Bazza

Guess what I discovered under our noses???!!! From 2012 no less - a necro post of great value... I just popped this into google to find it Japanese imported arms meiji Japan Good hit. BaZZa.

This is VERY interesting. I have seen a VERY large teppou (3-wrap barrel and as heavy as an anchor) with a copper (??) sheet covering most of the barrel surface with a sennin riding a fish with waves splashing all around. I saw this well over 30 years ago. Sadly, it isn't mine and is a 'wet dream' I have had since the first moment I (just) held it in my hands. Sighhhhh. I still have an oshigata somewhere of the mei I find every once-in-a-while and this thread reminds to put it here whenever I next sight it. BaZZa.

Ian, your explanation for breaking of the fukigayeshi may well explain why they are broken off my HARUTA YOSHIHISA zunari kabuto. Knowing where my kabuto came from (an old estate) this helmet likely came to Australia as a souvenir during the Meiji period. Thanks. BaZZa.

I seriously considered this lovely blade. My congratulations to Marius on his purchase. What happened to the old tsuba that you were going to buy instead of the ken?? My cross is polish I'm saving for, not to mention the occasional tsuba I just can't resist. Pictures attached, though they are not 'on theme' for the thread!! BaZZa.

Or the Meiji touristas? BaZZa.

But first, read about the Shōjō: https://yokai.com/shoujou/ Then read (‘wade through’) this document I prepared for my Collection files (attached) derived from the internet, with salutations to Micky Bumbar (Lords of the Drinks)/ January 28, 2018. The Shōjō photos are there too, but for the curious and slow readers here are the menuki without wearing out your eyes. Sadly, they came out of an old and neglected tsuka and surely need the attention of a metalwork genius. Mickey Dumbar's Shōjō story from the web.docx Best regards, BaZZa.

Flags or standards fluttering in the wind??? The rhs object seems to be attached to a seat/stool??? BaZZa.

No Shinsa papers, gimei. In fact, I have a faint memory that there are NO signed Sadamune blades in existence??? This likely an utsushimono. In any event, as Kirill notes, high resolution photos are required for this one. BaZZa.

It is more likely to be lacquer, I think. I have seen lacquer on a tsuka that one would swear was leather... BaZZa.

I'm sure John has your best interests at heart Geoffrey!!! Honestly, if you put them up for sale there would be stampede!! I can't believe how lucky you are that NO ONE has 'restored' these in the best Western tradition of metal polish and scrubbing!! If you were ever captivated by Japanese art (like all the folk on this Board) your lucky find is the basis for a collecting career in Japanese tsuba (sword 'guards'). However, again like most folk on this Board the collecting of such is bound to keep you poor. Just ask me!!! Do please keep us all in touch with where you want to go - and welcome to the Board community. BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas (Melbourne, Australia)

Oh, to have it in the hand!!! I would opine this is a WW2 era sword no question. The shape of the nakago and the patina easily suggest this (to me). The large shinobiana (the bottom hole in the nakago) is noteworthy and not seen (?) on Shintou or Shinshintou swords. The koshirae has 'blackened' fittings and others can comment on this. It has its tassel. Oh, and the kanji for SHIGEMITSU is well-struck and looks very elegant, not the scrappy signatures so often seen. The quality of the hamon is not easily seen, but selectively enlarging a portion of the blade pic shows what seems to me to be a komidare hamon - picture below that needs to be enlarged in a viewer. All-in-all I see this as a worthy and collectible sword, depending always on what one likes to collect and of course the price. I might suggest it is a good item to get, study and pass on much later if your collecting direction doesn't sit in the area of this sword. BaZZa.

Brethren, Just stumbled across this site I haven't seen before: https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2020/02/05/eliza-scidmore-photographed-everyday-life-in-Japan-over-100-years-ago/?mc_cid=77cafa5ffb&mc_eid=962267c38c There are numerous 'by-way' tags of interest there too. Bestests, BaZZa.

I'm sure I remember a gold-mounted tachi being offered for sale as belonging to the Duke of Windsor/Edward VIII. This was many years ago. It was apparently a gift to the Duke on a visit to Japan??? I don't remember the blade. BaZZa.

Gents, I believe the appearance is a property of the steel itself and its response to corrosion. Reason?? I have a TENSHOZAN sword with a near identical rust pattern with area of pristine steel. I believe Robin's sword was once like the one I have, but Robin's nakago has been cleaned. I think it is clear that if I cleaned my nakago it would show the same pattern of rust and pitting.The mei is executed in the same thin characters. I might add this sword is BIG and is in a Shingunto koshirae. BaZZa.

NYET. NEIN, IE, plain old NO!! BaZZa.

Ron, G'day. To me it looks more like a kanji than a kao. Waiting now for Morita san or Moriyama san to chip in. BaZZa.

Informal gatherings of like-minded people works for me. For really, really serious stuff one should join the NBTHK and go to the formal kantei sessions, or at the least a well-organised kantei by a 'local' collector who has done the hard yards. Sadly, that's too stratospheric for someone at my station in life, but it is the ideal aim of both scholarship and connoisseurship, to be sure. Me, I just enjoy collecting what I can and showing and discussing it and reading and being a part of NMB and the great knowledge some of our luminaries share with the rest of us , at least, those like me. BaZZa.

Well, I was going to keep out of this, but I must like the feeling of the block!! Or is it the dodan!!! Taking Soren's invitation to heart, I've looked at his tsuba a lot and thought about it, tossing and turning it around in my mind to try and do justice to it. I have looked at a lot of tsuba in my time including some I thought were masterworks, or at the least very, very good. FWIW, to me it doesn't 'sparkle' and the execution looks 'blocky' to my eye, but that may be just a lack of exposure to the right kind of knowledge and examples in the hand. Ford's approach is the same advice given about blades - judge the work, not the signature. Or in other words, the workmanship confirms the signature. Considering SteveM's expressions, this tsuba purporting to be a masterwork needs to go to Shinsa, but not before much study and thinking long and hard... BaZZa.

It does seem to be holding the gentleman upright!!!!! BaZZa.

Going out on a limb here - but - the more 'blunt' types of yari are for armour piercing is my guess. The shape is very similar to a pair of armour-piercing arrowheads I had many decades ago. The 'blunt' type of points are generally shorter too, which gives them the extra strength and rigidity to penetrate armour. I very much liked the 'Kago' yari that Piers put up a little while ago. BazZa.

A mate asked me to lunch a few days ago for my first visit to his house. Now, I know this bloke well. He has 4 rather nice swords that are above the batting average for a beginner. However, as he was showing me over his old, rambling house that was a once long ago haven for artists of various persuasions, we went down a flight of stairs to a large ground floor room that seemed hardly used apart from a Great Wall of Books. In the gloom on a mantle-piece I saw a kake with a sword on it immediately recognisable by its lack of a drag as a Type 95 I wasn't aware he owned. Having asked permission I picked it up and noticed THE BEST original copper handle I have ever seen. Totally unmolested and with a beautiful, bronze-like patina. No photo sorry as I wasn't prepared. However, I did note that the serial number was 4250. I shall remember it in case it ever becomes available. BaZZa.

G'day Dan, The 'kozuka' you refer to is actually called a kogatana (ko-katana - lit. a 'little sword'), while the decorative handle is the actual kozuka (ko-tsuka - lit. 'little handle'). The bent kogatana has very poorly incised characters that mean nothing at all, and in and of themselves suggest a non-Japanese blade. There are literally thousands of reproduction kogatana many from the Philippines and elsewhere and almost as many worthless, genuine antique items. If the wakizashi signature is not recorded, as Jacques says, it is called MEIKAN MORE -unknown smith. It is of course a quite genuine blade of about the mid-Edo period, plus or minus!! You may find a signature in an obscure Japanese language book. In short, a real, ridgy-didge sword of no great quality as these things go, but certainly a worthwhile collectible. BaZZa (Melbourne, Australia)

WOW!! My middle name happens to be 'DICK'. I loved the bits I 'loved' and only twigged further on that it was a 7-year old thread. I don't remember ever seeing it before, but a fantastically good read and catchup Piers. I do remember seeing a yari nakago jiri with an oblique cut - it was either this one or another one somewhere else. BaZZa.

Jeremiah wrote: > I know some folks with 100-300 swords. Never ends for them. I call these folk "Estates-in-Waiting"!! BaZZa.

Chris said "rubbing alcohol". Is this methyl alcohol aka methylated spirits or metho?? If so it might have water in it. The best alcohol is 100% isopropyl alcohol in a small hand-spray container. I buy mine at the local (Mitre10) hardware store. BaZZa.