Hector

Apologies Lewis, I just changed the link in my original post and here it is again for good measure: https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m1240311419 Best, Hector

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m1240311419 What's better(😳) than a fake Kiyomaro? A fake Kiyomaro with a fake Kanzan sayagaki. At least they tried with the gimei - only really losing concentration on the date.

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t1239593774 Lovely blade. I took a pop at this tonight (hence not posting it before) but lost interest when it turned into an oji-fest of upping each other by ¥1,000 every five minutes at auction end. I believe someone got it for a very good price.

I actually agree with you on all of your major points , Reinhard - everything else is just semantics. I've never said that I believe anything good would come out of stealing a nation's cultural heritage - only that is a byproduct of war. My comment about the rich suffering along with the poor was just flippant wishful thinking - the rich never suffer along with the poor; they always have more contingency plans than Blofeld in a Bond movie. As regards Truman; yes, I also believe he was a war criminal because his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was at least partially based on his innate personal racism and sense of white supremacism. To quote directly from Truman himself: "One man is just as good as another so long as he's honest and decent and not a nigger or a Chinaman…. the Lord made a white man from dust, a nigger from mud, and then threw what was left and it came down a Chinaman. He does hate Chinese and Japs. So do I." (From a June 22, 1911, letter written by Harry S. Truman to his future wife, Bess Wallace.) That unsavory fact, however, does not make Hirohito any more innocent. Although fully cognisant of the many crimes committed in his name during the 1930s and 40s, he was protected after World War II by Douglas MacArthur (who deemed himself 'The White Shogun'). He knew - as did the Ashikaga, Tokugawa and Choshu clans before him - that you need the emperor as a pawn if you're going to control the country and make the Japanese people compliant to your will. Conversely, MacArthur used the war crimes trials to settle personal scores and hang blameless generals like Yamashita and Honma whose only 'crimes' were the utter humiliation of MacArthur in the Philippines and of Great Britain in Singapore.

Nicolas - it's always good to have your input! 😊 Warning duly noted. However, this is the same Haynes who currently has a fake Myochin tsuba displayed on his website. And who, despite having had this pointed out by a member of this board because Haynes' own photos clearly show the filed-off casting marks (which appear on all the multiple - and totally identical - fakes of this same tsuba currently flooding the market), has dug in even harder and emphatically declared it to be "genuine". So, I think I'll stick with the Higo Kinkō Taikan! Best, Hector

I'm really loving the great anecdotes and dialogue in this thread - so I'm also going to try and turn it into a proper, personal learning opportunity. I want to be able to understand what the experts see when they look at a tsuba so I can learn to see it too. For example, the Japanese dealer said of my tsuba "Sukashi is deformed - not sharp. Thats not Rakujū's style." Below is my tsuba on the left and the long-acknowledged Rakujjū (courtesy of Nicolas @Kiko) on the right. I can see some definite differences in outline but it would be really useful if someone could point out the deformity to me. I want to learn! (I suspect it could be the poorly balanced seppa-dai already commented on by Michael, along with some irregularity in the two tomoe 'comma' shapes. I can also see a possible design flaw in the upper left sukashi.) Best, Hector

War renders all its participants 'primitive'. Some men behave like men but many more toss aside the veil of civilization completely and indulge their basest natures. It's simply the nature of the beast. (Pun intended.) I don't believe that the theft of Manfred Von Richthofen's medals, decorations and trophies by the Russians in 1945 is any less a theft of cultural property than the looting and confiscation of Japanese swords - including those belonging to Emperor Hirohito (a man who should, by rights, have joined Tojo on the gallows). Regardless, very few - if any - of these pieces will ever make it back to their original owners - and perhaps that's exactly the way it should be. The more the rich and powerful lose personally (not just the poor young plebs dying in the front lines), the less they'll feel inclined to start another war.

Great story there, Jean! If I took a risk like that, I'd end up in the dog house - both literally (having lost our apartment) and figuratively (my wife placing me there permanently, pending the divorce)! Hector 😂

Not a perfect solution, being modern reproductions, but I noticed Nosyudo of Gifu manufacture fittings for both yari and naginata (on page 42). https://nosyudo.jp/catalogs/EnglishCatalog2025.pdf If you could source an antique set of the same, perhaps you could then have the lacquered pole and mounts made by one of the excellent craftsmen in the States? Good luck! Hector

Let's not forget the Russians, shall we? They become veritable locusts when set loose in conquered lands. Just ask Baroness Von Richthofen what happened to all son Manfred's medals and souvenirs at the close of WWII. There was no great wringing of hands in Moscow as to whether they should be returned along with the Richthofen family silver or Hitler's dental work, as I recall. And, as for Ukraine! Well, anything's fair game over there, it would appear. Cellphones, TVs, cars, freezers, food, microwaves, watches, chickens (whether for food or pleasure is uncertain), etc, etc, ad infinitum. And none of that indiscriminate booty is ever going back to its rightful owners.

It's funny how, in this collecting field, your hopes can fly like an eagle one minute and nosedive like Icarus the next. Of course, this is far more likely to occur when coupled with personal ignorance of a specialist topic and lack of experience in handling top quality examples. This Higo(?) tsuba for example. I showed it to an old Japanese gentleman collector who was visiting from Kyoto and he said "Mmm - you should put this in shinsa. (Hope goes flying straight off the radar!) Later, the Tokyo based dealer the old gentleman was visiting shows up and says "Don't waste money - probably modern." (Hope goes into a screaming death dive.) Obviously, I wouldn't have experienced either of these emotional extremes if I had actually put in the vital groundwork of studying! But, even in my 60's, I still have that little kid's 'throw the dice and hope for the best' attitude. "Financially irresponsible" I believe my mom would have called it. 😂

Totally agree. 0h, and what part of "openwork" doesn't he understand?

Thank you Viktor. Your (lone) opinion was very welcome! I wouldn't be able to recognise real shakudo so your observation of a later alloy is definitely worth some more research on my part.

Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am actually living in Japan and being able to bid on anything at whim. That is a gorgeous tsuba and one I'd be very proud to own!

He can't reset this auction as it has a 'buy it now' price.

Something just feels off about this Yasunobu Gunto, currently on Yahoo. https://share.google/zWnxYZMkf5Pe9Jh6V Hector

This one's got potential. 🤔

@xiaopangshizi This is definitely stripping using acid such as vinegar or similar. Just focussing on the copper sekigane, they have also been left completely stripped of their patina by the same process which was used on your poor tsuba's copper and silver inlays. Please note the picture of a copper coin which has been caustically stripped in chemicals for comparison. Water could not do this.

Victors write the history books. They also take whatever they want. That's 'Rules of Warfare 101'. The subsequent perspective on those actions may change decades or centuries later - until, inevitably, there are debates such as this one. Hindsight always has a more finely tuned moral compass than that of combatants who have just defeated an enemy nation in an extremely bitterly fought war.

That is absolutely heartbreaking. @xiaopangshizi Why did you remove all the beautiful old patina? 😳

I picked up this FK set around two years ago thinking it was just a good quality modern replica. The design is crashing waves with gold droplets and a raft is depicted on the fuchi. Now I'm not really sure what it is. The shitodome are definitely modern - I bought them from Namikawa Heibei but the overall workmanship is confusing. Pros: They are not cast; the fuchi is soldered in two pieces with a reinforcing strip at the seam. They appear to be made from real shakudo - even the main plate of the fuchi which is usually red copper. The detail is crisp. Cons: The nanako does not look hand punched to me. I cannot see any chisel marks to confirm that 'human touch'. All opinions welcome - and apologies for my usual, bad photography. Hector

This definitely sounds like a case of "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it". (And even if you can afford it, you're not worthy of it.)

Well, that's good news at any rate!

Well, option one is a non starter as the tsuba on their website clearly shows all the grinding scars Dale told us to expect - in exactly the position he said they would be found. So option two it must be.

These things are everywhere. One sold on Yahoo for ¥22,000 and there's currently one on Mercari for ¥25,600. I still don't understand why Shibui Swords is in denial. Doubling down instead of admitting an honest mistake won't uphold a highly respected reputation - it will only damage it.