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If you want to play on YHJP, be prepared for that kind of crap. Pulling auctions, phishing and shill bidding are rampant and go unchecked there. Then, if you do win the item must run the gauntlet of thieves within the customs and carriers systems. Be sure the seller insures the item for the full amount as most ship with no insurance.

2 and 6 are the fakes. dont be fooled but the sculped belt clips, they did make them for the type 94 according to Dawsons page 419. but the quality and colour are very obvoius. And Sam , number 1 is original, the photos where taken taken via phone. some of these are published in F/G 2nd book page 243. big thanks to Brenton Williams so pass this info on to others

the mon on the Tanto's Nakago is called " Chintamani" "Wish Jewel" Hoju-no Tama pearl that fulfills wishes

blade is signed Hisakatsu kore o tsukuru outer box Amakumi shinken "Divine sword Amakumi" outer box inside: showa juichinen jugatsu juichinichi imi-ketsugyo ni yori haitai-su shinzoku takenaka miyuki shirusu presented after rekindling the ritual sanctifying fire,written by tanaka miyuki from the god's race october 11 1936 inne box outside: "holy sword" innerbox inside: Kei-mei Amakumi Iwaki-sanroku no sai-iki ni oite kaji Takeshima Hisakatsu swordsmith Hisakatsu at a ritually purified place at the foot of mount Iwaki

this one is complete housed in two boxes with NTHK Kanteisho,all original with original silk bag

Hi all, As some of you might know, one of the biggest drawbacks of using Yahoo! Auction in Japan is that the seller has the power to simply terminate an auction if they feel the object is going for too little money. Why the hell they don't just set a minimum price is beyond me. 🤬Anyhow, this really frustrating occurrence happened to me yesterday; I was the winning bidder on a truly unique item and it got stopped in the last 10 seconds because the seller got greedy and wanted more money. I was spitting blood! 🤬🤬🤬 Nonetheless, I feel obliged to dear@Bruce Pennington to post the photos from this auction and an almost identical one (by the same f@£?@ seller) because I believe that they are a significant addendum to his excellent research on the mantetsu sword. They are very small (approx 16cm) tanto in shirasaya and presentation boxes, "forged at the foot of Mt. Ishishiro" by Hisakatsu Takeshima in 1936. Engraved with a Buddhist phoenix symbol, they are intended as good luck talismans for the two soldiers named on each respective nakago. In Showa 13 (1938), Hisakatsu was assigned to the Sword Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of the Southern Manchurian Railway Co., Ltd., and taught the forging of the Koa Isshin sword until the end of the war. First example: (which I was cheated out of🤬):

I think it is a decent sword. It has an attribution to quite good smith who has very few signed tachi remaining. Honestly I cannot really tell Nanbokuchō Bizen smiths apart from work style. Personally I don't like the size of this as I would want something bigger if looking for a Nanbokuchō sword. For me that bo-hi would be a large negative in this case, just a personal preference. This sword has been around, and it has been listed at several places. Last time was late November 2024 at Yahoo Auctions: https://buyee.jp/ite.../auction/x1161730631 Still old sales are old sales and some time ago it was on eBay listed with asking price of c.15,000$. I feel the current asking price that Aoi has is perfectly reasonable, just that for that amount of money I would look something else. However Motomitsu attributed swords do not pop up online that often and they are often highly appreciated.

改 in the date does not look so strange, though its left part might look like ⻖.

Last 2 pics of second tanto and the swordsmith Hisakatsu:

天 Ten 保 po 十 ju ニ ni 丑 Ushi - Ox 年 toshi/nen 改 aratame/kai – New year

Marcus Chambers is as close as anyone I'm aware of in terms of skill, but not in terms of teaching or writing. He is an NMB member and is accepting commissions. It's a tough row to hoe, and Ford made most of his income from western jewelry making. The competition is with antique Japanese tosogu prices and the time required to make new pieces.

Blade at Usagiya site. I did not realize saiha (retempered) blades could paper (unless very famous smith or significant blade)? NOT a judgment of NBTHK, blade, or the seller. Just found this info interesting.

Thank you Adam ..il is very interesting... Many thanks for all your answers. I'm convinced ... i need to see more blades ;P if i can i will go to Utrecht in June... I wish you a nice evening and once again a great year to all of you !

Yoshimasa. This appears to be a WWII era Seki blade. A showato arsenal blade, not traditionally made.

Update 2: Most critical phase, drilling the axis pin hole, is done. If I had messed it up I would have had to start all over again. Now it’s lots of shaping and filing.

I see: Tem po Ju Ni ? Nen ? Just for fun I included the pics of the four parts with Ju Kyu (19). The stock has a painted 19 inside but hard to get a good picture of it.

Glyphwiki lists 𨸩 as an alternate form of 改 https://glyphwiki.or...iki/simch-kx_t162305 posting as a pic in case the link goes dead.

Years ago I saw a mamorigatana tanto by a Gendai Seki smith with a lovely dragon horimono. A friend at the time bought it and I always hoped it would come my way. Alas, other pearls came into my orbit and captured my means. It is on the Board somewhere. I agree with Volker that such tanto have received too little attention, though Chris Bowen is well up in their study. I hope one comes to you eventually Dee, a very worthy target indeed. If one puts mamori into the Board's search field there is quite a lot of contributions on tanto. Here is a link to where the tanto I mentioned is found on page 2. Regards, BaZZa.

Hamon looks closer to the Yokoyama Sukesada Mon.

For Kenuki-Gata Tachi there is no Tsuka as such, the Nakago and Tsuka are one piece. The fittings go over the blade and are secured with small pins. https://nihontoart.c...uishinshi-masatsugu/

Found this print, the hangers are obviously wooden rattles here. Florian

Thank you for your comments Piers. To answer your question, I only really want to impress myself. I like antiques, I would never buy a reproduction yoroi, but I am not willing to spend 6K on a Yoroi. I have no problem taking criticism, this is quite usual here on the board. Some people will definitely find this armor bad or below average in quality. But I really do not mind, I want to own a piece that I can enjoy myself. Its just like with Nihonto, just because it's a momoyama wakizashi with many flaws and no papers doesn't mean nobody should buy it (as long as you take proper care of it). Thank you for your comments Uwe. Thanks for the hints! Just a question, is Yahoo auctions the right place to be? Or would it be more wise to buy from a dealer at this price point? If so then I would like to know which dealers deal in Yoroi. Thank you for your comments Uwe, I appreciate the help!

Good comments from both Piers and Uwe. Two observations: the first armour has a fairly uncommon feature - the hanagami-bukuro - which is that small pouch on the lower left of the dou the second armour looks more ensuite, but the nose on the menpo is a replacement (and not a very good one at that) Overall, the first armour is more martial but composite and the second one is likely to attract more attention (due to the kamon on the dou, fukigaeshi, etc.). For your budget, they're both decent.

I echo Piers! Even within your budget you can get decent armor, but let me add some hints: Pay attention to the condition! Is the set displayable as is (i.e., can it be assembled like it is)? Especially a look at the lacing, the fabric and the cords is useful. Missing or scratched lacquer is not a problem (only optical), but the remaining areas of the coating should be stable. As a rule of thumb, if the armor “talks to you” it’s the right one…

It looks as if you are successfully narrowing down your focus. Both of those look ok at a glance. The most important thing to me must be this searching and honest question about your motivation: who do you want to impress? Yourself? Do you feel pride and pleasure every time you look at it? Others? Do you want casual friends to be impressed? Do you want armor experts to be impressed? Are you strong enough to take silence or (casual) criticism from others? Will you have a further budget in the future? You may want to upgrade, or even add to your collection, as your knowledge grows. Good luck and happy hunting!

I finally got around to creating a Japanese art gallery webpage on my website mostly focused on Japanese swords and fittings. Here is a direct link to the gallery: Japanese Art Gallery | Tsuba Otaku . It is a still work in progress and more will be added later as I have been collecting Japanese art for many years and once had a Japanese art retail business. I hope you enjoy it. Polite and respectful discussion is always welcome, thank you.

I wish you all a wonderful year for 2025 ! (I hope the timing is still acceptable for this wishes) As a good resolution, I would like to try to acquire my first blade. Well in fact I've been wanting this for almost 2 years... but as you know better than I do... there is so much to know... Well and then to search and learn, isn't that ultimately the real pleasure. I'd like to have your comments about this sword ... I voluntarily prefer not to say anything about it with a more "raw" opinion and spontaneous opinions. Once again all the best for you all and your families. Best regards,

That said, saiha blades can pass shinsa if they are very important examples. Typically the blade has a notation of (saiha) on the kanteisho in these cases.

This is not a tanto I'm planning to purchase. It was offered to me for 800,000 yen but I had my doubts from the getgo regarding the style and application. As you remarked John, the style is quite atypical. Of particular concern is the bottom kanji with the right curve element being made of two individual gold pieces. I would expect a single piece of gold with file marks. In my experience this is not a good sign. I initially saw the jiba and found it very fine and attractive with possibly influence of Norishige.

I noticed that sword, too, @Pierre F. Here is a signed Juyo for comparison: Motomitsu. I saw it at DTI last year. It is an impressive blade. I think it is interesting that despite these two swords from the same smith being relatively similar in their current dimensions, one is signed and dated and the other is mumei. And there is a 6M yen difference in their prices. I think it is hard to pick out a first blade without seeing them in person. The way a blade feels when held says a lot, in my opinion, in addition to being able to better see its features. A sword show is a great way to do that.

Hi Pierre They are wrong on occasion. Sometimes you see a sword with two different attributions from two different organisations, sometimes the same organisation but different dates. That's not my issue though, my issue lies around relying on attributions. I want to see an ubu TEXTBOOK sword with a mei to match. Had my fair share of mumei swords, i dont like swords that still have questions that need answering or have me wondering which generation it is that made it. Got a little pedantic lol Im not saying i don't appreciate any good quality sword, i do, whether signed or not. Its what i can live with that matters. People build different collecting habits, we are all different You need to understand what you can live with, this will only come with time and experience.

I would agree that changing angles is important. Of these I would choose 4, horisontal edge up and supporting mune with cloth. From the horisontal position you can turn the sword on either side and to me it is the easiest to catch the light at good angle.

Looks like a nice sturdy sword. I’d wager the Bo-hi was added much later when the sword was cut down seeing how it doesn’t continue down into the nakago.

I can't explain why I like it .... It is old ...but dont look too old...I like the grain of the steel (for what I can see on pictures) , I like the fact that it has bo-hi.. the hamon look nice. I can't really explain but this sword intrigues me. I don't know if I can say I like it... I just wanted your opinions on maybe why I shouldn't like it ;P I can see it is not on the original shape and probably strongly shortened...In fact, you will undoubtedly see innumerable flaws... hence my question

攵was clear but I also thought it must be 阝on the left….

Wow Hamish! No wonder they cancelled before I won at under 300 bucks!!! 😂😂😂

That is absolutely beautiful Volker! ❤️ And thank you so much for all the fascinating info!!! Dee

Dee your 2 tanto have been doing the rounds on jauce for about 12 months. All about the 5k aud range. The seller is fishing

Simply... WOW!!... BaZZa.

Gorgeous piece, although unfortunately beyond my current price range.

Ah, I see from looking back at Ian's post, there were some legit hangers with that sculpted design. So, that is not a red flag.

Also, this single character on the outside of the lock; 武 Take?

O.K. everyone. You all win. I can no longer take this undeserved mass ridicule. I am out of here.

Looks to be in decent condition and fairly well made, may be one of the minor smiths of the Hosokawa Masayoshi Den.

Well, maybe Ford would have gotten involved but as with the other specious thread on cast iron tsuba I suspect he would have simply checked out. He appreciated that the secret to a long life was not arguing with fools.

Ford loved to rip a silly theory to pieces. He would have made short work of this.

This is one possible answer, but I have an alternate hypothesis. I think the tsuba is showing people travelling along major roads into a city/town for the Bon Odori Matsuri. ^ Picture from a modern Bon Odori Festival in Yokohama Note these boats? We can see these in our tsuba design as well, near the festival tower.

Perhaps I'm biased but I believe that is part of what was behind many great achievements in history

Yes but I have a diagnosed "handicap" - Asperger's and too much time on my hands!

For me it is thinking about the romantic history behind them. My own interest in Japanese swords mostly spans from Heian until mid-Muromachi. Bit similarily my interest in European swords mostly spans from Migration period until end of Renaissance. Can't really explain why shortly but I just think for example viking age is interesting as is the Nanbokuchō period and so on. Just the time and history that is fascinating to me. Unfortunately I don't think there is too much researched data in English about steel analysis regarding regional changes in Japanese history. We have had few threads about it over the years, here is one: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23184-steel-analysis-of-different-regional-schools/ As I know I cannot afford the fine quality top tier old swords and partly because living here up north, I've been really fascinated about bit lesser known rural schools. Some time ago I also encountered an article by Yoshikawa Kentaro about swords in Northern Japan and it had greatly informative bit where he mentioned that somewhat rough hada "hadatatsu" "hadamono" that often is prominent in swords of Northern region actually improves the performance in cold climate and hadamono swords offer good flexibility and strength. Living here in cold north myself I find stuff like this really fascinating. I don't consider myself as an art connoisseur who goes after top quality (as it is way beyond my means) but kinda low/mid tier collector going after what I consider to be interesting items. Hōju or Gassan tachi from up north would be right up my alley where as most of the serious collectors would not find item like that too interesting. Historical preference is also one thing that will push people towards certain great makers. If those swords were highly regarded at the time when they were actually used, you can take it that they really were and are great swords. This is just a personal opinion and may very well be wrong but I'd think late Kamakura and Nanbokuchō period swords might be softer and more durable than Edo period swords. Therefore in general they performed very well in battle and were well rounded swords. Also I think modern Japanese swordsmiths are very modest in general. I believe many of the modern makers make excellent swords that would have been cherished in historical period. I think warriors of old would have been proud to carry swords that some modern smiths are producing.