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Just wanted to share some photos of my new tsuba stand that arrived yesterday. It is the black cradle version. I purchased it from Darren Harvey from the UK for my birthday. I have not tried all my tsuba on it, but I really like the stand. It is great for showing the iron bones of my Owari Sukashi tsuba. Feel free to discuss it politely. Thank you.

George, let us just say that, as a Bizen collector, I am very familiar with that Munetada blade and the full story behind it. Both Darcy and Ted are good friends of mine, as well as to some extent Tanobe sensei. I cannot comment on this blade as it is not mine. All I can say is that I am very glad that the blade was restored very nicely eventually (beyond recognition) and it found a very good home. In Tanobe sensei’s own words it should easily reach Juyo status…. On some of the points above: using an optical analogy, one needs a complex evaluation process entailing a perspective on own acquisition / collecting objectives viewed through the financial-ability lens with a risk/reward filter against a background of what is available in the market. The risk/rewards filter is for fine-tuning what one is comfortable with. Personally, I have no issues with a shorter blade and prefer to sacrifice length but gain quality. Hence, I sometimes acquire kodachi. Shorter katana/tachi blades are often underpriced and undervalued. Again, the filter is important as is the objective. If one aims for a TokuJu level, then more often than not, one should not sacrifice length (unless we speak of tanto or very rare-smith zaimei kodachi). But if one is content with “only” Juyo and, importantly, understands what one is buying, then length is a subsidiary issue. in relation to your question about what else is available. At the 2022 DTI I bought a blade from a good friend, a Japanese dealer. There was another superb Bizen blade which ended up in the US. He at the 2022 show had a very nice Awataguchi, which also ended up in the US. That blade was well into six figures. From memory, Kusanaginosya had an Awataguchi in the last 6-9 months. At the moment also Sato san (Katananokura) has one but that is in the $115-120k ballpark I seem to remember. And so on…. Do not rush. Take your time. Research. It took me 8 years to find / be able to afford / buy a Muramasa and then finally I got two. Eventually, sold them and moved on to something else.

Bruce: You mentioned that most of the numbered blades were from RJT smiths. There is an interesting excerpt from one of Omhura-san's notes about the stamped numbers. "Major Oto, who supervised the production of military swords as the manager of the Nagoya Army Arsenal Sekibu Factory, described the blades made by swordsmiths in accordance with the official standards as "Army-style modern forging swords" in his memoirs. It is possible that this "formal modern forged sword" was the official name of the military.　The sword blade stems delivered to this armory are: (1) Those with only a "star" mark that has passed the Army Material Inspection (2) A "star" and a number stamp on the stem butt (3) A "star" and an inspection mark on the stem building (4) There are various types such as those with a "star" and a small "sekiin". Items made before the designation of a swordsmith or items sold directly without delivery to the armory due to special circumstances even during the period of swordsmithing will not be marked with these inspection seals, number stamps, etc. A sword that does not have the date of manufacture cut on the back of the stem is not a sword that has been once delivered to the armory, even if it is a standard sword of the swordsmith. In addition, "non-standard swords" that greatly deviated from the tolerance range of the dimensional standards indicated by the specifications and drawings, such as being important, deeply warped, or too heavy, were not delivered to the armory, but were sold directly to sword dealers and officers. Of course, these are not stamped with stars or numbers." John C.

Hello again from a cold and damp UK. If any of you out there are in any of the “heat zones” I hope you are safe and OK. I’m not really sure why this one appealed to me but I was intrigued by the rather “brutal” appearance of this large (armourers?) katana tsuba which I think could be from the Tembo school? There are incomplete traces of hot stamps amongst the other heavily impressed elements. Any views or comments? What age? What do the irregular deep impressions represent? Many thanks and all the best. Colin

While looking for the "grape" type tsuba, I recently found and bought these 2 types tusba (these types were already posted here. by another member)

Not sure about it, but it looks like former inlays have fallen out - or never set in... Best, Florian

Gunma Imai Kanetsugu March Showa 17

This might be your smith, signature looks similar https://ginza.choshu...010/04_yasutsune.htm Satsuma, Horeki era mid-edo Shinto. Wazamono

Hello all, Two of our own, master kacchushi Andy Mancabelli (Miura Anjin), and kacchushi/tepposhi Arthur Goetz both recently appeared in a budo (Japanese martial arts) magazine. The link is directly to Arthur’s interview, and right after it is the piece by TV personality/influencer Ms. Jess Gerrity on her trip to Andy’s armor café. Café/galleries are all the rage right now in the fine arts world, I’ve been to a few myself. I think Andy’s café is the only one of its type in the world. Well done fellows! Scroll back for some if the budo co tent if that’s your thing, too. https://simplebookle...hc4YUVW0rakE#page=60 Chris

I'll be doing some follow-up articles in the future. Next one will be talking more about my armor work. The interview ended up being way too long on my part, so we're breaking it up into two articles. I'm excited, I have a lot of ideas for future articles with them. I was asked to become a regular, so I think I might go for it!

Good evening Colin, Fully understand your attraction to that tempo school tsuba. Beautifully yakite finish (heat treatment). Very forceful appearance and very nice “stamp” work. No idea what impression the artist wanted to install in our minds as onlookers or the age - but I believe I can see both the head of a dragon and some clouds 😜👍 All the best Soren

Hello everyone, I wanted to show you this tsuba I found. It's probably an iron civilian gunto tsuba. But unfortunately I have no further information about it. Perhaps one of you can tell me more.

Hello everyone. The Ko-uda and Shinsa specialists will surely be able to help me. I have several blades to send to NBTHK shinsa. In addition to these blades I hesitate to send a ko-uda Kunifusa to pass tokubetsu hozon, a very seine and ubu blade. Most Kunifusa I've seen are at least tokubetsu. The big question is, does it have a chance of passing the next level, and is it worth the risk? As I'm not at home for the vacations, I don't have many pictures, so I'll post some more soon if you'd like. Sincerely Max Nagasa: 65cm Sori: 2cm Motogasane: 6,8mm

Thanks for all the comments and help of you guys. Unfortunately most of the experts I‘d like to hear didn‘t response, but I guess there‘s nothing wrong. Cheers Markus

I think it is bit complicated subject and varying views can be objective. For me the question is how much value you think it would add to you personally to have a Tokubetsu Hozon for the sword? Uda Kunifusa is a premier attribution as far as Uda smiths go, as he is seen among the top of the school. Whole another subject would be the quite common Ko-Uda attribution vs. the actual small number of known Ko-Uda smiths in comparison. However I think we have discussed about how to approach some common attributions, I know Darcy wrote some good posts on that subject. Based on the few pictures I would think your sword looks quite nice and should pass Tokubetsu Hozon. I personally thought it as suriage mumei sword. I would not send it for higher paper due to relatively high cost on sending an item from Europe to Japan for shinsa (Just to note I have never sent an item to a shinsa so I might not be the best source of advice in that). I know my views on some things might be slightly radical but I see the value of the sword being about the same Hozon vs. Tokubetsu Hozon. I wouldn't stress too much on paper level, unless aiming for Jūyō as then Tokubetsu Hozon is mandatory. I briefly discussed papers with Japanese dealer this summer, and the gap from Hozon to Tokubetsu Hozon is actually quite small, and then the jump to Jūyō is actually very large. There have also been several blades at dealer sites in Japan that dealers have upgraded from Hozon to Tokubetsu Hozon with 0 change in asking price. I think valuation is very tricky process... I bought a Jūyō 67 book this summer and mumei Uda Kunifusa katana passed in that session that I didn't think too highly when it was for sale online with Tokubetsu Hozon for relatively ok price. Now at Jūyō it's value would be drastically higher even though most likely nothing changed with the sword... I do think Uda Kunifusa makes fine work, this summer I saw the Jūyō Bijutsuhin (dated 1405 )tanto by him at museum in Japan, and previously I have seen in hand a very nice signed tanto in Europe. I think his style is finer and more refined than what is "common" Uda style. There is one signed Uda Kunifusa katana that is from Jūyō 22, it is 67,1 cm with ubu nakago that is machi-okuri. However as I read the text I believe that katana would be possibly Muromachi work. For tachi by Uda Kunifusa that are from Nanbokuchō to early Muromachi, I have so far recorded 11 tachi, 9 of which are signed. The 2 mumei tachi are ubu and 78,6 cm and 79,4 cm in length. Out of the signed tachi only 70,5 cm Jūbi and 88,3 cm one are ubu.

The word for grape in Japanese (budō) is a homonym for "way of the warrior" (武道 - also budō). I don't know if that is why this motif was selected for inclusion on military mounts, but it feels like an obvious connection.

Hi Jeremy, that is also my non expert opinion!🙂. I know it isn’t an important or valuable tsuba but I find it interesting and a bit different. I still can’t find a similar combination of “hot stamps” and those deeply impressed designs. Thanks for looking. All the best. Colin. PS perhaps @Spartancrest can put us out of our misery? (Sorry Dale)

Hamish, did you win the auction ? I could be interested in the tsuba 😊

I like the TSUBA a lot!

By the way, the helmet and mempo are very recent manufacture.

Bruce: I have not seen a Nozawa Masanao. Maybe the "Nozawa" is an error of some type?? The one I have making Takayama-to is: Masanao, Ishihara (正直 石原) MAS 662 (1963) He appears to have worked mostly at Takayama forge and was active in production of numerous stainless steel kaigunto; most have an anchor/circle stamp. Not clear if he is related to Ishihara Kanenao; there is also a togishi Ishihara Takamitsu. Masanao is not in the Seki tosho list. There is a post-war Masanao. Sesko has these two: “Masanao” (正直), Aomori, family name Takahashi (高橋), rikugun jumei-tōshō Masanao (正直), Gifu – “Minamoto Masanao kore o saku” (源正直作之), real name Tanaka Katsuo (田中勝郎), born 1943, son of Tanaka Kanehide (兼秀). NOTE TYPO ERROR: Tanaka Katsuo (田中勝郎) this should be NAKATA KATSURO 中田 勝郎 who was born in 1943 and is the son of NAKATA KANEHIDE who is listed as a RJT and shown in Slough p 41-42. There is a Nozawa: YASUYUKI (康行), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yasuyuki” (康行), real name Nozawa Yoshiyasu (野沢美安). The sword listed by Thomas: A Takayama sword with a stamped number of 225 [シリアル№225の刻印] on the nakago. Swordsmith 刀匠: Ishihara Masanao 石原正直. Polisher 研師: Ōya Michio 大矢道雄. Looks to be a typical earlier Takayama-to with artificial suguha hamon, short thick kissaki and scalloped edge habaki.

If you are at all allergic to poison ivy, working with urushi will be a big mistake. If all you want is a black lacquered saya, cashew lacquer will do just fine. It is really aromatic and should be done outside, but you can add dried urushi granules for an ishime finish or polish it for a high gloss. It dries very quickly and makes a very hard finish. There are premixed shitogi undercoats as well. Many other colors are available.

Thank you Michael, I will take your advice.

Mid-Edo period Hoei-Genroku Some references https://www.e-sword....katana/1810-1063.htm https://www.toukenko...&katana_A020623.html

I had the same thought. "Back in the day" people didn't really even care. I'm amazed at some of the things I've seen. The hilt fittings are all number matched, so it's a shame that the original scabbard was lost. Now if only it was an EMURA blade with one of the fancy Gunome Midare temper lines. I got out the 16X magnifier, but I can't see much of any activity in the hamon.

Hi Grev. Bizen no kuni Osafune ju Kawachi no Kami Sukesada saku? Compare here, https://www.aoijapan...wachi-kami-sukesada/ So not a WWII arsenal blade I would think. No guarantee of it being shoshin. All the best.

Not an arsenal blade! Something quite old. Likely the 1600s.

Finally online our article on the Japan Art Expo 2023: http://www.intk-toke...an-art-expo-2023-nl/ These have been two very intense days, full of meetings, study opportunities and, of course, purchases! We hope that with this year we have built the foundations for greater sharing not only between simple enthusiasts, but also at association level. Thanks again to everyone.

Michael, you might remember a blade posted on this forum by an older gentleman whom went by the handle of The Virginian. His name was George if I remember. His blade was a captured WW2 bring back from his father that turned out to be an Ichimonji Munetada. Verified courtesy of Darcy whom extended his kindness along with Ted and carried the sword to Japan to authenticate it. The blade did have some issues and he hesitated to have it polished due to issues. I messaged him a substantial cash offer which others according to Him did as well. He declined my offer at that time which means he must have declined offers as high as $30,000. There were just too many uncertainties on that blade as valuable as the blade was. The cost of restoring the blade plus the cost of the best polisher in Japan plus papers and the wait and hassle would have put it to much higher price for it which would have been a large gamble. Sometimes an already papered blade is the way to go in certain circumstances

I think that Steve’s reading is almost perfect. I only corrected 2 or 3 hentaigana here. I also agree that 新井幸男 (ARAI Yukio/Sachio) might be the recipient of the flag. 新らしく築く東亜の建設 井つかはめざむ▢▢▢ 幸ひ君の御召り事 (I am not sure about the last two characters.) 男らしく進め國の為 君の武運を祈るらん 玉瑛 – Gyokuei (The art name of the person who wrote the message.) The characters on the left part of the seal are also 玉瑛 in Tensho style.

The war diary has the name of ISHIDA Katsutoshi on it.

It would probably be a good idea to at least see the blade in person if possible or at least get closer up photos and videos of the deki and jiba before pulling the trigger That being said I'd agree with Michael in that Juyo 65 was a solid strict session so you know that the quality is there. The shorter length may have influenced the pricing, that being said the Eirakudo blade is similar in length (65cm) but is more expensive. https://eirakudo.sho...katana/detail/602361 Jealous! 👍

If this blade were going to go TokuJu, I think it would be there already. Part of the reason it is not there (and the price is what it is) in my humble opinion is the length. That doesn’t mean it’s not wonderful. Just know what you’re buying.

Its a possibility. I don't know for sure. Actually, I can't even read the other name very clearly. I have taken a small guess that it says Inoue Sadao (井上貞雄), but I can't read the last character clearly. Could be part of a name, or it could be something else.

Well, that‘s all. Hope you like them.

More

Guys, here are more pictures. Hope it‘s good for you this way😄

The papered says in brackets below no signature (mumei 無銘): Uda Kunifusa (宇多國房) it does not say Ko-Uda (古宇多). The sentence afterwards talks about the end of the Nanbochokô Period: (Jidai 時代) Nanbochukô-makki 南北朝末期), (naishi 乃至) (means "to about") the (Ôei 応永) era. The sentences in brackets are offering who they think made the sword and the approximate time period it was made. I hope this is helpful. I like Uda and Ko-Uda swords. If it were my sword, I would plan to keep it and try for the Tokubetsu Hozon paper from the NBTHK.

I'm also intrigued by the possibility that there is a significance in the large letters that make up the first character of each line in the message. 新井幸男君. It could be that these spell out a person's name (ARAI Yukio). This could actually be the name of the intended recipient, and Inoue Sadao could have been the guy who presented the flag.

Yes Hamfish the same sort of "instant ageing solution" is in this thread - https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/45720-fake-armourers-tsubas-in-Japan/ about half way down the page - see Simons post Posted Wednesday at 12:11 AM

Ooops Sorry

I have these in my repair bin. I have to check with one person who I may owe one but you can email me if anything might help you nixe@bright.net mark

Yep, I'm a purist. I collect many items, Guns, Swords, Coins, Vases, Woodblock, Watches, Cars, etc. If I collect it, it's been knocked off by the masses. In most cases , rarer just means better knockoffs. I can empathize, but that's the poison we swallow.

Here's another one.

Bruce, I think you can add these to Showa period civilian mounted military fittings. A complete set of pine tree branch motif fittings on a December 1943 HIROMITSU blade.

After a long time search i could complete my fittings of a civillian koshirae.

That's quite interesting Peter! After seeing the other example you found, it appears to be a private/civilian version with hints of IJA qualities, so made for a civilian blade that is being converted to WWII use. I've seen island swords with really poor attemts to replicate the IJA tsuba, but this is not what we're seeing here. They are not trying to "copy" the IJA tsuba, but simply add hints/flavors of it into the private tsuba. The fact that you show 2 examples could mean they both came from the same shop, but they arent' identical so it opens the idea up that more than 1 shop was making these. I'd like to see more examples if they can be found. (I'm adding the other one just in case the website page ever goes inactive)

Geeezzz, how did we not see this in F&G page 270. From an original sword advertisement. Note long knotted sarute on Kai Gunto. Probably sold loose to tie in a tassel .

...as well as shodai Tadayoshi This type of katakiriba zukuri became popular from the start of the Shinto period, but is rarely found in later times. Eric