Pete Klein

Just for you, Stephen:

Thanks much to all. Brian, unfortunately it will be a long wait as I do not have a camera... .

Jeremiah -- thanks much and one thing I have come to understand is that karma exists even though I do not understand how.

Way back in 2004 when I was first getting serious in the study of tosogu I ran across a pair of menuki on Robert Benson's 'Bushido Japanese Swords' site which threw me for a loop. They were of the 'Okina - Sanbaso' Noh character theme attributed to (den) Goto Teijo by Goto Mitsutaka (XIII) by original origami: (above picture from the original 'Bushido' post) I had never seen anything like these but was hooked on sight. I couldn't afford them and they sold off rather quickly to a Japanese dealer where they again sold within three days of listing. I always hoped I'd see them again somewhere and lo and behold I ran across them by total accident after just happening to read a post here on NMB for a sword which linked to a Japanese dealer. I checked out the site and their fittings and there they were. 'Gob Smacked' is the only way of describing my reaction. So, long story short I was able to procure them and a thirteen year journey came full circle. (Suffice it to say that in this field patience is mandatory). Here are some pictures from the dealer's site: (pictures from: http://inishie-kb.jp/) The pictures really do not do them justice but the boxed picture is probably the closest to reality. I hope these might inspire you on your own journeys! PS: I can only speak most highly of the Inishie owner/staff and recommend them as such)

Was it this one? https://web.archive.org/web/20080807134112/http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/f00008.html

Haynes 3244: Kaga province, died early 1800's. Probably Kaga Goto which is not mainline Goto but descended from them.

e-mail sent Yamakichibei

JFYI & JIC - it cannot be a sword. Swords require someone in Japan who will process it through torokusho and the on-line companies will not take the order. You need a personal agent as Stephen advised.

I place a small post-it-note on the top of the box. I prefer not to do anything which cannot be undone but I can see no harm in placing a small seal as you are doing. I wouldn't do it on any 'important' box such as an important historical box, Fittings Museum box or one with a hakogaki.

I believe this tsuba was listed on Yahoo! Japan and sold. I remember the motif as it was unusual and listed as Akasaka, possibly Ko Akasaka. It could also have been on a web-page which was copied by an arbitrager. I can't remember the details at present but this form of selling is actually quite a common occurance, unfortunately. I view so many images per week that sometimes the details get a bit confused so please pardon me for not being more specific.

I believe this is where the write up in Japanese came from: http://www.taiseido.biz/cn11/cn22/pg556.html Different sword.

This Yahoo! Japan auction closed this morning for the book, 'Tsuba Kanshoki', 1975 by Torigoye: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d229477308 It was most likely purchased through a buying service as the feedback number is 39,559 which would be way too high for a single customer and one could surmise it was from outside Japan. At 40,000 Y it will cost at least $400 by the time fees and shipping are added on, possibly more. Now then, here is the same book on Grey's site: http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b823-tsuba-kanshoki-torigoye-1975 $295 plus shipping for a known condition copy guaranteed. Lesson: Always do your homework before buying.

These fittings shown above were incredible. Made the whole trip worthwhile. (OK - sorry - I have to brag just a little. The Keijo and Kenjo futatokoromono and the Joshin Shi shi menuki were mine at one time so it was also nice seeing them again).

Evan -- Yes! Absolutely correct. There is some speculation that the earliest Akasaka were actually from Owari and then the school was moved to Edo due to the shogunate relocation. I haven't read anything on this recently but it is of course a possibility. It's sort of funny how a society which pretty much wrote down everything missed practically this entire field. Oh well...

Hi -- the dates do not coincide because those are the document preparation dates. The punch date is when the paper is put together and the written date is when the paper is filled out in ink which is either toward the end of the shinsa month (starts first weekend of the month) but can and often does go into the following month. They can be dealing with a thousand or more items so all of this has to be done in order and takes a lot of time. If a number of high attendance shinsas occur there can be further delays due to backlog. This is why sometimes it takes longer for the results. The items are available for pick-up prior to the paper being available due to this preparation time. The paper is generally posted to the party responsible for the submission. The shinsa panels are comprised of NBTHK employee experts and also experts who attend who are not full time employees therefore it is important to get the actual 'shinsa' done and then follow up with the documentation which can be done at a later date by staff. I believe the overlap on the Ko Kat paper is simply because of the size of the picture. You can still see the number for the rear with paper in hand.

The paper does not say 'mumei' but 'mei' with the 'kinin' in brackets ( ) which means they recognize the kozuka as signed via the gold seal but that they don't know the name represented there. It's definitely a different one.

Pretty much all of this terminology goes back to Akiyama Kiyusaku and others who began the study of fittings in the nineteenth cantury. There is no single historic 'authority' as there is little to no written history on early fittings so it is mostly speculation at best. Placing the term, 'Ko' as referring to before Azuchi-Momoyama Jidai is about the best a generalization as we see utilized in descriptives. Ko Kinko, Ko Goto, Ko Umetada etc. fall into the same general definition. Suffice it to say it's just a guideline as these pieces were not signed or dated and therefore we can only assume the period of manufacture. Now then, having said this there are areas where the term is used loosely. Ko Goto can be used when an exact attribution to one of the first three/four mainline masters cannot be determined (such as to Joshin) but it is also used for work which is early and falls into the realm of the Goto makers design orthodoxy. Where not it would go to Ko Kinko or Ko Mino 'schools' which here is used loosely to refer to a design concept rather than a specific group of aligned artists. Most of the later 'schools' (Busho, Choshu, Echizen etc.) started around or after 1568 so you won't see 'Ko' utilized. Ko is also not used with Kanayama but an attribution can be modified with a time descriptive such as 'shoki (early) Edo' which is also used with Owari and others in an attempt to specify an approximate time of manufacture. Early Kyo Sukashi in the past were sometimes referred to as 'Heianjo Sukashi' but this isn't seen much in current attributions. The bottom line is that you have to spend about ten years in study to make some sense of the classifications as there is no 'rule book' to refer to. This is where science, artistic history and wishful thinking tend to collide and the wreck can sometimes be a bit messy.

So, if this was made yesterday would it be considered a 'Ko Bagel'?

IMHO, Brian is your go to guy on this.

I would prefer the term, 'Nihontophile' which is a lover of Nihonto and it's universe. Anyone with a bank account can purchase a sword or a tsuba but the Nihontophile makes the study of the field or specific areas his or her avocation. This of course changes the dynamics of the niche. Just my take on the question.

Would someone please show me where on the kanteisho it says the menuki are by Ichijou? I cannot find it. Under 'menuki' 目貫: 一疋獅子図 金無 means single shi shi design - pure gold. I can't make out the rest yet. Goto Ichijou would be: 後藤一乗 which I do not see. PS: Please, don't remove the wrap.

Capon's lament...

http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w174439465

Jean: https://www.facebook.com/The-Token-Society-of-Great-Britain-1029072807151058/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

Jussi - I have the same problem when looking at swords. As I do not study them but instead focus on fittings I cannot kantei swords much at all whereas with fittings I am in general reasonably adept. When I first saw this post I knew #2 was Kanayama immediately but that is because I've spent a lot of time studying the Owari area of tsuba (including Nobuie). Trust me, I get stumped all the time and will always be a student. It's just where one's interests lie.