Clive Sinclaire

Gentlemen I thought I had posted a further note but it appears I made some mistake and it seems to have been lost in the ether, so here goes again. Thanks for the offer Ted but I have Shosankenshu and spent most of this afternoon buried in it. There is indeed some passing similarity with Hamano Kaneyuki but there are variations. I am also sorry to say that the piece does not approach the quality of Kaneyuki. What fascinated me was the fact that there was a Kakihan with no "supporting" inscription or mei, something I do not believe that I have encountered before although, not being a student of tsuba, this might simply be a lack of experience. Is this common or could it be associated with a particular school ? As requested, I attach a full picture of the piece which I am reasonably sure dates from the Bakamatsu period. Regards Clive

Gentlemen I have a tsuba that has the attached Kakihan on the seppa-dai but has no other inscription. I wonder if anyone can tell me who it may be? Thanking you in advance ans Season's Greetings to all. Clive Sinclaire

Gentlemen I remember hearing that Innami Hakusui wrote many origami that were blatant gimei and untrustworthy during the war and also during the subsequent occupation. It was said that he felt unable to tell the young officer that the "Masamune" (or whatever) that he was carrying was a gimei as the soldier was heading for almost certain death and that to disabuse him was too cruel and might also undermine his confidence and patriotic feelings. Maybe his motives to the occupying GI's were not quite so pure. Regards Clive (survived DTI) Sinclaire

It looks as though George and I are both online at the same time and of like minds. Clive

Bruno I have a feeling that I have recently done this for somebody else? Is this possible or maybe you just did not believe me? I believe it reads NOSHU SEKI JU KOJIMA KATSUMASA SAKU and is a low grade Showa-to. Clive Sinclaire PS: As a matter of fact, the above is a tranliteration into Romanji, NOT a translation into Her Majesty's English.

Andi I am not quite sure what you mean by "overlapping". The book has similarities with the earlier one but enough new material to be of some minor interest, I hope. I was particularly pleased to be able to include the kanji in the Appendix which I hope may help some who struggle to transliterate inscriptions. Clive Sinclaire PS I should not be confused with the computer geke, Clive Sinclair - he is the rich one but I am the good-looking one.

Jean I have liked Hizen-to for many years. My first kendo sensei was from Saga and I practised kendo there myself. I have a good selection of Hizen-to including shodai Tadayoshi and kudai Tadayoshi, shodai Tadakuni (2) shodai Masahiro and shodai Yukihiro but only one of which are illustrated in the book and that by oshigata. Other illustrations are mainly from my extensive oshigata collection (if you can't get the sword at least get the oshigata!) Most of the sword pictures in the book were supplied to me by Iida Koendo whose family have been leading sword dealers since the Meiji period. Iida san has been very kind to me over the years and I have bought swords from him in the past (he will be at Dai Token Ichi). I still want to acquire a sandai Tadayoshi and I mainly avoid waki-Hizen-to nowadays. Sorry for such a long winded reply! Clive Sinclaire

Hi Ian I hope you are well. There were those on the NMB that saw the finished copies before I had and I have had to buy copies from Amazon for those who helped as I was only supplied 6 by the publisher. You may have spotted the deliberate mistakes in the picture captions. I had no influence over layout and design, things I wanted larger were made small and the reverse was also the case. I did not even know what the cover design was until I saw it on Amazon! (the caption is also wrong here). Contract publishing is no fun and I had similar "frank and intense discussions" that you and Jock had, not least about the title, but I admit the eventual finished design could have been worse! As you say, their interest is not in the subject. Best wishes Clive

Maybe Soshu Tsunahiro?? Clive Sinclaire

I must agree with Ford and you do need to be very careful with UK polishers. Mr Norman seems to do no damage and does not use acid. Best polish good blades in Japan but it is difficult to see a Showa-to warranting the cost of a polish, shira-saya etc. Clive Sinclaire

Gentlemen Sorry that I am a bit late into this thread, but you may consider the poor old Aizu Shoami school, someone like Shigenobu? Clive Sinclaire

Guido So you recognised me on the front cover eh? I thought I was well diguised, See you at DTI I hope Clive

Gentlemen You all have the advantage on me as I have not seen a finished copy yet myself! I would ask you all to be gentle with me as it was not my finest hour and I had much falling out and differences of opinion with the publisher and it was not a pleasant experience. In fact, it was only on seeing these postings that I have discovered what the cover design is! I am sure you will find many errors and I apologise in advance. Regards Clive Sinclaire

Gentlemen Concerning the Christie's Kiyomaro which remained unsold, it was a magnificent blade but the hagire was a real problem. Although Tanobe felt it sound enough to do a sayagaki it would not even pass Hozon shinsa if entered. Swords with hagire will always fail NBTHK shinsa. Jean mentioned the difficulty in drawing oshigata. Oshigata are not hard to draw but they require close concentration and a great deal of patience. I am convinced that drawing oshigata is one of the best ways to study swords. I frequently borrow swords from others just to draw oshigata and I get an almost "adulterous" pleasure on returning the blade to the owner, as I know it more intimately than he does! I cannot remember who said it but the advice given to one student was " If your teacher doesn't draw oshigata, find another teacher!" A bit extreme maybe, but the point is made. Clive Sinclaire

It is my plan to come straight from Dai Token Ichi for the Nov 8th lecture by Victor Harris. Can any of you locals suggest any reasonable hotels close to the museum, Marriott, Hilton or somesuch? Definitely sounds something not to be missed. Clive Sinclaire

This is really very simple and you should easily have been able to translterate this mei yourself. However it is: NOSHU KANEHISA SAKU and SHOWA JUHACHI NEN HACHI GATSU ( 1943) Clive Sinclaire

There is a street map from JR Shimbashi and other details on Mishina Kenji's web site. Clive Sinclaire

I had intended going and then to fly to NY for the Metropolitan Museum gig for a few beers. Now I hear what a motley crew is going to D T I , and not wishing to be led astray (again) I may have to change my schedule! Clive

Gentlemen I am sure that on this occasion Guido is correct and that it is KAGEMITSU, however, do I detect the character JU above KAGE in which case one might also expect BISHU OSAFUNE? The picture is very poor but if Reinhard is correct then it is certainly cannot be the important Kagemitsu, how sad. Regards Clive

Hi Paul et al What I had intended saying before rambling on about Masahiro was that the nidai Tadahiro did not have that name until Kanei 9th year and this sword is dated the previous year. Therefore this sword must be purporting to be by the shodai but I am certain that it is not his genuine mei. It is, therefore, either gimei or I think it is quite possibly dai-mei (poss also dai-saku) Several students fulfilled this function during shodai's later years (when he was Musashi Daijo.) including Masahiro but on reflection, it does not seem to have been cut with a wide chisel such as used by Masahiro. Incidendally, thin nakago on nidai Tadahiro's swords are usually dai-mei and dai-saku by either shodai or on later works by nidai Masahiro, whilst the wide ones are by Yukihiro. If there is plentiful nie and nioi, it may be the work of sandai Tadayoshi (Mutsu-no-kami) substituting for his father, although he died before his father. Brian and Gary, thanks for your kind words Clive

Gentlemen Please forgive me if I am wasting time and space and writing what you already know. It is difficult to asses a blade with just nakago and mei but if I may be permitted to make a couple of more general points. The date shown is Kanei 8th year which is 1631 and immediately prior to the death of the shodai Musashi Daijo Tadahiro and if my calculations are correct, the nidai Tadahiro was 18 years of age at that time. It is well known that the shodai had been very ill and that both dai-mei and dai-saku works were made. At the same time, dai-mei were made for the young nidai Tadahiro and the chief "student" substituting for both of them at the same time, was shodai Masahiro (Kawachi Daijo). The importance of Masahiro, bound by Hashimoto family and clan obligations, in keeping the Hizen-to business together at this time, cannot be over-estimated. Strangely enough, the nidai Masahiro performed exactly the same function many years later with nidai Tadahiro and sandai Tadayoshi (Mutsu-no-kami). As for the sword under discussion, the mei is certainly not that of Musashi Daijo and I think that there is a strong possibility that it is dai-mei and maybe dai-saku by shodai Masahiro. On the other hand............................ Clive

Axel The 1st image is the date SHOWA NIJU NEN NIGATSU (Showa 20 year, 2nd month (1945) and the 2nd image is KANE?? too faint to read the 2nd character. Just an ordinary Showa-to I think.Wow - I have been busy on this site today! Clive

Gentlemen I have been offered this sword today along with a tanto signed Suishinshi Masahide Tsukuru. Both seem very cheap, only a few hundred US dollars each and are offered by a Polish man who I do not know. Both swords are most certainly gimei and the whole thing has a rather high aroma to it. Beware! Clive

Justin I am not aware of any disquiet that might lead to the establishment of a new tatara and think that this is most unlikely to happen. Having said that, I do know that certain highly placed swordsmiths, prefer to smelt their own tamahagane in small "home" tatara and the resulting swords are amongst the best shinsakuto. This predates the formation of the NBSK and I cannot see the new organisation taking on such a massive task as establishing a new tatara in the foreseeable future. Clive

Hi Guido I agree somewhat with what you say but if any perceived rifts are to be healed, maybe it is better to refrain from talking about "sides" and portraying it as a "childish mud slinging" confrontational situation. Whatever may have been the case in the recent past, moderation in language will only help as I know you agree, but there were certainly serious issues that needed to be addressed. As you intimate, many of us have teachers and friends involved and in reality, it probably matters little what we think outside of Japan anyhow. My regards to your better half (wife) Clive