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#16 Sold

The mei and nakago look rather dodgy, if you ask me... Compare to these examples of the smith's work: https://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords2/KT214504.htm https://ikedaart.net/?pid=180628778 https://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/w454764826/

I don't use bubble wrap for anything coming in contact with a painted surface anymore as it can, as Piers states above. I use a product called Celair, but that may just be a UK brand name (Viking Direct) If really pushed, then I wrap with several layers of acid free tissue followed by bubble wrap. In all cases, this is only for transportation and not for long term storage.

Much obliged! Thanks! Alexi

All the pieces of an armour set were usually placed into individual soft cotton/hemp/linen bags, each with designation kanji on the outside. E.g. 脛宛 Sune-ate. But with all the materials available today we can protect things better. I remember Mr Morisaki once telling me that bubble-wrap is not good however, as it can trap moisture and can foster rust, etc. "Everything needs to breathe", he explained, while showing me some of that typical Jaanese wrapping paper. (He also disapproved of modern mothballs, and said that to protect against insect activity, dried togarashi peppers were usually placed inside an armour box.)

Nothing to do with the subject matter but I was shown a naginata on Tuesday, the first time I have ever been tempted, a giant 'ryosaku' 両作, by Katsumitsu and Sadamitsu from Meio, around 1490, if my memory serves. In shirasaya, with no naga-e. Long nakago, with long special order Mei on one side and rows of Bonji on the other. The condition was ubu, and the blade was gorgeous, to my untrained eye. The owner said, "This is a Ken Bunkazai. Why don't you buy it?" I was a little astonished, as I was not there to buy anything and I only had four thousand yen in my wallet ($30), but it certainly was an attractive blade, and when I say tempted, I have never particularly wanted to own a naginata. "Just out of interest, how much are you wanting for it?" I asked politely. "Ten million JPY", he replied. Funnily enough, after that initial eye-watering, this dream blade haunts my memory.

I guess i will be using the armor box for just the dou alone and a separate cardboard box for everything else. The armor box then is itself packed in a padded cardboard box.

Thanks. I’m hoping the seller can provide an image of the other side. It’s a nice to know. I can always take a better image myself if I buy the blade.

Today the long-awaited phone call! The sun-nobi Masahiro tanto shirasaya and tsunagi are ready at last. He says that they have used a nice piece of ho-no-ki 朴の木 magnolia wood for a jewel-like surface finish. Hoping to pick them up at the sword museum on Sunday. All good thngs come to those who wait. The little pension is a blessing though, oil to the clanking gear wheels. Then the decision will have to be made on nugui, etc. "To polish, or not to polish" as my old friend Hamlet once said.

Nope… that’s not it…

James, if there was a date, it might be on the other side of the NAKAGO.

I apologise for the poor quality image. I have asked for a better one.

I was never great in terminology arguments, but I wonder if there is an Edo period's Honami letter or certificate identifying Rai blade's hada as itame and not ko mokume.

One thing to keep in mind when entering into the Edo period, Shinto in particular, is that many of the pieces we see will be copies of shortened and modified blades from earlier time periods. The question then becomes "is it live or is it Memorex?" That's where kantei comes in. There will almost always be clues that give the sword away. But sometimes copies will be so good that they fool even the experienced. It's only after the answer is revealed and discussed where participants will be kicking themselves for having overlooked some detail.

And I would add, that any mountain on a sword is going to be Mount Fuji

I uncertain if it is meant to be wisteria. I was thinking possibly kikyo (桔梗, bellflower) or possibly tachibana (wild citrus blossom)🤔

It's not me who says it... https://note.com/katana_case_shi/n/ncbfeb610f9b2

Hello Steve, The smith/signature is the same one as in this thread below.

Thank you for doing the implicitly necessary suffering attendant to writing this useful work, and so perhaps saving us a portion Dr. Rivkin. There is information here that is of benefit to most all of us!

@Jussi Ekholm nice blades! The right is a Nagamaki right?

With the risk of sounding rude, I think it was very good that you missed the sword Lukrez. This is just my personal opinion but I think that sword is very undesirable in my own collecting view, and I feel Ko-Bizen attribution was the only reason it got so high. I wouldn't have even gone for even near the 1,500,000 yen on it but because it was judged as Ko-Bizen by NBTHK the price got high, that is just how the world goes. As the condition is so compromised I think attributing items gets very tricky. I personally do not have knowledge to judge such items.

There has been solid advice there above by every member. My love in Japanese swords are ōdachi and big naginata. However even after all the years of focusing on them I still think it can often be very difficult to say how much a sword has been altered. Sometimes it is easy to say that a sword has been shortened or it has been shaved down from the top part. However there are times when I often am left scratching my head when trying to figure out the original shape of the item. The tricky thing is that there are lots of variations in naginata. In order to fully understand the variations and their specific features you will need to devote quite a bit of time into researching naginata. However people in general do not appreciate them, and common reference books do not have info on them, as they are not thought highly of in Japanese sword appreciation circle. Some forms of naginata require quite extreme measures to be cut down to be used as sword (sometimes it might not even be feasible) while some forms require very little adjusting. Here I present 2 items by Dewa Daijō Kunimichi (an excellent smith), both items are Tokubetsu Hozon. Left one has been judged as wakizashi by NBTHK, I think originally it was similar to the polearm on the right. The picture is in scale, I just photoshopped the items side by side for my own fun. Of course I might be wrong in my assumption but I am fairly confident in my belief on this particular piece. I think not many might have seen this type of naginata blade before, as this variation is bit different compared to more common surviving intact naginata.

Yes, I think everyone is in agreement and put forth examples in a diplomatic way. But you are right, I want to call it an exception 😉

You are right, Jacques, and that is why I qualified the second part of the book as intermediate and not advanced. To the advanced student / collector, this book could seem not detailed or thorough enough. But the breadth is extensive and the subjects covered also wide. Regarding hada, yes, it will be nearly impossible for hada to be only mokume. Very often there are degrees and gradations of which one predominates - mokume or itame. More often than not, it is a mix of both and one needs to focus on which one is dominant.