ckaiserca

The V&A collection has a few items of arms and armour in their Toshiba Gallery (room 45). This gallery is an overview of all things Japanese rather than an exhibit focused on any one type of thing. 

6 hours ago, Paz said:

Hi Charles thanks,  I will.  My anticipation for my first nihonto is through the roof. 

Just waiting for the export papers. 

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. 

On 1/15/2022 at 10:52 AM, Bruce Pennington said:

I just don't see any with ugly, corroded nakago.  I guess I'm not seeing any on that site "polished", but I have seen polished nakago.  Maybe it's being done by polishers in other countries?

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?

32 minutes ago, JakeNYC said:

Also, I really like that habaki! Looks like it could be an older one.
 

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

6 minutes ago, JakeNYC said:

Very cool! Thanks for sharing this. Have any closer pictures of the hamon? I'd like to compare it with a mino senjuin I had.

 

Here are some other photos that might be helpful:

7 hours ago, DanielM said:

That is what i found about its symbol

 

In Japan, its crowing, associated with the raucousness of the deities, who lured Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, out of the cave where she had been hiding. Courage is the virtue that the Japanese (like other Far Eastern peoples) attribute to the rooster. The white cockerel as an auspicious symbol Japanese Shinto or shrine tradition likely has its origin in Taoist practices that filtered through from the Chinese court during the Tang dynasty and Nara periods.  Chickens are thought of as errand messengers of the gods at the Isonokami Shrine where many sacred roosters are seen roaming.

 

 

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.

45 minutes ago, SteveM said:

Yes - you have it right. 

 

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

8 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

 Puzzled by the 3 holes in the nakago, but that doesn't detract from it's value.

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

10 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

after all how many foxes do you see amongst grape vines?

 

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!

2 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

Charles:  I am afraid your Horses are actually Squirrels. 

Interesting. They were identified as horses by the seller and I never looked past the description to see anything else. Thanks for the clarification. I think I might even like them better now. Thank you for enlightening me!

Hi Glen,

I live in Aurora, ON. I am new to the world of Nihonto and fittings, but I do have a small collection of Tsuba. Right now I only have four. I will certainly be acquiring more in the future. I just picked up an addition to my collection this past Saturday at a meeting of the JCCC Token Kai.  The Ginger Flower tsuba is new to me, the horse tsuba is my favourite so far.

Yesterday I attended an informal meeting of the JCCC Token Kai in Toronto. There were only seven people who attended, but I was able to see and handle an interesting variety of beautiful swords. It was the first time that I have ever been able to actually take really high quality swords into hand. It was almost overwhelming to handle a 700+ year-old blade in beautiful polish. There were also some nice fittings and koshirae to be seen, and I bought a nice ginger flower themed tsuba to add to my small collection. It was a really great experience, and I look forward to the next meeting of this organization. 

52 minutes ago, Alex A said:

Just a thought............does it really need a shirasaya ?

I would like to store the blade properly, and my understanding was that a regular saya was not the best option for that. Obviously the blade has not suffered too much from being kept in its current koshirae at this point, but I was thinking of the long term. I am sure that I will get some good advice this weekend.

12 hours ago, Fuuten said:

I would contact the seller see if they can refund part of said sword to cover the cost of having one made

I did contact the vendor. They have refunded what I feel is a fair amount of money for their error. I am now weighing my options for having a shirasaya made. I will probably have a better idea after the weekend, as I will have the opportunity to talk with some local collectors on Saturday.

9 hours ago, Fuuten said:

Looks very nice. Now the search for a kogai begins!

A kogai and a kogatana. The saya has spaces for both. I have been looking. I need something that matches or compliments the theme of a horse on the tsuba or the buffalo on the menuki.

Some quick photos:

7 hours ago, Alex A said:

Where is its shirasaya?, if they have it ask them to ship it

It turns out it doesn’t actually have one. They gave me erroneous information. It only has a koshirae. 

The sun-nobi tanto I just received arrived without a shirasaya. It does have a fairly nice koshirae. When I asked about having a shirasaya made while the blade was still in Japan, the vendor stated it already had one, but alas, it arrived dressed in its koshirae. 
 

So now I have a blade in need of a shirasaya, and I live in Canada. What is my best option for having one made?

Thanks for any input you can provide.