Hector

Hi, Big sumo fan and I still maintain that the 58th Yokozuna grand champion Chiyonofuji was the greatest wrestler of all time. I read today that Gassan Sadatoshi (月山貞利) made the dohyo-iri tachi for 65th Yokozuna Takanohana in 1995 and 66th Yokozuna Wakanohana in 1998. This prompted me to try and find out which contemporary Tosho made the tachi for Chiyonofuji on his promotion to Yokozuna in 1981 - but no luck. Can anyone here help me to pin down the swordsmith? Best, Hector

I think that combining 'eBay' with 'intelligence' is already an oxymoron without adding 'artificial'.

Well, the seller did not remove the listing (even though I physically own the item) - they simply reduced the price. And I got a response from eBay - they have found in the seller's favour.

NOW I can add the photos. The original photo is from the real dealer's site. You can see, on the eBay auction, where they have cropped the picture at the bottom to remove the copyright on the far left.

So you bought it?

Glad to find out about this! As I live in Japan, I might try to subscribe to a future event. Best, Hector

I've not been on the site much of late as retirement has led me to travel to parts of Japan previously unvisited and to collect other fields of Japanese art. One of these fields is ukiyoe and, combined with my interest in the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras, I recently bought a triptych (3 panel picture) from a highly reputable dealer in Tokyo for ¥60,000. It was created in 1885 by Kuninao II and shows the ghosts of Satsuma rebellion leaders Saigo, Kirino and Shinohara visiting Yamaoka Tesshu in his study. All well and good - but as I started researching Kuninao II online (he's not particularly famous), I came across the wood block prints which I had already purchased advertised on eBay by a seller called 'JP Antique House' for ¥218,549! I know that it is possible for two sets of the same artwork to be on sale at once but it's blatantly obvious that they had lifted the picture because both sets have wormholes and defects in exactly the same places. I sent the message shown below to the eBay seller but he has not responded nor, more importantly, taken down the auction. I now intend to report him to eBay directly. If he does this shady dealing with woodblock prints then I'm sure that he does it with other artworks, including swords - so please be careful. Best, Hector Edited: for some reason the system won't allow me to attach photos in "Add files". Therefore the message I sent the seller via PM was: You are obviously a liar and an opportunist, pretending to stock something which you don't even have. I already bought these exact same prints (down to the identical insect damage) from a respected Tokyo bookstore for ·60,000. This conversations are already monitored by eBay but I will be making a formal complaint about you.

Just passing through but I had to comment on this. 😳 An infrequent enquirer who is both impatient and petulant - about a pair of PANTS for crying out loud. What part of 'Nihonto' doesn't he get, exactly? @Samurai Presumably, you wield a daisho of long-johns and briefs?

I'm not quite sure what the leather piece is.

There are several of these old photos on Yahoo at any given time. Unfortunately, the seller normally places a ruler over the face; I guess so that the photograph can't be reproduced in its entirety on a forum like this one.

Hi Sam, @Scogg Your sword also seems to have the officer's name carved on it. 井大 "Idai"? (Big Well?) Best, Hector

I agree that it's postwar and almost certainly occurred after it was taken as a trophy. Such objects were never venerated by the victors in the same way as they were by their original owners. Even in Japan nowadays, blades used specifically for tameshigiri are unbent and at least superficially repolished very soon after they incur such damage. Even if they are of low quality artistically, unlike the sword in question here. Best, Hector

Hi Hoshi, As I said before, this is a remarkable resource - thank you. There was one thing which I meant to point out a week ago when you first presented your amazing project but it slipped my mind. I looked up Emura, a World War II gendaito smith of only reasonable quality, and I was a little confused to see that he was shown with one Juyo rating. Just thought I'd better flag it up. Best, Hector

Hi John, I haven't received it yet so I can't confirm the caption underneath. However, this is the photo that I felt sure was of a Yasukuni smith. It looked very similar to a shot I saw in Tom Kishida's book and Showa 8 is 1933, which is when the Yasukuni forge started up so it would make sense. i'll let you know as soon as I have the magazine in hand. Best, Hector

Yesterday I scored another vintage Japanese magazine about swords. Basically, I know it's from Showa 8 and I recognised one of the photographs as being from the Yasukuni Shrine but, that aside, I have very little idea what it's actually about (apart from swords). I'm including the seller's photos because I've discovered that I am absolutely awful at taking my own (of blades, books - basically anything). 🥴 Best, Hector