Bazza

This FB reel immediately reminded me of this tsuba. Beautiful in both cases: https://www.facebook.com/reel/3864905883643507 Part of the commentary goes: On my way to pick up our guests this morning, I said to my colleague, “I’d love to see a snake today.” Ten minutes after collecting our guests… there it was. A stunning tiger snake, right there on the road — calm, aware, and absolutely beautiful. Moments like this always feel a little bit magical… like nature is listening. Of course, we made sure it was safely guided off the road, given space, and left to continue on its way — exactly as it should be. Wildlife encounters are never something we control… but sometimes, they arrive just when you ask for them. Maybe there’s a little bit of nature witch in me after all 🌿🐍 Kangaroo Island Hire a Guide & Nocturnal Tours #australianwildlife #tigersnake #kangarooisland #wildlifetourkangarooisland #tourkangarooisland #authentickangarooisland #natureconnection #wildlifeencounter #southaustralia #kangarooislandguardian #respectwildlife #wildlifeguide #australia #naturelovers #snake #reptile BaZZa.

A BILLHOOK!!! How very fitting your 'traditional tool' should appear on NMB. As I'm sure many of you know, the billhook has a long career as a weapon. BaZZa.

Dear Jonathon. The Board is usually a good source of information, but doing a search on naganobu gives a null result. I had a memory and went searching to my own archives and found this FYI: In the long course of history this sword has come to rest in my collection. I had a window put into it by Andrew Ickeringill and the result seems to be that this is a shoshin by Naganobu. Also encouragingly it is very similar to a Tokubets Hozon sword another collector has that I have personally handled. Shame about the nakago, nonetheless this sword is on my bucket list for polishing. A point worth mentioning is that the date is rendered in 'grass script'. Regards, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

No such thing as a necropost when it is full of laughs and guffaws. Really enjoyed revisiting this thread. Have seen a couple of Doctor's swords in my time, but not for many, many years. BaZZa.

IMHO its a fake. The figures are too stick-like and the mei is wobbly and all over the place. FYI attached is a mei on a kozuka I have. It is identical to my eye to a second kozuka I have with the same theme of people. BaZZa. Here is the kozuka - I apologise for the poor shot. I've been 'gunner' upgrade the hasty photos... And here is a mei that was on a kozuka on the internet some time ago: Here is that kozuka: And here is the text for the kozuka immediately above: Hosono Sozaemon Masamori (細野惣左衛門政守) worked in Kyoto in the early Edo period between Genroku and Kyoho (1688 – 1736) . He used Kebori and Katakiribori mixed with Hira Zogan and often filled the whole plate with his motives of landscapes and rural life. For his time he was quite progressive as he not only depicted sceneries which had been famous from history or favoured by the noble class but chose to show the life of the working class people. Thus we often see workers or farmers going after their daily job in his work. This Kozuka depicts the eight views of Omi province (today’s Shiga Prefecture) also called the eight views of Biwa lake as all the views concentrate around the southern side of the Biwa lake. The theme was derived from the Chinese ‘Eight Views of Xiaoxiang’ (11th century) and came to Japan in the 14th century when it was used in poetry by Konoe Masaie a prince of Hikone. Later it became a subject for artists like Suzuki Harunobe or Utagawa Hiroshige. I do apologise for the brevity of this post, but I have been late to put my two kozuka into a substantive article. Regards, BaZZa (aka Barry 'Gunnadoo' Thomas)

Patrice, It's far too early to tell. In the Netherlands you have access to some real expertise. Go slowly, clean nothing apart from a light coating of sewing machine oil on the blade. About the peg/mekugi, support the sword horizontally such that the handle is particularly firmly supported. With a pin punch or similar round tool slightly smaller than the peg, use a hammer to gently hit the peg. Gently is the keyword and do this from each side in turn watching for movement. One side will be the correct, ever-so slightly smaller original side to tap from, but it may be difficult to tell. Keep working gently and the peg may slowly move. A good indicator is that the habaki (the 'collar' next to the guard /tsuba) is a blue/black colour indicating it is shakudo, or a shakudo foil cover. Others will pop in with more advice, I'm sure. Read the extensive Board articles on care before doing too much. Knowledge is your best ally here. Regards, BaZZa, aka Barry Thomas.

The peg may be bent from someone trying to knock the handle off without first removing the peg. Not uncommon and I had one recently. You may have to destroy the peg (mekugi) to remove the handle (tsuka). Making a new peg from a bamboo chopstick is a sometimes necessity. BaZZa.

Like an iron tyre/tire on a wooden cart wheel... BaZZa.

Grev, its been and gone... Just got the catalogue, well worth having, but the online download is probably just as good. Only 300 copies of the catalogue were printed. BaZZa.

Couple more images I have on the same theme. The Kutani bowls is mine, picked up at auction. BaZZa.

Not TADA?? 忠 TADA does not have a seeming radical to the left?? BaZZa.

Hmmmm - is it a kofuda?? BaZZa.

Has the legendary 'sword stretcher' raised its ugly head again??!! BaZZa.

A friend left a pile of Daruma magazines with me to help pass the time (!!), You guessed it, Nos 46 and 47 were missing... I do have a colour laser copy 'somewhere' of I guess what might be No. 47. I'll look for it and if anyone would like a per tem scan of it I'd be delighted to oblige - PM please. Happy New Year to all. BaZZa.

We're all getting Old mate!!! Greetings from Australia. How go the .310 Cadets???? And the fishing. Happy New Year and may all your troubles be little ones... Best regards, Barry Thomas. aka BaZZa.

Interesting discussion. There are at least three (four?) systems of transliterating Japanese to English, some from the 19th century. I used to agonise over this in my early days of collecting, but no more. My view is that we should be as good as we can by example individually and be gentle and encouraging with other folk as Jean has done, without being didactic in the matter. The Hepburn system is the preferred method, but these days I reckon we should roll with the punches instead of being overly precious about it. The way to have the stuffing knocked out of you is to study Japanese intensively for a few years... BaZZa.

Correct orientation. BaZZa.

Michael, spot on mate. Shows the failure of shooting from the hip and relying on memory. Thanks for the correction. BaZZa.

Julien, Thanks for the news Jon is doing well. A very long time ago he did a beautiful polish on a godai TADAYOSHI wakizashi that I still have and admire. Barry Thomas Melbourne, Australia.

Thanks Michael, delighted to see this. Gives me a chance to show my latest find, a TERUKADO wakizashi (50.0 cm) in Edo period koshirae. It is said he signed TERUKANE in the earlier part of his career and TERUKADO after he was given TAMBA no KAMI in 1659, dying in 1584 (?). A google search finds much more information including on this Board. Regards, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

?Modern fake? There's just 'something' about it.. BaZZa.

Very sad news indeed, RIP Richard. BaZZa.

Ahhhh, hadori vs sashikomi observation????? A vexed and long-standing bête noire of collectors... BaZZa.

HOSOKAWA? I have a pair of menuki (ex Guntou??) with this mon. BaZZa.

Ken, in the first photo what you're seeing is a tobiyaki, an 'island' of hardening/temper. Utsuri doesn't have a hamon. BaZZa.