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Step 3. Luckily the holes lined up through the block and the mekugi rings! (You only get one try at that.) Had some spare hours this afternoon, so with one saw and one very rough file I started to shape the outline. From here on, when I get some time, I will use finer files to re-shape, refine and smooth. After that, only the metalwork and the lacquering will remain. This is an exercise to create a decorative object, following in the footsteps of an Edo stock maker. I can even see the filemarks now of the artisan who made the original; they correspond closely to what I have been doing. Some of the angles have even been a constructive lesson! (Most of this I am doing by eye and by feel, although I should probably be more professional, measuring everything precisely.) Photos follow...

I have created an overview of muto- and komiya family for all those who are interested in this lineage. If anyone would like to add something, please feel free to do so. Source: https://www.siroukun...tu.com/artisans.html e Swordsmith of Japan A-Z by M. Sesko Muto family - Komiya family.pdf

平重造（花押）　Hirashige zō (tsukuru).

Step 2. Fingers aching. Thumb bandaged. Enough for one day. Drilling the mekugi holes will be an all-or-nothing excitement.

Thanks both of you. My wife has been quite cooperative, allowing me to use the kitchen/dining table and cover the place in shavings and sawdust. She knows that I’ll vacuum up afterwards. Today she tried to get me to admit I was enjoying the work. It’s kind of compulsive. Gradually the idea of what I have to do forms in my mind and then the body follows through and I lose interest for a few hours in food, the TV and the internet. Yes, I am enjoying it, despite the aching fingers. The photos and updates come naturally too. As to these miniature cannons, the very smallest ones were funky powder testers (火薬試しKayaku-Dameshi) apparently. See photo below. The one I am working with and the one I am copying from are larger and could fire a serious ball. In the West we’d probably call them signal cannons. To be honest I would be interested in finding some definitive material on their original purpose and use. Generally this style of wooden-base cannon is called 置き筒 Okizutsu,a ‘placement gun’ or 火矢筒 Hiyazutsu a ‘flaming bolt gun’.

are there direct flights by JAL from Japan to Poland? I think we have discussed this here in the past. It may be a shipper issue and sometimes using another service other than the Post Office might work but sellers may not like that

….and I bet you’re enjoying every minute of it Piers. I love doing stuff like this. Keeps us sane in a mad world. I’ve never even seen one of these before…how/when were they used? Castle ramparts? Look forward to following this one. Excellent. Colin

Quite agree with Colin, that it would be best to disassemble the kake and sand it right down. Simply re laquering it will probablt have the flower designs show through, which would look even worse. The designs look decidedly European anyway, so no great loss, IMHO. No offence meant Sam! It would look stunning black with the mon in the centre.

Paul Martin has shown how he did the patina on a tsuba made with the help of Izumi sensei (Ford Hallam's teacher) (see video below. As said before, everyday, brush and wipe. I use hard-ish natural hair brushes (pig or plant based) and flannel.

Steve, I would say $200 as a value for estate purposes. I feel you'd be hard pressed to sell this one at a higher price due to its condition. Complete colonial Hannin-level swords sell between $500-$1200 depending on the colonial administration, the quality of the sword's components and condition. The Sonin-level and Chokunin-level swords command higher prices. With these types of swords condition is king. Conway

Here's a follow up to what Bruce showed in Dawson's. I was not able to find one with your cherry blossom and the vine design. There is probably a picture of one out there somewhere. I would imagine these were like Gunto in that the person purchasing could customized them to their preference?

What looks like a nice lacquered box with mother of pearl tsuba. Starting bid 50k JPY. https://page.auction.../auction/k1128295086 Damon

Off-season but surprisingly busy for March. 1. Went to Fukuyama as I mentioned to see the Masamune exhibition. 2. Big tsuba exhibition now on at Osafune Sword Museum, which I want to see. 3. Related to that, at the NBTHK local sword meeting on Saturday we were encouraged to bring along some of our own tsuba, which I did. The sensei went through them all pointing out their salient features. (After years of feeling 'tsuba' ignored, I was pleasantly surprised to garner some positive comments and to learn a little more about my own tsuba too.) Photos may follow... 4. I have a small blade to give to the Togi-Shi but our paths have not yet crossed. 5. Was offered some rare 'objects' which cleaned out my bank account, but for some strange reason I am not crying. 6. The phone rang and a dealer offered me a super deal on a matchlock pistol. I told him my finances right now would not allow it, but he would not take no for an answer, so I may have to stand on the street corner for a month or so to supplement my meagre pension. 7. Our first public full-armo(u)r blackpowder demonstration of Reiwa 6 will be held on the 31st of March at Tsuyama Castle. Will need to drag out the moldy, rusty armour, get some air into it, clean the guns, and otherwise plan ahead for that. (Oh, and I am just starting to create a base for a small cannon.)

Best I have determined signature is Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Kunimichi. I am assuming this is before Kunimichi was give the title Dawa Daijo, but that is a guess. I have ordered books to better research. I am awaiting delivery. Got a little bid happy, and will need to budget for a polish. Wish I could get a little polish and bring it to SHINSA Orlando. https://www.invaluab...n-lot/lot_DC34F7DBDB

There has been some talk recently about restoring iron tsuba and wonder if anyone can tell me what works for them? I am not talking about the removal of red rust. I am interested in what needs to be done after this when the bad rust has been removed, the patina is there but is quite dull and dry. To help develop the sheen on an otherwise dry and lifless, but none the less patina intacted iron tsuba, collectors seem to refer to this as TLC (Tender Loving Care) and apart from lots of hugs and kisses that this title implies, it seems to cover some of the following: -Gentle rubbing with a clean cotton cloth seems to be universally accepted by people. Also carrying the tsuba in a cotton pocket or a cotton pouch as Sasano discusses in his gold book if I recall corrcetly. The pocket techinque is not advisable if the tsuba has any soft metal inserts such as lead plugs or copper sekigane as it will remove old patina which is hard to replace. I wonder, how does rubbing an iron tsuba help develop a sheen? -Rubbing the tsuba with anything other than cotton is not advisable, especially anything synthetic. It is said to make the tsuba look oily. -The application of a little choji oil seems to be encouraged or discouraged depending on who you talk to. What are the pros and cons for both these techniques? -Letting the tsuba hang in a relatively humid place where the air is clean and free from pollutants. What happens to develop a sheen? I assume the tsuba would need to be rubbed occassionly with a dry clean cotton cloth. -A recent techinque that I never heard of before is giving the tsuba some sun. How does sun light develop a sheen? -Handling the tsuba with clean bare hands. I assume that the natural oils form hands will help the sheen. What are other members take on these techniques? Do they work? Do you have any more to add or any other comments to make? Thanks for reading

The Northern California Japanese Sword Club and the NBTHK/American Branch have entered into a a reciprocal membership relationship – If you join the NBTHK/AB now in addition to their great magazine and other member benefits, you will also be enrolled in the NCJSC. You will receive the NCJSC newsletter, have access to our online kantei classes and of course all the other benefits of NCJSC membership. You need only only pay dues once to the NBTHK/AB, and let them know you also want NCJSC membership and your dues will cover both memberships. We encourage all students of the Japanese Sword to consider support of these two fine organizations.

Am I totally off base with this blade? I was looking at Shibata Katsuie's naginata and Hiraoka Yorisuke's katana https://nihonto.com/4-1-23-2/ and noticed similarities with my sword . It is signed "Waka" on the suriage nakago and has remnants of katte sagari yasurimei. The hamon seems to be midare and widens as it approaches the monouchi. Kissaki is chu and boshi is yaki ga fukai (almost ichimai) with slight kaen and hakkikake with a strong kaeri. It has a tight nioiguchi in nie deki. hada is itame. Has yo, tobiyaki, sunagashi, yahazu, hotsure, and tall reaching loops. Would this be way off base?

Congratulations to you and new owner!

A book that I can highly recommend is Cutting Edge, by Victor Harris. The Book deals with 99 blades from the collection of the British Museum, from the Kamakura period to the Meiji era. Apart from giving details of some absolutely beautiful blades, Victor was regarded as a leading authority on the Japanese sword, and in addition, he was also an engineer, so has a very easy way of describing the various techniques, features and traits of the blade. Not as indepth as the Connoisseur's book of Japanese Swords, but easy to read and extremely interesting and informative. Highly recommended. Cutting Edge

I once shipped a tango from the U.S. to a collector in Poland and ran into the same problem. We ended up listing the blade on the customs form as an antique kitchen knife. I could imagine, though, that dealers and shippers in Japan might have an issue relabeling a sword because of export permits and requirements. Perhaps you have a friend in Germany or elsewhere that can be used as a transshipment point? Good luck and please let us know how you work out the issue.

pending

PM sent

No offense taken at all! I'm here for exactly this kind of advice, and ya'll continually help steer me in the right direction After some years of collecting other antiques and collectables, I've learned to keep my rose-colored glasses on the shelf All the best, and thanks again! Cheers, -Sam

Hi Dave, welcome to the NMB forum! To get the best reading/translating support from our side, it would help to post pictures of the NAKAGO - always from right above - tip straight upwards - with light from the side - against a dark background. If you like, please show the full blade also, as we like to see nice swords! Otherwise, have fun with your TANTO!

Doing a great job.

As for the kogatana, 三州住人氏次 - Sanshu junin Ujitsugu

ok ok, I've done my homework :-D There was no Sonoda Tsumoru. That's a translation error. Sonoda Seki (園田積) is correct and that is the father of Komiya Shiro Kunimitsu shodai.

Ah, good on both counts. Thanks for the update! It's a good looking sword, I like it!

That seems to be the consensus. It doesn't seem that re-wrapping the saya would be economically beneficial unless it's just something I decide to do for personal reasons. I'd love to know what my father paid for it. This was out of his wheelhouse as well. I was surprised to find it in his collection. Thanks everyone for your input.

What is the third kanji? The first could also be Taira (a title) so just wondering if his name is Shige something? John C.

I have been working on some tsuba with a couple of perhaps slightly unusual approaches which are non invasive and non destructive. I have been using the kind of thick wool felt that is sometimes found in hardware stores etc. to use under vases, objects d' art etc to prevent them scratching tabletops. The thicker the felt the better, as it is more rigid than thin stuff, though it is still soft enough to conform to different shapes. An advantage of this approach is that this stuff is already backed on one side by double sided tape. I can therefore cut off small portions to temporarily "glue" it to a finger tip or to the tip of a tool like a piece of bone as a rubbing "bob" if I need to work on smaller areas. So far, I have found that gentle rubbing helps very much to get rid of areas of superficial rust without being aggressive enough to cut through it to bare metal- though care is always needed of course. Nothing is applied to the felt tips other than mild "elbow grease" (i.e. gentle effort) and repetition. But more aggressive adherent rust still demands the traditional approach of using bone or ivory "tips" applied selectively to these areas. Another similar method I have begun to try is to use soft upholstery leather for the same kind of purpose. One side of leather is smooth, the other rougher - like suede. Either can be used similarly to the above but of course it might be useful to use a small piece of double sided tape on the side that is not doing the rubbing to help hold the leather onto a finger or to a rubbing "bob". I am yet to decide if the rougher "suede" side is too aggressive or not. I suspect it also depends on the type of leather but I repeat I am using soft furniture grade leather (an offcut given me by a friendly upholsterer). Oh and BTW a larger sheet of the thick felt (about 100mm x 100mm say) is also useful as the tsuba can be placed onto it while working on the other side. The felt is soft enough not to do any damage to the tsuba (e.g by abrading high spots) but "grippy" enough to hold it relatively securely while it is being rubbed. This also keeps one hand more or less free, which is useful.

Re the tassel it is actually brown and blue, it’s just not obvious from the photo. Re the format/wording of the tag, I had the same initial thought re it seemed more like a postal address and I queried it on the site I got the translation from. I was told that this was a format used for surrender tags so it’s still quite possibly a surrender tag.

Sorry Sam, me again. Meant to say you might consider taking it to pieces to do any refinishing. You’d get a far better end result and it would be much easier to do all the rubbing down and prep work. These things often wobble a bit so a quick tap here and there …and hey presto! (Speaking from experience, not theory 🙂) …and don’t use too much glue when you re-assemble it. But I bet you know all that anyway🙂

Ref. miwo: App for AI Kuzushiji Recognition | ROIS-DS Center for Open Data in the Humanities (CODH)

Spot on Sam. Here’s a quick shot of a knackered Meiji hawk stand that I refinished with the black enamel aerosol and gold mon. I also used a clear topcoat of aerosol enamel. Haven’t used the topcoat that Russ mentioned. In addition I used some gold aerosol to give a dusted area here and there….a technique the Japanese used. I’d 100% go for it. I don’t think you will be spoiling anything important (no offence!) ……..quite the opposite.

I don’t disagree with any of the posts here. All seem to be good ideas and well thought out. I haven’t seen a thorough analysis of the metallurgy of utsuri. It would have to be comprehensive because not everything we call utsuri is the same micro structure or at least that’s my opinion. Banite formation is one of the results that we call utsuri. It forms at a different temperature than martensite and can be produced without clay. The heat is introduced at the edge of the blade and is not allowed to spread across the full width before quench. Imagine holding a blade edge against a heated block of steel to transfer heat to the blade. Quench before the heat travels uniformly across the width. The band of banite will appear seperated from the martensite. I have found that not all steels will produce this effect. Low allow and mid to low carbon content works best for me. I haven’t done anything comprehensive in testing many allows so I’m speaking from limited first hand experience. Think about the effect you see on a blade damaged in a fire and then reheat treated. The whitish band between the nakago and the blade which is an indicator of reheat treatment is the same thing as some of the effects we call utsuri. if you want to test this yourselves take a bar of low allow medium to low carbon steel (something like 1045 steel) and heat the tip of one end. Quench and then polish it.

If you decide to go for a colour change, then to finish I would suggest Rustins Plastic Coating. When done carefully it gives an amazing laquer like finish. It is especially good on black. A two part product, that when hardened can be polished and gives a very realistic laquer finish.

From Usagiya. Some good info. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/utsuri.html

At least the seller has nice photos

When you find a naked barrel. Tempted to either a) copy the real base of another cannon... or b) just make it like other simpler ones I've seen.(?) a) Preliminary no-brainer idea: b) One I made several years ago.

Mark S. That tsuba would fit in well with another thread dealing with tsuba designs on tsuba or other tosogu - I can't track that thread down as yet, maybe some one will remember where it is?

Was needing some cash so I sold a Kishū Wakayama long gun about two weeks ago. Then on Friday someone offers me a Sendai long gun. Well, I’ve been looking for a Sendai gun for many a long year. It was expensive, more than I got for the Kishū, but there are times when a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do…

Here you can just see the tents where artefacts are sorted. From partway up the shrine steps.

Now for me perhaps the most difficult drilling job. The collar should also take water from the strings but disperse it externally. You drill the collar inwards and upwards from the outer edges. Then you drill downwards from either side of the spout, and hope to create a connecting string passage. Also, hope the collar holes line up with the string holes in the cap! In this example the collar passage must have been relatively easier than the one I am now in process of making. So the cap takes three drilling operations. The bridge and collar take one main hole for the spout and four drills into the shoulders. Ideally you would also drill a ninth and tenth hole, into the pin heads. Yesterday I broke a pin after hours of work… grrrr… With this fully-evolved stringing mechanism, each workshop would have had a slightly different method and style, but all of these were made by hand.

Exellent Swords from the last Exibition of Gassan Sadatoshi. https://www.youtube..../watch?v=Q94RdAdX5EA Tom

Georg, I also thank you for sharing your journey with us. I have found it both educational and stimulating to follow your pilgrimage. I tend to ignore individuals when they are bound to negativity for whatever reasons. It states to your character that you spent the time to acknowledge some of that negativity in a very positive manner. Well Done. I am in utter amazement that you found the blade and then, as a novice, had the patience of an experienced Nihonto collector in your search for the knowledge needed to proceed. Also, congratulations, you are now the proud caretaker of a most extraordinary sword. Warm Regards,

The blade is so full of life and well polished that actually you don't even need special light nor a good camera since the details are visible anyway. Attached are a few pictures I did only with daylight and my mobile phone. Depending on the angle in which you hold it to the camera you can see different details of the blade. Additionally these made visible a detail which the togishi choose to do - to remove absolutely as minimal material as possible and rather leave a very few rust pits and chips rather than to take away too much material, yet the result is fantastic. The three hi are fantastic and satisfying to look at. Especially for me since I absolutely love them for being perfectly parallel and mirrored on both sides of the blade. Notice the blade cross section changes to diamond shape in front of the hi just to go back to wedge shape (oh year, I know I'm using the wrong terms!) towards the tip.

My advice would be not to confine yourself to age. Everyone wants a Koto. But you can find some excellent Shinto/Shinshinto, and even Gendaito can make an excellent entry point into Nihonto. Rather a great Gendaito than some poor kazu-uchimono Koto. It's about the quality. Some collect for age, the older the better. But I suspect that really only applies to good/excellent smiths. The average smith was no better than a good Shinto smith. Don't exclude the newer swords from your searching. You may be surprised.

Henry, Not sure what style of brush you are looking for, but Comokin sells a horsehair brush. see photo. I don't think "horse hair" is necessarily required. They use horse hair due to it being a thick, coarse bristle. A synthetic bristle will work but most don't last when used on metal, they tend to fray at the ends. You need a brush with off set monofilament bristles as it will not fray. It is very difficult to find these. Horse hair http://www.amazon.com/Large-Professional-Boot-Shine-Brush/dp/B00CQAYK3A/ref=sr_1_39?ie=UTF8&qid=1383222339&sr=8-39&keywords=finger+brush Boar Bristles http://www.amazon.com/Brush-Strokes-Military-Style-Bristle/dp/B0041TBQUO/ref=sr_1_64?ie=UTF8&qid=1383222901&sr=8-64&keywords=boar+hair+brush Synthetic brush which works pretty well. I like the round edges. http://www.amazon.com/Sona-Pedicure-Manicure-Scrubbing-Handle/dp/B003ASXROU/ref=sr_1_62?ie=UTF8&qid=1383222781&sr=8-62&keywords=Hand+Brush+With+Handle

Hello everyone, I'm opening this topic as recently I hit the wall when trying to purchase a sword directly from Japan. Order was placed outside of this forum, on Ebay. What I heard as reply from seller was a big surprise. It also doesn't make sense if you ask me. Therefore, I want to check with forum users (especially located in Japan) about absurd reply I received from seller. Apparently real/live swords (I'm talking here about any type of Nihonto, historic or modern, aluminum Iaito is excluded) CAN NOT be send to Poland (EU). For my question why I received info that it is because of the war in Ukraine. Sword is treated in Japan as a weapon, and it is forbidden to send weapons (of any sort, so it is more like red-tape problem, not that Japanese think that we will fight with swords here) to the countries that have border with country in conflict. Is that really true? Both, ban on sending swords to Poland and reasoning behind it. Please advise and thank you very much for your help.