cabowen

Make a living from the hobby? No, not even close.....I do have a web site with some swords for sale. It hasn't been updated in about 3 years! And I didn't mean to come off as arrogant, simply agreeing with you that there was a lot of fun back before papers and things took the innocence away....

Kanetoshi is the smith...Showa stamp indicated non-traditionally made blade. If the mounting is contemporary to the blade it was mounted as an iai-to, not gunto....

Chris, I understood your point and apparently wrong summarized while trying to tell you thank you for sharing some insight - It sure is tough to tell you thank you. I just wanted to be sure that we understood each other. You are most welcome and if this tip helps you, I will certainly be pleased to have been of help.... As I explained above to Stephen, it was not meant in a pejorative sense. I should have used "untrained" or "inexperienced" to avoid having my meaning misconstrued. My apologies......

I will respectfully disagree....It is but one component, though I will give you, an important one...

Truly "ignorance is bliss"! Whoops, there I go again with that word! Let's rephrase: "Inexperience is bliss"! There was undoubtedly more pure fun out there when everything was fresh and we were innocent...

agree but would like have said uneducated eye or less experienced. seems of late harsh words a thrown out for students who have not reached full appreciation of a blade and polish, I have Chris and Cary + many other who have taken time to teach a old dog how to lay down with swords. I thank them their knowledge and hard work. Ignorant is not always a pejorative- it can mean inexperienced, untrained, etc. I did not mean to sound harsh and/or judgmental in any way.....But your point is taken and I apologies if I have come across as harsh....

It would have been a good idea to move the ko-shinogi back a bit to make the width of the kissaki uniform from the yokote around and up, that is, the ko-shinogi should be parallel with the fukura. As is, the kissaki it poorly shaped, which throws of the balance of the whole blade and draws the eye to the damage, instead of away....This is something a professional would have done. The tip was on not judging a polish by pictures, but that is semantics I suppose! Most people judge a polish superficially. I have had so many people jump on me for criticizing certain well known amateurs- "Hey, he does a great job-look at his web site!" Or, "I have several blades he polished and they look great!" When I ask them to try the light bulb test, they quickly become silent......There is much more to polishing than meets the casual (and ignorant) eye....

A little more about my collecting history to show how focus can develop.... As I mentioned earlier, I bought my first sword at 13. It was a gunto, machine made. Working at a newspaper, I had the benefit of placing free classified ads. I took advantage of this and ran regular ads offering to buy Japanese swords. Most of my gold turned to steel. I bought anything offered that I could afford. Luckily, my lack of knowledge did not end in any big mistakes as nothing that came my way was anything very good. I sold all but one sword to help fund college. While a grad student I started attending sword shows and fell in love with a gendaito displayed, made by the Minatogawa Jinja smith Masataka. It was in fresh Jimmy Hayashi polish. It was gendaito after that.... At first it was any nice gendaito. Then it became famous gendai tosho. Then Tokyo gendai tosho. Once I had settled on Tokyo gendai tosho, I would buy any that were in good condition, simply to have an example. The final development was to focus only on the best examples of each tosho, not just buying a blade by a smith because it was by the smith. I learned that there were both many blades out there by any given smith and that within every smith's body of work, there is variation in quality. Of course, it takes a lot more patience, as well as optimism, that a better blade will come along....Now I have nearly everything I set out to obtain, which, fortunately, with home building and child rearing now demanding financial commitment, the long time between sword finds has actually been a good thing! Hopefully my own history illustrates another important point that differentiates collecting and accumulating. With purpose comes conclusion. A collector focuses on a particular subset and when that subset has been achieved, the collection is complete. An accumulator has no finish line...

Yes, nagamaki naoshi seems like a good guess. It is indeed old. It would benefit from a cleaning. You might try wrapping it in paper towels, soaking them with oil, and letting it sit for a few days. Then rub it down with a cotton cloth. After that, clean the remaining oil off with acetone. Reoil and leave alone. Do not sand, scour, or use any abrasives on the blade or tang (nakago).

Not much of the blade proper is visible in the photos so it is difficult to say too much with certainty, but this much I can tell you: Blade is hand made and much older than WWII. This is a samurai mounted blade, not a WWII military mounting. The blade could be as old as the 16th century, though that would need to be confirmed through a better look at the blade. The fuchi is of good quality, the tsuba is in bad shape. It may have been something at one time.....The kashira (fitting at the end of the handle) probably matched the fuchi and would have been of the same quality. A real shame it is missing..... Without better pictures of the blade, it is impossible to give any sort of reasonable value.....

You are welcome....I do not think you will be disappointed....

As earlier mentioned, part of the definition of a collector is focus.....perhaps safe to say you are an accumulator! As also mentioned previously, nothing wrong with accumulating. Sometimes a shotgun is the right tool for the job. You mention, "financially rewarding", that can be an aim in and of itself and there is no doubt that amassing large quantities can prove to be financially profitable.... There is of course another category I could have included- dealer....

Judging a polish from pictures alone is superficial...You can tell us if it is good by doing the following: look at the reflection of an incandescent light bulb in the ji and move the blade so that the reflection travels up and down the blade. Note how the shape changes as it moves up and down the blade. If the bulb stays the same round shape up and down the blade, you have a good foundation polish, if it contorts in and out every 6 inches or so, you have a poor polish, irregardless... Looks like this blade had some kissaki damage in its past....

This might be the same basic question I asked- art or artifact. Generally, low end is lacking in craftsmanship/artistic value, but still has historical appeal. High end has a lot of both in most cases...

That is the one....Nagayama sensei was a world class polisher and kantei expert, in addition to being a very kind and generous man....His book is one of the best on the subject and with Mishina san's excellent translation, it is hard to beat....

This is indeed an Edo period koshirae that was adapted via a leather cover for WWII military service. Rare, but seen from time to time. The snap is purely functional. This is not associated with any particular branch of the military. Clean the leather with saddle soap or the like...

bottom one is "tamashi" (spirit), I believe. Not sure about the top one, maybe one of our Japanese members can help out and save me some embarrassment....

Yes, as a friend once put it in a cruder fashion, "sword slut".... I think accumulators serve a very important function: they provide resources for scholars who help advance the field.... When I started as a youngster of 13, there were few books and little money. I too was forced to seek knowledge to make the most of my limited resources at the time....

Really interesting to see the Gassan take on matsukawa hada.....

Firstly focus, identifyng those aspects of a subject that appeal and then pursuing them secondly knowledge; it enables the collector to be selective and buy only those things which add to their collection. Might is be said that a collector collects knowledge as well as items, while an accumulator simply adds to the pile? It is interesting how some are satisfied and stop with simple physical possession while others want the addition of the cerebral; the pursuit of knowledge of the possession can become more important that the pursuit of the objects themselves.... There are many benefits to specializing and focusing one's efforts. I was once given that advice and took it to heart. I still think it is excellent advice. We can get into the reasons why later....I would like to hear more from others first....

Maybe we all start as accumulators....some also as students....what constitutes a collector and what changes one from an accumulator to a collector????

Hopefully a new topic can refocus our energies in a positive direction.... I ask the question, "are you a collector or accumulator?" to gain insight into how we view ourselves and our hobby. As some will certainly ask, what is the definition of collector? What is an accumulator? I have my opinions. Would be interested in learning what others think. Please keep the discussion civil and play nice so Brian can devote his time to more important matters....

As far as carrying a wakizashi in gunto koshirae, there are a few reasonable explanations: 1. It was a family owned blade. Swords were expensive and if there was already one readily available, why not use it... 2. The individual was of very small stature. A short blade is easier to use for a short person. 3. Anecdotally, Navy officers were said to prefer and carry shorter blades due to the close quarters and confinement of life aboard a ship. The same has been said of pilots. Edited to add that indeed, as George has stated below, it is rather rare..... Hope this is of some help....

Beautiful blade... There was an ad that ran in a war era newsletter published by the Minatogawa Jinja placed by Gassan's workshop offering kogarasumaru blades in tachi koshirae for the readers to order. I always wondered how many were made and where they are now.... I also recall talking with Enomoto Sadayoshi, who was an uchideshi at this time in Gassan's shop, about these and other Sadakatsu blades and he told me that many of them were daisaku. He said he was often asked by Gassan to make them, as was his son. Regardless, what a nice piece of work!

I hardily agree with what Paul has so eloquently expressed. As someone who was once a beginner and has made more sacrifices than most in my endeavors in a field that can perhaps best be described in the West as arcane and at times draconian, I believe I am qualified to speak to some of the views he has raised... We all start at the same point. It does one well to remember that. Those that can't empathize and/or can not remember what it was like to be thirsty for knowledge have other issues and are best left alone. How far we take it is up to each individual and his/her unique set of circumstances. What is important is a willingness to learn. That will carry a person far and in most cases will command respect and/or compassion from those that have walked that path themselves. Yes, people that have been active as collectors for a long time and yet still can not even read a basic mei, instead running to others to do their homework, are lazy and off putting to those that have put in the time. At this stage it is highly doubtful that scorn, open contempt, or simple rudeness will change them. One can either help them yet again, or simply ignore them, depending on one's own commitment to sharing knowledge for the good of the hobby. Equally off-putting are those that think because of their library, collection, time spent collecting, or the fact that they spend a few weeks in Japan once a year, think they are somehow authorities or better than everyone else. There is a continuum of learning, from beginner to expert; to someone who spends a few weeks in Japan every year, the person who doesn't looks to be a dilettante. To someone who has lived in Japan, attending kantei kai several times a month for many years, the once a year visitor appears the dilettante. One's position on the continuum is relative-there is always someone on both sides. Knowing one's place is a good thing. Before I moved to Japan I was always disappointed at the "go away kid, you are bothering me" attitude I got at US sword shows from the senior "experts". Few to none would answer my questions and I could not understand why... After a few years in Japan I began to receive calls and inquiries from many of these same people, asking me questions. It soon became clear that that the reason these "experts" wouldn't answer my questions was because they couldn't. Rather than admit they were ignorant, they resorted to rudeness. Who knew at the time there were so many naked people at a sword show??? Having been employed for many years at a university, perhaps I have a natural predisposition towards education and learning....I do not know. What I know for sure is that all those years in Japan spent pestering craftsman, museum staff, collectors, and kantei experts, my inquisitiveness was always met with an unselfish sharing of knowledge. People went out of their way countless times to teach and explain to me what was surely fundamental to them. How refreshing it was to be surrounded by experts who enjoyed nothing more than sharing their knowledge and passion with others, and doing so humbly, with humility, and selflessly. While I did not find the study easy, I can say that it was far from "harsh" and I enjoyed every bit of it. How can living one's dream ever be "harsh"? As a result of this, I have an immense obligation in my mind to reciprocate and pass along whatever shred of knowledge I digested. This is the debt I owe. This is how we honor our teachers and mentors-by sharing and passing along their teachings.