Bazza

What he said - my humble opinion exactly. BaZZa.

Now we are talking hotshot - my impression exactly. BaZZa.

Hello Luca, I like this tsuba very much. Good buy. Ciao from Australia. BaZZa.

An email just in offers a Meiji period necklace: http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/an-early-victorian-Japanese-shakudo-fan-necklace,-391-c-0de4653915?utm_source=house&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=exclusive&utm_content=the101116 I draw attention to this as a possible example of tosogu artisan transition from making sword fittings. I did hear at one time of an offshoot of Natsuo's school working somewhere in Australia, no doubt in one of the capital cities. So that is a latent interest in the back of my mind, but I've never found any concrete evidence of such work being done here, apart from a good silver plate with shakudo and shibuichi decoration found in Sydney by a friend decades ago. BaZZa.

DING DING DING - and another donation races to NMB... Keeping count Stephen??? BaZZa.

I see HIRO for the last kanji. FUJIWARA KANEHIRO as a signature suggests a Bungo Takada blade. However, entering "FUJIWARA KANEHIRO" in google only gives longer signatures, no nijimei. More weight needs to be put on the blade itself, possibly even to the extent of a window. Personally, it looks to me as if someone has tried to obliterate the signature. BaZZa.

I'm sure it will be ECHIZEN JU BaZZa.

And here is the last snippet unless I find more. I know these two blades are of the shodai and therefore of no interest to the OP, but I have included them for completeness to assist any general search for the Doi Shinryo group of Hirado. Regards, BaZZa.

And still more ... A friend of mine has a massive ko-wakizashi signed DOI SHINRYO. It has been polished and submitted to NBTHK Shinsa where it was declined a paper. The story was that the NBTHK didn't know enough about the group to paper it, but more likely they didn't think it had the requisite quality compared to say the Tadayoshi smiths. It is no doubt a genuine work from the Doi Shinryo line, but the generation is not known. The nagasa is 37.2 cm and mihaba 4.2 cm. I don't have a measure of the kasane, but it is thick. The blade came in an unusual koshirae of all iron fittings in gomoku zogan. The person from whom it was acquired commented that it probably was worn by a Sumo wrestler!! Here are some images. Best regards, BaZZa. PS - there may yet be a little more to come ...

But wait, there's more (as a famous Australian TV cutlery commercial goes) ... The Osaka Shinto Zufu has an oshigata of the shodai Doi Shinryo. My copy is out on loan so I can only submit the images I have without noting the page numbers. I wondered what a Hizen smith was doing in Osaka until I read Eguchi's book - "... He returned to Hizen from Osaka during Tenna (c. 1681) and became a smith to the Matsuura family." For more on the Matsuura family I beg you all to read the following book: "Samurai William - The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan", Giles Milton (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 2002). A most fascinating book indeed. Best regards, BaZZa.

The Hizento Handbook by Eguchi Soshin (translated by Gordon Robson, 1997) has the full 7 generations of Doi Shinryo listed on pages 166 - 168, with page 167 showing a number of 7th gen. oshigata. Knowing that extracts can be used for research purposes I have attached scans of page 166 and page 167. Page 168 is noteworthy only for a short additional reference to the 7th generation, viz. "Shinotsu. First signature of the 7th generation Doi Shinryo." Best regards, BaZZa. PS - I have a couple more snippets of information that I'll follow up on.

It was indeed a fun read. I'm discovering a few more as I go through the history of my own posts, mostly trivial responses on my part, but embedded in really good stuff from our virtuoso members. Something to think about Brian?? Bestests, BaZZa.

I've been holding back. Is there an exorcist in the House??? With deep sympathy. BaZZa.

He is certainly a cool looking dude and has an air of great age to him. He looks as if he is scared stiff, as if some big, bearded bloke is chasing him with a sword... BaZZa.

The crude habaki suggests some kind of refit of a Showato, or a sword of non-Japanese manufacture IMHO. That handle has to come off one way or another and would frankly be of no historical loss... I have a similar sword here where the handle with good same has been solidly glued on and my only choice is to destroy the handle if I want to see the nakago. Handles have always been replaceable items. BaZZa.

It also refers to a particular tang shape - gohei nakago: Gohei refers to its resemblance to the pieces of paper which are attached to the sacred straw rope festoon used within Shinto shrines. This tang form was first used by Ise no Kami Kuniteru in the Edo period. See: http://meiboku.info/guide/form/nakago/index.htm BaZZa.

I wonder if there is a genre in this type of koshirae as I once saw a tanto/kowakizashi that was composed entirely of vegetable themes. The tsuba was a pumpkin, the kozuka a bean pod, the menuki a stunning pair of shakudo melons and so on. An astounding piece in theme and execution, just like Nick's tanto here. The red/gold-colour lacquer is interesting in itself as a friend has a tanto with saya entirely in that lacquer style. BaZZa.

For some of us it could also be phrased "collecting is the distance between taste and income". One of my sayings is "If the piece is right the price doesn't matter - within reason". I exercised this maxim only recently when no one on the Board took up an offer so the piece went to eprey, then was still unsold. I gritted my teeth and paid the price. I have no buyer remorse whatsoever, however, my pot is now over-stressed, which brings me back to Hamish's point of view... I think it was the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes who observed that man's wants are unlimited. He must have known a Nihonto collector??!! Bestests, BaZZa.

Paulus, I LOVE IT - and the background drum and reloading activity too. Thanks for putting it up. Looks like a really good day. There is one day a year here in Victoria, Australia, where people dress up in period costume and fire cannon and mortars http://www.95thriflesaustralia.com/events/taminick Best regards, BaZZa.

Gentleman, I have never seen this style of mount. Do any of these have gendaitou in them, or are they "machine made"??? Regards, BaZZa.

Peter, the "other surface" is shown in pictures 2 & 3 - note the hitsuana. Regards, BaZZa. EDIT: I agree with Namban.

G'day Ben, It all comes down to price. This sword has already taught you what book learning couldn't. As such, you've "paid for a tutorial" and got free opinions from experienced people here - that's what we are here for. Welcome. If you decide you want to stay the course with Nihonto you've had a good start. Your sword is at least real. Your comment "and the shinogi-ji looks like chrome with no visable grain at all!" is exactly what the shinogi ji is supposed to look like - burnished. The polish looks quite amateurish and if you know who did it do keep away from him/her/them. No polisher of competence and proper training (6 years plus in Japan) would polish the filemarks. I don't think the "weld line" is a weld at all, more likely a rust line from a previously placed habaki. A weld would show "collateral damage" either side of the line with rust bursting off the surface leaving pits. So, boiling it down, a real sword with real bits just pretty much thrown together and all it comes down to is price... Best regards, BaZZa.

Many years ago with a similar need I found a brass Whitworth screw of a particular size fitted the thread. All I had to do was reshape the head (spin in a chuck and file to suit), then cut to length and Bob's your uncle (or Brian, or Guido, or Stephen...) BaZZa.

Phillipe, a stainless steel blade I'm sure and therefore no hamon. Those I have seen had a psuedo hamon as an artifice of the polish. Best regards, BaZZa.

Gentlemen, note also that the creature has spots... BaZZa.