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Hello: One hesitates to get into the maelstrom of "certain" opinions which seem to characterize recent discussions of tosogu, as in the concurrent Ezo dust up, strangely all within a broader area of the newest and most uncertain of all the samurai artifactual categories about which we know so little, but here goes. To my eye the "test" piece is entirely right and of appropriate age. There is some awkwardness of execution here and there, however the theme is classic. I noticed at first glance that the elements within the discs appear to be integral with the surround. I believe that is much less common than for them to be inserted. I don't know whether it is more or less costly (time consuming) to do it that way, but it might indicate in the case of placed in designs - I hesitate to call them mon, but some are - which are not seen here, is that production was a specialization and division of labor economic organization, with the blank discs being held in reserve for a buyer to chose his preference, for insertion at the place of manufacture or elsewhere, or they were just done by another workman. In any event it is a nice tsuba and appears not to have been "played with" for many years. Arnold F.

Hello: For proper Japanese oshigata paper try . I have purchased from them with satisfaction. Arnold F.

Hello: Yes there seems to have been something there, and yes mei removal is an option. However the problem is that such an action, like all things in the Japanese arts, encounters the problem of finding a sufficiently skilled craftsman for the outcome to be value adding. Consider how many claim to be able to polish, make habaki, make shirasaya, restore an abused tsuba, etc., and the result that then often ensues. It really isn't a must do issue in any event as if done reasonable on an existing sword, as on yours, the Japanese seem to have some sort of social convention that leads them to behave almost as if they don't see a residual mei or that it doesn't matter. Such things do not seem to be a hinderance to receiving a paper commensurate with what the blade is entitled to. Arnold F.

Hello: The menuki represent "kenuki" which is believed to be hair tweezers and are often found as nakago shapes on very old tachi. They are also sometimes seen as ji-sukashi elements on tsuba. As for the indentations, could they be suggestive to debris to be swept away? Again, a very nice tsuba with aesthetically calculated meanings. Arnold F.

Hello: They seem to be articles associated with the tea ceremony: the jar (cha-iri) for tea leaves, the bamboo spoon (cha-shaku) for the tea, a trivet for a hot object, and a feather to sweep away small debris. A nice piece with rich associations. Arnold F.

Gentleman: For those of us who have been collecting a while it would not be difficult to find something negative to say about any group issuing papers, however the overwhelming fact is that the knowledge and experience on their part usually wildly exceeds ours, perhaps not for smiths we might have devoted many many hours of study to, but for the vast number they must consider, coming to them as they do, often in awful condition, and operating under a time constraint as well. I have attended two NBTHK shinsa in the US, shinsa by both factions of the NTHK, the Toen-sha shinsa of Murakami sensei in SF, the Iida shinsa in San Francisco, the Kajihara shinsa in Buffalo and Toronto, and I very much look forward to submitting two blades and a tosogu to Miyano sensei in Tampa. While the different shinsa varied somewhat in strictness, they all gave up revenue opportunities by failing submissions, sometimes in a virtual snowstorm of failed papers. I have also submitted swords to shinsa in Japan. I would not impugn the integrity of any of them. The point is that we are extremely fortunate to have shinsa held in the US from time to time, as they have been held in England and Australia. I would prefer to submit in Japan every time, but one must weigh the risks and cost of that process, irrespective of to whom submitted. We should be thankful for all of the opportunities that come our way here. Speaking personally I believe it is very unfortunate that the NTHK schism happened. I do respect Miyano sensei, and I certainly held the elder Yoshikawa sensei, with whom I had more personal contact, in very high regard. I believe that the Yoshikawa family represents the oldest paper issuing organization, individual issuers aside, and I have one NTHK papered sword issued from a Chicago shinsa dated 1969. I believe that was the first shinsa in the US. All shinsa are something of a speculation for the organization that comes, as there are considerable expenses and always some uncertainty they and the shinsa promoter must accept. If their revenue exceeds their costs, more power to them, and it is with that in mind that makes me respect their toughness when they do fail submissions. Support shinsa, support sword clubs and study groups, support publications, as these things are all intertwined. Arnold F.

Hello: I believe you will find that if you get a large British penny, one with a high copper content, ideally one showing Queen Victoria with its edge not entirely rounded, that the coin will remove the rust to the level of the surrounding surface and without scratching or otherwise disfiguring if there are overruns as there surely will be. Hold at about a 45 degree angle and applied only as much pressure as necessary to remove the rust and confine yourself to the rusted area even though over extending should do no damage. To prove the benign nature of this "high tech" approach, practice on some rust on another surface where the metal has about the same composition as a Japanese sword. When you have demonstrated the effects to your satisfaction, try it on the sword. I used to give such coins out at sword shows and heard no complaints from users. Any coin store will have such coins and 25 - 50 cents should get you one. Arnold F.

Hello: Thanks to Mariuszk for posting this information for me; my digital skills and equipment need some expansion. Further to Brian's work you might be interested to know that two of the three blades went to him in perfect high quality Japanese polish, papered and all, and not only did he do the habaki, but he also did shirasaya. I had long thought that a shirasaya, to say nothing of a habaki, must be done on an unpolished blade or damaging scratches, nicks and the like would occur. Not so!, as the blades came back in the same condition sent. The gold and shakudo, which he makes with high gold content, were done for a Sanjo Yoshinori naginata-naoshi that had an old Hon'ami sayagaki and foil stripped habaki with it. The habaki had to be replaced and the saya saved for historical reasons, so he made a new shirasaya, a tsunagi for the old shirasaya, and the habaki of course. Again, a perfect outcome ensued. One warning worth passing on is that if you have shakudo that is pristine avoid touching it as the cumulative damage of handling will damage the appearance. I should point out that John Tirado has also made habaki and shirasaya for me that are just fine, and like Brian they can be done with confidence on a polished blade. Cheers, Arnold F.

Hello: Grev, check for a PM Arnold F.

Hello: Fred Geyer has, in my opinion, actually moved the marker when it comes to defining such tsuba as Christian. His conributions as published in the KTK catalogues have at the very least led the Japanese to reconsider the usual interpretation of a clock gear or the like. I believe the issue is that attributions of tsuba go to schools and not motifs. Just as a category is not "choji" or "dragon" or "hawk", similarly there is no notation of "Christian" as a primary category, though a subsidiary observation might be entered on a paper. I believe that Fred would describe that tsuba as Christian. I would guess the majority of them during samurai times were made in Nagasaki, a major Christian enclave, or during Meiji times they would mostly be modifications to some other tsuba by adding, say, a cross, prior to shipment to London, Paris or Boston. I hope to publish for the KTK catalogue this year a rather nice tsuba with silver nunome crosses, probably added after manufacture, but clearly a Christian worn tsuba carried sometime around the Shimabara revolt. I am quite sure a shinsa would call it Hizen or something else from Kyushu. Happy 2014! Arnold F.

Hello Jean: Your first point about a "counterbalance" and the insistence of it being at the pommel does escape me, and the reference to the "... side of the blade..." even more. My point was that the tsuba placed where it usually is, would change the weight distribution of a balanced blade prior to adding the tsuba, thus making it more butt heavy. If "counterbalance" has some technical meaning unknown to me and violated by word choice, omit "counterbalance" and the meaning and implication should remain clear. I do continue to posit that the main function of the tsuba is not hand protection, and I repeat many old koshirae are know not to have had tsuba at all. Finally you observe that "... statements are just repeated without questioning their respective plausibility..." and reference is made to "hearsay". I do not believe I have ever seen or heard elsewhere mention of demotion of tsuba from being primarily hand protection from an opponent's sword other than in my other writings, and the same goes for the observation about comparisons of daito and wakizashi tsuba, and similarly about the lack of many cup or entangilment inducing tsuba shapes. As for the other observation of prevention from the hand slipping down the blade, that has been mentioned by others many times. Arnold F.

Hello: John's reply right after that of Jean C. catches my meaning exactly, and the notion that the added weight has to be at the end of the tsuka as a necessary condition for the function of the tsuba, is clearly not so. If the primary function of the tsuba is to protect the hand by stopping or deflecting the opponent's sword I believe we would see rather different shapes predominate, such as cup shapes or even some features that would entangle the opponent's sword. I believe that we would also see similar diameter sized tsuba for both the daito and wakizashi, were protection the main feature, with the weight of the wakizashi tsuba being less, perhaps through thickness, so that the proportional weight distribution would remain roughly the same. Arnold F.

Hello: What an interesting set of questions Grev, for which you will probably get quite a range of answers. I'll try to answer a couple or derivations there of. I believe most of the speculations about iron quality are likely to have a high degree of hokum associated with them. The issue of strong or good iron shouldn't be over weighted as the strength of iron addresses something other than the main function of a tsuba, which is weight and its role as a counterbalance. The second function is to protect the hand, not from the opponent, but from sliding down the tsuka and on to the blade; the third function might be to protect the hand from another's sword, but mostly any tsuba would do that, and soft metal could do so as well. Some old koshirae will be seen without any tsuba, or at best, vestigial tsuba. Iron plate will tend to be flat with no variation in surface height. Bones, well there are a number of theories though what additional benefit they might confer is totally unclear. They probably are functions of the inclusion of previously hardened blade scrape which remains intact at the lower heats used to process tsuba metal, or they are inclusions of harder Namban tetsu. There may be some correlation with their presence and the start of the new foreign trade in the 16th Cent. To get an authoritative answer to your questions, at least in North America, the questions should be sent to Bob Haynes. I don't believe he is "wired" to this stuff so I'll send him a hard copy and when he replies, I'll post it, at least in summary form. Arnold F.

Hello: I believe Brian's reply above is very good and stresses the appreciation skills required on the part of the buyer/owner. It is also useful to check out the NBTHK's criteria as displayed in Danny Massey's nihontocraft.com site; go to Articles, then to NBTHK Shinsa Standards. The impression given is sort of that of a sieve, as what gets through to Juyo level is carefully filtered. Beyond just quality as they see it there are other reasons for wanting a Juyo designation, the difficulty of getting one being reflected in price. For the NBTHK quality is the main criterion, the art-historical importance of the blade plays a role too, as I believe also does scarcity, other things equal. The NTHK, in both of its versions, also awards a similar paper, the Yushu and Sai Yushu papers, and the now defunct Toen-sha did the same. Those papers were and are also hard to get. As I understand it there are slight differences between NBTHK and NTHK criteria, the latter putting somewhat more weigh yet on state of preservation, and it is for that reason the quite new blades going into the gendai era will be found in its catalogs. Season's Greetings All! Arnold F.

Hello: Nice score indeed Chris. Congratulations on your deft gamble. Pretty soon the dark jungle will be so full of unicorn hunters that they'll need a traffic cop! Season's Greetings to all. Arnold F.

Hello: I believe that Everett Thomas's tale of woe, an unfortunate one indeed, has its beginning in the first sentence in Everett's first post: "... his fee paid up front like those in Japan..." The field of collecting we write about and the relationships between buyers and sellers is usually characterized by an extraordinary working trust between the two, whether in dealing with goods or services, it is fully reciprocal and rarely does it come unhinged. I am sure many on this list can testify to having polishing and other things done to their swords without any request for payment prior to the job being done, sometimes not until the object arrives back at their door. The person doing the work is, after all, holding collateral, and what more need be asked for? It is a pretty good rule of thumb that if the person you are dealing with is distrusting of you before the fact, perhaps that too should be reciprocal. Arnold F.

Hello: As for the role of the habaki in benefitting the functionality of the blade in use, that role might be more physically limited than has been implied as Brian Tschernega pointed out to me that the only place the habaki should be in contact with the blade is at the small sections at its top and bottom, i.e., not at its sides. Arnold F.

Hello: The habaki dust up was fun to read, and while unexpected it did touch on a really important part of the sword-tosogu-koshirae triad, as the habaki is the most important and intimate part of sword apparel that there is. In really olden times it is possible that more swords left the smith's hand with his habaki added than with his tsuba added. While not integral with the sword, it is the next thing to being so, and almost every sword must have one. The work of Brian Tschernaega is really breathtaking, and while I believe he is the foremost artisan outside Japan he continues to study in Japan with his teacher. One worthwhile point beyond just his skill is that he will work with you as a client helping determine just the right habaki to complement the blade and/or koshirae. It need not be two piece, gold, etc., but it should be "right" and that is value adding beyond just the object. I have had him do a number of habaki and while all are excellent, my favorite is one done for a suriage koto naginata repurposed as a wakizashi where he combined his classic manji pattern on gold foil for one part with a highly polished high gold content shakudo for the other, making it of course a two piece habaki. It is something to behold. Finally, while gold is all the thing now, when I started collecting the rule was gold for koto, silver for shinto, and copper (that great red copper sometimes that can still be seen today) on shinshinto. Most people would not dream of anything other than an integral wooden habaki as part of a shirasaya handle if they wanted to have a gendaito polished, though few did have them polished. There is nothing wrong with those old rules today, and a habaki maker would probably be willing to co-operate and if the sword has old fittings that might be the most appropriate way to go. Old habaki are collectors' items in themselves. I once knew a man whose goal was collecting habaki made by Umetada Myoju, which some say were the highest aesthetic products that Myoju ever made. Arnold F.

Hello: In response to paulb's post I should say that I did not say, most certainly did not intend to say or suggest that WWII era blades represent, as a group, some pinnacle of achievement, however one might choose to define the term. The sole point was that blades did evolve and optimized within the context of the various forces and situations mentioned that had an impact upon them. That is why they differ period to period. If one accepts the premise that the function of the sword is use, and if one would accept that the end of WWII saw the last use of the Japanese sword in battle, then surely the "evolution" came to an end. I do believe that the quotation from Albert Yamanaka is correct and what we have left today are "art swords" (initially called that in Japan after WWII for a very good reason: preservation!), and in that sense out of the historical evolutionary process, as worthy as they might be for other reasons. Looking as Japanese swords historically I would not consider Showa era swords other than use determined, and while some of the gendai of the period are terrific, I would prefer a good Ko Bizen to any of them. It is sort of like an astigmatic Picasso compared to a French Impressionist, or a Giacometti statue to a Michelangelo, to my eyes "no contest" though both Picasso and Giacometti represent later artistic "evolutions". The "Dream" issue is a matter of taste and there is no accounting for that and I avoided it on purpose in my earlier post. Arnold F.

Hello: I found Mr. Trotter's focus on the latter gendaito quite interesting as it raises the issue, implicitly anyway, of the evolution of the sword. The change in the Japanese sword, from the straight hira-zukuri swords of the Nara period to the swords of the WWII era, has always been an evolutionary one driven by the determinants of battle formation, armor, fighting techniques, forging techniques and their mutual interaction. While those things might not define the "dream sword", they might set the historical brackets for choice. As Albert Yamanaka wrote in the Nihonto News-Letter, Vol.II, No. 4 (April, 1969), p. 31, "We are certain that no swordsmith made or forged swords with the intention of turning out a great work of 'art'. though he certainly tried his best to turn out a very 'keen' blade." When the use ended, so did evolution of the blade, and perhaps the limits of our choices. John Yumoto once said that the gunto swords (I believe meaning both gendai of the era and what are more commonly called "gunto") of the war era were an adaptation for cutting the modern battle dress of the times. In the foregoing senses Mr. Trotter has pinned an end point. If the end of an evolutionary process is the great achievement, then shouldn't it be the dream as well? I think that is logic of his view, though everyone obviously wouldn't see it that way. Artistic and historical criteria clearly drive appreciation of older swords, and shinsakuto, which keep the living technology of manufacture alive while at the same time stressing their "art" characteristics, muddle the end point and evolutionary criterion. Arnold F.

Hello: To discuss who might be the current Shogun, if the institution had not withered, almost suggests that there is some struggle among claimants. I do not believe that is so. I met, dined with, travelled with Tokugawa Yasuhisa on a number of occasions through my involvement with the KTK. He does talk about his ancestry in good spirit, not wistfully, just factually and only informatively. What is clear is that the last Shogun, Yoshinobu, was his blood relative by direct decent. He was, as the 15th Shogun, the son of the prince of Mito, Nariaki, was adopted into the Hitotsubashi family, initially proposed as the successor of the 13th Shogun Iyesada in 1858, and subsequently became a candidate to succeed the 14th, Iyemochi, in 1866. Had a 16th Sogun been chosen by direct decent, that would have been Tokugawa Yasuhisa's great grandfather, however the actually path of the 15 Shoguns who actually served took quite a circuitious route from time to time, and who know who would fill that position today? It is really interesting to read of the lineage in Papinot. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan, a learning treasure for all collectors, or in Ryotaro Shiba's The Last Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu. As for "sensei," the word means teacher. I believe it is appropriate to use it as an honorific for someone with active students, or someone who addresses, through some medium, an audience interested and anxious to learn, particularly to learn some highly specialized knowledge that is hard to have come by on the part of the sensei. I don't think one would address a kindergarten teacher of the ABCs as sensei, but for a Japanese highly qualified craftsmen with students, sword scholars such as Drs. Homa, Sato and Tanobe, by all means. Arnold F.

Hello: Agreed Chris. The market we speak of has so many features as in part it depends on which part of the elephant the blindfolded story tellers have ahold of. As for the tosogu market I know of several old line collectors in Europe who have very massive collections and as I understand at least one it of the highest quality and very comprehensive, but they have been collecting for many years. I do have the impression that plenty of younger people are collecting tosogu, particularly tsuba, and Bob Haynes says there have always been lots collectors who have no interest in swords. I can think of several big sword collectors who seem to have gone over to tosogu almost entirely if not entirely. I have the impression that a lot of tosogu changes hands, as it always did, other than at the shows we usually attend, at lest in the US. Auctions have always been important in that regard and they continue to be. The arrival of Bonhams as an active seller over here recently is interesting. You mention that tsuba seem to be getting more realistic in price, I suppose after something of a run up, and I agree. I think that is a function of more careful buying in the last couple years and that is only natural when some pricey stuff, particularly iron, has met the reality of both study and the realization that there is a lot of good stuff out there and it is coming to market regularly. Evidence for learning and interest both is reflected in what seems to be an increase, both absolute and proportionate, in submission of tosogu at shinsa, at least in the US. You probably know much more about that than I do. An iron tsuba used to be pretty much just an iron tsuba, but people now realize that at least in the Japanese market eye, there are really substantial differences in assessment, relative scarcity and market value. The same sort of sorting out and rank ordering happened years ago here in the sword market. Arnold F.

Hello: The point of my last post was not to lead the neophyte to believe that he would stumble on a treasure by just being somewhere and grabbing a sword off a table. In both illustrations used the underlying point was that acquired knowledge is the necessary condition. For my friend, who is a collector, to pick that old sword up at the strategically right time and to know what he bought, took years of study and experience, and yes, a few bucks. It had been ignored by others who ought to have known. As for finding a Juyo at a major sword show, again it is knowledge and a roll of the dice. For the beginning collector, who is probably stepping on the bottom rung of the ladder, his newly gleaned knowledge will help separate the worthwhile initial purchase from a hopeless candidate for collection. Treasure can be a relative term, but at every level the buyer wants as much value for money as can be found. At all levels relative opportunities do come along. They are not the object of collection, merely an artifact of collecting anything. What has happened to the sword market takes some careful analysis. It is not just a matter of sword buying and selling, which I believe is healthy given internationalization and new avenues of market behavior that the internet has brought about. To get the fuller picture one would also have to recognize the quite dramatic increase in tosogu interest, primarily in tsuba but in other objects as well. Many of those buyers started with an interest in swords alone, but post 9/11 difficulties of moving blades spatially, including the danger of baggage theft, has created obvious substitution effects. I can recall bringing swords into an airplane cabin; that is a thing of the past, but a few tsuba are likely to go unchallenged. Times change and so must the view of the market. If the tosogu market appreciates too much, the natural market consequence will be to direct more interest towards swords, armor, etc., as all samurai objects are ultimately complementary. Arnold F.

Hello: The first time I remember encountering the word serendipity, for the lack of a better definition, stumbled upon good luck, was in something Peter Bleed had written, probably for the JSS/US Newsletter years ago, and that word alone has always reminded me of the ever present opportunity for every collector to find a treasure. Yes, the low hanging fruit has been picked and the gold paving stones long ago dug up, but no collector willing to acquire knowledge need entirely discount the opportunity to get lucky. Good swords are still out there waiting to be found. A friend of mine within the last two years found and bought for far less than its market value a signed Ko Bizen at a major mid west gun show when the dealers (the owner was not a sword dealer) were packing up. Dozens and dozens of other sword collectors were said to have passed it up as it was just tossed among uninteresting stuff on the table. I would be willing to bet that at every major US sword show that there is at least one mu mei koto, which if bought and properly polished would have a better than 50:50 chance of making Juyo Token. I really agree with those that see a collecting future, if not in ageing Japan, than elsewhere in the world where interest in Japanese swords and culture, the latter being I suspect of equal importance, is thriving. For those of us who have been collecting for a while those folks need to be welcomed, encouraged and helped whenever possible. Arnold F.

Hello: What an interesting bunch of posts from Surfson's discussion of the Nihonto market in the US, as the replies covered a lot of territory. I would like to touch on one issue and that is the financial one. Where is it written that any "hobby", for the lack of a better term, should be judged by its return, particularly the dollar sense of return? Yes money is needed to buy swords, but so is taste and knowledge, and to a degree those things are both complements and substitutes in some situations. All three can be acquired by any collector, and actually must be acquired, but the money part doesn't have to be counted with many digits. More particularly the benefit from collecting any intangible object is the satisfaction from the object, what economists call utility, as well as at least the consideration of its potential market value. It is quite clear in an economic sense that a gain over time is the satisfaction from ownership plus the price change expected, and both are variables. It is about as close to an iron rule as there is to say that when swords are compared to any financial asset of the same risk, say a share of xyz stock, the strictly dollar return is less for the tangible non dollar yielding asset. The other ingredient, the satisfaction, in equilibrium, is what makes up the difference and it is that joy of ownership of the fine sword, rare stamp, beautiful French Impressionist, etc., that separates collectors from the merely financially gain seeking. If you wanted to focus just on the financial, that alone presents many challenges of calculation as actual returns are complex calculations related to currency value changes, initial costs, commissions, taxes, changed historical circumstances, etc. Collecting is an endless activity and just a lot of fun. Making new acquaintances, travel, learning, and once in a while some good luck. Other things equal, money won't make collecting swords less fun, but I do not believe it is the essential ingredient to enjoy this hobby or almost any other. Many of us have probably collected other things and know that there are lots of entry points from a few bucks to mega bucks in virtually anything one might want to collect. Of course if you just have to have that Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, the first rung in the ladder is high, but that is not so for Japanese swords in my opinion. Arnold F.