Pete Klein

" I do have the three volume Wakayama books but find them not to be indexed in a way that can be easily used (by me), so they are my last resort". Sorry, but I'm confused by this statement as the Haynes Index has the reference pages to the Wakayama book(s) if the artist has mei listed there. Perhaps I'm just missing something...

http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b760-index-Japanese-sword-fittings-and-associated-artists-robert-Haynes This is the index plus the description translations and information in English I mentioned above.

Robert - as Ian pointed out this is by Katsura Eiju who founded the Katsura School but who was not a student of Goto Ichijo as he pre-dated him. You can find a good write up in Sesko's, 'The Japanese Toso Kinko Schools' on page 240. He was apparently a student of Yokoya Terukiyo and possibly the second Soyo (there is some debate on this but it is totally possible). BTW - the, 'Kinko Meikan' you used has been updated by the, 'Shinsen Kinko Meikan' in the latter 1990's as the former had errors which were corrected in the later edition. Having the three book Wakayama set is also advisable (Toso Kodogu Meiji Taikei) as it along with the, 'Shinsen Kinko Meikan' are used by the shinsa teams and their page numbers are found in, 'Haynes Index'.

Hmm - well, I am going to have to disagree with you here ol' chappie. That's not surihegashi technique on the two kozuka - forced wear used in Edo jidai to simulate an 'older' appearance, but real uttori gold foil and that's just plain old genuine wear. You can see the insert lines around the edges in some areas where there is a remnant of the foil intact. It's these early pieces which were emulated by some of the later craftsmen. I have a hunch it's the same for the menuki. That set had a NBTHK paper to Goto Joshin if memory serves as I saw it years ago when the owner was at the San Fran show. It's a great futatokoromono.

This is not a tsuba but a kozuka which I feel pertains: https://yuhindo.com/juyo-ko-mino-kozuka/

Guido - the unfortunate reality today is that many people forget a very good lesson from a very great master: You who are without sin cast the first stone.

Mr. Fukushi Shigeo also. I knew I was missing someone quite obvious.

Yup. PS: I would add Eckhard Kremers to the list of qualified.

We are not sure who is entitled to be called sensei today. I do not have anyone in mind in the field of sword fittings, for unfortunately all those who might be called sensei today have not published any works on which their knowledge might be ascertained. Ito Mitsuru san, Sensei PS: to me the juxtaposition to the Tosogu thread is quite interesting.

A quick word of caution. Cane Swords are considered concealed weapons in some states and may be anywhere from illegal to controlled so before advertising/selling it would be a good idea to check local and state laws. It can also be illegal to sell/transport to another state as well, California being a good example. Tennessee recently changed it's bladed weapons laws but always good to be on the safe side.

I believe Antti got it right. The snout/muzzle is too long for a squirrel, the legs too long and narrowed (more like that of canines) and the tail too long (BTW Kitsune are said to have up to nine tails). The ears are also longer and more pointed and the posture looks to be more canine as well. On the tsuba the fox is looking up toward the grapes, looking as if he's trying to reach them but cannot. I wouldn't be surprised if this relates to the old Aesop fable of the fox and grapes from which 'sour grapes' is derived. As smart and cunning as the fox is he cannot reach the grapes and becomes maddened but instead of simply accepting reality of his inability he decides the grapes are probably sour and not worth having. It is totally possible the story came along with the early missionaries and entered Japanese folklore. If I was wearing this tsuba it would be inferring, "You might be cleaver as a fox but you will never reach me"!

Doesn't the paper say Nagasa is 1 shaku, 7 sun? That would be 51.51 cm or 20.28 inches. I don't usually do Nihonto papers so I might be incorrect.

I'd love to see that paper...

Please don't tell me it said Akasaka... I could see Owari.

Ford - the downloadable pdf could possibly be hacked and shared and / or the book printed around you so I'd be careful along that line.

Patrick - what you really need to do is to NOT buy anything but look at every commercial site available including the sales pages here and the seller links listed here and learn from them. Check out the attributions, papers, everything you can gleen from them, pick up books appropriate to you interest areas and only when you have a grasp of the field start investing in 'good' examples. The truth is that you are not going to learn from junk no matter how much you collect. Give yourself a year at the minimum. I've got fifteen years in and I am finally confident that I have a grasp on about 1% of the material but I can be prone to exaggeration from time to time. PS: If you live in the USA go to the Chicago and San Fran shows minimally as they are worth the investments due to the number of dealers present. THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL LEARN IS TO TRAIN YOUR EYES AND THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE IN PERSON. The Great Oz Has Spoken...

"Last page is xxvi with final listing being for Yukinobu. Next page lists other works of H.Joly". That is correct - nothing missing.

This book might have been re-bound. The cover looks like the original 'boards' were either worn or damaged with the original cloth covering being removed and transferred to new boards.

This is a first edition. I have one here. A picture of the cover would confirm for most others. I did a new search on the two major on line book resources abebooks.com and bookfinder.com (I keep up with these regularly) and they had two first editions available, one a around $630 (US) and the other at $500 US or best offer. The latter has been listed for some time and is also on Ebay. It's a book for book collectors as the information is available in re-prints along with most of the works done by Henri Joly. The reality is that although at one time these first edition books were highly prized and very expensive those days have unfortunately gone away due to digital content availability. IOW's - if you want to sell the book don't be unreasonable in the price. I hope this helps. PS: the pages which have collotype printing should have a glassine type see through paper to protect the pages, sometimes with printing on it. There is one in the picture above for the title picture.

Well - that was original...! And so is this:

ROFLMAO!!! I'm not going to go there but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tempting!!!

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f296459475 Not new... Not cast... and 'definitely' not very good. Looks like it was either through a fire or just rusted to s..t with a poor attempt at a clean up. IMHO

January '19 1月 保存 特別保存 刀装 刀装具 審査受付 平成31年1月7日(月)～1月9日(水) PS: Happy Birthday!

"In addition, silver sulphide will, where it can, continue to develop and thereby continue to consume the underlying silver metal. This damage can be seen when the silver sulphide does flake off and the underlying silver is exposed as being rough. And then the process begins anew. So with this in mind I doubt that the patina we now see was intended when the koshirae was made". A bit of a conundrum, what? Wabi-sabi in process...! LOL

https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-mei-signature-is-kageyori/