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Fun thread and happy the hobby is alive and well. Great sword Yurie san. Also happy to see new members who are well versed in the Nihonto world. I was concerned the NMB was on its last leg, with new guys like Adam ( I am impressed with you knowledge, you must have been interested well before here) and other too. New blood is very important to keep the forum alive. It's given me want to drop in more often. Especially since Brian has brought back the old ways, going to go check Bobby's shindig Pics now. There will be donation to the board before years end. Maybe sooner.

Hi, Everyone, I attended DTI and bought one, 長船倫光　（Osafune Tomomitsu, Mumei He was a student of Osafune Kagemitsu. Around Enbun・Jyoji era（1356－1367） This is O-suriage which is fine for me since my arm is short, otherwise I can not open the sword by myself. This was the one displayed inside the glass case of the Sokendo booth. The Kissaki needed a little polish, so I left it for the polish. The person who took this photo stood at the lower end, therefore, the entire shape is distorted. On the Keicho-do thread, I posted the photos of the Yakata-bune party hosted by Mr. Robert Hughes. It was great fun. Thank you, Mr. Robert Hughes. I have more photos, but it does not allow me to attach. The kissaki is between the chu-gissaki and o-gissaki.

I should have mentioned @nulldevice Chandler as well good for you sir.

I was mainly talking about this Tsuba that I think isn’t cast. I don’t see any clear evidence for casting and think that some parts are just naturally corroded over time. There are many ways to create the iron patina and some may leave a surface that could me misinterpreted as looking casted. I have read the part about casting from Dr. Lissenden. So the idea is that making it the „traditional“ way was too Labour intense, but I think that was very cheap. How much more charcoal and people would be needed to get the iron to melting temperature that generates additional expenses. So I cannot really say what would be the cheaper way of making them. At some point I stopped following the thread and just want to say something because the NBTHK papered Tsuba looks not cast for me. http://www.ksky.ne.j...umie99/episodes.html

I bought a Juyo signed Chikafusa (Fukuoka Ichimonji) tachi. I had identified a couple of other Ichimonji swords for my list, but I knew going in that one was out of my budget and another was a mumei wakizashi that was just average when I saw it in person. The other swords on my list were contenders and in budget, and I added to the list during the show. It was funny, I woke up Sunday morning telling myself to stop thinking about that Chikafusa because I could not afford it, and then a few hours later I was able to afford it thanks to Mike’s help. One other thing I just remembered—I was pleasantly surprised how willing dealers were to let me examine their swords, even multiple times. I tried to be somewhat reasonable about it by not asking to examine the crazy expensive swords. But I did look at some swords that did not have listed prices that turned out to be way out of my budget.

This was my first time at DTI, and it was a whirlwind trip from the US to Tokyo and back to the US in six days due to late planning. But I am so glad I went. Some impressions/advice for newbies: 1) There were something like 68 dealers. If you spend all 13 hours at DTI that it is open, you don’t have a lot of time at each dealer. And there were far more swords on display than I imagined. So I viewed dealer websites in advance, identified items I wanted to see, emailed dealers to confirm the item would be at DTI, and made a list of those items to prioritize seeing them. I had 10 swords on my list. I went to those dealers first and saw those 10 swords along with other swords at those dealers. Only then did I expand my search. I’m glad I had this plan. 2) Despite #1 above, I did not buy a sword from that advance list. I bought a different sword that a dealer did not have on their website yet. And I only bought it on Sunday, after I felt like I had seen everything I needed to see Saturday and Sunday to make a decision. 3) Relationships help a lot. I had met Mike Yamasaki at the San Francisco show. So when I saw him at DTI, I mentioned some things I liked. He took me to the dealer I eventually bought from, and Mike spent over an hour with me looking at a couple of blades he recommended. As the dealer was a longtime friend of Mike’s, Mike negotiated a great deal for me with no compensation for himself. I could not have gotten that deal on my own. It was the difference between buying that sword and not being able to afford it. Mike was super busy with other commitments and paying clients, but he was very generous with his time and knowledge. 4) Study swordsmith kanji. I am super glad I purchased the flashcards @Ray Singer sells and that I studied hard the kanji for smiths and provinces. Some dealers have English signage at the show, but many do not. If you can’t read kanji, you’ll be missing a lot. 5) I was amazed at the quantity, range of prices, and quality. Unlike US shows, there wasn’t much that wasn’t swords, fittings, or armor. Not much associated stuff, like books, videos, or prints. It is very heavy on blades. You want to spend a couple of thousand dollars—no problem. Want to spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars on a TJ Norishige, Yukimitsu, etc.—no problem. 6) Kudos to @Keichodo for organizing social after events while being also busy with the show. As I was traveling alone, being able to socialize with others and discuss similar interests was great. And Robert is such a funny and nice guy. But I agree with @CSM101, some therapy may be needed after what I experienced. I am sure I will think of other things as I decompress. I’ll post more as they come to me. And sorry, I was so busy that I forgot to take pictures.

https://www.bonhams....0503/lot/1062/tsuba/ Auction held 16 October 2012 Estimate US$1,500 - US$2,000 To be "fair" this was amongst around eighty "real" tsuba in the auction. However when you see other auction sites selling the same rubbish for ¥ 3,500 https://page.auction.../auction/g1101034296 you have to wonder if the big auction houses are/were doing their duty of care!

Thanks for the kind words Stephen. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge for me. I'm certain I would've probably purchased 1-2 questionable blades by now had I not found this place. Thanks to much studying, good friends I've made along the way, and being at DTI, I'm happy with my first nihonto purchase and it's much better than I could've ever found on my own without some wonderful resources such as this site and some great books to help me out although I still feel like I'm very much a beginner in all of this.

Glad to hear you're still kicking like a Marine Stephen. Agree, new blood is important and some quality new guys. This hobby is a strange one. Some old guys that I thought would collect forever faded out of the hobby, and moved onto other things. Some left social media completely (Can't say I blame them) And then we have natural attrition. And the fact that the average age in this field is so far above most other hobbies. We need the new guys. But with such a learning curve, few can put in the effort it takes to even get to novice status. After 20+ years, I still feel like a beginner. That's why events like the DTI and shows and social meet-ups are vital. And for those not aware, this guy @Stephen has been one of the most consistent supporters of this forum since the beginning. We owe him a lot.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226287832244 I like the description: High quality Japanese Sword Guard Phoenix From Japan EDO Unsigned Beautiful collector's item. [Really?] Antique Original, Age 1850-1899 [Really really!] I am always a bit suspicious of the slotted sekigane look and the lack of tagane-ato [not even cast in] and you have to wonder where that dimple at the base of the birds neck came from if it wasn't a casting fault. JMHO

Not exactly the subject but I finished my katana hako, I made it in paulownia wood and used that beautiful hardware https://cabinet-hard...q=peony&_ss=e&_v=1.0 Again it's not perfect as I don't have professionnal tool nor technique but making it was very pleasant and cheaper than buying a new one.

It was a great show. I was able to work with Mike Y and find a wonderful first addition to my collection! There were swords ranging from $1000 to well over $500k for a few JuBi examples I saw. Every sword I inspected was in a perfect or very near perfect polish. This was a great time to really see excellent examples of some top smiths. Every dealer was incredibly willing to show swords well out of my budget. I didn’t go asking after the TJ or JuBi swords, but I handled many Juyo swords that were $50k+ including some amazing Rai and Norishige blades among others. Reading kanji names as Adam mentioned above was crucial. I don’t know all of the kanji names and provinces but knowing a little goes a very long way. Same goes with the paper levels and eras (Kamakura, Edo, etc.) The catalog swords were all over the price spectrum. I expected some of the catalog swords I was interested to all be out of my budget but surprisingly 2 of them were right at my budget level. One small thing, many of the Japanese only dealers have prices listed in JPY using man (10,000yen multiples) just something small to know. It was a wonderful show and I wished I could’ve spent the full 2 days there and taken advantage of the English events before and afterwards. I heard there were some excellent English sword study groups on Monday with top smith blades that I would’ve loved to attend but the wife was already gracious enough to spend 5 hours with me on Saturday!

I don't always acquire a book to learn something new - it can just be about appreciating the artistry and craftsmanship in these blades thru a unique presentation, such as the foldout large images included in Paul's book, even though I may have seen those blades before...

Hi Nicholas , It is sword that was made on the Island of Java , and is signed Shiyawaka Sumaran , according to the book called Fuller and Gregor swords smiths of Japan 1926 - 1945, the oshigata is on page 116 , you should be able to find more info with a search on the board here , good luck

Safe to say it's not Japanese, and was made yesterday.

Yup Ko-kinko, a shame that it ended up like that.

Hi, 2 cents from me One possible solution would be to find a modern smith who still practices casting techniques that are the same as those used in the past. There are a number of people, such as Tod’s Workshop (see YouTube), who are into making weapons and armour the old way, and then stress-testing it. They might have some advice on how to replicate cast pieces, or be able to create one for you. If the form is not important, then just get a piece for experimentation. Now you have a modern piece sanded down you could compare that with the one from the older practice to see if there are significant differences. On a related note: You could get a modern cast tsuba and see if you could sand it to make it appear closer to a genuine Edot one…

I think this particular museum has something of a random pattern where it puts the sticker numbers

I would love to assist in your experiments but the thought of actually doing that with a piece of history makes me feel physical pain...

So, I am “signing off” of this thread for a while. According to many members during the course of this thread, there were no cast iron tsuba made in the Edo period. So that would mean that all cast iron tsuba made in Japan started to be made the day after the Edo period until the present time. Right! That makes no sense to me at all and is totally unbelievable. Some members are ignoring the innate ingenuity of the Japanese kettle makers, the ability of the Japanese to identify a profitable business venture, and the cast-iron sand-casting abilities of master kettle makers that may go back several generations (a current kettle maker in Japan goes back 16 generations!). Some members state that there has been no evidence shown of cast iron tsuba made in the Edo period. Have they even read this thread in its entirety? This thread has taken the dedicated effort of several members over the last (about) 2 years and 10 months. Those dedicated members have backed up their posts with stated references and pictures. It is not just about opinions, as several members over the years just seem to only state opinions but conveniently overlook to state their references. Either you believe (as I do) that cast iron tsuba were made in the Edo period, or you are just flat-earthers (non-believers). Wait until a cheap non-invasive metallurgical test for cast iron is developed. We will see then who is right and who is wrong. Until then, we can just keep arguing about this thing until hell freezes over! Once again (as in the past), I think I will take a break from this thread for a while. Don’t all cheer! Ha, ha, ha, ha, etc!

Once again, I am not trying to point out only negatives, but possible it was added later to ‘gussy it up’ for the tourist/GI trade. Speculation though.

First of all, thank you all for taking the time out of your day, to help educate me on such a difficult topic. I will be more wary where picking up such swords in the future-I'll try voice my concerns, raising the very good points made above. Worst case, I have a rather good looking Gimei and a hard lesson of doing prior research. I will let you know how I get along...

I saw this for sale as well. Imo, its pieced together. I have been seeing a few showato coming out of Japan in civilian mounts within the past few years. The horimono is either very low quality or has been polished down. . If this had its original mounts even with the issues I probably would've bid on it too.

I think it's just lower quality.

Not trying to be negative, but horimono has a very rudimentary feel to it. Of course horimono are not my area of study so I will be interested in opinions of those with more experience, especially with later blades.

Lovely sword. Must have been a loooong katana originally. Looking forward to pics after the polish.

Interesting idea, John. Certainly possible!

Tsuba is 100% fake so chances are the rest follows suit.

The book contains not only swords…. So this derogatory statement is misleading… The book approaches the subject by describing the historical figure (so that is useful background to people who owned the famous item that follows), shows depictions of them in art (scrolls, prints, paintings etc) and then illustrates items owned by these famous people - could be swords but could also include armour.

Chinese fake

Sorry, Jacques, I miss your meaning. Are you talking about the book or your own penchant for negative responses? A lot of new collectors, me included, would find the information in some of the older (i.e., cheaper) books useful. John C.

Dai Token Ichi was wonderful. Mr. Robert Hughes hosted the "Yakatabune party" like any other year. This is a tour boat around Tokyo Bay with Japanese dinner and drinks. I joined the party with my daughter. Here are the photos. Thank you, Mr. Robert Hughes.

After threatening with reporting it to the police yesterday as theft. xxxx me it was magically found. Case closed

The after-events were fantastic. Robert Hughes owes me 10 therapy sessions. For photos from my side you will have to wait until end of November.

Here are some phone pics of my latest work, this is my 4th attempt at making tsuba. The bronze original is in the V&A London online collection. The details are as follows. The project took 7 months to complete including choosing the design to inlay of the mei. The material is iron(not mild steel) I sent some 100 year old relic parker brothers and other Damascus shotgun barrels to a blacksmith who returned them as 1/4" iron plate. I made a pen and ink drawing adding the kogai hitsu ana. The design was xerox copied and transferred to the plate. I then pieced with a jewelry saw and sculpted with hammer and chisel gravers. Polished with files and finishing stones. The color is heat blue patina.

Thanks Bob. Don't know how, but I am going to do my best to try and be there next year. Looking to do about 2 weeks in Japan. Tokyo and one other city...not Kyoto. I considered doing snow this time, so maybe Sapporo. Lots of saving to do. Holding thumbs. Thanks for the update...having dates makes it much easier to plan.

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.

Would take some time to get to the sword and take a pic, so will you take it on faith that I have a Fukumoto Kanemune (or Fukumoto Kumemune per Yumoto, pg. 40, essentially identical mei) gunto that has bohi and a Showa stamp? I mean, would I lie to you?

A zoheito Small photo, but it’s there.

A stainless Tenshozan Forge blade with one

A controversial one on a Mantetsu posted by @Itomagoi https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/?do=findComment&comment=407807

You will find many examples on Kyu gunto and zoheito. Buts it’s rare on stamped blades, but not unheard of. Here’s a Sukenobu with a Showa stamp https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/44152-need-help-authenticating-whether-this-blade-is-of-value/#comment-458639

I found another one from my archive. A gimei Yasutsugu with horimono. The sword was once owned by Dr. Compton and he gave it to his secretary as a gift.

Here is another one I dug up. A katana by Gassan Sadakazu in kyu gunto mounts with sankozuka-ken on one side (as well as bo-hi, goma-bashi + bo-hi on the other side, etc).

Here is a tanto I had for awhile by Kasama Shigetsugu with a nice Fudo Myo-O

Another by Akihide: https://katanahanbai.com/reference-product/kurihara-akihide/

Nothing about new and undocumented. You don’t get it, do you, Jacques? This is an introductory book. Introductory books do not usually show treasures. They normally teach about sugata, hataraki and show hamon outlines… I really do not understand what pleasure you derive from bickering and criticising all the time. If you take a more positive stance, perhaps you will attract some more positive energy in the universe… Oh wait a second, I forgot - you are a physicist, so you probably believe you must be as negatively charged as possible to get some positive energy

Predictive text warning! Probably means ‘Kazu-uchi mono’ above.