Professor Zhirinovsky

Okay, thanks for the Bruno. How long did it take to get your work back, and did you get any communication during this time? The wait doesn't bother me, just the dead silence when I request an update, you never know what has happened.

So, I sent a sword & fittings to David McDonald at the beginning of last summer to have a new tsuka made, and here it's been almost a year now and I don't have my sword. More worryingly, I haven't had any update other than that he received it. I've emailed him a couple of times over the past few weeks, and called his phone (no answer, left a message), but I'm not getting any responses. I've mentioned that I'm just wanting to have him check in, that I'm not concerned that the work isn't done, but still nothing. This is just a showato blade, so there is no financial incentive for it to "go missing", but I'm getting a bit worried that something has happened and that my sword is lost. Does anyone have any insight into this situation, maybe there is an explanation? Is he sick, or on some long vacation? What should I do?

Ah! Thanks for this George, I think you are correct! Doing a quick image search of Japanese lichens, I find some similar stuff. Also, for me this is good news because I'm not big on landscape scenes. Stylized old lichen-covered rocks are way more my speed!

Detail. These are mountains, yes? The odd indented border outline is kind of throwing me. They almost look like they could be rocks emerging from a tide pool, but for the "mountain path" design on each one.

I'm looking at this simple tsuba I got awhile back (I'm hoping to find a rustic yamamichi Higo-style fuchi-kashira to match, so if anyone has any leads...?). What I first took to be generic cherry blossom stampings; might they actually be the kuyo-mon, the 9 planet symbol (used by Buddhists in general, but also the favored symbol of the Hosokawa)?

Do these fuchi-kashira seem like an appropriate match to you guys? Assuming they're good?

Thanks Curran. Not sure who those folks you're referring to are, but I'm hoping to get a better opportunity to see some stuff in 2022, when the Oregon Knife Collector's Association does its show in Eugene. They usually have a number of nihonto tables; in the past I didn't have enough knowledge to do anything but briefly "ooh! aah!" at them. By the time this Covid thing is done, I hope to have a better grasp of what I'm looking at.

I thought this might be the case too, or that maybe the hole wasn't quite wide enough when the inlay was hammered in. I assume this would have been nearly the last thing done...and so after all that work, the maker just left it unsigned. Fortunately it is really only very visible on the blade-side. It doesn't really go too far into the obverse, and where it does it is camouflaged by the shishi's feet.

Thanks Jean and Bob! All of this is learning experience for me, so any input, even based on personal opinion and privately-held value, is worth something to me. For my part, I can only judge the craftsmanship by my limited experience, having never held more genuine tsubas in my hand than there are fingers on that hand <does quick count>, "yup, six." At this early stage, I would hardly know tagane if it hit me in the face; all I can say for magnification is that the lines themselves have crisp sharp edges, and include intentionally-placed details that I wouldn't otherwise notice (the tiny dimpled texturing on the shishi's paw pads, for example, totally escaped me until I looked at them under a looking-glass, just now). Assuming the crack is a true issue of some degree that will forever bar it from the upper shelves of a collection, and on Bob's suggestion that doing so isn't completely idiotic, I think I'll put this back in the Mounting Option A category, and wait until the fuchi-kashira arrive to decide once and for all. I'm just trying to be careful here; I'm cognizant of the limitations of the blade I'm working with, and trying to make sure that what I build is honest for the period, circumstances, and economics of it's original owner. I don't want to be the kid that couldn't afford a real sports car, so he buys a Honda Civic and then tacks on a bunch of high-priced aftermarket crap.

Okay, well... Can anyone just tell me if this is good or bad then?

Kanji poem on the other side would translate to "History shows again and again how nature points up the folly of man."

I want this to be real.

Edgy.

Note crack at bottom

Deets

Reverse

Novice purchase here. I'd intended to buy an inexpensive but nice-enough entry-level quality tsuba for the civilian-mounted Showato I'm using as a learner piece. This was inexpensive and I liked the shishi imagery, but of course it was visibly flawed. In the photographs it looked to be rather lower-quality than it looks in-hand. Now I can actually see it with my eyeballs, I'm reconsidering using it because I think it might be too nice for the blade. I assume it is genuine; it has the look and feel of quality, but again...novice judgment. It does have a couple of issues. It has some wear, scratches, and couple of light dings. It also has a very small rim crack at the 6-o'clock position, mostly visible on the blade-side. Maybe this is why it went unsigned? How bad does this hurt it in terms of appreciation value? Also, it is 7 cm wide...I know sizes vary, and at times smaller tsuba on katana came into fashion, but I don't know if this is such a piece. Maybe intended for a larger wakizashi? I've got a set of matching themed fuchi-kashira on the way, but right now I'm inclined to just leave these off the sword and just keep them as they are. Maybe set them aside for a nicer sword in the future. Opinions?

It's funny to think that the gun/ammo/dog/bird on-the-wing motif is the same thing you'd see machine-engraved on a typical hunting shotgun stock today. Some things transcend time and culture.

What's another year when we're talking about a journey like this, and there is so much momentum? When Juyo is within grasp? Later, it will seem like the year went by in the blink of an eye.

I've seen this motif a few times now. 2 small, staggered holes in the tsuba in the place of a decorative element. This is a very plain example, but I've seen one where the holes had some inlaid silver embellishment around the edges. Do they represents something? Or do they serve some practical purpose?

Your English is very good, I just want to be sure I haven't misunderstood. I am very new to this, so please forgive my asking questions that seem very obvious. Also, thank you for this last graphic, comparing sori, and the lines of the top and bottom of the tsuka. I'll be considering this for a bit.

Thank you Yakozen, this is very helpful and informative! Do I understand you correctly? That in this case, because of the Showato blade, using a modern set of fuchi-kashira may not only be acceptable, but actually necessary because the Edo parts won't fit properly? If this is true, it will make my search simpler.

I might give it a try in a bit. In the meantime, a question or two. The nearly exact type of fuchi kashira set I'm looking for is the type pictured below. With the rounded shape, the rudimentary flowers, and especially the winding S-curve, this design is a near dead-match with the tsuba I'm looking to use. The set below, however, is a modern copy of an old Higo design. The modern copy is by "Hyper-Cafe", a Japanese company that makes repro fittings. How common is this design in the wilds of Nihonto World? Assuming I'm not able to locate an original antique of this design, would using a modern copy be acceptable? Keeping in mind here, the blade is a pre-war Showato, not a true antique. And if so, what about this company, Hyper-Cafe? From the looks of it, their products are praised by those who are enthusiasts of modern swords, but their work appears to be in bronze, not copper or iron. They look decent quality, but I am not a qualified judge of such things, and I'd feel better if the metal was more traditionally typical. Any opinions?