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Hi all, In line with improving features and services on the NMB, I am starting to make more use of modules and features we aren't using much yet. And at the same time, I want to have a place to share the works of Ford Hallam and showcase his talents as a tribute. I have set up a photo gallery in the GALLERY section for people to view and share his work. If you head here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/gallery/ and scroll down, you will see an album dedicated to this subject. With the help of @Bob M. we would invite you to view some of his work. Gold members are also able to upload pictures to this section, and add a bit about them. Please take the time to explore a bit, and share with us some of the items you have. Bob has shared some of his treasures. You should be able to share comments on them too. Please also check out some of the other galleries, where we will eventually have a nice library of other topics, for people to browse and share items.

I have some good news to share today! I received a call from the supervisor at my local USPS office to say that they "found" my sword after 4 days of it going missing, and I've just picked it up and have verified that it's undamaged. I assume that the USPS theft report an the police report that I filed helped get the necessary attention, and the USPS supervisor will also be looking into the matter of the fake delivery attempt by his delivery person. Thanks again to everyone for their helpful suggestions on addressing the situation!

Solid Gold habaki from Nambokucho, Yasuyuki.

Estimate at the auction was Est: €1,600 EUR - €1,920 EUR November 08, 2013 I can only imagine what it would cost today! Cockerel on a drum nothing like the style we are looking for. This has the triple tomoe [mitsudomoe (三ツ巴)] on the drum head.

I read this interview with 大崎靖宗 Osaki Yasumune, and the interviewer is 栗原謙二 Kurihara Kenji, a apprentice of the second-generation 小林康広 Kobayashi Yasuhiro. In the article, some interesting story is mentioned, where 靖宗 Yasumune talks about"In fact,we use oil to soften the blade after water quenching to improve it's flexibility.And this method was invented by Dr.Kuto Haruto 工藤治人(The chariman of Yasuki Steel Mill Company 安來鋼製作所 ）.It was certainly a better method for cooling down the entire blade more evenly than the traditional method."

濃州関住服部正廣作 - Noshu Seki ju Hattori Masahiro saku

Kajihei on top. Papered TH Naotane Wakizashi below

The 2 above show the stage, drum, curtain etc for a gagaku performance. out of interest I owned the lower (brass) one in Dale’s image above. Sold it over twenty years ago. Bought if for £100 from memory. Those days long gone!

George, bamboo is readily available in Japan so I don't think that a lack of it was the cause for this rivet. By the way, it would not be a big thing to remove the rivet if you have a basic workshop equipment. Going carefully is the way.

Memory cell has sparked…..I sold it through Sothebys Bond Street eons ago and it was bought by the (late) Barry Davis…a Mayfair based Japanese Art dealer with a stunning gallery. He was sitting near me in the sale and I heard him say something like…”when you see one like that you’ve got to buy it” . It was actually more like 35 years ago and I believe I did quite well on it🙂. The image above does not do it justice. Memories of exciting times.

Hi everybody I am new on your forum. I have been collecting military items for 30 years, mainly World War 2 aviation items. Years after years I discovered tsubas and Samuraï armors in museums and found in love with them. I took me many years before starting buying some items as I first tried to obtain informations in books and auction catalogs to see what I really like, what I would be able to purchase and get some knowledge. Thanks for accepting me.

Finally got a chance to sit with the Kajihei-Naotane yesterday. I selected this Naotane Wakizashi for comparison. The proportions look good, the hamon on the Kajihei has more activity. The hada on the Naotane is a bit less pronounced.

All I can find are two with the same type of drum, no rooster.

From the pictures, drilling it out wouldn't be difficult at all. Center punch with a freshly sharpened punch, clamp it well, then drill it out in a drill press with a short stiff bit such as a center drill somewhat smaller than the pin diameter, which will be far less likely to flex and wander. After that, depending on how it looks, either step up the bit diameter until you've basically got a hollow thin walled tube, which will flex and crush rather than mark the ana, then pull it out from the backside, or just cut out the rivet head on the side you drilled with a countersink and drive it out gently. The first if the pin section of the rivet is deformed and bent, the second if it's straight. Don't try to drive a bent pin through a straight hole. I have unpinned many straight razors with this method, and the pin diameter on those is only 1/16" or about 1.5mm, so the amount of real estate you would be working with here is massive in comparison.

Thanks for sharing the interesting information, I've attached the photo from the link.

The other side is a date, Shōwa Kanoetatsu = 1940

RCIN 17722 - Model of a cock on a drum (kankodori) (rct.uk) Quote: Japanese legend tells of a ruler who placed a drum at his gate to be sounded in the event of an attack or civic dispute. However, prolonged peace meant the drum fell into disuse, and birds began to live on it.

Eirakudo does this often, they tend to place the items on Jauce with a low starting price. Only to remove the listing because it does not reach the desired price. This listing will probably also get removed. I confirmed with them that this is their official account.

It is very interesting item, thanks for posting it Gerry. Unfortunately I have no clue about the price it will reach but as it is Yahoo auction by Eirakudō I am pretty sure they pull it off and don't sell it through Yahoo JP. One note about the sword, that is my speculation is that I believe the mei that it had was removed. At least it looks like that when looking at NBTHK paper. There is a Hon'ami sayagaki for Munechika (I think dated 1982 [Shōwa 57]) and I think it may have originally been signed Munechika. I would think the signature would have been thought to be gimei and it was possibly removed to achieve NBTHK papers. Now if this has happened like that I am very sad. I would rather have the tachi with gimei signature and no appraisal papers, than mei removed and with NBTHK attribution papers. Of course the second option is financially much more desirable but now the sword is forever altered.

I was the buyer. As a Naotane collector it was a “must have” . The blade, shipped in April was lost in the mail only re-emerging in Japan October 3. It was immediately turned around and only reached my eager hands October 9. The workmanship is wonderful and I’ve barely had time to study it. At first glance the workmanship appears more similar to Naokatsu. Even more interesting, at least for me, was that Tonobe Sensei recognized its unique importance and applied sayagaki attesting to it as a recognized Kajihei forgery.

Hello, sorry I don´t want to hijach this tread, but I own a blade signed "Unshū Yoshikane saku" and on the other site "Mamorigatana Suyama Tadash" (see also )

Wanted to post this late-war 95 with, what appears to be some sort of fabric (not canvas) cover. These are talked about all over the place, especially in the "Show Us Your High Class Gunto" thread, but I didn't want to post this one there (though for a late-war 95, it's pretty nice!). So, here's a thread to collect these fairly rare items. Not part of the sale. It was found on fleabay HERE.

Noshi of ?? I think its seaweed, a mates thinks it fabric. Whats your opinion

Here's a tsuba with design of the rays from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu shining from her cave retreat while Amenokoyane forces the rock door open https://collections.mfa.org/objects/11762 I have a tsuba with a similar drum and rooster. Does anyone have more information on it?

Honestly, I'm expecting that 99% of the swords there will be out of my reach. There are a few longer swords from the nanbokucho/kamakura era that are "only" TH that might be within grasp that are mumei so those are probably the ones I will focus on. I'll take photos and post them after the event and after I get back from Japan.

Some references refer to Noshi [shaved dried abalone] as being wrapped in coloured paper or fabric - so you may be correct both ways. Things change and now Noshi can refer to the paper "gift wrapping" alone. I guess the more elaborate the Noshi the more thought has gone into the gift? A group of nine-item engagement gifts, including dried abalone (2nd from right), dried bonito (4th from right), dried inkfish (5th from right), dried kelp (6th from right)

This is a good read on the subject

Yes Jussi - right up your alley: old, long, ubu tachi. Kimura san sometimes has OK prices so worthwhile a check. But come on - even you must acknowledge that a possibly fake Nisshu sayagaki to Sanjo Munechika or some other potentially lofty signature (attribution?) on the nakago is too far-fetched. The removal of the signature is old - predating Showa 28 as on the torokusho they show two empty squares, therefore clearly there had been characters on the nakago but illegible or merely remnants.

While completely out of my level and out of reach here is bit additional info on the 2 above items. They both passed Tokubetsu Jūyō 28 shinsa and were sent in by same person. Both swords were re-evaluated at Jūyō 49 with added on Kunzan kinzōgan. I believe at Jūyō 49 there were 4 previous Jūyō that all had Kunzan kinzōgan addons (since their original Jūyō pass) that were sent in by same family (however different than submitter at TJ28). The Yukimitsu originally passed Jūyō 8 as mumei Yukimitsu and the Norishige was originally passed Jūyō 24 as mumei Norishige. These are top tier items for top tier collectors. However I think personally I would rather have 10 good items compared to 1 top item. It is a choice of preference and unfortunately I probably will never achieve either one. Apart from those 2 items there are lots of items in the catalog that I find much more appealing to my own taste. There will be wonderful items at DTI, happy for everyone who will get a chance to visit there.

Sure Bruce, I only see numbers 261

This one is on a mumei, star-stamped blade, found on this ima-usa.com site. The kabutogane is pretty bare, so maybe late-war? They had already translated the writing on the cover. Looks like shipping/surrender info

大阪陸軍造兵廠 源貞重作之 – Osaka army arsenal, Minamoto Sadashige made this. 昭和十九年八月吉日 – Showa 19th year, 8th month, an auspicious day

Student of the great Gassan Sadakatsu. That’s some lineage, it looks like a good quality made sword.

Kencho sama - A permit is required for art objects of a certain value - this is one time I went over budget a little...

Here's something you don't see often...a 29" custom made showato with a sayagaki and fancy nakago inscription. https://www.jauce.com/auction/n1155975380

The NBTHK`s 1973 Tokubetsu Kicho paperd the sword as „Naotane“. Touken Matsumoto said the sword has recently given mei to Kajihei. I think the NBTHK`s research ( see the KAJIHEI OSHIGATA book by IKEDA SUEMATSU ) do not cry out their mistake and shout GIMEI, but saw Kajihei mei „mainly with his KAO work..“ I think Kajihei did a good Naotane mei and kao job, as he did during his masters lifetime. And it`s a fine sword he forged and it was quickly sold. Really a real history sword for every Naotane den collection..

I'm just a fan

With some other green items ..

Thought I would post mine

@Rennz Zach, found this one on this Wehrmacht-Awards thread. Just the tsuka is covered, and it's the fabric you're talking about. Any idea if it's wool?

Another found at Dan Griffin's site HERE. With a kaneharu blade.

Here's one in bad shape. On a Kanemichi at a Bagwell Auction: https://www.proxibid.com/Firearms-Military-Artifacts/Military-Artifacts/U-S-Vet-Estate-Hand-Forged-Japanese-Samurai-katana-Sword-Kanemichi-Saku-W-Capture-Photo/lotInformation/62012792#topoflot

Hello, Picked up some swords the other day here around Camp Lejeune. These were attic pieces. I want to thank Bruce P. the Daimyo of WW2 blades for taking a look at there and recommending a post on them. "Hand Salute" to Bruce. This may be a Canvas covered battlefield pickup from Tinian or Saipan. It has a large Seki stamp, seems to have a water quenched hamon & hand drilled menkuana, A WW2 set of civilian koshirae rounds out this odd piece. Best regards, Bob

A picture from Chris (Vajo, not his gunto). LINK

One of Neil's. LINK

Adding to the collection. LINK

Sorry guys, but I am opening this thread again for a few reasons. But I would like to ask people to remain polite, although they are free to express dismay, use humour or provide more proof. But no rudeness please. I honestly believe that the current owners believe this item is real. If they were just knowingly trying to sell a fake, then they would have priced it at a few hundred thousand and quietly sold it to one of the new generations of Russian billionaires looking to put his cash somewhere. Experts will tell you that many high end swords are going to Russia. Anyways, they would not have published it in Forbes and online if they knew it was a fake. Let's just assume that they are being led VERY VERY far astray by "experts" that know absolutely nothing about Nihonto but lots about art. The first mistake is trying to evaluate Japanese swords like other art. They simply aren't. Paintings/statues/porcelain are a totally different field, where artists try any variation possible, and age is a big factor. In Japanese swords, the art lies in skills that no faker can duplicate. A 1000 year old tradition that relies on things beyond most comprehension. Every line perfect, the activity in the steel being unlike any other weapon ever made. It's not something we can even explain here...it takes many years of study to "get it" and even then, hundreds of books cannot simplify it to a short study. Next mistake...trying to translate kanji and get to some essoteric meaning. The attempted translation is ludicrous....a joke. People who know nothing about swords try and translate kanji like that. It just doesn't work that way. They are signed a certain way, and come down to a name. Not some wierd and pieced together phrase meaning nothing. This is where your experts really get it wrong. Anyone familiar with Japanese swords can see the mei is meaningless and junk. It can not, does not, and never will be, a valid signature on a sword. The same on the fittings. They are not even signed with the correct tools in the correct way. You seem to think that Japanese swords can have oddities like this since they are obviously art. Well..sorry, but they don't. They were always signed using the same technique...yours wasn't cut the right way..it was stamped..like using a screwdriver to stamp out kanji. How many times was this used over the centuries? NONE. You cannot ask for statistics to prove something isn't fake. Forget about analysis and other mumbo jumbo. The fact is that the sword bears no resemblance to a real Japanese sword. People who know little about Nihonto might think it does...but no expert will ever tell you this is real. I want this thread here in the open because I want someone to notify Forbes. I am confident enough in the member's opinions here that I am openly challenging your experts to send photos to any real Japanese sword society. In fact...send it off to Japan for shinsa, and if it passes, the forum will gladly pay all the expenses. If not...you agree to publicly announce the forum was right. The main problem here is that you are using a standard "formula" to evaluate all forms of art. This is understandable, since Tamoikins is trying to sell their software that is designed to "stabilize and effectively regulate the market of art, antiquity and collectibles by providing tools and innovative systems to private and government organizations." and claims to "effectively register, code and track all - art, antiques and collectibles [ Movable Cultural Property] while perfectly integrating and improving currently accepted International Harmonized System Compliance" There is an eighty million dollar fraud going on here...and unless someone stands up..some billionaire is going to fall for it with the help of Forbes. If you are really serious about wanting to know the truth, publish your "expert" tests, and listen to our group of experts here who, strangely enough, all have the same opinion. There's a reason for that. Brian

Just for arguments sake, it should be tested. But lets not do that.... Bugyotsuji: Yanagimura san is a brilliant carver ! KM