seattle1

Hello: Very nice research and interesting reports, though I do wonder if the rationale might be a bit off. I do not believe that the purpose of an oil or oil-like application to a blade is protection against sweat, spit or blood, but rather it is protection from the ambient contents of air, particularly moisture which can promote oxidation. It is important to keep oil, and I mean only choji oil, on a newly polished blade for some fairly short span, and then depending on the humidity characteristics of where you live, not necessarily again. As for "choji oil" the British Token Society had a short report published years ago showing that our commonly used sword choji oil had a chemical composition profile very much like automatic transmission fluid, and I suspect the difference from exactly like may have been from the addition of some aromatic. Arnold F.

Hello: The only thing I might add is that the paper adds, in parentheses, the notation of Mino and Muromachi, which is a rather unusual extra explanatory step, helpful, and I wish that was more often seen. Arnold F.

Hello: Thank you Peter for initiating this interesting topic, and for Jean, Chris and Paul for adding interesting contexts. While there are many undiscussed factors that can really twist those relative price determinants of shape types and lengths, I always found it interesting in the "old days" when US shows were full of Japanese dealer, how quickly the measuring tape would come out at the start of things. It seems crude, but obviously it was very important to them. Arnold F.

Hello: I agree with Barry, but I would like to point out that my preceding comments about Yoshikawa Koen were restricted to him as it is his sayagaki that is shown. There are other excellent value adding writers of course. Those of Homma Kunzan sensei are highly regarded, though usually only minimal information is provided. Those of Tanobe Tanzan sensei are also well regarded and full of substantial detail, particularly the more recent ones. Other commonly seen writers are Sato Kanzan sensei and Hon'ami Koson sensei. Arnold F.

Hello: Yes there are sayagaki and there are sayagaki, however any by Yoshikawa Koen would certainly be value adding in my opinion. He was a polisher, a recognized sword scholar with publications to his name, he headed, at the time of his death, the unified NTHK, the oldest sword group in Japan to the best of my knowledge, and he was the Keeper of the Imperial Collection. His group was a pioneer at doing shinsa in the USA, and his sayagaki are uncommon in number, if not on the rare side, and they usually contained useful additional information about the blade and or smith. Arnold F.

Hello: Well, Chinese would be a big surprise, a lesser surprise would be Chikuzen Ishido, ie, Koretsugu or Moritsugu. Arnold F.

Hello: Chinese??? Arnold F.

Hello: I believe I said that "...some would call (it) a "kenjo tsuba"..," which connotes its social contextual meaning, however if I had to guess a school, Awa would seem to fit the bill. Kenjo does not refer to any school in particular and if the tsuba would fulfill the gift intention in the eyes of both giver and receiver, that is all that is necessary. They usually had gold applied in one way or another, and I would guess that as time went on they got more and more garish. According to Haynes the Awa turned to iron around the fifth generation, which would fit with Mid Edo Awa, the early part there of, as it is restrained and not "over the top." It is a nice tsuba. Arnold F.

Hello: I looks perfectly OK to me, probably Mid Edo and what some would call a "kenjo" tsuba", those being gifts that samurai who were required because of the sankin-kotai system of alternative residence in Edo, as mandated by the Tokugawa Shogunate, would purchase there and give as a gift when returning to their home han. They are often an overdone triumph of workmanship over deeper aesthetic taste, however your looks well balanced. Arnold F.

Hello: I knew someone would ask, but recall and finding the book in my rather disorganized library are two different things. Hans Conried was one, and I believe Adolphe Menjou is in there as well, they being actors of the past. Bob Haynes has some in there, and of course today he is about as authoritative a person on tosogu as is to be found. Season's Greetings to All, Arnold F.

Hello: Bizen Shoami might do it; the seppa-dai looks wrong for Kyo IMHO. Arnold F.

Hello: To be a little kinder to "Tsubas in Southern California" it is worth pointing out that organized sword and tosogu collecting in the US began in California in the 1950's and while the tsuba illustrated there are without much information, they do list the owners' names and thus through objects and names one gets a feeling for the history of early collecting. The range of material is from "you can't beat it" to the pedestrian, and the names of long gone Hollywood actors to a few folks who still quite active. The selection criteria was basically who would supply Mr. Hawley with what the owners wanted to put in. Is the price too high? - well how many have you seen? Arnold F.

Hello: I do not know if it is relevant for this particular thread, but sometimes those lines which don't seem to fit any particular term, but are squeezed into nijuba or some such term, might be evidence of the use of metals in the forging process which are themselves not capable of being made entirely homogenous with the primary tanahagane. I have wondered if that is because of some yotetsu process using foreign steel, which might not be soley ferrous, prevents full amalgamation, or something like that. I once had a Jo saku level smith's blade that had a substantial chip at the kissaki, and a chunk of gold could be seen clearly at the break joint. I believe that gold and silver was once added to produce more vivid hataraki, and perhaps that chunk just didn't meld in. Something like that might have happened in the subject blade, as it doesn't look like nijuba to me. Arnold F.

Hello: My guess is that it would paper to Mito, Late Edo (Bakumatsu), without anything more specific, however, it is a very nice design set of meaningful samurai association items. Arnold F.

Hello: As per usual an interesting and thought provoking post Peter, and with a new slant. You speak of the demographic march, of which we are all a part, and that is right to some degree. I am amazed however,more often than not, at shows and on the internet, particularly on the part of internet sellers of better material, that suddenly someone appears out of the dark, full of knowledge and interest. That seems true for new collectors as well: interested, informed, goal driven and information seeking. They could have collected guns, signed baseballs, who knows what, but they are buying swords, and from all over the world. Arnold F.

Hello: I have had a number of saya and habaki done by both Brian and John. Both are excellent, painstaking and professional. Arnold F.

Hello: In that Chris Bowen identified me as an economist who has written something about the sword market, perhaps I should clarify the issue of buying swords with a profit in mind. The article Chris referred to was published as one of the essays in The Book of the Sword, edited by Randolph B. Caldwell and published by the Token Kenkyu Kai in conjunction with the NBTHK shinsa held in Dallas in 1972. Peter Bleed, who is a regular contributor to the NMB also had a chapter in that book. The market for Japanese swords has never been subjected to a thorough economic analysis. Such a study would not only consider, in a paper and pencil sense, all of the many determinants of the market subsumed under the headings of demand and supply, the determination of a market equilibrium in the short run, long run responses to that, and what we call the very long run, when a host of other factors, including demographic impacts as Darcy correctly pointed out, but it would also have to cope with a massive amount of empirical data that would have a market quantitative dimension. That would involve actual prices in many locations, quantities of swords bought and sold, exchange rates and the relative changes between them over time, to say nothing of differing taxes, transportation costs, linguistic impediments, business cycle impacts, etc. My analysis, mentioned in the book above, was a micro economic analysis, hardly empirical in nature, of what I believed and believe is the fairly easy to demonstrate notion, at least theoretically, that when risk is fully taken into consideration, the monetary return on investing in swords (read any art object) will be less than the monetary return from a solely financial instrument, be that a stock or a bond. In equilibrium the return, in the long run, to the equally risky sword and financial vehicle will be identical in the sense that the lesser monetary reward for the art investor is compensated for by what economists call psychic income, the pleasure from the possession and enjoyment derived from the object. I believe Paul's comments captured that idea exactly. Beyond that I do believe that the Japanese sword market has some really interesting market features. The huge pile of post-WWII bring backs have had many impacts, just as the large inflows into the West during Meiji times. We all know the effects of the internet, for good and ill; and we are just beginning to feel the spreading out of the interest in swords that has influenced militaria collectors and those interested in the martial arts. One factor that has not had enough attention is the character of all one of a kind art objects, as all swords must also be, namely their heterogeneous character. No two are alike! That consideration is never present in the marketing of homogeneous products, where the successful marketer must create an imagine in the mind of the buyer that a difference exists where one does not (consider one brand of regular gas in comparison with another, or one "light" beer to another), or simply exploit differences among groups of buyers. With swords it is the product which differs sword to sword, and the buyers are what can be grouped by buying preferences. It is that difference in the product that should make for the continued vitality of the sword show. Buying through the opaque layers of the internet is never a substitute for the sort of pre-purchase scrutiny that a show offers. Finally, it seems to me that the best functioning sword market in the world, even under current stresses, is that of Japan. The one feature that stands out, aside from the huge quantity of fine swords, is the highly organized dealer structure, that Chris Bowen's long residence in Japan has made him so familiar with. I am sure that every nook and cranny is within the marketing area of some dealer. In the US dealers are often maligned in one way or another, and unfairly so. It is dealers who really make the market as they stand ready not only to sell, but also to buy. They know who is looking for what, where things are to be had, and in general help to make markets function with some degree of efficiency. They often are at the center of holding shows, helping put on educational displays and instructional events. A good dealer, and there are quite a few of them in the US, have a real interest in bringing new collectors along, and because of their presence, are one very good reason for attending and supporting sword shows. It just seems to me that swords, as objects, are so unique, that without shows and an active dealer community, the internet alone would be a very destructive device, though of course I recognize that some dealers are only in the cyber world. Enjoy our collective hobby and recognize that part of it, whatever else it might be, is your psychic income, the simple pleasure of possession. Arnold F.

Hello: I just saw the new nihontocraft.com (Danny Massey) listing of books for sale. Of the group there are the first two volumes of Yushu saku books with English language translations listed for sale. These are not commonly seen and were written by the learned late Yoshikawa Koen sensei. Those books give a rather different slant on blades from that of the NBTHK; not better or worse, just a different emphasis of criteria. There are many fine oshigata. For those trying to build a good reference library, its worth a look. Arnold F.

Hello: While Hayama Enshin is best known for his Awataguchi-like jihada, from the most recent posts of these swords it seems that the utsushi model for the jihada was Yamato. That would be more in keeping with the general sugata of the swords, given its Yamato derivation. Interesting pair indeed. Arnold F.

Hello: Thanks for adding that Brian. It really makes one wonder whose hand is at the helm when it comes to some of the write-ups? I had called it to their attention yesterday, and with no change this AM, I thought they were worth pointing out. They don't seem to be of the highest quality, forgetting of course "The abumi pattern is drawn well", but at least in my experience the design appears very well done, hardly common, and of interest perhaps to NMB readers. Arnold F.

Hello: Yesterday Aoi posted a new item for their auction sale, AF14596, a F/K identified as showing abumi, and claiming a well done depiction of same. The subject of course is ashikawa, known in the west as jesses, and they only have the slightest look of abumi. Those are the leg bindings for hawks used for hunting. That was a pass time of the samurai elite and is a very unusual, dare I say rare, item to be seen on any tosogu item. Arnold F.

Hello: Thank you very much for providing the interview Peter. Yoshikawa sensei was certainly one of the greats in modern sword history. There is a lot there between the lines it seems. Can you provide the printed source of the interview? Was sho-shin a publication? Arnold F.

Hello: For a first time post I think you have come pretty close to both hitting the nail on the head, and at the same time kicking a hornet's nest, as it is a quite controversial topic. I'll leave the replies to those more familiar with fighting techniques through time than I am. Arnold F.

Hello: WOW! Does Kevin do them closely from particular models or are they variations on a theme from known pieces, or de novo? Some look quite similar to things I have seen, others are not in my memory bank at all. How long did it take Kevin to ramp up to the skill level? Arnold F.

Hello: I would guess that the blade was in salt water for awhile, or perhaps in a very salty atmosphere for quite awhile. Arnold F.