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Hi All , Sharing a custom sageo that i have received today from Japan . Hand made in Silk to my required width to fit my Tanto saya shito-Dome . Very pleased with the finished item and for those looking for a special or odd sized Sageo i would recommend this store. Very easy to deal with and lots of communication before making and sending. https://kiryudo.co.jp/English.html Some pics of the unwrap , love the attention to detail . Regards Chris NZ

@jt nesbittYou should start a new thread in the Izakaya telling us about the process/experience building this, or just your interaction with Jay etc. Love to hear more about it.

I think you mean "Kick ass." He rose from private all the way to general by his own doing.

Two people really wanted it. The lucky one did not win the auction.

I have two charming iron tsuba that are ready for their next home. Asking $600 each or $1000 for the pair. Free insured shipping in the USA and insured international shipping at cost. And of course a donation to NMB if they sell here! Please feel free to contact me with questions. The first is mumei and has NBTHK Hozon attributing it to the Umetada school. It's about 6.5cm in diameter. Includes the kanteisho and a nice modern kiri box. The second is a true katana tsuba signed Nobuie, but is most likely later Myochin work. Includes the fabric pouch.

I would be grateful for any opinions on the characters on this habaki . The date side I am confident reads Meiji four ( 1871 )(year ? ) Kanotohitsuji hachi gatsu . The other side I am less sure about . I think the right hand column reads Giri Ko , which possibly means a Lords debt of gratitude. The left hand column I am even less sure about but think it reads Kore shitama , which possibly means this permits to commit suicide . Ian Brooks

No.121 - not eels, but Shirouo... -t

https://terebess.hu/gabor/Pitelka-Tea-Taste.pdf

Nope. Assuming pc, just click the 3 dots and choose "share" There's your link.

Thanks @Bruce Pennington! I didn’t have funds saved up and didn’t want to bother the shop owner knowing I wouldn’t purchase anything, so I erred on my full check up (and photos) of the sword. When I go, checking the nakago will be critical. Thanks for extra context on pricing. From dealers’ swords, I thought it was a little under even. $3k Mumei shinshinto - https://www.artswords.com/a_nice_katana_mounted_in_Imperial_Japanese_kyu_Gunto_Mounts_042508.htm $2900 - another Mumei shinshinto - https://japanesesword.com/for-sale-pages/2017/9/25/shinto-katana-in-d-guard-mounts

Right, and I have many mysterious stamps like this at the end of nakago of unknown meaning or origin. They could be a shop or forge logo. Someone proposed it was the polishers logo. I don’t have enough of them to pin any of them down to a particular smith or area shop.

Registration papers do not typical give assessments on age. I have never seen one that went beyond stating mumei or any extant inscriptions (plus other vitals). I am guessing it is the same for your torokusho, that it simply states Nagamitsu, but please do share a photo.

At first glance , it IS NAGAMITSU . we need more photos to try and put a date on it !

大正？

They will need pictures of the full blade. As detailed as possible

Am I seeing things clearly- have these fish or eels got a split fish like tail ? Eels tails are are not like that of a fish, are not split- at least not Australian eels- long fin and short finned. Roger j

Re Item No. 121 Hi Bruno , Thanks for the style/school info - does this mean that he was an independant artist do you think ? You are quite right - the same kozuka . As you will see , I have used their description as the basis of this post. Hi Thomas , Thanks for your post. I had never heard of Shirouo ( or ice goby, as I found out ) before . This is the beauty of the Forum , there are so many sources of information and experienced , knowledgeable enthusiasts willing to help.... Regards

Stephen, 32.5cm or ~12.75" Regards, Corry

Thank you everyone for your replies. Ill get with my uncle and see about finding a signature or makers mark. It might be a bit as we are in different states. (I was recently visiting when I took the photos) Additionally, I agree with Brian. It seemed to decorative and clean to be used in battle, (or in the field) but my knowledge is very minimal at best so i couldn't exactly refute it. My best guess would be it was acquired around that time and the person who got it came up with that story to make it sound more interesting. Mr. Doffin, thank you for that link. The sword is going to a different uncle then his son. Ill make sure they have this info. Ill call my uncle and see if he is willing to remove the peg that Bruce pointed out and give an update.

No more so than the application the gunto did to the Allies. We weren't there. For the guys that came back with these, many considered them no more valueable than a weed whacker. For us, we see history. We have the Collection Bug. Same goes for the Chinese or any other nationality that has the same perspective as ourselves.

易 (I, eki) written in classical Chinese style. I think it's appearance here is meant as a good luck symbol. It's the "I" in "the book of the I Ching".

As someone who has been trying to get better at this, I think just not knowing the process of kantei is a blocker. I've read Markus' kantei articles as well as try to remember the points in Connoisseurs. But unless you see it applied in practical methodology where someone is describing why or why they didn't take that direction in their bids, I get lost between the information and the practical application. I think mostly since I'm second guessing my knowledge as well as in the end, I dont know where I went wrong. In this past SF sword meeting, there was an exercise to kantei some great swords and it was clearly laid out what the expectations were from each school. I thought that was amazing. As a participant, I was able to concentrate on what I wanted to look at (specifically where I felt I knew what I was looking at based on my current knowledge). Got a D (2/5 right)! I had never been so happy in getting a D in my life! At any rate, if you join the NCJSC, there's a monthly zoom kantei meeting. Although I failed miserably, 1/3 points right, I gained so much more in the walking through of the thought process and what I should be looking at for the next time. Just my two cents.

@Stegel made that chart up back in April 2020. Generals Tassels, Page 2

I agree it is 1941. So far, all Mantetsu's made in 1941 are engraved as 昭和辛巳春. The reverse side is marked as 興亜一心　満鐵作之.

Ok, I see what you mean (and as Geoff said, they are 10-petal sakura, or cherry blossoms). Steve or Stegel will have to give the definitive answer, but I can see that the top on, with yellow, was made by the mystery "Ichi" company (possibly Kobe Shoten) and the bottom 2 are Suya Shoten and Iijima Co. It's likely to simply be a difference in shop preference. But I'm purely guessing.

I'm a bit along the same line as Mr. Ian Brooks. Many of the younger members here are of the era of $500 or $600 Type 95 swords, or what the prices are now at present. As long as I can remember, I've had an interest in Japanese swords, and would always take a look at any that I may happen to see at antique stores, Pawn Shops, Flea Markets, Etc.. For some reason however, I could never generate enough interest in the Type 95 to purchase one, even when the prices 40+ years ago were $50 or so. Although, I was tempted once to buy a copper handled one for $125, but quite foolishly didn't... Finally, after all these years, I entered a small antiques shop and found the 95 pictured below, and knew I wasn't going to leave without it, although it was considerably more than $50... Dave M.

There is zero chance of ever finding who owned it or returning it. Just make sure your family takes care of it. Potentially a good sword. Fittings are good too. Someone will advise you how to remove the tsuka and see if there's a signature. As for the story of how it was acquired, I suspect the story changed over time, no offense. This is not the sort of sword anyone in WW2 would have been carrying in battle in those fittings. Maybe acquired after the war or in Japan. It's a nice sword and better than most wartime ones would have been.

The blade says: 上野守菅原助包 Kōzuke-no-kami Sugawara Sukekane The saya says the same thing minus the surname (kind of clan name, I think) of Sugawara. Writing it on the saya is just one way of keeping track of your collection without having to unsheath it and then re-sheath it every time you want to remember the name on the item. Assume the shirasaya was made sometime in the last 50 years. (It could be older, but...its not really super important how old the shirasaya is, unless the item is an heirloom sword with sayagaki from some renowned scholar).

Finally some good news from Japan! The two blades (a Katana and a Wakizashi/Sun Nobi Tanto) that I had in for Shinsa since June have both passed for Hozon. I have to get some restoration work done on the koshirae of one of them, and also have to get a shirasaya made as it does not have one. So it will probably be a few more months before I actually have them in hand. I don't have a full report on the details of the Shinsa. I only know that they have passed at this time. I suppose that it will take another month or two before the Origami are actually produced. I have never gone through this process before, and really had no idea how long things take to happen. I will be curious to see the results for the Katana especially as it had two sets of older kicho papers. It was judged as Fujishima the first time and judged as Shitahara the second time.

> Just so that the "experts" don't laugh at you for having green papers. It's because the papers are (a) disavowed (b) were not intended at the time of their writing to be as strict as current papers (c) purposefully abused to take advantage of collectors to the point that people went to prison. Being part of flushing the rest of the green papers out of the system, so they are not lying there as traps and time bombs to future collectors, is a good thing. Unless of course someone depends on a class of disavowed, exaggerated, or purposefully corrupt "authentication papers" to sell one's inventory. Again, none of this is confusing in the Japanese dealer community. The average quality of the papers is considered junk and people do not present items to each other with a green paper with some kind of implication that it has any bearing on what you're looking at. The only places that green papers get pumped heavily as being reliable is in the west. Usually in the context of "wants to sell you something."

I agree with Stephen; for things of value within the US it has to be registered mail from the post office. Beyond what Stephen said, if the package spends a night in a post office it has to be in a safe. And it isn't expensive. I'm about to ship a large tube with 5 swords and some boxed fittings to the east coast. 10 pounds and $20,000 on value will be about $108 with full insurance. Registered can't get lost; as my guy at the PO says, "If you lose registered you lose your job." Grey

Well, one of my best attached. I almost was foolish enough to sell this one during a dry financial period.

thats the problem with fake crap and genuine late war s**t. there just as bad as each other. IMHO evan tho i always avoided late war stuff, i would judge this as fake but what would i know, i could be talking out my ass

Is smith YOSICHIKA?

i once had a complete original koshirae on a 28+" katana and the tsuba was tanto size. It was made that way and originally carried like that. So i think no hard and fast rule, depends on period, school of sword fighting etc

Hi Jarrod, Pretty much every newbie decides he wants to restore his 1st sword; it usually doesn't make sense for a number of reasons. Chances are you'll never be able to recapture the cost of restoration when you decide to sell the sword; gunto are almost always worth less than the cost of polish. Grey

Better not be 1 too many gimei!😉

The owner didn’t give it to Truman, it was a confiscated weapon. Some kiss-ass general presented to Truman. It should go back.

Well this thread makes me sad. Planning to bid what I thought was a kind of obscene amount on something this Friday but if the above auction is any reference it should go for about 100k. Wtf

I'd go gold. I think they will stand out amidst the gun smoke better and increase your chances of your daimyo rewarding you with a larger feoff.