Bazza

Brian, I've found the picture, but there is a surprising context. I've found some other pics as well of shunga tosogu and discussions from a few years ago from discussion list emails. There is a tsuba with hakogaki by Kanzan featuring nude women - I'd be surprised if I was the only person who preserved this. Anyone?? It will take me some time to investigate and absorb all the info and present it in a coherent fashion. I'll be back. Regards, BaZZa.

John, Do you mean shunga in general outside sword fittings, or specifically shunga-themed sword fittings??? I have seen a photo of very explicit kozuka portraying genitalia and could probably find it amongst my voluminous "hard" drive holdings if interest is expressed. I once read that such tosogu were worn by samurai on their wakizashi whilst out for a night in the Yoshiwara. If this was true we should surely see more of such themes??? Regards, BaZZa.

A friend of mine found a beautiful shakudo tanto tsuba mounted on an umbrella - it had just such a round hole to fit it. Very sad to see it so mutilated as otherwise it was in excellent condition with a high relief iroe peony. Regards, BaZZa.

Well, since I know nothing about tsuba I'm pleased to take this opportunity to offer an opinion and maybe shoot myself in the foot!!!! My first thought too was it looks like Jakushi work. I see only 3 claws on the dragon so definitely Japanese and not Chinese. I also think the "aesthetic" is very much Japanese. Regards, BaZZa.

They are called o-kozuka and you can see one here of measurements 10.2 cm H x 1.8 cm W (scroll down): http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/kodogu.htm Here is a tsuba with a hitsuana for an o-kozuka http://www.nihonto.us/DRAGON%20TSUBA.htm. Interestingly the nakagoana seems to be for a katakiriha blade. Download this To-Ron file http://www.ncjsc.org/ncjsc_10sep_v001.pdf to see an o-kozuka measuring 10.37cm long by 2.28cm wide and is 0.66cm thick. This issue also shows some bashin mentioned above by Adam L. It also has a number of illustrations of items discussed recently on NMB. To-Ron is the magazine of the Northern California Japanese Sword Club. Regards, BaZZa.

G'day Ken, Did you check out Gavin Houghnam's "Where to see Nihonto (Japanese Sword)" website??? http://gavinhougham.com/sights.html I'm not familiar with the area and distances, but Gavin lists museums that seem to be in the Bizen-Okayama area (about an hour from Osaka on the Shinkansen?). For example, the Hayashibara Art Museum http://www.hayashibara-museumofart.jp/ ------------------------------------------ Hayashibara Art Museum, (formerly Okayama Art Museum). 2-7-15 Marunouchi, Okayama-shi, Okayama-ken. Phone: (0862) 23-1733. Travel: Tram for Higashiyama, get off at Kencho-dori. Walk east to the corner of the Prefectural office, then left. Museum is through Edo-period gate. Among many other pieces of art, the museum holds two important Bizen school swords, by Kanehira and Masatsune, respectively. Kamakura era swords are by Yoshifusa, Mitsutada, Nagamitsu and Sukeyoshi. Nambokucho and Muromachi armor from Ikeda family. While you are in Okayama, check out the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art (Phone: 086-272-1149), which has a smaller collection of nihonto, but notable for Heian and Kamakura era swords. ------------------------------------------ This link gives lots more links in that area http://www.hayashibara-museumofart.jp/link/index.html Regards, BaZZa.

The pictures worked for me just now in the original post: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12643 I have no opinion on the sword beyond observing that the ken horimono looks promising for what may lie under the rust and neglect. Regards, BaZZa

G'day All, Is it an uchikaeshi mimi or a fukurin??? Looks more like a fukurin to my eyes as it appears to have the same colour as the infills to the sukashi... Regards, BaZZa.

A few years ago a gendai tanto was offered for sale that had what I thought was a very good horimono of a dragon. I was able to take some poor photos of it in the short time I had available to view it and I offer them here. The tanto is signed NOSHU KANENOBU SAKU with the date on the same side SHOWA JU YON NEN SAN GATSU HI (March 1939). There is another inscription on the omote that I haven't read - I'm sure someone will be able to read it. Best regards, BaZZa.

Same problem here - no avatar. BaZZa.

J Jorgensen, could you please show us a clear, good picture of the kojiri (the end scabbard fitting)? Regards, BaZZa.

Robert and All, yes, I believe the "stripe" pattern is rusting of the masame hada, not a sensuki (shaved) or other file type. Best regards, BaZZa.

Is the blade signed?? Can you put up a shot of each side of the whole tang?? You would be amazed at what a professional polisher can do for a poor condition blade. I have seen worse chips and rust completely disappear and the blade take a Tokubetsu Hozon paper. The caveat always is that the blade must be worth the time and expense in the first place. Well... not always... it depends how much one loves "The Art"... Regards, BaZZa.

All, I have a very long list over 45 years of people who have helped me along the way, people who (all around the world) unselfishly gave me their time and knowledge to make me such a collector as I am. I help out wherever I can as I consider it a sacred duty to pass on the knowledge that so many others have helped me to gain. I want to acknowledge here my debt to them, and indeed - time waits for no man... Best regards, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

All - I have been seeing these conversations online for 15 years. I have been collecting and studying Nihonto for 45 years and have seen enough polished blades to make a comment here. No great diatribe, no long point-for-point comment, just the simple statement "Chris Bowen is right on the money. Any other opinion is delusional bordering on willfully ignorant". Chris used the word "hubris". Spot on again. Time to lock this thread... Barry Thomas Melbourne, Australia

For many years now I've had a sword by HOKKE SABURO NOBUFUSA that is 2 shaku 3 sun 4 bu nagasa (70.9 cm or 27 7/8 inches). With a kasane of 5 mm and mihaba of 3 cm I think George could handle this with ease!!! Regards, BaZZa.

MMMMMMMM... Magnificent. I'm blown away. Would love to own it, but just to see it is extremely, very extremely satisfying. Wonderful work Ford, just wonderful. To say "congratulations" on your achievement seems almost trite in the face of the piece and its quiet strength. I look forward to your revelations on the colouring technique as copper/yamagane and its colour is my favourite next to iron. Best regards for the New Year and your continued success, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

Hello George and All, Aluminium or zinc, or some other alloy of zinc or "white metal"??? I was looking at one of these recently in knocked around condition and I felt the exposed metal surface and oxidation colour didn't look like aluminium. Another question: I know nothing about metal scabbard making, but if there is a join/seam this would be hard to make in aluminium as its difficulty in soldering is well known. Even welding, these days argon arc welding ( or MIG??) being the norm to exclude oxygen in the process to effect a good joint. I'm not sure that shingunto metal scabbards were made without a seam, so it seems unlikely that "white metal" scabbards were solid drawn. I haven't made any serious study of this, so the nub of my question then is does anyone have definitive metallurgical analysis that "aluminium" scabbards are in fact aluminium??? Regards, BaZZa.

I'm pretty sure I've seen such a blade "at work" in an ukiyoe. I can see it in my mind's eye and maybe someone knows the print. Regards, BaZZa.

All - I remember a Per Terje Norheim (sp?) nearby in Sweden many, many years ago. I have often wondered if he is still active. If not, I guess his books could have migrated... Regards, BaZZa.

Henry, no wuckin furries, Mate. You're cool. Bestests, BaZZa.

This is all a very interesting discussion about iron tsuba. Over many years I've observed kinko tosogu, particularly shakudo nanako, that seem to have some "grot" all over the surface. Study under magnification clearly shows such grot, and gentle probing with a sharp toothpick reveals a waxy type residue that comes away. Some while ago I acquired a wakizashi with excellent mumei shakudo nanako fittings in a mitokoromono set. The menuki were considerably obscured with a "grot" that appeared to have dust etc etc embedded in it. It was a miracle the menuki were still there as the binding had pretty much rotted away. Again, observation with a 10x loupe and gentle probing with a sharp toothpick clearly showed "something" that came away from the surface. The menuki were very much obscured compared to the kogai and kozuka. Having observed this stuff was one thing, but I have never attempted to clean it off. However, these menuki cried out for rescue. I've attached two images that show the before and after. My question here isn't so much about the cleaning (which people seem most reluctant to go anywhere near where shakudo nanako is concerned), but whether (say) ibota wax was originally applied to shakudo nanako to either improve or preserve the polish on a finished piece. The next question is, if this is so, what happens to such wax over 150 or more years?? The two images here clearly show some stuff has been removed from the surface of the menuki, and having once been removed it became obvious that the kogai and kozuka were also coated with "something", but I have left these as is for the moment as their appearance is acceptable. The tsuba on this wakizashi is also shakudo nanako (Momoyama Ko Kinko) and it too has "something" coating it. Is it simply the dust of ages combined with oils from handling and decades of neglect that present this appearance, or does it originate from an original treatment of the pieces when they were made??? Regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa

On a par with breaking up suits of armour. A friend has a magnificent 16th century Myochin kabuto with its mempo that were separated from the rest of the armour, I presume to make a better profit for the seller... Regards, BaZZa. (aka Barry Thomas)

Do we think that the serpentine has been bent at some stage of its life??? I've not seen one with the "wiggle" that this one displays. I'm betting the barrel is by a Kunitomo artisan - the bamboo-shaped flash shield locking pin is on all three of my Kunitomo guns. Also, the mon is I think KASHIWA (White Oak) - I have it on one of my guns and will try and get a picture up. Regards, BaZZa aka Barry Thomas.

I think this has ended quietly and decently, as indeed it should. Having been on these many and varied electronic/internet forums since 1995 I have assiduously recorded in great detail and at great length (dozens of pages, hundreds of megabytes) numerous discussions on the subject of this thread as well as hundreds of others. I did it in this instance as I very early on realised the central importance of correct polish for the restoration and preservation of Nihonto and for my own education went out of my way to compile these electronic discourses for posterity, as I knew the opinions expressed would never be written up anywhere else. This thread has been little different to those I've recorded over the last 17 years in terms of the pros and cons. For my personal journey I have in the meantime had numerous of my own blades polished by different sources and have bought blades already polished. The worst, most abysmal polish (seen in another collection here in Oz) was by a little-known American. The second worst was on a (later) Tokubetsu Hozon wakizashi from a Japanese source. My experience has been wide and varied at a personal level and it has taught me much and I do my best to share it with my fellow Aussie collectors on a one-to-one basis. Now, to put it on the record - I take my hat off to Chris Bowen and in terms of this thread I sit firmly in his camp, as it were. His vast experience on the ground in Japan and his interactions with artisans across board at all levels of Nihonto and restoration skills over many years are unparallelled and undeniable. I have assiduously recorded Chris' writings since his earliest days as an internet presence with his token_kenkyu_kai discussion list and as a person who has never been to Japan and am unlikely to do so for varied reasons, have devoured his personal experiences with all manner of artisans. For those who have never experienced Chris' earlier personal recollections moving amongst the artisans of Japan I want to record here how grateful I was for the tremendous commitment of his time to convey these to Westerners. This commitment is still evident to me in his large presence here to inform and enlighten all of us sharing this passion. In the same breath, I take my hat off to Brian for his Solomonesque wisdom in keeping us under firm control and for a similarly Herculean task in administering NMB. Finally, I have particularly enjoyed this thread, even if it amounted to a same-same update of earlier discourses... Best regards to all, Barry Thomas (aka BaZZa).