Hector

Wow! Congratulations! 😀👍 From the look of the field saya, I guess it used to have an upper leather seppa with a popper flap passed through the tsuba?

Hi Dan, Whatever time you have left (and I sincerely hope you make it past 100), do it for your own pleasure and satisfaction - no one else's. Collections can give us joy in different ways; finding each object, cherishing it, taking it out to study whenever the urge takes us - and cataloging it. Actually sitting down with something and trying to describe it in writing often deepens your appreciation of it (though sometimes the opposite occurs🙃) and provides yet another facet of collecting as a hobby. I say go for it! Best, Hector

Rawa is right. This is the original auction in Japan and the current price converted to USD. https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p1208185731

All I can say is a huge THANK YOU to everyone who commented! I have learnt so much from your combined comments and observations - which is exactly what I was hoping to do on the NMB. BTW, everyone can breathe a collective sigh of relief; I didn't buy this. My slowly developing sense of what looks right and what doesn't made me think this Tsuba looked 'off'. However, it was you guys who taught me why. Many thanks! Hector C.

Hi again, With my poor batting average so far I dread to ask - but is this a Higo style Tsuba (as I've been led to believe)? It's katana size, mumei and described as 'copper' which I presume means shakudo as it's so dark. Thanks for any input. Hector C.

Good of you so say Jean - but I'm making so many errors of judgement that the benefit of my location is rather like 'throwing pearls before swine'. 😂

A really sweet blade! I'd have grabbed that in a shot, given half a chance. 👍 To my amateur eye, the horimono, bonji and hi all look balanced and well positioned. The latter two definitely seem to have had some wear through polishing. I can't see the horimono clearly enough to give an opinion but I think it may be a later edition; as you said, probably a Bakumatsu merchant who loved the idea of a big name on his tanto but wanted to 'pimp it up' slightly. (By the way, to anyone using voice recognition, be warned that horimono and bonji are picked up as "hormonal bungee".)

I don't think samurai ever thought in such terms - certainly not 'museum quality'. If you were aristocracy, you inherited masterpieces; if you were a super wealthy merchant you commissioned super expensive 'bling'. Functional pieces were just that - functional, additional decoration was down to wallet, then taste. Ive read the very long debate on cast tsuba and I truly can't believe that anyone but the most down at heel bushi would knowingly endanger their lives by using those as they'd shatter on impact with an opponent's blade. Better an ugly, hammered and heat treated plain disk than a decorated accident waiting to happen. Even in the supposedly 'peaceful', hedonistic years of the Edo period, there were still duels, vendettas and bad asses out looking for a fight by being deliberately rude or smacking their saya against someone else's (give a man a weapon and he'll find an excuse to use it). So we can't conveniently say that practicality and functionality both took a backseat throughout the Edo period. However, returning to the original question (if I understand it correctly), then yes, I would always prefer a tsuba which is hand forged, has been mounted, shows signs of use, and is at least restorable by removing active rust with bone and ivory. I can certainly appreciate the exquisite workmanship of late Edo and Meiji period pieces but they are just not my thang in terms of both taste and pocket money. It's like owning a Lamborghini; I can't afford it, I'd be afraid to scratch it if I could and the only guys you see driving around in them in Tokyo are ostentatious old rich pricks driving their 19-year-old trophy girlfriends and revving the engine at traffic signals. 😂 Hector C

Mr. Moriyama knocks it out of the ballpark again! I'm surprised that swords could be bought and sold in 1951 considering the restrictions placed by General Headquarters. 😮

Hi Jean, Thanks for pulling me up on 'sukashi' - I have corrected the spelling now! I also accept your observations on the tsuba - mine were based on a fundamental lack of knowledge. As I've admitted (and demonstrated) in previous posts, I am uneducated in the many nuances of Japanese swords and their fittings and so I should welcome the advice of the experts here with gratitude and humility. Thank you. Hector C.

I think the printed line to the right of the date reads "The receipt has been confirmed by Sho Seiji (or Shōseiji)."

Can't be Showa 26 as that's 1951, when sword making was still banned by the American occupation.

Jean, In my previous role before retirement, I had to spot very small details and differences in images. I can see two extra sukashi cutouts added, finer detailing and shaping of the dew drops, square punch marks, sekigane and that pitted, flat, gray patina. If you look at a selection of tsuba by the same seller, one appears to be old but they all share the same strange patina. IMHO, I still believe he's messing with them.

That reminds me of a Japanese dealer who sometimes sells off military props; I think for theater, tv, movies, right-wing old guys who dress up at Yasukuni etc.

I've seen that guy!!! I think he's got a fresh crop on Yahoo right now. 😳

I just wanted to warn everyone who looks at the Japanese auctions like me that there is at least one seller who is taking modern steel iaito tsuba and giving them a 'makeover' to look like antique pieces. The photo is of one example which is on sale at the moment; the original, Minosaka brand tsuba is on the left and the reworked, acid treated 'antique' is on the right.

Totally agree. Post war, but this is one that was made from an old silk kimono. The Japanese love to recycle!

Even in Japan, you get stuff like this being pedalled for peanuts every time you search for 'swords'.

Thanks Brian! You just saved me from a divorce. 😬

Looking for opinions - perhaps to rub some salt in the wound. I was looking at Yahoo Auctions last week and came across this small tanto made in Showa 10. The seller's blurb alleged a connection to the Gassan school and, as I liked it anyway (despite the blade being rubbed to the point of obscuring all the forging details), I was prepared to initially bid around ¥70,000. However my better half stepped in and told me not to "waste money". 😢 As I can only bid on Yahoo with her help I was basically scuppered and, as it consequently sold for much less than what I was willing to bid, it still stings at backing down. Having compared the yasurime, mei and date with Gassan Sadakatsu, I see some similarities (not saying it's the man himself just maybe one of his students) and now I'm banging my head against every available wall. what do you guys think? (I just added the last two photos as a comparative to the Sadakatsu signature.)

A wise move I think, @klee.

Lennon, you sure seem to be going all-in for a 15-year-old. BTW, I'm not being sarcastic or condescending - I'm just impressed you're getting into the hobby at that age! Edit: Wow! I just saw your first post was from exactly 2 years ago - so you actually got into all this age 13! 😮

TBH, the fuchi and menuki look like Chinese produced sword furniture to me.

My advice? Don't go there. You've got two historically significant artefacts. I would refix the cap, find a World War II period seppa online (not as difficult as it first sounds) and get the hilt professionally re-wrapped. If you get modern fittings, it will cost you an arm and a leg just to get the basic woodwork done - the likelihood of anything fitting off the shelf is very small. Plus, most modern fittings look cheap or tacky unless you go really high end. Seriously, I would restore what you have there. Best, Hector