Dereks

Amazing find! Beauty!

Sublime! Thanks for sharing Okan!

Why would I waste my time on you? I like posts when I genuinely like them. If I don’t, I simply don’t do anything. If I feel a post has no knowledge or meaningful contribution behind it, I downvote it. But you are right, all your posts deserve a downvote, I simply have no time for it, sorry. You don’t have a single thread on this forum that actually makes sense. As I’ve said before, you never have anything meaningful to contribute..you just enjoy the negative attention. In thread after thread, knowledgeable members here take the time to explain things to you, yet you ignore-perhaps you just don't understand - what they’re saying and keep repeating the same point like a broken record. This time it’s “Japanese tsuba dealers.” I find that attitude disrespectful to the people in this community who genuinely try to help. In each of your threads, people end up pulling their hair out because of you. Have you ever wondered why? Do you realize you’re the only person on this forum who keeps getting criticized? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? You say that other members are being rude to you. Have you ever seen them treat anyone else the same way? Why do you think that is? No more replies from me to any of your posts. Your situation is just hopeless. I’m also adding you to my ignore list, just as many others have before. Have a great evening!

I believe you are also not an active member in Japanese forums..now why do you think that is?

You keep repeating “antique tsuba dealers in Japan” like a broken record. Let me explain this again: your so-called antique tsuba dealers are mostly sword dealers who also happen to sell tsuba. They are dealers, not researchers, and most have little interest in seriously studying tsuba as a field. Many people on this forum have spent years researching tsuba in far greater depth. If you took the time to listen to them, you might find they actually know more about the subject than the dealers you keep referring to. Thomas wrote two excellent posts, which are probably beyond your comprehension. Instead of thanking him for his time, you go right back to “but antique tsuba dealers in Japan…” You keep looking for an answer that confirms what you already want to believe. That’s the main reason so many people end up frustrated when trying to have a discussion with you. It’s also why so many of your threads end up running to 20 pages before eventually being locked. Personally, I just don’t want to see this thread keep resurfacing, so I’d ask the other members NOT to respond to your replies anymore.

As always, you only see what you want to see. The dealer clearly explained how star patterns are depicted on tsuba, and he does not agree that your shippo patterns are actually star constellations. And let me remind you that Japanese dealers are dealers, not researchers. Most simply don’t care enough to investigate these theories. You started this discussion by stating, “These tsuba are not Shippo patterns, but are star maps.” So there’s no point arguing with you, because nothing anyone says will change your mind. You don’t seem to respect other people’s opinions when they differ from your own. Maybe you should write another book on the subject and try to sell it on Amazon. To me, you’re simply a negative attention seeker who enjoys provoking arguments and keeping threads going for pages and pages. Even if we brought an 18th-century Japanese tsubashi into the discussion, you’d still argue with him. That’s not a Zen beginner’s mind. It’s closer to the Dunning–Kruger effect. Your posts shouldn’t be taken seriously. I don’t think anyone should even bother replying to them— just a waste of time. I won’t be replying to your response, so don’t bother.

Can you share a picture of the whole blade? Just curious

Excellent!

Very pretty indeed!

That hada looks beautiful!

Excellent, Okan! Thank you for sharing. Please check your message box 🤭

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.