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関正行 - Seki, Masayuki

Gentleman, I just got my copy of Owari To Mikawa No Tanko. Plate #240 is actually my tsuba. The groove in the nakago-ana really clinches the identification. Incredible luck to have blindly purchased a $175 tsuba 25 years ago in Singapore, only to come full circle to its provenance. Thanks so much, one and all for urging me not to take a blow torch to "fix" this tsuba .

The handle is wrapped wrong. Too many red flags here. I think there is a reason the pig is in a poke; I'd stay away unless it is dirt cheap or you can see it in hand. Grey

Thank you Jean If some of you can remember I wanted to do an utsushi of the “Oda Sa tsuba” but after some questions I decided that i can’t do it back then. I have learned a few things and now I will give it a try. So what I have is a blurry picture without much additional information and this texture is unlikely accurate but hopefully will help me to achieve my patination goals. After my Tsuba has some variations in the calligraphy I won’t say it is written by Naomasa. I have a little file work to do but then the patination experiments begin. This one is not so much influenced by my own experiments and maybe more tasteful.

Hi Jake, welcome to the forum. Unfortunately this a bad Chinese fake, which have been ubiquitous on ebay for decades now. http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

To-ken Society of GB monthly newsletter "Programme 81" gives an account of the talk given by Basil Robinson. He reminisces the time as a British army captain he sorted through 1800 surrendered swords in 1945. Mountbatten had access to all of these. "Programme No.37" has a letter from Han Bing Siong describing the sword at Windsor Castle and speculates on the sword Mountbatten returned to Japan. Unfortunately, I cannot lay my hands on these newsletters at the moment, perhaps someone has copies of them? Back in early postwar Britain Mountbatten wrote a memo listing those who were to be presented with swords but noted that they haven't arrived in the UK yet . I'm still searching for this. On the internet somewhere is a film clip of Mountbatten at his home, holding one of the swords surrendered to him, he talks at length on this. I'll look for it when I get time.. A gunto sword with a blade by Yasutsugu is on display at the Commando Training Centre and is presented annually. It is yet another one said to have belonged to Field Marshal Count Terauchi Hisaichi. It's known as the Mountbatten Sword. Quite a few pictures of this sword being presented at that establishment can be googled.

Gentleman, I just got my copy of Owari To Mikawa No Tanko. Plate #240 is actually my tsuba. The groove in the nakago-ana really clinches the identification. Unbelievable. I think it actually speaks well of the commentator that the discussion is on the composition and integration of the large motifs into the hisu-ana and as a connective element of the rim. Rather than the meaning of the motifs, there is discussion of the features of the forging process. Thanks again for your contributions to this thread. I've learned so much.

Hi, A recent purchase from a local auction house. A Heianjo piece unfortunatley almost all of the hira zogan has gone except for some very minute pieces and the karigane on the spokes of what I believe is a 24 spoke wheel, but it would have been very nice when first made. The zogan extends over the mimi but most of this has worn away. The hitsu ana looks to be plugged with lead. Shows the level of work that has gone into produce the inlay. The Buddist symbolism of the piece I think relates to Ashoka? H: 82mm W: 79.5mm Mimi: 5.4mm Seppa dai: 4.50mm (Nakabiku) Nakago-ana: 28mm x 8mm There is a similar piece in the Jameel Centre - http://jameelcentre..../7/10237/10344/20053 but is a chrysanthemum. Noted as 17th century. PS - it's not as bright as it looks in the images.

Does look like a nice zohei-to. From Ohmura's site: John C.

I have had this small Kanayama tsuba for some time, purchased in Singapore before I started collecting tsuba, and subsequently lost during move back to Boston. It has been rediscovered, although I honestly don't know how I acquired it and from whom is was purchased (probably on eBay or an antique shop). I did have an interest in nihonto and Japanese antiques in general at that time. Anyways, it took me a while to notice that there is a well-defined gouge or cut out in an elongated and sharp vertical groove present on the left middle edge of the nakago-ana. I thought it was damage. However, in Eckhard Kremers study "A Kyoto Master and His Workshop," he describes this kind of feature as common to Ko-Sukashi from the same workshop if not the master (see photo below from his study). These gaps were often filled with strips of copper indistinguishable from the sekigane that we often see including those present on my tsuba. Has anyone else encountered this kind of cut out? Who can fill it in with a copper strip? I'm pretty handy with metalwork applied to restoration of vintage electric guitars, but I am not keen on tackling this kind of work.

Hi Colin, Ill wait for the more experienced to answer your translation questions. What I am able to answer, is that these are Hozon papers, not TokuHo The easiest way for me to tell the difference is the top left punched out area. I got this image from this link: http://www.nihontocr...se_sword_papers.html All the best, -Sam

The parenthesis portion says "Den Shimada" attributing this Sukemitsu to the Shimada school. The certificate is a Hozon certificate. These contain some small security features noted in another NMB thread:https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/49197-new-nbthk-origami-security-feature-question/

Thanks Jean C. Yes, I have done this before for some tsuba, but for this one I decided to use a plain white background as the patina of the iron is dark and rich in color. Here is an example I did that was once in my collection.

Guessing that they were done as a quick and shoddy way to tighten up the fit and stop things rattling around, with regards wrong thickness seppa. Though just a guess.

I was taking some better photos of the tsuba this afternoon during today's minivacation, before I was pulled away from the photo editing due to a home emergency. Don't worry, I didn't lose a fish, but sadly I no longer have a home aquarium.

After spending the better part of the last year learning and studying, (and getting a ton of help, advice and insight from members here) I finally figured out what I wanted and acquired my first blade. I had it narrowed down to two schools, with Naoe Shizu being the winner. For my budget, this one stood out in particular for its Soe-hi (I think that's the term) and jigane. It is certainly not flawless, but the polish is decent and what really drew me to it was the period, and sheer physicality of it. TH Naoe Shizu Nagasa 70.3 cm Motohaba 3.1 cm Kasane 6.5-5.6 cm Shinogi .87 cm Weight 785g Despite the typical 70.3 cm and slightly wide 3.1cm motohaba, it feels absolutely massive in hand; like I could split a vehicle in half. That might be a poor thing to judge a blade on, but it sure feels good. I don't have a macro lens so had to do the best I could with a wide angle. Some day I will pick up a Sigma 105 and do this justice. PS: that's not a hagire in the boshi; just struggled with even lighting and didn't notice until I took my setup down Hopefully it is a worthy first acquisition!

Hello, koshirae as i promised... Signature on tsuba is Seiryuken Eiju cca 1780 - 1800. That's all I know. And I really like decoration on saya (beside the fact I like the whole koshirae). Anyone has some idea about the technique?

Steve is this the area you are worried about ? If so I would agree with Jean - it is nothing to worry about and quite acceptable in a guard of this age. There are many much more 'deformed' nakago-ana. Some designs are even distinguished by odd cut nakago-ana like this one.

Steve, if I remember correctly, a similar KANAYAMA TSUBA was discussed here on NMB not very long ago. My recommendation is to leave the TSUBA well alone. It is a precious item that would only loose some of its consideable value if you alter it.

I just wanted to share this quick photo of a new tsuba I picked up for my birthday. I haven't had a chance to photograph it and this photo was taken by the previous owner. The iron feels very nice in hand and design motif a classic one with an interesting variation. I will take some of my own photos later. Feel free to discuss it politely.

Unless you see it (see good pictures of it) out of the box with the tsuka off then look elsewhere. Money is always a keeper, bad or fake swords aren’t.

I think that’s exactly what it is but the blade could be a horror when you take it out the case…….or not🙂

Let me think about that for a while! Not sure yet……….

Also TH number always starts with a '1' while Hozon is '3'. The blade was registered in June 1952, so someone thought enough of it to get the paperwork sorted very early on.

Chandler, Sam, thanks guys. Appreciate your help.

Many thanks, clears up a lot, especially your description on the mei. either way, it's been fun looking into it, makes for the few dollars I payed all those years ago seem worthwhile.

Dear Jake. Some of the indicators are: the flattened shape of the tip/kissaki, the poor shape of the tang/nakago, the mei/signatgure is cut rather than chased. the fittings are low quality, the hilt wrap/tsuka ito all crosses one way. If you want to compare with the real thing to get your eye in then have a look at, say here, https://nihontoart.c...th-3x-certification/ All the best.

David, sorry for your aquarium! Did you try to make TSUBA photos with a dark background? Usually this enhances the contrast.

Yeah, just an amateur attempt at fitting it to the blade.

Not much can be said that you could rely on. However the double habaki would suggest a genuine old blade (and sometimes a sign of something decent) but the kashira is a horrible fake replacement. The fuchi looks genuine but poor condition. The blade could have any number of serious flaws that we cannot see. Its a total gamble but might be worth a shot if it’s really cheap. Good luck. Colin

Here’s some photos.

OUCH! That "Seki" hurts my eyes!!! The Showa stamp was a civil inspection stamp, not arsenal, however the blade was likely showato, though they were usually well made.

I like the look, too. There is a name for the shape, but I don't know it. Thomas, @Kiipu, can give you a fuller picture of the year range, but It's my gut feeling they were mostly produced in the mid-late 1930s when the demand for the traditional style became a reality, turning away from the Western styled sabers (kyugunto). @mecox another one for your Kokura list!

Bruce, Here is another example of the STAR A on late war kai gunto fittings.

Congratulations. Looks like a sword worthy of consideration for a top polish at some point. Regards

and finally the most unusual piece, a highly crafted Tanto (by Hori Toshihide judgement by Han Bing Siong and Ogasawara Nobuo san) in which the soul of a fallen Officer (captian Kubota death in action on 21. sept. 1943) was initiated into the blade and continues to exist there.

here is the well known Kikusui of the Minatogawa shrine forge

I would feel similarily to Kirill that late Muromachi is a plausible time guess. I have been tracking signed items by early generations of Fujishima Tomoshige (Nanbokuchō - Early / early midish Muromachi). I believe I so far have 45 signature references, and only 1 tachi is signed 友重作 Tomoshige saku, and that signature is bit different to my eye .

Unfortunately I cannot find this particular smith in any of the swordsmith indexes. I cannot find a Yasuhiro smith who would sign like this. One thing to consider is also the very long length and lack of curvature. As the sword has been shortened by considerable amount it would likely be 85cm+ in original form. I feel my thought might wander towards kinnōtō, however that is just total speculation and the nakago looks fair bit older than I would think for them. Of course there were some long and straightish katana produced in multiple periods, just that they were bit outside of the norm.

While bit difficult to say from pictures alone, I would think the sword is ubu, original length. To me it just looks like the most logical thing, I would feel it is a Muromachi period sword, I cannot pinpoint mid, late etc as even the experts at NBTHK gave Uda attribution, which in my books puts it to mid-late Muromachi. I think swords are very often stated to be ō-suriage by dealers, however I am having hard time wrapping my head how some of those swords would be ō-suriage. Even though Nobuo Nakahara might have some bit controversial thoughts I like that he points out how ubu vs. ō-suriage should be studied as some are made to look like they were shortened. That however is not problem with your sword. I do think it is an honest sword in original form. Of course I could be wrong and the dealers correct but I would feel this is original shape. No faking or shady business going, I would just feel there was misinformation by dealers.

Looks like a Kokura Arsenal zohei-to. Very nice condition! Conway

Futa-suji-bi Soe-bi (Tsurebi etc.) (The 'h' of hi changes to 'b' in secondary position in compound words.

Pnsshogun, thank you for the article. The sword I have looks very similar to the one displayed in the article. I havent removed the hilt yet to verify but detail around the handle and saya are extremely similar. I’ll post photos over the weekend…

Yes to all of the above.LOL I agree that we may never know what it really is or was but like Alex said it’s an oddball but kinda cool. I didn’t pay a lot for it but they were my original thoughts also. Thank you for your responses. MikeR

That’s awesome. 785g even with the futatsu ji-hi (dual grooves)! I can see why you think it feels powerful in your hands—because it is! It is a great sword, especially as your first. Congratulations.

Steve, after a few fitting changes and modifications, the material can be quite thin and brittle and just breaks off. It has certainly nothing to do with the shape of a blade.

Thanks, gentlemen. I have been traveling, so forgive this delayed reply. We have drawer handles, monkey dolls, and bottle gourds (see below). I suppose that I should not be surprised that these motifs are subject to our attempts at symbolic interpretation since it is precisely characteristic of Kanayama tsuba, especially in the Momoyama and early Edo periods, to be geometric and symmetrical in a manner that defies all attempts to ascribe meaning to them. I have this impulse to find a meaning, but I am also reminded of the Japanese aesthetic principles of this same period such as sabi, wabi, and yuugen and how they are brought to bear to achieve a combined sense of stark power as it manifests in a guard mounted on the sword of a samurai warrior going into battle.