Bazza

Jim and I had a long and robust correspondence. I admired/still admire him immensely and miss his presence amongst us. I still occasionally read his writings. A real gem of a man. RIP. BaZZa.

Just having a stab... The first one is much older and the second one a later Edo copy. BaZZa.

Brilliant program. Shame about the uchiko segment... BaZZa.

Is the entire mei shown??? It could be 三州住久氏 Sanshū jū Hisauji???? The kanji in question looks to me more like a variant HISA 久 than a NIN 人 ... BaZZa.

Chris you may have these already, but I recall (inaccurately???) that there was an article on the Kunisuke generations in one of the JSSUS issues of "Art and the Sword"??? BaZZa.

Well, to "hang it out there" I can't but help agreeing with Stephen. When I see a big, ubu, mumei katana with o-kissaki I think Shinshinto... BaZZa.

G'day Paul Mate, Very sorry indeed to hear of your enforced rest. You have achieved wonderful things in the cause of Nihonto and I sincerely wish you a speedy recovery. As we say in Oz "Take it easy mate". Best regards, BaZZa.

But then it couldn't be Koto... BaZZa.

A bity of humble pie is good for the soul!!! As I'm not so familiar with waki Hizento I should have added the caveat in the above "For mainline Tadayoshi" with regard to the yasurime. BaZZa.

Honestly, this needs to be properly cleaned and held in the hand by "someone who knows" - like at a Shinsa. I have found that photographs are next to useless in judging a blade. Having said that, with the available images and my miserable knowledge set, I would say this is a gimei. From my exposure to Hizento this is not one. The yasurime are wrong (should be kiri), the nakago jiri is wrong (should be iriyamagata), and the mei is far too "chippy". BaZZa.

Ron Watson wrote: ------------------------------------------------------------- Supposedly a year later, a Portuguese blacksmith arrived in Japan ,and he was persuaded to pass the secret of the breach plug by as legend goes ... the Portuguese blacksmith was offered the hand in marriage of a lovely girl called “Wakasa” ( the blacksmith's daughter ) as the reward for disclosing the secret of how to affix the breach plug into the barrel. This is in all probability just legend. ------------------------------------------------------------- I have an old videotape of an NHK program that is a costume drama recreation of this story/legend/what have you. It runs for about 20 minutes with Japanese dialogue, but it is a good watch. The frustration of the swordsmith coming to grips with this new weapon is well played. BaZZa.

Thank you Sebastien. Snowflakes, well I never!!! We are getting away from the OP topic, but snowflakes goes someway to answering shapes on a "mystery tsuba" I have that I've been going to present to the Board. I need to take some decent photos - watch this space, though it will take me a couple of days or so. On second thoughts, I'll post it under a new topic. BaZZa.

What on earth are the shapes of the sukashi??? Blobs of protoplasm????!!!! And some of the small holes are too far apart to be undenukiana... BaZZa

HAHAHAHA - Joe, a very good quip!! Chris, a very nice result of a long trip (I guess) and thanks so much for sharing. Inspires me to put up one of my better finds and the almost unbelievable story that goes with it. Promises, promises, but I'll do my best soon. It concerns a katana signed (KIKU) ECHIZEN no KAMI MINAMOTO RAI NOBUYOSHI and its late Edo handachi koshirae. Bestests, BaZZa.

Well, my thing too and I'm "in", but one look at Chris Bowen's layout for his Tokyo Gendai book makes me wonder how Markus can get such a book out by year's end. End of 2015 I would believe. It must be a HUGE project with many of us contributing oshigata etc etc. and I simply wonder how it can be done in only a few months???? BaZZa.

Gentlemen All, Thank you for your comments and knowledge. However, I'm a little confused. The attachment in Ron Watson's post above is clearly, as Moriyama san has identified, a TEKAGI, whereas my OP photos show a differently formed tool, one with a straight haft and a less murderous looking "hook", being more of a blunt, "prodding projection" reinforced along the haft, rather than a pointed hook more simply attached to the haft. So, are these one and the same but my OP tool being a much older variant, or is my OP tool indeed a TOBIGUCHI??? Thanking you all, BaZZa.

Dear All, A friend has sent me photos of a tool/weapon asking if it is Japanese. Scratched into the wooden handle are two ideograms that could be crude characters. I can't recall seeing anything like these - does anyone have any idea what the "characters" are, and what this object might be??? It appears old and well-made and may well be a Japanese fireman's tool. I can't imagine it being a weapon (?) Best regards, BaZZa.

Well, this isn't a print, but appears to be a one-off original painting. It came "out of the blue" from a local auction in what appears to be a modern (i.e., recent) framing. It features two hunters with line-of-sight points on birds and other lines from parts of the bodies to explanatory notes. The work is 41cm x 19cm. A curious feature to me is that the text at the top of the work is upside down. It appears to be two separate images joined together before the red lines were drawn, then folded into four as in a "brochure" style. I'm wildly guessing this is Meiji period because of the bright green colours (aniline dyes??) and of course the foxing indicates age, but what?? I note the presence of numbers and katakana but have not done any work on translation. I put it here for interest re the matchlocks and if anyone cares to translate the text i'm sure we will all be the wiser. Anyway, FWIW here are some images. Bestests, BaZZa.

Ahh, yes, but that's an old NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho. Do we believe them without a more recent submission to NBTHK or either of the NTHKs???!!!! BaZZa.

Hmmmmmmm - my thoughts will probably see me at the end of a plank with a kissaki in my back!!!! A very nice piece. I love it to bits. Kevin Adams??? BaZZa.

Ahhhhhh, even worse, they could be/most often are "yesterday" Chinese copies... BaZZa.

Barry Thomas would like TWO (2) copies if a bulk order eventuates. Thanks and regards, BaZZa.

I do believe the slots where the vines are inlaid can be seen where the tendrils intersect the body of the tsuba. That's how it appears to me. Regards, BaZZa.

We all know this is a katakiriha sugata (shape). I've had as good a look at the photos as possible for the condition, and I just raise the point could this more likely be a Shinshinto Kaifu blade??? BaZZa.

Is it gold lacquer??? BaZZa.