Bazza

Surely there is more to this than meets the eye??? Dale??? It looks like the Christian version of Hell (or a Macbeth performance, even a Hieronymus Bosch utsushi!!) dressed up in Buddhist clothing!! Perhaps a Ghost story for children?? BaZZa.

Well, to add to the fun and games here is my Kutani bowl with the same theme. See original NMB thread and discussion here

A gun collector mate of mine has asked me as "the Japanese collector guy" whether I can help him find some information. I've done the all-ways Dr Google searches using keyword combinations from his question, but sadly no 'hits'. I did find that DAI NIPPON is a publishing company and no doubt had a vast number of publications. I can do no more than pose his question to the Board to bring their collective knowledge and experience to bear on the subject: > I'm trying to find some information on Japanese newsletter, Dai Nippon published in the > late '60s or early '70s, concerning Francotte rifles and swords made for the Melbourne > military 1892 plus any other info on who received this consignments, thank you. This has been mentioned some time ago and I knew a collection that had a sword made in Japan for the Melbourne Town Hall Militia, I think it was. This is Melbourne in the State of Victoria, Australia. If anyone is interested in this particular sword send me a PM and I'll dig out the article for you. Thank you all, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas

Piers, This old bloke is using more modern stuff than you and your Troupe!!! BaZZa.

I'm having a shot that this blade is early Shintou, or Shoki no Shintou (初 期 の 新 刀) is I believe another way of expressing it; say early 17th century. BaZZa.,

I see it has the THICK Shinguntou tsuba, which no doubt somebody can comment further on. BaZZa.

Scumbags are everywhere - it shouldn't happen to nice guys like Larry. Lyme Disease is a vastly under-rated and misunderstood disease, like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I'm saddened to read that Larry was burdened with Lyme for 16 years. Thank you Ray for letting us all know and thanks to Chris Bowen for a heartfelt Obituary. Stephen's story underscored for me that good people are what is the best about Nihonto collecting. RIP Larry. BaZZa.

The taka-no-ha yasurime suggest a Mino influence. I know clumsy kanji is not necessarily definitive of gimei, but your pics to me indicate a "rustic" if not gimei blade. How does the quality of the blade stack up?? The sugata and general finish of the polish etc etc. BaZZa. PS: Oh, and on embarrassment, the word is my alter ego middle name after 'Gunnadoo' ...

To give some perspective on the sword, how about shots of the bare blade both sides and tang both sides plus closeups of the boshi both sides???? The hada seems to be genuine enough to me, though. BaZZa.

I'm a bit worried about him 'working on the sword' ... BaZZa.

Michael, Like Alice in Wonderland you have fallen down a hole that will last the rest of your life if it grabs you by the throat!! I think all of your points (as I believe the Western yanone/yajiri collectors call them) are Japanese, however, No. 5 is a puzzle to me with its hollow tang. Reminds me of a fukuro yari and I've not seen a yanone like it. To reinforce my opening sentence you might like to look at this link, an Obituary I wrote for a dear friend of 50+ years who devoted his latter collecting life to yanone, even devising means of polishing them as he could not get professional togishi to even look at them, with one exception: Best wishes, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

Jeez!! Fair suck of the sauce bottle! I have rarely read more much ado about (essentially) nothing. BaZZa.

Ian, yes, but - I used to have the same experience as you know and I don't quite feel like a fool. Then as now true Nihonto were my goal and I turned down numerous 'metal hilters' over the years. For me it was also the "holding cost" when money was scarcer and always needed for something "better". With all due respect to our esteemed friends in Type 95 land I still won't buy them and still think they are overpriced. Fifty years ago we were still wet behind the ears (speaking for myself) and looking back there was quite a bit I should have kept, but the "holding price" beat me every time. BaZZa.

Yes, thanks Omar. Extraordinarily interesting, I thought. I was amazed that the hagire didn't happen until the sword was seriously bent. And the "like vinyl" wrinkles in the steel surface we know as mukade shinai. I was surprised the katana kaji didn't know this? BaZZa.

I once met a man who had collected 25 such swords... BaZZa.

Its truly wonderful to see a piece of this quality come out of the woodwork, and substantially undamaged, the chip aside. The koshirae is top, top work and dare I opine will be found to be solid silver. Ken, you are close enough to Ford Hallam to take the sword to him personally. You will only get one chance in a lifetime to do this right and Ford is DA MAN. FYI and in case you (and others) missed it here are two links to Ford working on two of my projects: Restoration of a handachi koshirae. Only the tsuka went to Ford and the blade and koshirae stayed here with me (in Oz). I’ll let the 56 minute video speak for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6FCHbVi0DY The next thing was a wakizashi koshirae (medium sword mounting) that was near complete (only a seppa – a ‘spacer’ - missing), but needed tender mercies from a metalwork genius. The scabbard is going to Japan (from the UK) to have some damage fixed and the lacquer restored. Here is a link to Ford’s ~40 minute video of the koshirae assessment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0yk24gfjWg In the beginning he diverts to a short discussion of the tsuka in the next above video. The following bit of work is to have the tsuka re-bound. Congratulations on your find and the courage it took to chase it down, with a little help from your friends!! Vive NMB. BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas Melbourne, Australia

Congratulations John. having just "tuned in" for the day I missed this most marvelous offering by Steve. Earlier I might have been the one who "got to it first" as Curran put it. However, its not all downside as I have other Nihonto bills to pay for equally enjoyable items... BaZZa.

Sorry about that Piers. Anyone else waiting patiently??? BaZZa.

Enlarging the image it can easily be seen that the iron oxide colors have moved up from the point as it has been heated. Sadly, I think its a dead sword, but maybe the scabbard looks nice enough for a couple hundred bucks - or less. BaZZa.

Steve, that's fantastic work. And Peter, thanks for sharing - is the sword yours?? Would be nice to see koshirae and full length bare blade looking straight down. However, if the blade was made around 1988 how come its in a Gunto type 98 Koshirae?? BaZZa.

EDIT to the above; FYI I put this string into google and there is quite a lot on these three ladies: Sutematsu Yamakawa Oyama, Ume Tsuda and Shige Nagai Uriu BaZZa.

Fellow Nihontophiles, Just saw this in an unrelated trawl: https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/BL-SEB-88753?responsive=y The article hits a paywall but the introductory text reads: ======================================================================================== THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ‘Daughters of the Samurai’ Sheds Light on a Strange Chapter in U.S.-Japanese History By Barbara Chai May 19, 2015 3:00 pm ET In 1871, five Japanese girls were sent to live and study in the U.S., and become versed in Western culture. Their mission was to immerse themselves in Western customs and education, so they could one day return to their native, Meiji era Japan and share what they had learned. The two oldest of the five girls, who were between 6 and 14 years old, struggled upon arrival and left the U.S. soon after. But the remaining three -- Sutematsu Yamakawa Oyama, Ume Tsuda and Shige Nagai Uriu, all from samurai families -- stuck it out,... ======================================================================================== BaZZa.

I must say it looks less like paint than real lacquer - urushi????? Note the ishime-like appearance. BaZZa.

Brian, I had to get mine from overseas as I recall, because I couldn't find a source in Australia. That might have changed these days. Costa, looking at your AUD $66 cost mine at the time might have been of a similar order. I asked another collector what he did when the cloth became saturated/choked with oil and suggested washing it. He said NO, toss it out and get a new one. I haven't reached that point yet - does anyone else have a point of view on this?? BaZZa.

I'm sure I remember originally seeing a purple cloth elsewhere and was a little concerned when red/pinkish turned up for me. But the label says it all - PRO OPTIC, Micro Fiber Deluxe. I'm sure it is the real deal. Was it expensive Costas, say about $30 to $40??? BaZZa.