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Just killing time while cooking dinner. This is an Ono Daisho [NBTHK Hozon] that I had fitted recently. If you have time, please share your own Ono. Yoko Ono not welcome. Not inebriated. I'm just a bit bored before dinner.

Room 3 I can't get an image small enough to attach but it's a table of Tsuba along with the images attached.

This is room 2 of 3. Mostly storage for swords but a Saotome armor and a lot of Tetsubin and books. I'm doing an exhibition now at the North Carolina Museum of art ( the making of a warrior ) from Oct 19 2025 to Feb 2 2025. You can see images on line. A lot is missing because it's there. The curator picked what she wanted so skipped over many of the Kamakura jidai swords.

https://www.brooklyn...su-in-america-part-1

Room 1 of 3. It's getting to be a bit much.

There have been so many good posts it is great to read this thread. NBTHK mumei attributions are bit problematic as as Glen said above they use specific groups etc. It is the same for swords and in my personal opinion they should not be taken as 100% only truth especially for lower end items. There are just thousands and thousands of unremarkable mumei items swords/fittings etc. and they will need to give some attribution for the item. It is just common Japanese style that they will make quite specific mumei attributions be it for swords or fittings. Identifying a mumei sword as a work of specific smith is just how Japanese appreciation seems to be in some cases. And for more unremarkable items you will get broad group attributions. Best works go to top tier smiths and lower works to lower tier. I am focused on old swords so I am not that up to date on tsuba schools. However you fitting guys know much better. My question would be how many plausible categories (in current traditional tsuba appreciation) there even are for mumei Late Muromachi - Early Edo tsuba, 20-50-100+ possible categories? Then there are possibly hundreds of thousands of mumei tsuba that are fitting to that time frame, and need to be classified in some way. I think Glens example with 12 tsuba is a perfect example of that. For me personally having a mumei attribution to X doesn't really give too much exciting information of the tsuba in question. Having the tsuba theme explained is much more interesting to me than majority of the "bulk" attributions.

Another weakness of mine…..

Hi Guys I only have one Ono which I have posted before but here it is again

Curran, I've always liked that theme EDIT: Those are very nice pieces. thanks for sharing! Here's a few Ohno as per your request, plus a couple that have been called Kanayama, owari, etc as well as Ohno... gear (tokei) theme: sunrise (hi no de) theme: Bamboo (take) theme: Riceball, head bag (kubi tsunagi), etc. theme (I don't know if the board member that purchased this still has it, but if he wants to comment on whether the NB thought this was a Ohno, please do...) This one Is a head scratcher. I've seen extremely similar (in terms of both theme and workmanship) binned as Ohno, Owari, and Kanayama. Make of it what you will: And finally, this was labeled as being an Ohno by the seller, but the general consensus is that it should be binned as an owari tsuba, so... Best, rkg (Richard George)

Armor would be sengoku to late Edo Swords/pole arms are Kamakura to shinshinto Teppo are Edo Tsuba are mostly late Muromachi to Edo

I personally stick to the principle of having a fewer number of good quality pieces compared to a large number of low quality ones. Unless you handle good pieces it is very difficult to develop a real feel for quality. On this forum you will find a good deal of them and experienced people willing to guide you in the process. Be prepared to make mistakes, I did as my junkbox box reminds me too often... Regards Luca

Gary thats not a collection it is a secret treasure chamber.

Very interesting read and detailed coverage of development, history and people. I lived through a lot of this in Australia at the end of the 1980's and through the 1990's. A worthwhile post Peter. Mal

G'day Guys, One of the reasons why I am fascinated with the Gassan smiths, is that they are the complete package. Not only are they excellent swordsmiths, but they also carve beautiful horimono, make their own habaki and from time to time make their own tsuba. AOIJapan recently had a magnificent example of this by Gassan Sadakazu. The sturdy blade which is forged in masame, is dated 1866 and has beautiful Fudo Myo horimono. The original koshirae includes a tsuba signed by Sadakazu. A similar tsuba is shown in the "Gassan Sadaichi Kaiko Ten" book. Cheers, Bryce

Seconded, thirded, fouthed, fifthed... As a collector with for the most part no interest in martial arts as a practice I found this a more than excellent read. Thank you Peter for bringing us to the 'practice' side of collecting, BaZZa.

Excellent reading...

When I first started collecting WW2 Japanese swords, the best advice I was given was to get some good books on the subject! They paid for themselves many times over! I could identify the various models, learn some great information, have great pictorial evidence, and saved a lot of time and money not buying fakes. So in case Brian has a litter of kittens over this post, it is really a community service announcement, for newbies starting out, or seasoned collectors who found it hard to pay the original prices for these books. So as to share some books that helped me along, I would like to help others along. Check the current prices on the internet from commercial sellers, you will be floored. The prices are without postage because I need the destination. Prices in Australian dollars. DAWSON....... AUD420 FULLER & GREGORY....AUD290 KISHIDA (Yasukuni)... AUD120 KAPP.... AUD80. They are in great condition, and some lucky buyers may get an additional "gift with purchase" from my library. So Brian, I probably am breaking the rules posting this here, but I want the military collectors to take up the offers.

My guess is 於肥後下地 / 橋本一至 (花押) Hashimoto Isshi is quite famous maker and guys focused on fittings can most likely offer more assistance.

Dear Petro. Welcome to NMB! You have posted this in the military swords section which is primarily for those with an interest in swords carried by the Japanese armed forces after the Meiji restoration, your sword appears to be from before that period so posting it in the Nihonto section might get you better responses. We are not going to be able to tell you very much from these images, at first glance it appears to be a Shinto katana, a sword whose blade is longer than 60cms made after about 1600 but before 1860, which is unsigned or mumei. A clear photo of the whole blade without any fittings, one of the nakago and one of the kissaki or tip would be helpful, along with some measurements. Better pictures of the fittings would also help. All the best.

I spotted years ago that there is a music group called TSUBA - I have not heard any of their music but they have had several albums. [I think it is "Techno - dance music" not for my generation ] https://soundcloud.c...tsuba/popular-tracks Who knows it might be something to listen to in the background while you sort your collection out Tsuba obidome https://www.jauce.com/auction/s1166269234

That's what I meant, thx for those hints. Thx, I'm gonna do that. I'm reading different threads in this forum already, and I think you mean Dan. I understand both of you. The whole thing depends on the time and money someone is able and willing to spend. That's the same thing with watches. I'm into watches for a long time. Some are collecting cheaper watches and like to have many of them. Some like to collect more expensive ones. Some change the watch they're wearing twice a day, some wear their watch for half a year. Some need many watches, some are happy to have one good watch. What's good enough? That differs from person to person. I like to have fewer watches with a decent quality. Through the years I found out what I need to have in a watch and now I'm actually a one watch guy, though I have more than one, but I don't change my watch since I got my last one. I'm totally new in the world of tsuba and I'm willing to learn, but my time and my money is limited. I've already realized it's possible to look through all the different auctions sites for hours... My thoughts on this, and on the watch topic is, and on all other topics by the way, everyone is different and has different preferences, different possibilities. I'm against gate keeping of all kinds. I respect the guy who likes to collect Chinese watches and the one who likes to collect a.lange. I don't have to understand why, as long as someone is having fun , it's fine. Actually it's the same with quality of watches. Someone who's new won't see a difference between a 200 and a 5000 Dollar watch. You need hints what to look for and the experience of handling different watches in person to realize the differences. Edit: I'm already browsing Bonhams and found a lot of 5 tsuba sold for 70k and another one with 4 tsuba sold for 5k. One can see a clear difference between those two lots. Thx for the tip.

Nope. Jim G. offered me his Water Wheel a long time ago, and I had to decline at the time. I regretted it for many years. Got the chance to fix it later, and jumped on the ones above. Left one is a bit bigger and thicker than the right one. Knotty tekkotsu and wet [yakkite] type patina on both. I think the smaller one on the right is the one that is a bit more tekkotsu gnarly. Ono is treated as a dumping bin by the NBTHK, thus you see some boring pieces and some great pieces with the same NBTHK attribution. I thought I had my One-n-Done [Tokugawa mon] Ono tsuba, but I couldn't resist these last year after a decade or more regretting not buying Jim Gilbert's. No idea to whom he sold his Ono.

Greetings Trice, As with everything, AI is bound to make mistakes and unsubstantiated claims, as in this case, the kanji given in the screenshots does not correlate to the given image, nor the first translation.

The exhibition https://ncartmuseum....king-of-a-warrior-i/ WOW !!

I’d consider buying it, but I have big concerns. Is it all just your comments, minus the dissenting opinions and viewpoints discussed here? If any of those opinions are included, are those people credited? Will you be donating any of the book proceeds to the forum where you collaborated the information published? Never seen anything like this before on the forum, so forgive me if I find it suspicious. -Sam

Gary, that's not a house, that's a museum. Amazing collection!

For me books is just fitting as I can't afford swords. Just purchased bunch at Yahoo JP, and waiting for few more auctions, definately an addiction & obsession of mine.

Dear Justin. Lovely tsuba, search around Hizen tsuba and enter the wormhole! All the best.

I can see all of the pictures now. The "Seki" stamp on the top of the tang also identifies this as a WW2 blade.

Michael another "man and his dog" example also from the Edward Wrangham collection. That one sold for £2,280 also back in 2010

Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa... Do not worry Dee

Yeah, I get it. But there's that "precedent" thing I need to keep in mind. Otherwise I'm going to get people posting tsuba books in the fittings section, and armour books in the katchu section. Once I allow one, the next guy gets to say "but you allowed....." Sorry, but if the military guys have any sense, they will be checking this section regularly. Btw...excellent books that are a must have.

This MON, called "変り十二日足," was used by the warlords of Kyushu

Only twice? I recently bought a Muromachi Period tsuba for about 1/3 the price of the Ebay listing.

Good start for a beginner, a couple of these pieces you have posted I had been keeping my own eye on, particularly the one of the Tatar noble. As Colin and John have said, the Crane tsuba is the highest quality out of those you have identified in your post. A few general things to try and watch for include quality of base metals, intricacy of linework, and signs of mold casting (often a sign of a later production). As you learn more about different styles/schools of craftmanship you'll get a sense of what is lower and higher quality, what styles you like and what you want to collect.

I suspect that this sword has been cobbled together from parts. The fuchi and koiguchi are set up for a chuso (push button retention latch), but the tsuba and some of the seppa are set up for a leather retention strap. The seppa are mismatched. The stuff in one of the pictures about being a 16th century blade is bunk. It’s a wartime blade with a seki stamp. The nakago appears to have been shortened to fit the current mounts, which is very strange for a seki showato. Some of this could be due to repair or replacement in the field, but it’s more likely that it’s post-war bubba work.

A real test would be nice. So far this is all just been pictures, ideas, and theories. If you find a tsuba you speculate is cast, how do you then determine it was made in the edo period? More speculation? It’s fine to speculate, but 16 pages of it without anything deeper to back it up… for what? Is this all just for your Amazon book?

@Gary that reminds me of the Samurai Art Museum ( Peter Janssen Collection) in Berlin. It started also with the problem that there is not enough space..........and it end in a very remarkable private Museum in Berlin. So, be very careful Happy Christmas to everyone.

Dan, Do me a favour please. Take a confirmed (modern copy is fine) cast tsuba, take a punch, and punch around the nakago ana heavily to deform the metal like many of these you post. Tell us if the metal deforms nicely and changes shape, or if it crumbles and bits fall off.

That's truly astonishing, Bruce. I came across a topic you posted three years ago. Now this sword is in my hands! What a wonderful coincidence.Judging from the markings on this sword, it was also made by the Yamato Gunto shop.

That oil that Stephen recommended is what I use. It also comes in a spray-bottle. Which I prefer, because it's easier to use a minimal amount. The bottle should last a really long time. I don't like the smell of clove, and gun oil smells too... industrial? for my liking. Just my two cents. Cheers, -Sam

For the most part, categorizations of unsigned pieces and dates of production are indeed rife with theology Mauro @MauroP. That's abundantly evident once you start gathering multiple papered examples to try to glean some sort of insight into possible kantei points for specific "schools". Well, I was hoping people would actually give the twelve tsuba I posted an honest attempt... with no fear of judgement. But it seems that everyone is either too busy at this point in time of the year (speaking of theology ) or just don't even have an idea where to begin trying to group together such seemingly disparate examples I'll spare you all the angst of trying to figure it out. It turns out ALL twelve of these tsuba were papered as Ko-Shoami, which is a purely fictitious attribution that really gained a foothold with Sasano's publications. It seems to me like the only kantei points the NBTHK is using for this attribution are: -must be unsigned (so there's no way to check) -pre-Edo period or Edo period (it really doesn't seem to matter, even though the "ko" in Ko-shoami is supposed to mean "pre-Edo period") -steel plate (which can be solid or have just about any type of sukashi you can think of) -and most importantly, it must be difficult to place in any of the other limited number of "schools" that have been pronounced and established over the last 100 years. ...so pretty much any steel tsuba that you can't stick into an existing category. It's kind of like the "Island of Misfit Toys" (a seasonal reference for those of you who know it...) Actually, "ko-shoami" is a very handy category to have for an organization that needs to label things for money. It's like a "get out of jail for free" card for those troublesome tsuba

There are specialty Choji oils made in Japan, such as Okamura Heibei Shoten (made for over 300 years...). You can always add a few drops to Camelia oil for the best of both worlds.

Thank you all so very, very, very much!!!! Yes the korshirae was the "over the top" element that got me past the blade. The blade to me at this point is "somewhat meh" - BUT - I think in hand and with eye it will be quite stunning visually - I think the shape, hada, hamon - and combo with koshirae will be a knock out. I'm learning to try and love more than the wild hamon. This is a great idea and one I will ask for immidiately - "Tanobe Sensei sayagaki if he agrees with the Wake attribution" I thought the same thing as Jussi "Man I hope this may have started life as a big huge 80cm Tachi!!!" - I dream to one day see hold one - HA - as few of sword shows as I can attend not likely but maybe see in a museum in Japan one day. Merry Christmas to all if you celebrate - thank you for all opinions - Here is to a great year of 2025 soon to arrive. Brad

Yes, I read the whole thread, and my answer is: I don’t know. I don’t have access to old books in Japanese libraries, and I don’t know Japanese. I believe that’s where the answer lies—not here. However, from what I’ve read, if I were to make a guess, the Edo period was a time of peace, and they didn’t need to make tsuba in bulk as they did in earlier periods. During the Edo period, tsuba became more like jewelry—something to make one stand out. Additionally, tsuba makers had much more time to practice their craft and come up with new ideas. So, I believe tsuba makers invested their time in quality rather than rushing their work. That was probably the best way to attract new customers. If they had made cast iron tsuba, I’m sure clients would have noticed the difference, and none of them would have wanted to lose customers. So, maybe they did, or maybe they didn’t. And quite honestly, it doesn’t matter much.

The papered tsuba in your previous post is in good condition, so it must have been well taken care of and protected. In your last post, first tsuba is in better condition than the second one. Second one is corroded and patina is eaten out.. that's the reason seppa dai looks different.

Dawson (working from memory) mentioned that there was another one of these out there. I've found it on this Russian Origami-token.ru site. Same anchor on the backstrap, no leather cover, and no anchor on the drag. Blade is slightly different, in the shape of the nakago jiri, and the start point of the bohi. Oh, and the rayskin is black on this one vs the white on the one I have. Mine:

ON HOLD - pending funds!

G'day Guys, Here are some shots of the Gassan Sadayoshi yoroi-doshi tanto dated 1863. I believe the blade was made and signed by Sadakazu for his master. Cheers, Bryce

Here are another couple of examples of Sadakatsu boshi. The top one is a Bizen den blade dated Taisho 10 and the bottom is a Soshu den blade dated Showa 13. Cheers, Bryce