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.

Dear Ford and Listeros, A friend here has a Takahashi Naganobu katana with a fascinating koshirae. The question here concerns the metal working technique for the en suite fuchigashira and kojiri. I do not recall seeing anything like this technique in all my decades of collecting and study, but I'm sure someone on this magnificent board does. I'm tempted to say ishime, but it is far too complex for that IMHO. Below are some photos of the tsuka showing fuchigashira, a closeup of the fuchi and a closeup of the fuchimei. The metal appears to be shibuichi, given the silver appearance with the suaka visible through wear. If anyone is able to identify the artisan and make comment on where this work fits into the tosogu schema I would be very grateful - and so would my friend. Best regards, BaZZa.

Dear Ffolke, On top of the success of Ford Hallam and Andrew Ickeringill in Japanese sword arts contests, non-Japanese are also excelling in Yabusame. I must say this was real news to me AND the link sent to me by a mate who has little interest in things Japanese, but knows my passion. Check it out: http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014 ... 006653.htm Bestests, BaZzZa.

Well that's interesting because I found the link from a google search... BaZzZa (still sleepy)

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4232&view=next BaZzZa (aka BaZZa, but sleepy tonight...)

Well John H Lee, a perennial topic!! I like Barry Hennick’s “after 20 years I considered myself an official beginner.” In this discussion we must remember for the Silverbacks that 50 years ago when I began there was no internet, only international airmail - and expensive international phone calls if you really needed to hear a friendly Nihontô voice. I still have a filing cabinet bulging with copies of correspondence with people all over the world. I was quite amazed to have a well-known American collector write he was just as isolated in his hometown as I was in Australia. An early correspondent was Willis Hawley when I bought his books very early on, plus others he sold. Today is truly another story. Well, without writing an essay here are the nuts and bolts. John Yumoto’s little book stole me away from the world of guns. My first two swords were a Showatô Kaiguntô and a mumei Sue Kotô in Shinguntô. John Yumoto’s book, and Basil Robinson’s, take you only so far in this interest. Being the only person I knew of in Nihontô here in Oz it took me 8 years to discover that my first Sue Koto blade had no hamon where it was supposed to be. So I went looking and found it close to the edge, with a hadori making the ‘white’ yakiba look more in proportion. That was a seminal experience in evaluating swords. Like Jean (he is far too modest!!) I tried to figure out what quality was. That answer came 7 years later. So in short I say to those who ask that it took me about 10 years to begin to understand what Nihontô were about, and another 5 years to begin to understand what quality was. The intervening 35 years have been devoted to expanding my knowledge wherever possible, often at the expense of time spent with my “sword widow” long-suffering wife. I had to get that tribute to my wife in the story. In all this time I bought books wherever I could (hang the expense!!) and joined corresponding societies wherever I could. I have filing cabinets still bulging with Newsletter and Journals from all over the world. I haven’t looked at any of them in a couple of decades, so they must have served their purpose well. The other very important thing was to look at swords wherever I could and the best way to this was to seek out other collectors in Oz. There weren’t many in those Auld Daze. In turn, beginning collectors sought me out and I could return all the favours given to me by others. So, having reached some sort of proficiency level along comes NMB and I find myself in awe of the far greater knowledge and talent here and of the willingness to share and help that I have experienced throughout my collecting life. Perhaps the last thing is money. Like many I’ve never had a lot, but I never cared about it or “profit”. I could only think of the spell-binding Art of the Sword and of increasing my knowledge even without ever owning some of the best. In monetary terms I’m sure one way and another I’ve paid out more than I’ll ever get back from my small collection. The enjoyment and the journey, however, have been priceless... Ah, truly John H. Lee, on reflection I think the last word is FRIENDS. The point I think in this thread is that you have arrived amongst many friends. It will take you weeks to read up on the stack of threads and the articles section. My best and closest friends have always been collectors, more especially Nihontô collectors. I think, John, there is indeed a last thing I could comment on. You wrote “I could imagine this being an academic field in its own right, with the terminal degree being a PhD, with MA-level specialties for every aspect of the sword and koshirae.” In the above I haven’t touched on polish - discussion here would make this an essay!!. I have come to regard tôgishi as people with an equivalent PhD. With regard to being an academic field in its own right there are people (Westerners) in our midst with advanced degrees in niche studies of Nihontô arts. It has taken me 14 years to acquire this man’s book, so to me the most recent illustration of the “academic field in its own right” is Gregory Irvine’s book “The Japanese Sword” (Weatherhill, 2000). His acknowledgements page neatly sums up what it takes to become a specialist in study of the Japanese sword arts. Welcome John. Best regards, Barry Thomas (aka BaZZa.)