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Some general shots of the place. A B C

蓋同銘中・無出典在者 Not sure of the red, but my guess is that the meaning is "The meaning of the phrase on the tsuba (also noted on the lid) is unknown" (not listed in any published resources). Edit: Hmm, rethinking this, at least the 2nd part. The phrase 忠則盡命 is known (devoting your life to your lord). A reference to a Chinese classic, Thousand Character Essay (孝當竭力，忠則盡命).

Since we are showing off our early documented tsuba, here is one from the Mosle' collection. This one is described as number 804. TSUBA, thin iron, with two circular perforations, shigure-yasuri-me. Unsigned work of Prince Hosokawa Tadaoki (Sansai-Ko). 32. Higo province. Plates LX-LXIV Background on the Mosle Collection “Alexander Mosle’ (1862-1946) during several stays in Japan from 1884 to 1907 representing Gruson Werke, a subsidiary of Krupp, put together the core of his collection through Amiya with the advice and teachings of Akiyama Kyusaku. Back in Europe, he exhibits his collection in Berlin in 1909 (he will continue to buy until 1920). His collection was made of about 1600 pieces among which a unique group of some 300 Goto works, a number of which had the origami issued by Goto masters in works attributed to their ancestors before they were in the habit of signing. “(from 100 Selected Tsuba from European Public Collections, by Robert Haynes and Robert Burawoy)” Mentors of Mosle’ as listed in his 1914 catalog include: Paul Vautier (put together the Oeder collection) Wada Tsunahiro (put together the Furukawa collection) Akiyama Kyusaku Ogura Soemon (Amiya) “Mosle’ was one of the few devotees who actually lived in Japan (1884 -1907) during this historic period and had through his position as armament representative to Japan from the Gruson/Krupp company and as acting consul of Belgium to Japan access to experts in his fields of interest of the highest order. He counted as personal friends the likes of Tokugawa Iesato and General Nogi and mingled with the aristocracy of Japan. From this he was able to access information rarely accorded anyone, not to mention non-Japanese, and with his scholastic mind was able to document much research in these fields. (historic information has been taken from the catalog, ‘Japanese Sword Fittings from the Alexander G. Mosle’ Collection, Mosle’ and His Collection’, Sebastian Izzard LLC, 2004).

See also BaZZa.

It’s upside down, but that’s the easy part. Are we seeing Masa(?)hide(?) Saku(?)…正秀作? (Something)hide Saku? Or is that 守？ *just to get the ball rolling. But usually these are names of smiths who the makers aspire to.

Gerry: Just my two cents, however I agree with the comments about becoming a nuisance to them. Most of my career was spent arresting, interviewing, and prosecuting dishonest employees. And in my experience, assuming it was indeed stolen, if enough pressure is applied, the sword may just "show up" at some point because the crime becomes too risky. If it is just lost, the added pressure will prompt action because ultimately these folks don't want to lose their jobs. So keep up the phone calls, emails, and bugging them up the chain of command. John C.

John, maybe I'm not grasping the question... if it has horns, moos and looks like a cow, well, most probably is a cow... Your tsuba has an Akasaka look and is signed Bushūj jū Akasaka, so what else? About layers I'm quite convinced I can even see them (but don't take it too seriously).

As part of the Golden Week display of Sanchōmō they were running a shuttle bus today to the old Nakazaki-Tei in Fukuoka Village next to Osafuné. Spread over three rooms were a display of Koshiraé (no blades), a display of Tsuba, a case full of Tōsōgu, and a display of Bizen guns and accessories, etc. The latter was my alotted corner. Not expecting anyone to visit our humble exhibition, I was surprised to see more that fifty people come through during the day, from all over Japan. What pleased me particularly (apart from the obvious interest shown by the visitors) was that I was asked to provide some Koshiraé, and everything I had brought with me got added to the display. Seven Koshiraé! This is the very first time that my pieces have been considered worthy of their displays. No negative comments, all silently accepted. Made me all warm and fuzzy inside, it did.

Thanks Sam! For me that would explain a lot of questions around Nakago. I forgot about that possibility.

Dispalys are very nice, Piers. But I really love the setting. The building is gorgeous and sets the mood. John C.

Dear NMB members, I’m back once again to ask for your kind help! I’m trying to fill in a few missing kanji and improve the romaji transcription of tsuba hakogaki by Satō Kanzan. The updated document (draft no. 3) is available here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gkfcfqc6gs14invoeg6hn/KanzanHakogaki.pdf?rlkey=5i89f80fkbbf60x67f1lloa2k&st=j7yud1nq&dl=0 Here are the points that still need attention (I'm posting the relevant hakogaki one by one): HGK1 三信家 鐔 ＊ San-Nobuie tsuba 盡忠則命 ＊??? 木瓜形 鉄地 毛彫 ＊ mokkō-gata tetsu-ji kebori 銘 三信家 ＊ mei San Nobuie 美同銘★ 無出共右者 ＊ ??? ??? 珍重 伊達家伝来之一 ＊ chinchō Date-ke denrai no itotsu 昭和甲辰夏日 ＊ Shōwa kinoe-tatsu kajitsu [1964, a summer day] 寒山 ＊ Kanzan Question 1: how should I transcribe the description of subject (盡忠則命)? Question 2: little idea about correct kanji and meaning of the 3rd column from the inside writing of the box. Thank you for any suggestion.

Looks oddly "oily" - not impressed with the "paint on highlights"

Hello: I've been researching this akasaka tsuba, reading the multitude of posts. It seems to check all of the kantei boxes with one exception - layers. Shape of seppa-dai is good, thickness is good (if later), subject matter is good (Musahino), kogai ana is smaller than kozuka ana, carvings show kittate, etc. I don't, however, see any distinct layers. But it doesn't show signs of being cast either. Does an akasaka tsuba necessarily have to show fold layers? Is this an absolute kantei point? Thickness at seppa-dai 5.5mm; 4mm at the mimi I believe puts it later. Thank you for taking a look, John C.

What a shame, hope it shows up. Just another example of the decay our country is experiencing. There is an ongoing case where the USPS has lost a legally registered Uzi submachine gun. It was sent from Ohio to Florida via Registered Mail, supposedly the most secure method the USPS offers, insured for $20,000. Tracking showed it made it to Detroit, where it disappeared. The response and efforts of the USPS and the Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, And Firearms which regulates machine guns, has been almost nonexistent. In fact the USPS denied the insurance claim three times before relenting and paying up. Pathetic. Steve

I admit being partial to a bit of gold decoration here and there but totally appreciate the presence and atmosphere imparted by each style to be really quite different in impact. For me, zogan application seems to add levity to the “weight” and seriousness of plain iron, but I’m familiar with the opinion that it is distasteful to add “makeup” to an iron tsuba. (Last one, I promise 😂)

I believe it's a lightly struck Nagoya army arsenal stamp. I see a lot of these on 95s, and it looks about right 名 na 名古屋陸軍造兵廠監督課 , Nagoya Army Arsenal Supervisory Section.

Jean, that is a possibility, thank you. Maybe a type of wagashi? They often come in blossom shapes...

Thank you @2devnul! The sugata on this blade is super aggressive and sleek when held in hand. The 2.5cm sori, extended Kissaki and the fact that it has a wide mihaba, slightly thins out in the middle section but widens out again at sakihaba, gives the effect of an imposing and devastating sweeping cutter. It is a form that you would not want to see on the other side of a battlefield.

Very off. An Akasaka design with a lot of fakes floating around. That and the Axe + Lightening design. Rust them up a bit, and someone might think they are real. ----Avoid----

I had it tested and the inside was positive for biological material (blood). It does not have an exit hole, so it stayed in the poor chap wearing it. Average military Tanegashima had a caliber of 5/8 to 3/4", so that hot ball will smash a large hole.

I mean the thing is the whole "mt fuji" hamon thing is very much a generalization. Not all Shinto smiths focused on pure aesthetics. In fact ohmura even makes note of this, pointing at that for the most part blades made in kyushu seemed to perform rather well. For example, take a shodai tadayoshi blade and compare it to a tadayoshi 8: yeah the shodai will have nice jigane and may have cleaner lines, but the overall sugata and features of the blade are almost identical. Same can be said with ishido smiths. Are there exceptions? Of course, there always are, but the blanket statement that all of them were made for art isn't really true. They were still carried regularly, and tons of people relied on them for personal defense. The priorities shifted. It's like taking a modern pietta Colt single action army and comparing it to the original: they're made for completely different purposes. Also I'm in the camp that Japanese swords are primarily designed with unarmored or lightly armored targets in mind to begin with. Yeah there are swords that may be more robust, but at the end of the day it's a sidearm. Like owning a Glock 17 and expecting it to do the work of an ar15. Yeah there were definitely flaws with the cutting tests, but there were also destructive tests done. I'm sure you've read the sesko writeup on the masao vs naotane test.

The thing is you can't really quantify what type of blows caused kirikomi, so even that is hardly scientific. Obviously if a blade survived with multiple deep kirikomi, it did its job well, but I guess the main point I was getting at is there isn't really a solid way to tell besides time travel whether something like an onizuka Yoshikuni or kunihiro would perform just as well in such a situation. Also, people like to waive around random mumei swords they own with kirikomi as if that is some sign of them surviving battle, but as a kenjutsu practitioner I can guarantee that at least some of those kirikomi could've been caused by martial arts use. This is different of course if a blade has solid documentation showing it saw usage however.

萬延元庚申年日 – Man’en 1st Kanoe-Saru year (1860) 鈴木鉄造典直迮之 – Suzuki Tetsuzo Norichika/Norinao made this.

I know an Ichimonji with 8 mekugi-ana. Thats the most I've seen on a blade.

I was wrong…..they did thank us!…..

@DocTheRoc this got me thinking about where I'd seen a sword with a large collection of nakago-ana, and today I finally remembered. Check out this long Ayanokoji blade that was featured at last year's Japan Art Fair in Utrecht:

On Saturday Mr Koike told me they have already seen over 1.5 million JPY in donations towards the project. (One person alone apparently gave ¥1,000,000.)

On Sunday a collector friend at a monthly outdoor event said he had something in his car for me so we walked over and he handed me a bag with something boxy inside. Today I finally got around to opening it. Five stacking trays for nine tsuba each, enough for 45 tsuba! Have just sent him a thank-you message.

Here is a bullet hole, in a narigawa kabuto

It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that a shingunto enroute to me from Japan has been stolen from the USPS Chicago Distribution Center on April 20, 2026. The package left US Customs on April 20 at 9.16am, and into the USPS Chicago Distribution Center. Progress with the delivery stopped after that, and the USPS isn't able to find my package after over a week. What's ironic is that this sword was ordered before the Trump tariffs of April 2025, and was stuck in Japan due to EMS being down for the last year. So I've been waiting for it since then, and my first sword delivery since EMS resumption gets stolen at USPS. So, I ask if you could all keep an eye out for a long 28.5" mumei shingunto with papers to Dotanuki. The sword description and photos are as follow: Nagasa = 72.42cm or 28.51" Base width: approx. 2.9 cm Base thickness: approx. 0.6 cm Tip width: approx. 1.9 cm Tip thickness: approx. 0.4 cm Blade weight: 703.4 g Curvature: 1.21 cm The hamon is a subtle wavy gunome, and the tang has 2 mekugi ana. Most importantly, the seppa and tsuba all have a kanji eleven "十一" numbering on them. It also comes with a gold foil 2 piece habaki. Please inform the police that this is stolen property if you encounter this sword on an online listing on being sold in a store or trade show.

Thank you Dale for the extra examples! Although I'm not sure what that last one is trying to achieve looks like a satyrical modern work!

Currently it is very complicated to sell and send something to USA. Sorry Oliver

That's surprizing! How did they manage to take photos of my NETSUKE ?