(Reddit) Sadatsugu: fittings. 武州住正房 tsuba, 直次 fuchi, ?menuki

Hello all,

A Reddit user has posted this wakizashi asking for more info.

I started with a translation assistance request here, which John Stuart, Markus Sesko, and Mike Vinehout all contributed to. Since their answers raised some more questions (that I can't answer myself), I decided to open specific threads on the blade & fittings respectively. I hope that isn't too spammy.

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Tsuba

I translated the tsuba as 武州住正房 Bushū jū Masafusa. I am not very schooled in fittings, so I am only going by some cursory research on the school, but it seems shōshin to my eyes. Can anyone comment on the quality / authenticity? Looks to be iron sukashi in some sort of dragon motif, can anyone confirm the design elements?

Fuchi

It's signed as 直次 (thanks John!). Seems to be shakudo nanako with a tachibana mon. Mike checked the mei against Yanagawa Naotsugu with a negative result. Anyone able to match this signature?

Menuki (image 2)

Some kind of waterfowl in shakudo and gold. I have no comments, just linking them for convenience.

Any comments welcome! Thanks, —G

The tsuba probably depicts the "Green Dragon" polearm of Guan Yu, a legendary chinese hero and a guardian deity in Taoism.

Bye, Mauro

Mauro: aaaaah, that explains it well. I was wondering about what it was "eating" and what the cloth-like tassels were. A neat design, I like it.

Another tsuba ft. this subject (different depiction)

hmmm...this blade is being listed in my neck of the woods via an online classifieds ad site....

hmmm...this blade is being listed in my neck of the woods via an online classifieds ad site....

The owner began by posting it there and then asked for info after the fact. Reportedly he is now considering keeping and/or restoring it, and he is seeing a representative from the Northern California JS Club soon for more advice.