Dereks

I haven’t studied tea ceremony myself, but I’ve attended 6–7 sessions during my visits to Japan. That’s what this piece brought to mind.

Thanks for sharing these, Okan. Like you said, all three give me a different feeling. The Umetada especially reminds me of my tea ceremony experience—calm and elegant. It’s the kind of piece I’d enjoy holding in my hands after a long day, just to slow down and clear my head.

Please don’t get me wrong — your koshirae is still very nice and would be a welcome addition to my collection. My comments were purely educational. I’m not a seasoned or wealthy collector, but you can take my words as someone who spends entire days studying top-grade pieces in books and museums.

Sun-nobi tanto or wakizashi — back in the day, the distinction wasn’t always that important. And yes, if a merchant was wealthy enough, they could carry or own one depending on the period.

I’m also still learning and studying a lot of koshirae, especially through museum collections like The Met. The last time I saw something I would truly call “stunning” on this forum was this one: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/53904-something-unique/ That piece also has excellent samegawa on top of very high-quality fittings. @HokkeI actually like this set too—I think it’s quite charming, and it probably has an interesting story behind it. Maybe it belonged to a fish merchant or an island samurai. My point was simply that it isn’t a “top quality” item in terms of workmanship as he might think it is. Thanks

Hello Marcus, It honestly read a bit like an auction description — well written, so credit where it’s due. That said, I would consider this a decent koshirae rather than a “stunning” one. To my eye it’s mid-level work at best. The nanako, in particular, isn’t especially strong. Describing it as housing a spectacular quality blade feels a bit overstated. Just my two cents..

You sure have an impressive collection, Okan. Are those menuki gold?

Yes, my point was simply that if someone is lucky enough to acquire a piece like this for under USD 150, then investing another USD 400–500 in proper repairs and papers makes good sense. If I had spent USD 10,000 on it, I’d probably be sleeping with it under my pillow.

Dear Dan, When these rare Yagyu tsuba are valued at USD 5,000–10,000 (and often more) in today’s market, spending USD 400–500 on repairs and having it papered seems like a very reasonable investment, don’t you think? You’ll also enjoy it far more with a proper patina.

A great recipe for destroying a 400-year-old precious object. Hope it ended up in the hands of a serious collector who will respect it, have it professionally cleaned and repatinated in the traditional way, and allow it to survive another hundred years.

Never thought of using leather? There’s a whole thread made just for you on making leather seppa.

Much obliged, Curran! Is the large‑format Goto book you mentioned in English or Japanese? If it’s in English, I’d love to read it and learn more about the Goto family. Just a quick question — I’ve tried to find Goto Tokujo set online to get a sense of pricing, but couldn’t find any. Actually, when I type “Goto Tokujo Mitokoromono” into Google, this site comes up. Is this set Juyo because of its rarity?

Just finished reading the article—it’s amazing how thorough the documentation on this family is. Big thanks to @Markus for digging it up! And Okan, forgive my ignorance—does this set have Hozon paper saying Goto Tokujo, or are you judging from the style and box inscriptions? Asking this because they look very similar.

I was also planning to take a sword to Europe, but the staff at BNA always scare me.

I’m not sure thinking is part of his process.