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Interesting photos of the official Japanese surrender of the weapons in Batavia on 15 May 1946. The allied representative is Major P.A.A. Haining of the Allied H.Q. The Japanese representative is Major-General Nishimura. .

Butterfly menuki in probably gold leaf.

Just for fun, this sweet little Namban just came home and I thought some of you might like it. It's just 61mms by 53mms and in a form that I've never seen but I'm sure Dale can come up with one. All the best.

Note, this is a couple of years old. She also did a day with a smith (Masataka Futsuno); link is at the end of this video. And her shtick seems to be kinda anime clothes (which perhaps isn't so surprising for a youtuber in Japan). Some of it is in English; most in subtitles. Interesting, though very much focused on the general public. Polisher seems like a very nice guy.

KYO SHOAMI TSUBA with bamboo and sparrow:

I have decided to do the patina again after I made the video because there are some ugly spots… But it looks cool in the video so here it is and I don’t think it will change much.

A recent acquisition (following along the greenery theme). -Zac

@Josharic & @Bruce Pennington as noted your swordsmith is from Gifu, Yoshinori” (嘉則), real name Matsuyama Umeharu (松山梅春). He was born Meiji 43 (1910) August 26 and from Nagasumi-cho in Seki-machi. He registered as a Seki swordsmith on Showa 17 (1942) April 9 (age 31). In the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai exhibition in 1941 he was ranked as Fifth Seat (5/5). In 1942 there was a list (Banzuke) of around 400 swordsmiths; with around another 44 smiths he was an additional late entry, in the category of Shinshin （新進) ("new comer") (5/5). Some oshigata: 1. Seki Matsuyama Yoshinori saku (Japanese Gendai Swordsmiths). 2. 勇 現代刀業物 関住松山嘉則 軍刀展刀匠第1部新作刀第五席新進 二尺一寸四分五厘 切れ味のいい傑作刀 蔵出し 刀 日本刀(刀、太刀)｜売買されたオークション情報、yahooの商品情報をアーカイブ公開 - オークファン（aucfan.com） (nagasa 65.0 cm, sori 1.1 cm)

Another horse!

Jacques, I respect Zenon's opinion, but why did you not follow his advice? You are not really helpful when you put up the yardstick in unreachable height! Of course you are correct that looking at and handling good blades is the real thing, but what novice can start at this level? And to get a bit more personal: You have a very high level of competence, but how was your own start into this field? Maybe you inherited a collection or had a friendly mentor to guide you? Looking at myself, I did not have opportunities to see or learn from good blades when I started almost 50 years ago. There were just a few books in English available, and they were expensive (and not all were good as I know today). Looking at high-end blades was impossible, and still today, many wealthy collectors keep their treasures well protected and away from curious newbies. Today, I could join the local NBTHK assembly or the only sword-club available but I would have to drive quite far for it - once or twice a year! I think it is not so easy for beginners, and we should encourage them, hoping they will be patient enough for a long learning journey.

Pretty. Both the Uesugi family and the Date clan of Sendai and Uwajima, used bamboo and sparrow arrangements for their kamon, Jean.

Dale 一成 is a different Kanji than 一斎

@Brian Will be back later this fall on a more regular basis here 👍

And just to complete the reference matter, in case anyone is interested. First one is on the Masamune.

True. And also studying paintings is pointless, since the 3D texture of the paintwork is just as important as the design, and the way it is viewed in natural light is the only way to truly appreciate art. And studying ceramics is pointless unless you see them in real life and are able to view and feel the actual surface and textures. And looking at pictures of cars is pointless, you really need to drive them to understand the attraction. Hmm....collecting and studying custom knives is also a waste of time from pics. You need to feel it in hand and appreciate the sharpness and fit and finish. Actually...now that you mention it, collecting and studying anything is really pointless unless we have it in hand. I see now we are all wasting our time. I suggest everyone stop collecting and studying absolutely everything unless you have the chance to see every example in hand. Everyone, stop immediately. Thanks for showing us the light.

I forgot all about this tsuba I bought as part of a job lot from the Albert Newall (artist and antique dealer) collection a few years ago. I think that I have posted it before, but.. At first glance the tsuba appears to be from a European rapier, but the nakago ana shows its Japanese origin. The Japanese had a craze for Portuguese and Spanish armour in the late 16th C (Momoyama) and perhaps this tsuba dates from then. The iron on the inside has become delaminated, which again makes me believe that this tsuba was made from Japanese folded iron. The inside is coated with red lacquer and I think it would be interesting to have this carbon-14 dated. The tsuba is a thin steel wan-gata (tea bowl) shape and has a large inome (boar’s eye) cut into the top. Usually, Japanese tsuba have four inome and the large single one on this tsuba makes me believe it is a European heart shape; the Heart of Jesus being a powerful symbol of the catholic faith. The tsuba is also decorated with gold and silver highlighted engravings, including three phoenixes in gold (sorry about the photo which does not make them clear). The phoenix is a bird that rises from the ashes, i.e. is resurrected, and the Christian panoply of gods is made up of the trio Father, Son and Holy Ghost. So, is this a Christian tsuba? Best regards, John

Here's one from my collection... No animal tsuba yet though! Apologies for the amateur mobile phone photography!

Lesser Cuckoo

@Markus Don't forget to post these specials here on the forum too. We can't always rely on people stumbling across them and posting it here. As you can see, it bears fruit

The appearance of the nakago patina is very unusual, which you can see both where patina runs into the nakago mune and at the habaki-moto (compare with a normal and natural sabigiwa). My impression is that the piece has been repatinated. I'm not trying to put down something that you said was intended to be an inexpensive display piece, just sharing my thoughts as you posted here for feedback.

Good news, Tanobe sensei has agreed to write the sayagaki.

Its not often an opportunity presents itself to handle a blade by arguably the most famous Japanese swordsmith, Masamune. The owner was Albrecht Von Roretz and he brought this blade along with 60 others from Japan in the late 1800's, after several years spent establishing a modern Western health system during the Meiji period. He had a keen interest in Nihonto which makes this particular Masamune worthy of a hands on viewing. Markus Sesko was supposed to inspect the collection but left for the USA before getting the chance. There are certainly some questions as to whether this is a genuine blade by the Master but given Dr Von Roretz's status, knowledge around the subject etc, its worth giving it a careful look. I will ask if I can take some photos and if possible, view the Nakago.

The color is the same on both sides, just a flaw in my pictures. So here enjoy my 360 grams of ignorance just want to share and hear some opinions. Definetly not a masterpiece, but a fun project that really improved some of my skills. So I can’t stop making Tsuba after I started this and will try to share some of my projects here.

Nothing is as good as a blade in hand, but that video is definitely useful to us newbies as a complement to books and other resources.

Gendai? see Post August 17, 2022

Hello friends, I’m looking for a translation if you all might help. The blade has a Seki stamp I believe. Looking at references I thought maybe Yoshinori for the smith?

I like them both. If I had the money I’d buy the Kajiyama Yasunori (Yasutoku). Looks like a high quality sword from a top notch Yasukuni Tosho with a very early date. Comes in fantastic polish in new shirasaya also with original gunto koshirae and origami to boot.

I like the London sale 2014 better than the ebay one.

Hi John! You've got a very fine Mantetsu sword there! 2nd photo Koa Isshin Mantetsu made this 3rd 1942 Spring Serial number: RA 1027 Interesting note, you now have the earliest know Mantetsu blade with the "W/M" stamp! Our understanding is that it is a "halfway inspection" mark. It's seen on all sorts of military equipment of the era, but they started showing up on blades in 1942 when the Army assumed control of all sword production. Ray's link has all the essentials. For a more in-depth read, you can download our South Manchurian Railway - The Mantetsu Blade article. @Kiipu @BANGBANGSAN

Please see below regarding mantetsu-to. https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/koa.htm

What if you could sit down with a polisher, or a nihonto expert, or even a swordsmith to study swords together? How about all three? In essence that is what books to some extent allow you to do. One of the very first steps in sword study is learning and developing one's vocabulary. Otherwise, how do you know where to begin to learn, and what it is that you're studying? Conversely, what do these new words really mean without access to a sword with these features? We often see right here on the NMB the results of what happens in the rush to obtain a Japanese sword before reading books and developing a proper library, never mind an extensive library. And sometimes poor results still occur even after books are purchased and read because the buyer has never really held and studied excellent nihonto in excellent polish in hand. Ignorance of one's own ignorance may be the worse kind of ignorance. Especially when it comes to Japanese swords. For those that really want to challenge themselves as well their reference material they should write up a kantei for the sword or swords being studied, including a discussion of how to reach the correct conclusion along with citing all references. It was doing exactly this for our local study group that raised the bar for learning how to critically study and learn from books with sword in hand.

Hi Lewis, great job. Enough history and unearthed swords to write a book.. Thought after my old thread it`s work for a little 4 man team including 2 photo specialists to clean and oil and photograph and stay for some days .. I also had the feeling that „some“ treasures waiting for explorers. Best regards

And another...

First blade I have seen from him: YOSHINORI (嘉則), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yoshinori” (嘉則), real name Matsuyama Umeharu (松山梅春), ryōkō no jōi (Akihide), Fifth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)

Menuki. Kani crabs, silver.

https://www.the-sale...71-b410-a41f0107f62c

Further memo's and orders regarding swords. 7th Division HQ memo regarding swords: The below relate to Makassar Force (MAKFORCE) HQ, based in the Celebes. Kendari force orders: Summary of equipment: Results: Appendix F, noting approx. 3950 swords:

Dear Cornelius. I think Yoon has suggested that the signature may bee Nobumitsu rather than Nobuiye. All the best.

Turtles and catfish tsuba

Yes truly an exceptional and unique experience, probably once in a lifetime opportunity to see a 150 year old collection that really hasn't seen the light of day. Bit of an Indiana Jones moment But I think Kirill hit it on the head. There were a lot of low/mid range quality pieces that might have been upsold either through sayagaki attribution or gimei. I'll post the attributions and they should add a little more seasoning to the broth.

Roger that. Yeah, he had a lot of items for sale. Honestly, I bought this as a display piece for our fireplace mantle...more or less to have something "worry free" - But I will enjoy it for what it is. There will be other Nihonto in our future for sure, but I can't justify keeping a more expensive item out in the open. Edit: And now that I have researched this a little bit more, I see what you are talking about. LOL. It's all good, and this wasn't that pricey of a purchase, but caveat emptor. For my fireplace mantle, not unhappy with what it is.

Scott: Not to disparage your purchase, however that particular seller often, but not always, sells blades with some sort of problem. Not that they aren't real, just that there will be some sort of defect, blemish, or other issue. Just keep that in mind for future purchases. I personally have no problem with buying from him, just know what you are getting and look for the issue. His pictures are generally good enough to look the blade over carefully. Just my two cents. John C.

Just to clarify my previous comment - the wear is just so even! There just doesn't seem to be any marks from people taking it out of koshirae like there are on my blades. Here's some pics for comparison - I think you'll see what I mean (note the shinier steel on the edges): I wonder if this could all be explained by it having been in an old shirasaya for a very long time, building up the even patina without any wear, and then it had a newer polish that removed most of the transition between the patina and polished steel?

I enjoyed the video, and thank you for sharing! Whether we like it or not, on an internet forum, we are forced to share videos and photos; and there's nothing wrong with that. I think that's why a lot of us are here. Maybe someday, someone will invent a method to teleport blades through a computer - so we can finally solve the issues of viewing a sword on a screen . Until then, Cheers, -Sam

The word ne or nezumi covers both of the English words rat and mouse. Generally the rodents found in Japanese houses were divided into three, Dobu-nezumi, Kuma-nezumi and Hatsuka-nezumi. See illustrations: https://www.google.com/search?q=ネズミの種類日本&client=safari&sca_esv=0112f005af7dfb38&sca_upv=1&hl=en-gb&biw=390&bih=663&ei=Z57TZoa8Of6Rxc8PlM7foAU&oq=ネズミの種類日本&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhjjg43jgrrjg5_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_GiAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#vhid=8ZbxWpjkmVsAcM&vssid=l

It's nice to be able to see the efforts of various Togishi, along with their names.

Hello everyone. For a few weeks I've been collecting detailed vocab (kanji) as a way to improve my reading skills, sort out a few longstanding points of confusion/ambiguity, explore topics I may have previously glossed over, etc. I've found some very nice sites in the process—this Japanese page has been great, for example—and found a few gaps in my academic knowledge that I am working on filling. On the one hand it's "just vocab," but on the other hand, really making sure I know what each kanji means and how it relates to others has been surprisingly illuminating. One such gap has been the deeper religious significance of many horimono. I could previously identify the motifs in a simple way ("that's Fudō Myōō, that's a suken, that's sō-no-ryū with a flaming pearl" etc.) but it is only recently that I learned of a few deeper connections bridging the many ken motifs. The following will undoubtedly be painfully old news to many of you, and perhaps woefully incomplete besides; but for the newbies and intermediates among us, I hope it may be useful information as it was for me. I rush to add that this is just an edited summary and amalgamation of many other peoples' work, especially this page. I will append as many of the sources I used that I can recall (with the most relevant at the top). ----------- 剣 Ken We all know (I presume) that ken are, in general, buddhist ritual objects in the form of a double-edged straight sword, often represented in various stylistic ways in blade horimono. Of particular interest is the distinctive "vajra" hilt. But what is a vajra exactly? 金剛 Kongō (vajra) Vajra (kongō in Japanese) is a sanskrit homophone for both lightning and diamond, symbolizing unstoppable force and immovable spirit. The physical vajra is ostensibly a weapon, but like the ken is really a ritual object, meant to overcome evil via the indestructible truth. It is symmetric with a varying number of prongs at a given end. One (dokko), three (sanko), and five (goko) are typical; three is most common. It often has demons' eyes running down the center, and lotus blossom patterns to either side. 独鈷 Dokko (Tokko) (single-blade vajra) This motif also represents a spoke in the Buddhist wheel of law. This is not directly related to the following items, but as it is a motif sometimes seen in horimono/menuki, it is worth mentioning. 三鈷 Sanko (trident vajra) The sanko represents the three jewels (sanbō 三宝) of Buddha, Dharma (law), and Sangha (community). This is the common form used as the hilt for certain kinds of ken. 宝剣 Hō-ken (treasure sword), 三鈷剣 Sanko-ken, or 金剛剣 Kongō-ken (vajra sword) So now we have come full circle and have a little bit better understanding of what the hilt of a ken is, and why this form of ken is called hōken or sankoken. But what is the significance of turning the vajra into a sword? 不道明王 Fudō Myōō (literally "immovable wisdom king") Acala-vidyaraja in the original Sanskrit. A worthy accounting of Fudō's meaning and importance to Shingon Buddhism would be impossible here, but we can address some basic points. The highest of the Wisdom Kings, a category of deity following Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas, he is a manifestation of the Buddha Mahāvairocana. He is wrathful in the pursuit and eradication of evil from men's hearts. Wreathed in flames, he burns away earthly ties. He has blue skin, and sometimes even crooked fangs. In his left hand he holds a kenjaku 羂索 (five-colored lariat) used to bring wanderers back into the true path, or to bind harmful emotions. In his right hand, he holds the kongō-ken 金剛剣. If the kenjaku should fail to restrain men's violent passions, Fudō can cut their earthly ties using this sword. Thus the hōken is a means by which Fudō cuts through delusions and overcomes evil. For this reason, this sword is also called the chiken 知剣 — sword of wisdom. 素剣 Suken A stylized representation of a ken blade. As far as I know it has no further significance other than that inherited from the above points. However, as in the second image, sometimes it has a base with a tsume 爪 (claw)—specifically that of a dragon. Which brings me to… 剣巻龍 Kenmaki-ryū (dragon wrapped around ken) or 倶梨伽羅剣 Kurikara-ken (dragon king sword) Another common horimono theme is the dragon wrapped around a ken. Sometimes it is wreathed in flames (sound familiar?). This is not simply an arbitrary mashup of images: There is a legend that Fudō was challenged by another deity. They both manifested as flaming swords (ken) and found they were evenly matched. However, Fudō then transformed into a dragon, wound around the other sword, and ate it from the top. Thus, the dragon-king Kurikara 倶利迦羅 is actually another representation of Fudō Myōō. On a related note, Kurikara is golden in color; thus, depicting him in actual gold is not just for materialism's sake. ------- I invite everyone's corrections and comments as I was only peripherally aware of these themes before doing this research, and am still quite a novice when it comes to the deeper religious dimensions of horimono. There are many other interesting connected themes in other horimono, but I wanted to focus on this variety tonight. I hope it has been of interest! Regards, —Gabriel -------- Sources include, but were certainly not limited to: http://world.choshuya.co.jp/engrave/index.htm (most images) http://new.uniquejapan.com/glossary/ (the image of the ken) http://nihonto.ca (the image of the suken) bujishugyo.wordpress.com (connection between Fudō and Kurikara; Fudō image) http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/o ... senju.html http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kongousho.htm http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/%7Eosaru/index.htm Connoisseur's (Nakayama) Harry "Afu" Watson's glossary (Nihon Tōkō Jiten etc.) http://www.thejapanesesword.com/terminology Wikipedia (yes, I know…)

Today I would like to introduce you to my Kurihara Akihide Subudai from 1945 I love the Hada