Chishiki

Hi. I’m trying to find out when the next Juyo shinsa is for fittings. I haven’t been able to find the info online. Thanks in advance. Mark

This is the back of the fan. I really love this inscription. It is very ‘Samurai’. Thank you Thomas Sinclair for working this out. 心ダニ誠ノ道ニ叶ヒナバ祈ラズトモ神ヤ守ラン Kokoro dani Makoto no michi ni Kanō hibana Inori razu tomo kami ya mori ran Roughly translates as "If you live a sincere life, God's blessing will be given without prayer" It's a poem by Sugawara no Michizane

Thank you Steve and Nobody. I appreciate your help. So Brave/Spirit like the weather would be a fair meaning. The back of the fan is also very meaningful. I will share it below. There are also othe inscriptions

Hi. I recently purchased this iron fan. It is extensively signed but I would like to start with the main inscription. Thanks in advance. Mark

I have a tachi with shirasaya that has a maker's mark. Does this look familiar to anyone? I've never seen this on a saya before. Btw it is not recently made. NBTHK papers dated 1972. Thanks. Mark

For those contemplating buying armour who need advice. Ask on this forum or forums on Facebook such as https://www.facebook.com/groups/352867626132390/?ref=share mark

From the little I know I don’t see why this can’t be a momoyama or earlier hachi. It’s a great discussion. So good to see a team working on this. Mark

Just giving this a bump for the Australian collectors. Mark

A boys sword I once owned. Exceptional koshirae, solid silver...., Imperial connection. Blade was papered to ko-uda. Koshirae had green papers and it was numver ‘6’ from memory. So it was once of the first papered by NBTHK. Gorgeous item I wish I still had.Mark

Thank you

Hi. Is the fittings shinsa always held the same time as swords? If so, is the next shinsa in June? Mark

Hi Roger, Thanks for your kind words and I am happy this lovely tanto found a good home. Here is the translation of the inscription. Best Regards Mark Posted August 24, 2019 My original sale thread

Hi Greg. Keep in touch with your local collectors. We can team up to help out. Mark

Peter, if you are reading this thread what would you like to know? Summary. Kabuto A. Nice enough, desirable helmet bowl maybe dating to muromachi period. Not sure if the shikoro are from the same period. These were changed at times. Inside construction is important for obtaining more accurate info. You can insert an endoscope through the tehen (hole at the top) and have a look around and take still shots. My guess, based on just what we are seeing, and it is just my opinion, the helmet as it sits would be about $3000 to 3500usd. kabuto B. A fairly common looking kabuto in ok condition and all together. More around $2 to $2500 range. menpo. Nice enough but again condition is an issue. That condition in need of resto I would think $1500+ these are just my basic guesstimates. I am not a dealer. I am just trying to put it all into perspective so you can decide what you want to do. If you don’t want to sink money into restoration you could sell kabuto A and the menpo. Keep the other as a display piece. the last option I can think of is to reattach the shikoro to the kabuto A as best you can and just leave it on a stand. Enjoy if for what it is. The prices ai quoted are just a guess, people who disagree don’t shout me down..just trying to help

Hi Peter. Just a commenting on your specific questions about what you should do with your kabuto and menpo (A). It is an expensive resto if you went down that path and there are two distinct camps, those who believe in leaving such things alone and those who believe in restoration. I am in the later camp. Having said that it is an expensive path and unless you are really focused on armour a difficult path. You have been given a couple of opinions on age etc so I won’t comment on that. There would be a number of people interested in acquiring the set but price is subjective. I like it. 41 plates is an unusual number but I do see a split in one of the plates. The armour market is fairly strong these days. i have attached a catalog which arrived today from a major Japanese dealer. You can see the first item/set in the catalog is a little similar in style to yours but it is signed and nice condition. I am not comparing age etc and talking generally If you want to move it on put if up for offers in the sale section here and see how you go. I know Brian likes to know an asking price but in this case, due to not being nihonto or kodogu he may make an exception. nice to see pieces out there. Here is the catalog. Regards Mark ps..for the armour critics out there. Before I get howled down for some reason I am just keeping this very general for Peter. Microsoft Word - カタログ333最終.pdf

Hi Christian. Your comments are very interesting. Here is the size. ize Length: 8.12cm, Width: 8.15cm, Thickness: Approximately 3mm, Weight: 60g mark

Hi Christian. If owls, why are they laying on the side? Why not vertical so they look correct when the sword is worn? I really don’t know the answer. This tsuba is not mine but I like it very much but i just don’t understand the design. Here are more photos. Kind regards mark.

I see what you mean Barry and thanks for your contribution. I just have no clue. Maybe it was something that would have been obvious a few centuries ago but now that ‘thing’ has been lost in time.

Whatever you are smoking or drinking I want some.

Hi. I cannot work out what the horizontal structure depicts on this tsuba. Any help would be appreciated. Btw. It is just over 8cm x 3mm thick. Mark

Thanks you for the information. I have attached a photo of a Jakushi tsuba I once owned. It has tokubetsu hozon papers, mumei. If I find more pics of the tsuba and paper I will forward them to you. Regards Mark

Hi. I got this tsuba a while back and have always thought of it as Jakushi School. I’m thinking later, mid edo maybe. Do you agree? It is very intact and great condition. Measures 8.5 x 8.3cm. I love the design which is very complex and finely executed with varying shades of gold and silver. I am away from home at the moment and only have this pic on my phone. mark

Accidentally deleted pics. Here they are again.