entire peanut crops in no time at all. But the farmers usually used firecrackers or dogs. Long story short. Handling firearms requires less knowledge and skill, and is therefore more effective. The training of an archer is lengthy and requires much more practice, and played less and less of an important role even in the Edo period among the samurai. But at least in this area, the tradition persisted in the form of Kyudo or Kyujutsu and Yabusame. In many other areas, the importance of other types of bows in Japan disappeared, but they existed.

In Japan, there are various types of bows in terms of asymmetry and bow length. In the Sengakuji, short hankyu are exhibited, which are said to have been used by the Ako-Ronin. Of course, they could not just walk through Edo with long yumi. Jap hunting bows are also shorter and often symmetrical. The typical long yumi only became established as a fighting weapon from the late Heian on. A yumi has recurve and decurve characteristics, but the bowstring does not rest on the bow arms as in true recurves. Defacto the yumi is a longbow (which has nothing to do with length), more precisely a hybrid bow. Bamboo has good tensile properties, but can withstand the compressive forces in the bow belly only moderately. However, many bow woods have this problem, which is why it is important to build limbs that are rather flat. Yew is one of the most pressure-stable woods, which is why English longbows have a D-shape. Ash also has good pressure stability, but it tires much faster in a D-shape. In any case, for this reason in bamboo yumi is always used other hardwood. Another reason why hardwood is used in the core and sides is the temperature sensitivity of bamboo. The higher the efficiency of a bow (in relation to the weight of the arrow), the more problematic the residual energy that remains in the bow. Anyone who has ever shot a poorly built longbow, even recurve bow, has the feeling of being kicked by a donkey. A yumi is also quite light, and therefore less able to absorb the energy. That's why the grip point is offset from the center of gravity of the swing. One must also remember the following: ancient Jap war bows had significantly more draw power than today's common kyudo bows. Although parallel to this, the arrows were also heavier, yet completely different energies occurred, which had to be dealt with. On my avatar I use a 20 kilogram (draw weight) bamboo yumi of a manufactory from Kyoto. This is actually too much for normal training. Here I use just 14 kilos.