ckaiserca

The waiting is the hardest part. On my last blade my heart sank every time I looked at the tracking information to see the package sitting in Anchorage, AK every day for three whole days.

Oh, you can certainly find blades with ugly corroded nakago. My latest acquisition speaks for itself: It is from Aoi-Art. NBTHK Hozon attributed as Mino Senjuin (美濃千手院).

Could these be Satsuma Rebellion related, or am I completely off?

The habaki is quite nice in hand. It appears to be made of silver.

Here are some other photos that might be helpful:

Daniel, Thanks for this information. It is always nice to have some idea of the meanings for the themes of fittings. For others who have asked about the maker of the kosirae, I contacted the vendor who arranged for it to be made, but they would not reveal the name of the maker. The direct quote from their email was "He is shy and doesn't like to make his name public." I suspect that they don't want me to be able to deal directly with him in the future rather than the maker being shy, but that is what it is. The koshirae was crafted well, and it was done fairly quickly. I had it made along with having the tsuka of another sword rewrapped with new tsuka-ito. The tsuka was was done in about a month's time, and the full koshirae was done in only three. Together with the price of the fittings, the construction of koshirae cost about as much as the blade that it was made for. The menuki have an NBTHK Hozon paper attributing them to the Denjo school. The tsuba is mumei shakudo, with a plugged kozuka ana in a plain kenjo style. The Fuchi Kashira set is signed Yoshikawa Munemitsu (吉川 宗光). The fittings were purchased as a full set. New seppa had to be made as the craftsperson did not want to try and file the old seppa to fit as the gold foil would be damaged. The bade that this koshirae was made for is a short katana with new NBTHK Hozon papers that attribute the sword as Mino Senjuin (美濃千手院). The sword also has two older white NBTHK papers. One attributes it to Shitahara and the other to Fujishima. So now I am just a bit confused. I was hoping the newer paper might bring some clarity, but for me it just muddies the waters. The vendor thought that the sword was likely Fujishima. That would make the sword about 100 years older than Mino Senjuin if I have my facts correct. I don't know about. The nakago of the blade is heavily corroded at the mekugi-ana, but otherwise the blade is in beautiful condition aside from a tiny fukure on the shinogi-ji. Blade length: 63.6cm or 25.0 inches. Sori :1.9 cm or 0.74 inches. Width at the hamachi: 3.13cm or 1.23 inches. Width at the Kissaki: 2.1 cm or 0.8 inches. Kasane : 0.71 cm or 0.27 inches. The weight of the sword 660 grams. All in all, I am pleased with this experience as a learning exercise. I now have an idea of how long things take in Japan. This sword was initially purchased in April of 2021. It was submitted for shinsa in June, it passed shinsa in September, the papers were produced in October, and the koshirae was started in October as well. The sword finally reached my hands as a complete package in January of 2022.

Thanks for the confirmation!

Hello, Am I correct in thinking that this attribution is 美 濃 千 手 院 Mino Senjuin? Thanks for your input!

I went and did the thing that everyone tells you to avoid doing. I had new koshirae made for a katana. I used a set of tosogu from the Edo Period. The Fuchi Kashira is signed by Yoshikawa Mumemitsu. The Tsuba and Menuki are unsigned but the Menuki are attributed as Denjo by the NBTHK. I’m calling the koshirae “The Chicken.”

Welcome Paz! Be sure to post photos of your sword when it arrives. It is an unforgivable sin on this board to talk about new acquisitions without posting pictures. Welcome to this exciting hobby.

Welcome to Khalid and John. You have found the right place. Lots of wonderful people here. I have found all the time I spend on this board to be very worthwhile.

I think the Vancouver Tsuba is a version of this poem: The monkey is reaching For the moon in the water. Until death overtakes him He’ll never give up. If he’d let go the branch and Disappear in the deep pool, The whole world would shine With dazzling pureness. – Hakuin

Is it possible that the Sarute Hatome passes through the nakago? It looks long enough…

There is the famous fable of the Fox and the Grapes, but as I recall, the fox never actually made it to the grapes and gave up without getting any. They were probably sour anyway.

Hello! I just received my first two issues of the NBTHK Journal of Swords (October and November). Am I correct in assuming that the number beginning with TM on my mailing label in my NBTHK number? There was no other information included in the envelope with a magazines. Thanks!