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Clan Crest Iron Kashira - Good or Nay?


Professor Zhirinovsky

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So, looking about for a not-to-expensive vintage set of fuchi kashira, with simple, abstract designs (no people, animals, plants) for a Showato blade. I came across this, with a certain clan mon that may fit the bill. 

But I'm a novice here. I don't want to buy something new or repro, or otherwise low-quality garbage. What say ye?

 

Kash2.jpg

kash1.jpg

Kash3.jpg

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4 hours ago, ChrisW said:

Make a thread in the sales section requesting exactly what you want. You might be surprised, I bet a few here have what you might be after.


I might give it a try in a bit.

In the meantime, a question or two. 

The nearly exact type of fuchi kashira set I'm looking for is the type pictured below. With the rounded shape, the rudimentary flowers, and especially the winding S-curve, this design is a near dead-match with the tsuba I'm looking to use. 

The set below, however, is a modern copy of an old Higo design. The modern copy is by "Hyper-Cafe", a Japanese company that makes repro fittings. 

How common is this design in the wilds of Nihonto World?

Assuming I'm not able to locate an original antique of this design, would using a modern copy be acceptable? Keeping in mind here, the blade is a pre-war Showato, not a true antique.

And if so, what about this company, Hyper-Cafe? From the looks of it, their products are praised by those who are enthusiasts of modern swords, but their work appears to be in bronze, not copper or iron. They look decent quality, but I am not a qualified judge of such things, and I'd feel better if the metal was more traditionally typical. Any opinions? 

 

Scurve.jpg

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There seems to be no answer, so I will send you information as simply as I know. The combination of fuchi and kashira with this characteristic is also found in koshirae in Owari, Sendai, and Shonai.
Needless to say, Higo is famous. Higo koshirae has two codes and does not use shitodome metal fittings. fuchi is easily big enough for an kashira to fit inside.
As a practical matter, the metal fittings of the Edo period do not match the wide new Japanese sword due to the size. The use of modern metal fittings is unavoidable as long as the Higo code is satisfied.

 

 

歌仙拵柄(『肥後金工大観』より).jpg

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Thank you Yakozen, this is very helpful and informative!

Do I understand you correctly?  That in this case, because of the Showato blade, using a modern set of fuchi-kashira may not only be acceptable, but actually necessary because the Edo parts won't fit properly?

If this is true, it will make my search simpler. 

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That's exactly what I'm trying to say with my poor English. Many enthusiasts in Japan hope to make higo-koshirae in the era of Hosokawa Hou.
However, the more I collect and study materials about higo-koshirae in advance, the more I realize that the blade of higo-koshirae used by the guards of Hosokawa Hou, and the modern Japanese sword are different. I used to do that too.

Kasen-koshirae (Hosokawa Hou era).jpg

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Your English is very good, I just want to be sure I haven't misunderstood. I am very new to this, so please forgive my asking questions that seem very obvious. :)

Also, thank you for this last graphic, comparing sori, and the lines of the top and bottom of the tsuka. I'll be considering this for a bit.

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