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Dear Hokke, The topic is a bit more nuanced that throwing a "yes +xx% price per marks" but much of this is due to the framing. There something better out there that captures the essence of your question in a period-accurate way and reframes it: A recorded kiritsuke mei inscribed on the nakago that allude to battle circumstances and defeating certain prized foes and nemesis. Once such blade, a Tokuju Osafune Motoshige, had the name of the son of a Daimyo it slayed inscribed on the tang along with who performed the deed during the Sengoku Jidai. The blade was retired subsequently and kept as a family treasure celebrating the deed. The inscription is ancient, and the act recorded in the archives of the family. Does this increase its value? Of course, in front of the right buyer. I would go as far as personally to consider chasing only this specific Motoshige if I wanted to make an exception for a mumei motoshige blade (there are enough signed ones - 56 to be precise - to target signed). In the NBHTK setsumei: In addition, this piece preserves a carved inscription (kiritsuke-mei) stating that on the 13th day of the 6th month of Eishō 18 (1521), Hayashi Motokatsu killed Kageharu, the youngest son of Asakura Sadakage of Echizen. However: Would I be interested in generic but verifiable "kill notches" without further context, per se? Not at all, to the contrary. There is little historical and provenance value in my eyes. For the same reason, Edo period cutting tests are also not my cup of tea. Why? Some introspection: perhaps because war is necessary, high-stakes, and epic in the human story arch, but death itself is a tragic byproduct. Remove the battle, the stakes, the heroes and the villains - and leave only death as a memory - well - it does not appeals to my personal sense of life aesthetics. The Motoshige with kiritsuke mei recounts the story of defeating a family nemesis. This fits in the arc of the human epic and adds an enchanting element. More generally, is provenance valuable? It can be everything - take the following provenance extreme case: A gimei Kotetsu blade belonging to one of the famous Shinsengumi with kirikomi with ironclad provenance documentation. This blade is likely to be extremely valuable and command in the mid-to-high six figure results at auction. The price is solely driven by the provenance in this case. Famous historical figures and Daimyo collections, romantic Bakumatsu ronin stories, all of these hold a special place of interest to many collectors and have market effects, and no wonders - these are genuine moments of history that create enchantment in the experience of collecting and studying history. Long live epic stories, Hoshi

Sorry Dale but I have to strongly disagree; donating to a museum, local or otherwise, is a terrible idea. If donated the tsuba might be put on display for a short time but then will be relegated to the basement where they will rot away. If the collection is important and the museum has a serious interest in and knowledge of Nihont, that's another story but common stuff and a common museum is a recipe for ruin. Tsuba and all other Nihonto art are best kept by collectors who appreciate and know how to preserve them. Grey

I did spot one cast copy and possibly two guards made for replica tachi mounts. The rest are looking OK and there are one or two I would like myself! Just a suggestion, but as we are really just temporary custodians of these things - any thought of donating them to a local museum? Along with the story of how they were found would add local value to them and keep them together. [Like I say just a suggestion]

I got a surprise, didn't think I'd manage to get this close while I was checking koshirae examples for you. This sword was featured in Tokyo National Museum Uchigatana-goshirae exhibition which I think is the best resource for uchigatana koshirae of this time period. This sword is actually recorded in records of Katakura family (片倉). It seems they became Date retainers in 1532. This particular sword was actually wielded by Katakura Shigetsuna in Osaka summer campaign in 1615. And in the book it is written that this koshirae dates not older than 1615 but the tsuba is actually older piece that was fitted to this sword. However it is mentioned that the koshirae might be made in later years of Shigetsunas life and not in 1615. It is also mentioned that kurikata and kaerizuno are different and probably show local style. One problem with very old complete koshirae is that usually the ones that have been preserved have been owned by high level people and might not be comparable what your average person would wield. Or they might be very plain battlefield koshirae which I personally like.

Reminds me of this Tametsugu that was put on sale last year. I agree I also prefer a historical context to the carnage and annihilation attached to a particular blade. Kiritsuke-mei At the summer battle at Osaka Castle in Sesshu province Mizawa Magozaemon no jo "Took a head in a fierce battle".

I would not have a problem owning such a hypothetical sword. I already own swords that, based on their age, could have been used to kill but lack the hypothetical bodycount markings to document that history. I also own WWII German and Japanese firearms that were brought back by American GIs that were very likely used to kill Americans. I respect that this would really bother some people, and they would not want to own or even be around such items. I differentiate between the tool and the person using the tool, so I do not view these items as inherently bad or evil. And my interest in them is based on history, artistry, and technology instead of any macabre interest. That said, I would be less inclined to own a sword (or other weapon) that derives its primary value or interest from the macabre. For example, I would not want to own a test cut sword solely because it is a test cut sword. It would first have to be a sword I would appreciate if it did not have saidan mei. The saidan mei is still valuable to me--albeit secondary value--because it provides additional historical interest. The same goes for kirikomi or Hokke's hypothetical bodycount markings--they provide value to me that is secondary to the craftsmanship of the sword.

Blades do not kill people. People kill people. The blade is just an inanimate tool albeit it of varying quality or value or age. To me personally such hypothetical marks would be irrelevant if unproved. Who owned the blade (if substantiated) is a whole different ballgame……imo who owned it is the provenance worth considering.

I dont have much experience yet, but I agree with Jeff. Over the past year or so I have been searching for a nice piece from the Kamakura era that peaks my interest. Plenty of Items on my wishlist sold out quickly over the past few months, most of them between 7 - 10kEuros. Some were sitting on sites for years making me think I have time to consider carefully which one to get and suddenly a lot of them were gone. Made me impulse buy a cheap Tanto I really really liked.

According to Ford Hallam, the finer AMIDA YASURI was not chiseled, but scraped with a sharp tool. Another YAMAKICHI BEI: A following YAKITE KUSARASHI treatment is very likely.

Hey Guys, Thanks for the expertise, was not too expensive and still looks nice. So will find it a nice place as decoration here. Regards, Kin

Some interesting ones. That cloisonné one would do well on an auction, international bidders seem to like them.

As a casual observer, with no stats to back me up, it seems good blades at 9k and up are moving. The middle level stuff is sitting and the low end seems to be scooped up.

Many interesting pieces here and none, as far I can see, is rubbish (which is a notable in a collection)...

From the local internet auction. Dated by August 10, 1914 if I read the date right.

Interesting story. We had a birthday party at our home this Saturday, and a family member was in my workshop and noticed a sword of mine. As we were talking about it he said he had a collection of tsubas and was wondering what he had and what to do with them. His parents, years ago like in the 50s or 60s bought a home. I know, get's your heart pumping as you know where this is going. They were cleaning out the basement and found a group of swords along with the tsubas. His brother has the swords, and he got the tsubas. He sent me pictures this morning. I'm looking for guidance to pass along to him. You can feel free to message me. I think he wants to sell them because he's had them for a long time and has never known how to approach doing anything with them. Is there anything that jumps out at you as "this could be worth something?" As a group if someone wanted to put a ballpark price on them that would be helpful. Fun story, and looks like some interesting ones for sure. Thanks for your help. And if there's anything in particular you'd like to see better images of let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thanks.

Unfortunately true even in Japan. Many of the museums mean well, but they simply don't have the budget to hire an expert to take care of each of their various categories of exhibits, especially when said exhibits may spend the better part of the year sitting in a basement or warehouse instead of bringing in visitors and funds.

Golden rule that applies to all antiques/works of art etc…….of any variety…. No repair is far better than bodged repair🙂 I suspect I am “teaching granny”……🙂

I would think nothing to worry about as one could support the menuki from crushing by putting in a post, or 'blob' of something like casting in a lump of 5-minute araldite or some such, or sticking in a small piece of protruding metal that would take care of the location/movement problem. It would be a rare case where you could silver solder a replacement pin. Just an idea 'on the run' before having lunch and trying to please my missus (not misses) by getting away from the computer and doing some work outside. BaZZa.

小林 - Kobayashi (family name)

Does not look like KAMAKURA (or HEIAN, for that matter) at all to me. It is either a blade for a SHIKOMIZUE (仕込み杖), or (very likely) a MAGURO HOCHO (= long Tuna knife).

Here is Shodai Hoan tsuba with a yakite-kusarashi (or kusarakashi -- the term is often shortened in usage) finish. The recognizable motif of a kiri-mon may be seen in the lower-left quadrant, and others appear elsewhere on the plate. I believe the effects are achieved via the process I described in my earlier post. Florian, as far as I know, the creation of amida-yasurime was often accomplished by painstakingly careful application of the chisel onto the plate, at least in the tsuba I'm familiar seeing this presentation in (e.g. some of the Owari province artists and groups, such as Yamakichibei, Toda, Fukui). Attached is a Nidai Yamakichibei tsuba where the amida-yasurime was first chiseled into the plate, and then (perhaps?) there was some application of acid afterwards to soften the effect. This is how it appears to me, anyway.

Gotō Mitsumasa (kaō)

A lot of explanation. But it is STILL what I said it is, and is oil quenched. Not a Nihonto, and common in the militaria market. Nakago makes it soooo obvious. You may not like the truth here, but it remains the truth. https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-japanese-wwii-era-tanto-dagger-in-shirasaya-resting-scabbard-traditional-handmade-blade?variant=40457944268869 And they are wrong here too...it is clearly oil quenched. https://therionarms.com/sold/com195.html

A few more crumbs... AI now tells me that Seki-shi "Ko" (the neighborhood where this building was located) is part of what is today known as Hon-machi (本町) and Sennen-chō (千年町) near Heiwa-dōri (平和通). So I guess the building was quite close to where the Seki Swordsmith's Museum is located. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seki+Swordsmith+Museum/@35.4824856,136.9151115,18z/data=!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x60030417b19c0539:0xa08c0b4e66285ed1!2sHeiwadori,+Seki,+Gifu+501-3874,+Japan!3b1!8m2!3d35.4830386!4d136.9134498!16s%2Fg%2F1pxyw_khs!3m5!1s0x6003043dea7ba5df:0xb88094cdce501761!8m2!3d35.4818101!4d136.9164444!16s%2Fg%2F121gzx98?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUwNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D Maybe the old building was torn down to make space for this museum??

At Aoi we had announcement that prices goes up. Every blade is different. But no wonder that prices goes up as yen is in deep hole and it only started. Dollar isn’t in great spot itself… Yen to dollar chart:

Kin, this would have been a topic for the TOSOGU section. In my opinion. it is a tourist souvenir. I hope you did not pay much.

Popped on the Richard Militaria https://richard-militaria.at/Japan-portepee-offizier-company-grade

I used to believe in donating items to museums when convinced its one of a kind, unique artefact whose loss would severely affect our understanding of the subject. Anything below this level frankly should not be even considered. And even this being said - my experience is to postpone donation until the very last moment. Because there is always a chance somebody will start building a collection dedicated specifically to such subject and you already donated the crown jewel of it to a place which simply keeps it in storage.

Yep. Many a university museum has trays and drawers of tsuba sitting in the shadows. I won't say which Ivy League university, but one of them has quite the sea of tsuba tucked away in a basement.

Absolutely excellent Hoshi, thank you for taking the time to post it.

No. Though i find the history interesting. To be honest, you dont know what you own. Meaning that the sword you own could have killed or the owner been killed. Someone once said on a antique gun site, with reference to a civil war Colt pistols. If some owners truly knew the history and deaths linked to their guns then they would likely be shocked. May sound a bit hypocritical when i say something like "would love to own a gun that was at waterloo" (which sometimes do) but wouldn't want to knowingly own something that killed someone, would probably give me the creeps on a dark night lol. With swords, they are up close and personal, defo not for me.

You can see the faint, faded blue of a company grade tassel in the bends. Seems legit, but strangely long tassel threads.

Check nakago for seki stamp. He was Seki tosho and is listed as Seki Tosho https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/seki.htm Also check this thread

Here's one the that initially seems like bugged AI but turns out to be the fault of the seller using copy&paste from other listings: #328540 (https://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r8/007/00_norishige.htm). It's an 1836 naginata by Taikei Naotane described in the overview as a gakumei Norishige wakizashi (the in-depth description is correct) made in Kanbun (??). I've seen a few other similar oddities on the seller's website.

An easy repair by a jeweller with low heat. Silver solder or similar. But I wouldn't bother, nothing to be gained from that.

Check this out

I think the stamped mark is dai, for size large. John C.

Kojima Katsumasa. https://www.google.com/search?q="kojima+Katsumasa"+site%3Amilitaria.co.za%2Fnmb&sca_esv=591b4a927a35bf88&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS1136US1136&biw=1536&bih=791&sxsrf=ANbL-n6Ejze1AZosn-RvdB9Fa5Sqm8r81Q%3A1778542963645&ei=c2kCaruAJ__gp84P2ar8oAM&ved=0ahUKEwj7hcPstLKUAxV_8MkDHVkVHzQQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq="kojima+Katsumasa"+site%3Amilitaria.co.za%2Fnmb&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKyJrb2ppbWEgS2F0c3VtYXNhIiBzaXRlOm1pbGl0YXJpYS5jby56YS9ubWJIvghQZVjRBXABeACQAQCYAS2gAVmqAQEyuAEDyAEA-AEB-AECmAIAoAIAmAMAiAYBkgcAoAcYsgcAuAcAwgcAyAcAgAgB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

Noted this post from @toushin1 at https://www.nihontou.jp/ on X and thought it worth seeing what others are experiencing in their recent interactions with the Japanese Sword and Tsuba Market. Are you buying? Are you selling? Have you noticed swords are moving or prices are rising?Having you noticed a shift in market sentiment in the west or in Japan? Worth finding out what others think. 美術刀剣 刀心: "Recently, the market price of Japanese swords has been rising again. While inflation and other cost increases are contributing factors, I personally believe that increased overseas demand is a major driving force behind the price increase. Our sword shop is small, so we don't experience this to the same extent, but from what I've heard from various people, larger sword shops seem to be selling a considerable number of swords overseas. The weaker yen has increased the purchasing power of people overseas, leading to a rise in demand and prices. In recent years, it's estimated that several thousand to 10,000 swords leave Japan each year and go to people overseas. I think it's very gratifying that people overseas are showing interest in Japanese swords, which can be considered symbols of Japanese spirit and culture. Furthermore, considering the current situation in Japan where interest in Japanese culture and swords has waned and fewer people own them, I feel it's wonderful that people overseas are purchasing and cherishing them. On the other hand, I worry that if this continues, excellent Japanese swords will become unattainable for Japanese people. Or perhaps, the future where people travel abroad to admire famous Japanese swords... I fear that such a future may be closer than we think. In order to prevent Japanese swords, which can be considered the very soul of Japanese culture, from becoming something distant, I hope that more people will learn about them, actually touch them, and become interested in them. We will do our best, however small our contribution may be, and we would be grateful for your support. #ProtectJapan #MadeInJapan #JapaneseCulture #JapaneseSword #JapaneseSoul"

Selling an unpapered daito signed Takahashi Naganobu dated to 1845. Very robust with nice late edo period fittings. Has a jigane that almost looks muji, but upon closer inspection it appears to be mokume. Very nice sanbonsugi hamon in an old rustic polish. No guarantee on the mei. Koshirae fits perfectly, no movement or rattle. Sword is very sharp. Specs: Nagasa: 68.9cm Motokasane: 9mm Sakikasane: 6mm Motohaba: 3.1cm Sakihaba: 2.1cm sorii: 1.8cm Looking to get 2200 shipped, price negotiable. Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uKQcFRSSmHRh15ne7

Hi Piers! Mr O and I. Brothers from a different mother! We looks so alike! I will miss his influence on the community. On the good side..you don’t need to hide your trasures risking confiscation 😁 Anthony

I've added some more details that could help I guess; weight 155g, thickness 4,75mm, height 73,20mm and width 66,25mm. The crests on top and bottom side of the tsuba are also slightly misaligned when you look from the side. Hope this is helpful.

George, perhaps the first thing to learn is what we would call a "matching" KOSHIRAE might not be the same in a Japanese view. In fact, there are (often valuable) KOSHIRAE with TOSOGU en suite coming out of the hands of a renowned craftsman, but this is far from being common with all SAMURAI. As I have read, with "average" class SAMURAI, KOSHIRAE were put together following individual taste and available money, and easy-to-change parts like TSUBA, TSUKA, or SAYA were probably exchanged a few times in the life of a good sword. So, not even looking at the historical changes in general styles and use of a sword, there were many factors in the choice and combination of sword parts that we are not always aware of. In many cases, we have to learn about Japanese taste, about their mythology, religion, nature, tales and legends, folklore and customs, a.s.o. Just to give an example: in the West, we would consider martial symbols fitting a weapon, but in Japan, you may find a FUCHI with playing puppies, or a (matching !) FUCHI-GASHIRA set with a peaceful farm scene with hens, chicks, and a cock. So, studying and understanding Japanese beliefs, feelings, and taste in the historical and cultural context will certainly help. Reading books by Lafcadio Hearn might also help. I don't think there is a fast and easy way.

I love mushrooms, and the menuki are on hold for you. Thanks!

Original boxed tassels that have come and gone over the years: Company & Field grade General grade Field grade Kyu Gunto

Dear Jack. I think Marcin is essentially correct. As you observe most menuki have a rectangular post with four supports at each face which is silver soldered into the menuki, as distinct from brazing. I have never noted any signs of brazing but sometimes it is possible to see that the silver solder has spread around the back of the menuki. You will see variations, some round posts and sometimes a star formed support in place of the four rectangles. The back of the menuki should be slightly radiused so that they fit well against the rounded tsuka and often you will find a depression in the same to seat the post which should protrude beyond the radiused back, the post sitting in the depression helps to prevent the menuki moving out of place under the ito and supports the often thin metal of the menuki itself. Quite often you will see menuki which have been filled with a composition to provide additional support. Given the process of forming menuki, uchidashi, then it follows that the supports cannot be fitted until virtually the end of the making process, before patination. Menuki of very thin metal, often poorly trimmed and with one or more very thin posts rather like a pin are later pressings made in large quantities at the end of the Meiji period and into the 20th century. Hope that helps. All the best.

Good day! The upper dirk of your junior official of the Ministry of National Railways is from 1909, but the screw (menuki) is not native. The lower dirk is an early officer's sea coat of the 1883 model (rare).

What did the mice say when they discovered there was no rice in the house? "Rats!"

This is what I think some of them could look like. https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?168681-Is-this-a-Japanese-sword