Leaderboard

I think the two holes are where two Yoshiro 'Mon' may have fallen out - even melted out if indeed the tsuba was in a fire but then the ategane would have been gone too? The size is consistent - these examples are Outer diameter 1.7cm Thickness 0.4cm but could vary slightly. The design on the guard looks to be a string of old coins not 'mon' [I believe we have seen another tsuba very much like Paris' example but I can't put my hands on it yet.] It could have looked like this [I think very attractive?] Check this Marcus Sesko thread https://markussesko....invincibility-tsuba/

I know we all like the romantic idea that swords were all owned by samurai, but the truth is that the vast majority were likely owned by merchants and others, unrelated to the samurai. Doesn't change the desirability of these swords in my books.

Dealer is saying if the bohi was Atobori it would not get Juyo. Personally I don't think this is correct if the blade is from a master smith and in otherwise excellent health. This particlar blade is papered to Norishige. All the evidence suggests it was a later carving possibly when it was shortened for aestheric or balance reasons. I cannot understand any instance whereby the bohi would end so cleanly at the hamachi if it was original. The literature also says horimono was rare for Norishige.

Here is a Showa era example on a katana from the smith Nagamitsu. It was likely a very special order. It is signed Bi zen (no) kuni ju nin ichi hara Naga Mitsu Kore tsukuru . It is undated. There are dragons on both sides set in lozenges as well as bohi. One dragon chases a fireball while the other clutches a sacred jewel. This item was brought back by my Uncle Ed from Japan. He was part of a team confiscating weapons after WW2. These are his pictures taken outside on his porch in 1996. Cheers, William G.

Looks copper to me with some verdigris forming?

Wooden? Are you certain? Sure don't look wooden in the image. Regards

Dear Paris. You may have somewhat missed the point. Finding tsuba labelled as tachi tsuba is not hard but for various reasons these descriptions are not always accurate. Example 1 Clearly the design works the way it is displayed, ie for a katana, so more properly described as tachi shaped. Example 2 Never described as a tachi tsuba, and for good reason. The hitsu ana are clearly original to the design so this would be for a handachi koshirae. Example 3 A recent tsuba of tachi form, most likely for handachi koshirae. Once again more properly described as tachi shaped, Example 4 The most interesting because it is made by tachikanagushi and the question is was it made as it is now or were the ryo hitsu added at a later date. (This site is worth visiting often if you want to learn about tsuba.) Worth noting that tachikanagushi is a group of makers most of whose output comes from the Muromachi period. You may find this thread interesting. All the best.

So far I have found 6 tachi by Norishige and only 1 of them has hi. This is Jūyō Bunkazai that is owned by Agency for Cultural Affairs. Then for comparison so far I have documented 74 suriage katana that are attributed to Norishige and 43 of them have hi. Unfortunately I cannot dig deep into the reasons why it is like this as it is beyond my expertise. However data on items would suggest that hi on Norishige tachi is quite rare thing, while it is actually quite common on suriage katana attributed towards Norishige.

Hey Ghoul (George), I finally found pictures of those tsuba that are attached to my daisho (man, I didn't even know I had those on my computer!) Anyway, just some interesting stuff I thought I would add here since I couldn't edit my previous post and add the pictures.

35, feels crazy that after being in the hobby for ages I am still in "youngish" group.

Definitely Yoshiaki.

Because TACHI are carried edge downwards.

Hello George i think it’s worth remembering that a great many Samurai were “poor”. Being a Samurai did not equate to immediate wealth….often quite the opposite. The fine koshirae and armours that we see in films/exhibitions/books etc were in reality owned and worn by the very small minority of those that enjoyed a high rank and/or considerable wealth. It follows therefore that many koshirae, in fact the vast majority, appear to be of modest quality sometimes assembled from a variety of mis-matched pieces. Also even a nice set of fittings (especially iron) can look pretty ordinary if neglected in a shed for more than 100 years. ….and these menuki are metal, most likely copper-as others have already said.

There is also a sword club in Southern California that meets once a month in Gardena. Mike Yamasaki is usually the lecturer. The sword club's information is on Facebook: Nanka Token Kai. https://www.facebook...m/NankaTokenKaiSoCal

One of my HEIANJO TSUBA:

Not HIGO, but HEIANJO style.

Great show! Highlights for me were the Nanbokucho bizen presentation by the NBTHK. 2 TokuJu and 10 Juyo blades available for study. Other highlights included being able to study a Shintogo Kunimitsu tanto, various ichimonji blades, and an incredibly healthy Nakajima Rai. It was great to see fellow NMB members as well and put faces to names and grab lunch and dinner with a few of you.

I was optimistic about young collectors but now that's gone out the Window. I'm only talking UK here but sure more and more countries around the globe will zoom in on the subject. With what's going on in the UK at the moment and government shouting loud about knives and stop and search etc etc, its doomed. EMS now return blades back to sender in Japan that are on route to UK Anyways, don't want turn this into another Brit debate but its how i feel about younger collectors prospects of being involved and actually owning swords. Us older ones will hang on to what we have, then send to auction or pass stuff on to our kids should they want it. Understandably, they might decline.

Sunday bargain day today! Tsubas with boxes for $25 - great price for my sons collection. This weekend I was able to pickup a kabuto with menpo and box/stand for a song. Also a nice sculpted antique drawer box. The one i came back for today was a Kinmichi wakizashi - hozon papered with a Sunday discount. The show was awesome for Hizen collectors. Gordon Robson, Roger Robertshaw and Mike Yamasaki were literally within arms reach. Lots of papered Nidai Tadahiro at bargain prices.

Yes, I agree many Koto blades are atobori. Here is my example of a late Koto blade that was not atobori. This sword of mine is o-suriage but the bo-hi I think were original to the sword before it was shortened.

Even if a blade is ubu, it is no guarantee that the Hi was added later. Ato = after, later, Hori = carving. What is more important is the overall concept: is the swordsmith/school known for horimono? If so, are the Horimono/Hi similar in concept and execution with different blades from the smith/school? Then you can have some certainty. With certain swordsmiths I would be rather suspicious if the blade has a Hi, especially in the Shinto period. Many koto blades have hi that are atobori. I wouldn't pay too much attention to that.

Hey again Dan, I really do like those tsuba! Thanks for sharing

Indeed Dale has shared and helped me already a few times. Much appreciated it. Kind regards

75-77cm Nagasa from Shinto/Koto is hard to find, maybe Shinshinto or newer. If you like Yamato, you can also look for Monju, Mihara or Naminohara school.

https://nihonto.com....th-nthk-certificate/ https://collections.mfa.org/objects/11430 https://japaneseswor...25/tachi-tsuba-1800s https://stcroixblade...rd-kodogu-collectio/ https://tsubakansho.com/tag/tachi/ http://www.ricecrack...tachi_kiyomitsu.html The "originals" (Tachi tsuba) indeed I agree Geraint but I suppose many have been altered to be used on other swords? But indeed that is a long shot I suppose. I will edit my pics of this Tsuba and turn them up before Jean sees it. Old Tachi Tsuba normaly have no kozuka and kogai. I read the interesting question hereunder. Kind regards, Paris

Aha a fake?

Don't know if your friend will need some points to bring to the seller, but just a few: The stamps are wrong. It has the logo of 2 different sword shops - Suya shoten and "Gifu". NCO swords were made by a single shop, not 2 The stamps would indicate the sword was made for the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal, but the serial number is upside down if that were true. Only blades made for the Nagoya Arsenal were stamped to be read with the cutting edge up. The bohi, or fuller groove starts too far down the blade. None of the shops, nor arsenals, made blades with a bohi like that. It should be very close to the habaki (brass collar). Edit: "tsuba" (thanks Russ!) Those are some blatantly obvious errors. There are more subtle errors that are harder to describe, but the 3 above are conclusive that this was a fake.

I had a problem with a crack that opened up and started to grow on a Shirasaya, it was getting bigger all the time. I think it's due to low humidity. The (admittedly very archaic) solution I found was to wrap a thin, rigid elastic band around the habaki, tightening it as much as possible and making several turns, so as to close the beginning of the crack. Since then, the crack has not widened. Emergency solution.

I tried the whetting seam method to close up a shirasaya split but didn't work in my case, but glad to hear it worked for you. I would make sure the saya is completely dry before you store the blade in it. Any condensation could cause corrosion to start.

A good story makes the Tsuba much more interesting.

Well, Brian is not entirely wrong, even when it comes to long blades. It may be that the vast majority of merchants were not allowed to carry long swords. But they did own them. Some important merchants were sword enthusiasts and owned extensive collections of first-class swords.

....at least the shorter ones, but probably not the long blades like KATANA and TACHI.

Hi guys, I woke up this morning and immediately knew how I could settle this - I have a pinpointer for metal detecting downstairs... Turns out I was wrong! The menuki are indeed metal, and I have learnt something yet again 😄 Thanks for helping correct my assumption and broadening my understanding of the materials they can be made of. Does anyone else have examples of humble koshirae they can show me so I can compare with my own?

Wow, thanks Dale, much appreciated! Kind regards.

Yes my friend! Imagine the things that daisho has seen! Too cool! Unfortunately, my daisho is in Arizona. Right now I am in Wyoming! Maybe one day I will take a picture of the other side of the daisho katana showing the wood shavings placed in the ito when I get back to Arizona. But hell, I probably will never remember to do that! Anyway, some interesting stuff. The "vibes" I get from a few of my tsuba (and this daisho) is just something I attribute to the messages from the Universe! I know, too weird!! Onward!

In 33 years of collecting have never seen or even heard of wooden menuki. But when it comes to things nihonto that doesn't necessarily mean anything as almost always there are exceptions. If I had to "guess" I would say that these are copper based. Going a step further .... I'd even say these menuki might be from the Nara school. As for a non invasive test perhaps someone else might chime in? Regards

In a real battle, however, it would be 100x better than nothing at all! It could save your life!!! ((Even after 400 years!)

Date is Showa 16 (1943). Mei is Yoshi__ (maybe Yoshiaki?)

I started collecting them when I was about 22. In those days, good Shin- Gunto katana were about £175+ exceptional ones perhaps £250 !Those were the days .

I'm a newly minted 80 year old, started collecting at 20. I empathise with the member who said he felt under-qualified here... Oh, and it makes me an 'estate-in-waiting'. BaZZa.

79

A very bad Chinese copy I am afraid. It is a pity that someone didn't do some homework before buying a sword. There are numerous articals on this forum about these swords and what to look for.

@Lewis B I have been on both sides of the table. As a seller, my teenage, technical smart teenage daughters set me up with ways of taking electronic payments. I personally accept Paypal, Venmo, Cashapp, and Apple pay. With Paypal nad Venmo, I have sold items as low as $20 and as high as $5500. If the seller has either of these applications, their credit card information is already loaded with Paypal, Venmo, etc. and can be charged instantly. We agree on a price and the buyer scans my QR code at the table. They type in the amount to pay, and send. About 1-2 minutes I get an email showing $$$ has been received into your account. As for shipping, I have never accepted money at the show, then shipped afterwards. It is not that I would not do this for someone, but it has not happened for me in this way. I would have no problem returning home, and carefully packaging the item(s) and shipping to the new owner. <-- If I was a buyer, I would make sure to get a business card and full name of the seller. If something should go wrong, you could always turn to the person who runs the show to provide additional information on the person who you are dealing with. Wishing you all the best in your collecting journey! Dan

Just there to learn for me, and to handle more swords. I was open to buying, but unprepared to fly anything home with me. My favorite sword of the show (aside from the bizen display and other 50k+ items): Was a Yamato Hosho katana with Tanobe Sayagaki. It had really stunning masame, hakikake, and some itame/mokume that I understand is a bit uncharacteristic of the school. I really enjoyed admiring it. Right now I’m liking Yamato swords quite a bit. Cheers, -Sam

Very nice piece John, I wonder if it was originally made for Kyu gunto mounts given the time period.