Bazza

Thanks for that comment Christian. Just to dip my toe in the water, I've seen a nijimei Shodai Tadayoshi katana with mizukage. The sword has NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon ninteishou. I'm sure many a good and genuine sword has been bought cheaply by a collector "in the know". BaZZa.

Chinese attempt?? Looks very unskillful. BaZZa.

The downvote is not for Yasa san, but for the practice of selling empty boxes with hakogaki. If this is true (and I have no doubt it is) what a gut-wrenching, despicable act to contemplate. BaZZa.

Mark said: > I think sometimes we forget here... what percent of the population REALLY has “an iota of experience” with nihonto? Not everyone is as crazy... err ummm... ‘enlightened’ as we are. Yes, well, quite true Mark. On one occasion I visited an older gent who had 25 Japanese swords and had been collecting for 3 or so years. Yep, all Chinese junk and not one Nihonto amongst them. On another occasion it was a man I knew who had some nice Packard cars and 15 Japanese swords. Same deal again. The kicker in this case was that a friend of the Packard owner, hearing of my visit, had brought along his single Japanese sword and to the ire of my Packard-owning mate it was a genuine Nihonto... I feel we could continue this thread ad infinitum... BaZza.

Brian, Sorry. I did see your advice above, but I put this here for a reason. No one has mentioned it before, but to me this photo of Andi's illustrates hotsureba (a hamon in its own right) rather than sunagashi.(a feature additional to a hamon proper). BaZZa.

Woolworths?? BaZZa.

Well done Dale. My God, what dedication, what enthusiasm, an exemplar for us all. Browsing through the pages on the link I was thrown back 40 years when I saw this image of Daruma. At that time my Dear Departed mate Laurie Allen had a pair of menuki signed on the back of one SHOZUI. One was in the style of the image. They were solid pieces completely infilled. Sadly I don't have any photos, but I recall we assumed they were gimei, though very nicely done. I've no idea what happened to them, perhaps a reader here might have them in his/her collection. So that lead on a "curiosity" search for SHOZUI's work. Anyone interested in following up can go here: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=shozui+hamano Interestingly the British Museum's link also notes that SHOZUI made small blades (???). Surely these would have been kozuka blades in, say, solid gold???, rather than tanto as we might read the comment. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG1411 "Maker of short blades and sword furniture, pupil of the renowned Toshinaga of Nara." BaZZa. PS: I've already seen the online offer for 35% off a first book purchase from Blurb, but it wouldn't work for me and the connection just "hung"...

Yeah, well... The company's just great... BaZZa.

Good one Mal. I had been thinking along the same lines that it looked like a South Sea Islander club. Between the black of the "club" and the saya proper is a line suggesting the "club" might have been a later addition and possibly not of Japanese origin... BaZZa.

At first blush it looks like a good Hizen Gendaito?? BaZZa.

Many years ago I was fortunate to find a near complete wakizashi in style similar to that described by Steve and commented upon by Ian. I've knocked up a document describing the koshirae, which please find attached. On the specification Steve noted rounded ends for wakizashi, which as I understand is also a specification for the -sho of a daisho. This wakizashi has a squared end with the horn kojiri made to match the horn kashira. Also, the binding goes through the horn kashira in the usual style rather than over the top as for formal wear. So I'm not sure whether this is a koshirae for official "service", for wear inside the home, or for a merchant to wear. Perhaps the elaborate appearance of the saya lacquer imitating woodgrain would suggest this is not a formal koshirae, but rather for a non-samurai to wear?? BaZZa. Norimitsu wakizashi details.doc

Dear Robert, someone is going to ask, so I will - can we please see the fripping tsuba????? BaZZa.

Perhaps Mandala, Buddhist Wheel?? BaZZa.

Isn't there a famous katana koshirae once owned by Uesugi Kenshin that doesn't have a tsuba at all??? The question in my mind is was such a configuration actually used on the battlefield?? If so is this a historic example of the style used by Jason in his Dojo??? BaZZa.

Bjorn, If you have Windows 10 operating system it comes bundled with a PAINT program that offers cropping and resizing, all you have to do is figure out how to "drive" it. A program I have used for many years (costs money) is ACDSee. I'm sure other folks will have more recommendations. Somewhere on the Board I'm sure are recommendations. The SEARCH function is very good - top rhs of window. BaZZa.

Here is another one seen in my travels. It has a lovely blade by the Shinshinto smith Tamahide. BaZZa.

Lefty??? 😲😲😲 BaZZa.

Barrie, What is more than interesting is that as the Daisho is worn the missing menuki is on the omote facing the world. One might expect that the single menuki would have been in this position and no one would realise that there was a missing menuki. Could someone please explain(with apologies to Pauline Hanson)??? BaZZa.

Dale wrote "Bazza - so you are what an ordinary collector looks like! [Its not an exclusive club I hope- can I join?]" 😇 Dale, self-appointees are always welcome!! I remember when I started 55 years ago my first book was John Yumoto's little primer. In it he wrote "Study never ends". How true I've found that to be over the years. I'm mainly a blade-man with just a slight detour into the world of tosogu, but without study Yas san has shown how much it can be a pit with sharp stakes at the bottom!!! Having said that I do have some "heavy" books on tosogu without seriously putting my toe in the water to collect. As Bert said in the song "Oi loiks wot I do and I do wot oi loiks" without worrying too much about authenticity - blades are another matter. So, how very glad I am that Yas san shares his knowledge here. To add some "juice" I've attached images of an Akasaka Tadatoki V tsuba. The description given when I bought it was: I believe this particular tsuba was made by Tadatoki V (8th master of the Akasaka school). He became head of the family in 1818. This tsuba has a near faultless surface and demonstrates the artist’s ability to create a dynamic composition in an extremely limited space. There is a imperfection on the ura side of this tsuba (near the signature). This looks like silver inlay, however I'm not sure how or why it is there. Overall it doesn't detract from the tsuba ... That little silver "blob" next to the -TOKI is curious. The tsuba doesn't have a paper, bit oi loiks it. It appealed to me the first time I saw it in a friend's collection and jumped on it when it was offered. I've just realised this is a "friends-of-y-auction" page and hope i haven't committed trespass... It wouldn't be the first time I have lost the plot. BaZZa.

Yas san, very interesting and informative work, thank you, but it's enough to make an "ordinary" collector hit the bottle ... BaZZa.

What an absolute stunner of a story and a miracle all the items have stayed together over the years. Personalises all the "in bulk" sacrifices we see in WW2 movies. I have anecdotes of families just tossing out their history in garage sales, groups of medals covering the two World Wars, etc etc. Another great story is of John Birch in China during the war years. I have a book "somewhere"... BaZZa.

Simon J, I'm presuming this piece is a yari?? Can we see some other pics please. Those in your opening post suggest to me a modern make rather than Tenpo era. BaZZa.

I absolutely agree. Not everything "good" has to be dripping with gold or covered in exquisite workmanship. These fuchigashira are to my mind and eye very well made bordering on excellent (brickbats welcome!). It is a pity, methinks, that the tsuka has been separated from its blade and koshirae. I'm thinking this came from a Shinshintou katana. The "eye-hole" in the kashira should tell a story, but I can't read it. I actually rank the fuchigashira above the menuki. BaZZa.

Oh Dear, and another one bites the dust!! I had some little correspondence with Paul many years ago. So very sad to hear of his passing. RIP. BaZZa.

"Arm" is also a term used to mean "the whole piece", "the entire weapon, lock, stock and barrel". Eg., "He was armed to the teeth" meaning he carried a variety of weapons. My reading at the time was that he thought the pistol itself was modern??? BaZZa.