Klop

Dear members, In a few weeks from now I'll visit Japan and I would like to try and buy some polishing stones, especially those for the last stage of foundation polishing. In "the art of Japanese sword polishing" Nomura's shop in Asakusa, Tokyo is mentioned (page 23). Does anyone know the complete address or the spot on the map? Unfortunately I can't read Japanese so a look in the phonebook won't do much good and google has no relevant hits. Thanks, Eric.

Gentlemen, thank you for your feedback and the elaborate translation I agree, an attribution to such a high ranking owner can only be ..ehhmm, well,.. optimistic, decorative or as Brian put it patriottic. To complete your view of the pieces I made some photographs of the hamons, a little bit of the hada can be seen. But I must admit this is difficult to capture on such small pieces without a proper macro lense. I made a collage of some different blade sections and angles, please don't laugh at my Photostudio 2000 skills Best regards, Eric. Forgot to mention; on the first pictures I posted the metal seems to have no colour at all, but that is because of the flash I had to use to capture the inscriptions. In real life the handles are a nice dark brown.

Hi Brian, Thanks so far, indeed there seems to be a kind of repeating pattern in these things. Nevertheless they do have hada, hamon and a nice colour on the unpolished parts. I'd guess the age lies before 1900, what do you mean by "modern"? Best regards, Eric.

Dear gentlemen, Some time ago I bought my second umabari and noticed that the inscriptions in the handle are the same as in my first one (apart from the way they are inscribed, deeper and chisel strokes visible opposed to engraved lightly). Meanwhile I saw another piece on the internet and you guessed it, the same text again! Furthermore I see that the inscriptions on the blade section are also the same over and over (a flower an two kanji), except on my first one which i was told is signed by a Tegarayama Masashige and dated 1802. I 'm going to ask a lot; 1. I hear the two kanji on the blades are "kaminari yoke", meaning "against /escape from thunder". Is that correct? 2. What does the signature of masashige read exactly, in kanji and romanji? And is it possible to validate if this is legit or gimei? there is much less space than on a fullsize nakago so i can imagine signing is difficult. 3. What does the poem/text on the handles read, again in kanji and romanji? I guess it is a famous verse if every umabari i come across has it :D Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you, Eric.

Moriyama san, thank you for the fast and clear response!

Hello, I am a beginning collector, and recently I obtained a tanto size (nagasa 10" / 26 cm) blade with a signature I cannot read. At first I thought this was hiragana but a friend told me it is kanji, but cursive. Is there someone who can tell me what it says? Thank you, Eric.