Bazza

YES, but... Does anyb ody know more??? When I gget overr this COVID I''ll append a wakizashi (?) i have that has caused me 'wondering'... BaZZa.

You too Geraint!?? I've always said this about (and to) my wife. She has an unerring ability to go for the jugular... BaZZa.

I have seen a few in my time and have one on a kodai Kanemoto katana in Shinguntou koshirae dated TAISHOU ROKUNEN (1917). If you put "polisher's mei" into the NMB search field for 'Everywhere' you will pull up a few threads. There have been a couple where the nagashi area is a mokume pattern Regards, BaZZa.

Nazar, Very well done indeed, thanks for your considerable efforts. The line closest to the edge is the true hamon, the next 'line' away is from the hadori stone used by the polisher. Pointing the blade toward a light source and rotating it just oh-so slightly back and forth should make this clear to you. I agree with JC that the nakago looks unnaturally corroded - perhaps a salt water environment had something to do with it. Don't be temped to clean it in any way until you've done a lot of research. I would suggest a gentle - and slow - 'boning', with lots of oil and wiping with a cotton cloth, but do read the Board for other opinions. Is the nakago not signed?? A good photo of both sides with the habaki off might be informative. Best regards, BaZZa.

David, I see a yakiba (the whitened area along the edge) but I don't see even a glimmer of a hamon in any of your photos. I agree the habaki is very nice and the gold on the tsuba/o-seppa suggests a better class of bone koshirae, however, I see a tired, worn out blade with possibly heat damage (i.e., has been in a fire). Look at the blade at a low angle along its length while pointing it at a single light source. If there is a hamon it should 'pop' under this lighting. If not, its what I would consider a 'dead' sword and in those mounts still a tourist souvenir and I doubt worth the cost of a shirasaya. Get thee to a To-ken Society or local sword group meeting and show it around. BaZZa.

Interestingly, the fuchi ground isn't nanako. I've never seen this type before. Any ideas?? BaZZa.

Yeah, a pretty distressing story also common here in Australia. Oh, the tales to tell... However, I think SalaMarcos did a very good job of it, highlighting the issues whilst at the same time pointing to Japanese standards and cultural approaches of care and restoration over centuries, at the same time providing 'reading between the lines' for arrogant, died in the wool 'conservators' of the sort many of us know... BaZZa.

And the caravan moves on... BaZZa.

Or rather, what was I?? A mate sent me this link asking if I had ever seen anything like it. To my ailing 'n' failing 81yo memory (60 'in swords') the answer is no. It must have been 'something' for the blade to be taken out and a tsunagi made to hold the koshirae together. Curious minds want to know... https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/edo-Japanese-concealed-blade-storage-oni-statue-130282-c-02f4917a9f?objectID=197055686&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=b0accac9d43f596c3bfaa3563f38581c BaZZa.

Remember the Collective Chant "We feel no pain!!" Time and the drip-feed system covers most expenditure caused by giving in to Desire. Some of us even embrace it without telling our wives!! And don't forget, the quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten... BaZZa.

Now, I'm off on my broom - BUT - I think this is one of the most understated tsuba I've ever seen. Can't explain it, maybe could if I tried hard enough, perhaps someone else can. Brickbats welcome... BaZZa.

And don't forget the internet for swordsmith and oshigata searches and image tracking. Powerful stuff. https://nihontoclub.com/ mei search is good if you have a partial kanji reading. BaZZa.

Try Nakayama Hakudo - quite a bit of stuff. BaZZa.

Jussi wrote: > Now I am just getting the machine translation as I am not that invested into > starting to type in the Japanese text to computer by myself and figuring out > the translation as for me that takes a long time. Hope I haven't got the tiger by the tail here, but I simply report that I saw my son use his mobile phone to take a picture of Chinese writing on a bottle of some sort (a hot sauce?), then invoke an app that translated the kanji image into English. No doubt the same could be done for any Japanese text??? BaZZa.

Very nice tsuba indeed. Now, I am puzzled by the feature in the photo below. This has risen in discussion on rare occasions, however, I don't know the name of it or what its purpose is. Anyone know?? I have a Muromachi tachikanagushi tsuba with an identical feature. Thanks, BaZZa.

Jean - same way I do - look at the thread and not the date!! Welcome Lenny and you've already discovered that there is A LOT of good stuff here. An ancient thread is known as a necropost. Quite often these can be a real re-discovery... Best, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas Melbourne, Australia.

How strange!! I've done that too and with the same result... BaZZa.

Also found this text: Google keywords: shirasaya horsetail reed https://islandblacksmith.ca/process/carving-saya-scabbard/ http://www.scnf.org/styled-10/styled-4/styled-8/Saya_2.html https://www.woodworkforums.com/archive/index.php/t-154064.html ABOVE LINK HAS THIS TEXT: Schtoo 12th June 2012, 04:24 PM Steve, Found this after a quick look; blog page with rough instructions about preparing tokusa (http://ameblo.jp/minamototaiken/entry-11168496333.html) In Japanese of course, but they give a rough description of boiling, then drying then wetting and slicing it down a side and peeling it open. The bundles in the pic at the bottom are how I've seen it used, for smoothing out textured surfaces like an abrasive brush. Like I said, I've never used it but I did recall the fellow I was watching being very careful to not only not use it in a vertical orientation, but he repeatedly brought the dust back into the area he was working. That's why I assume it breaks down a little rapidly, but perhaps that was part of how he was using it. I think I can buy it at the home centre here, wrapped up into a puck for smoothing out carved items. Never bothered with it myself though, maybe I should? Oh, I don't know that it's the same plant but there's a kind of garnish/pickle that uses horsetails, and it tastes pretty good. Have to introduce you to e-no-abura/shiso oil/perilla oil. Great finishing oil, and tastes good as salad oil or in leaf form. Stu. Also try keywords tokusa horsetail reed BaZZa.

Martin, The heavy "pock mark" pitting and tang colour suggest to me the possibility of fire damage. Decades ago a policeman gave me a confiscated wakizashi blade that he told me had been found in the remains of a fire. Re-tempering is also a possibility. A polisher or very experienced collector should be able to help with an opinion. Regards, BaZZa.

I've had a copy of this book for decades. A great read. Thanks for the refresher Michael. I also have a favorite passage. I'll have to dig it out... BaZZa.

Bugyotsuji wrote: > PS Your blade actually says 造之 'Tsukuru kore', reading the characters as they are. > Kore wo tsukuru is a slight nod, or further step towards correct grammar, but is an > interpretation, along the path of how to render classical Chinese into readable Japanese... Is the 'o' correct Japanese and the 'wo' a relic of 'old days' English scholar translations??? I don't remember 'wo' from my 3 years of trying to learn kindergarten Nihongo. BaZZa.

A darn good re-read from 2010. Thanks Alexi. So much to read, so little time... BaZZa.

Decades ago I bought 9 swords from one old digger. In the course of conversation he confided to me that he once had a long-barrelled Luger pistol, but he 'took fright', cut it into small pieces and threw them into the nearby (Yarra) River. BaZZa.

A Friend in Steel no longer with us at one time had a Baby Nambu in MINT condition with holster. This was quite the joy to behold. If my memory serves me correctly it was made by the Tokyo Electric Light Company and only 1,200 were made. After his passing I do not know where it went. BaZZa.

Mark, No, no. I'd go with Andrew. I've had another squizz and there is a bit of rust that with a casual look suggests a rh stroke, but the bottom looks right for NAGA. Sigh, my son suggested I don't repair my grumbling auto trans and suggested its even time for me to give up my driver's licence. Perhaps its time for other giving up... BaZZa.