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堅丸形 赤銅地 金平象嵌 無銘 加賀 年号に自信がないが昭和丁未年春 堅丸型＝katamarugata 赤銅地＝syakudouzi 金平象嵌＝kinhirazougan 無銘＝mumei　加賀＝kaga Maybe 昭和＝syouwa 丁未年＝hinotohituzi 春＝haru (1967) 私が知っているオカンさんなら、突然連絡が途絶えた時、心配しました

Here's one side: 備前長船秋水子祐直六十二歲作 = made by Bizen Osafune Shūsuishi Sukenao at the age of 62 文政十三年正月三日 = on the third day of the first month of Bunsei 13 (1830 CE) This is his entry in Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan:

Other side is 潜龍 "Hidden Dragon" 源義制 佩劔 Owned/Worn by MINAMOTO Yoshinori. Hidden Dragon would be the name given to the sword. I think Minamoto Yoshinori was a hatamoto in the Tokugawa Bakufu Government.

Beautiful work! One of my favorite works on this topic is by Omori Teruhide.

Center) Director of the Japanese Sword Forging Association, Naval Captain Kurata (left) Advisor, Dr. Kudo, Director of the Anki Steel Works.

Two examples in my collection. There may be a relationship between Gosan no Kiri and officers in the Imperial Guard divisions.

Hi Bob, as the length (= NAGASA) is 51,2 cm, it is a WAKIZASHI. The OVERALL length remains 66 cm. Although not 'really' old (= SHIN SHINTÔ), it looks like a nice piece which should be competently restored.

Bob, this is not a KEN but a sword with (rare) KOGARASUMARU shape ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogarasu_Maru ). On the photos, I cannot see the KISSAKI ( = tip) very well. The blade length is not the overall length but it is measured from the notch above the NAKAGO ( = tang) to the tip. The SORI is probably more than just 7 mm, guessing just after the photo. ( https://japaneseswordindex.com/measure.htm ) Unfortunately, I cannot help with the text on the NAKAGO. It does not look like typical MEI. Is there something written/chiseled on the other side as well?

Late, but as requested, here's that whole copper tsunagi. The "nagasa" is 13.5 inches, so o-tanto or ko-wakizashi.

Looking forward to your ‘finished’ pics, John. Next month I hope to show the dealer the refreshed oil pot with its new lid, thanking him for his help and advice. Conscious of this scenario, I did make an extra effort to get it ‘right’. Might even buy something from his stand!

One correction 竪丸型 Tatemarugata Nengō is correct.

The text reads（中央）日本刀鍛錬會主事倉田海軍大佐（左）同顧問安來製鋼所長工藤工學博士。 I have rearranged the order of the text to make it easier to read. I hope you find this useful.

The value of friendship cannot be measured in money. If this piece brings you beautiful memories, then it is worth it to you. However, I must also kindly remind you that the replicas from Chinese workshops are not worth your subsequent investment. This is something I found at a Chinese second-hand market at random, and it is exactly the same as your Kusari. The price is also very high (relative to Chinese consumers). I guess these are mass-produced for export, please make sure to identify them.

Chūhō Sōu (宙宝宗宇, 1759-1838) was the 418th chief priest of Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto. His Buddhist name was Chūhō, his given name was Sou, and he was known as Shogetsu (昇月), which means "Rising Moon." He trained under Sokudo Soki, the 406th bishop of Daitokuji Temple and was a highly revered Japanese Zen master, calligrapher, potter, and tea connoisseur. Chūhō admired and was influenced by his contemporary Jiun Onko. Selecting from unusual subject matter that seems quite typical of Chūhō, he brushes a line that comes from an early Ch'an story of an encounter between Ch'an Master Zhaozhou Congshen (趙州從諗, 778–897) and his disciple Wenyan (文偃) or possibly Wenyuan (文遠), as recorded in Jǐngdé Chuándēng Lù (景德傳燈錄), or "The Transmission of the Lamp" completed in 1004 CE (Volume 10, in the entry for Zhaozhou Congshen). This vast text is a foundational history of the Ch'an lineage and contains biographical entries for countless masters, including Zhaozhou. It is also found in "The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu" (translated by James Green). One day, the Master Zhaozhou saw his disciple Wenyan bowing to a statue of the Buddha. Zhaozhou walked over and struck him with his staff. Zhaozhou: "What are you doing?" Wenyan: "I am paying homage to the Buddha!" Zhaozhou: "Is the Buddha someone to be paid homage to?" Wenyan: "Paying homage to the Buddha is a good thing (好事) ." Zhaozhou: "好事不如無 (A good thing is not as good as no thing)." The last phrase originates from the 增廣賢文 (Augmented Collection of Wise Sayings), a popular Chinese didactic text from the Ming Dynasty that is based on a Taoist principle of "福禍相依" (fortune and misfortune depend on each other): 庭前生瑞草, 好事不如無 (Tíng qián shēng ruì cǎo, hǎo shì bù rú wú) When auspicious grass grows in front of the court, a good thing is not as good as nothing In Zhaozhou's hands, 好事不如無 becomes "A good thing is not as good as no thing." This is a powerful lesson on non-attachment, a core principle in Zen/Ch'an. The horizontal strokes in the 2nd and 5th characters anchor the contrasting halves that are separated by 不. Non-Attachment: Even the act of doing a "good thing" (like bowing to Buddha or giving charity) can become a spiritual obstacle if you cling to the identity of being a "good person" or if you do it to gain merit. The Master is teaching that the state of "nothing" (無) or "no thing" is higher than the state of doing "good things" with a grasping mind. The Trap of Intent: The teaching warns against performing good deeds with a "seeking" mind—doing them for the sake of reward, merit, or to bolster one's ego as a "good practitioner." Zhaozhou uses this sudden, shocking action (striking Wenyan) to jolt Wenyan out of this conceptual trap Beyond Duality: Where there is "good," there is "bad." The phrase encourages the practitioner to move beyond this dualistic thinking into the true nature of emptiness, where there is no need to cling to the label of "good" or "bad." "No Thing" (無) as True Peace: The phrase "好事不如無" points to a state of "no-thing-ness" or wu shi (無事). This doesn't mean doing nothing, but rather acting without attachment, without a self-conscious focus on the doer or the deed. It is the state of natural, effortless action that flows from an empty and peaceful mind. Signature: Daitokuji Chūhō Sōu Seals: Chūhō, Nichigatsu cho

The "chick and egg" thing is indeed modern and mass-produced:

Steve: I think what Chris may be seeing is that the seppa might be out of order. Note in the pic below that the larger ones are closer to the tsuba. John C.

Calm down chum, you of all people are not entitled to demand anything of anyone. Vajo made an observation, period.

Skip was an esteemed collector, mentor, and friend. I found him to be an old style gentleman of sharp perception and soft manner. His technical understanding and aesthetics were very high. He will be remembered and missed by many of us who were able to know him. I wish the best to his family.

Google Drive should be fine. It’s like posting a URL for an Imgur images file. I have a huge issue with zip files on the other hand.

Hi All, Here is my only leather covered metal Gunto saya, Nothing out of the ordinary apart from the black leather on an Army gunto. It houses a WW2 blade with a Warrior stamp on the nakago (already posted in the Stamps thread) It did come with a brown leather tsuka cover but I doubt it's a matching pair due to the colour difference.

Perhaps 植田兼忠 - Ueda Kanetada. Best regards, Ray

There is no Yasumitsu that I see documented with this mei, but FWIW there is a Fujiwara ju Yasutomo in late Muromachi, Yamato province. YASUTOMO (安友), Eiroku (永禄, 1558-1570), Yamato – “Fujiwara Yasutomo” (藤原安友), “Fujiwara-jū Yasutomo” (藤原住安友) - Credit Markus Sesko

The Nihonto Club swordsmith database is now gated behind a login, so sharing a screenshot with some examples rather than a link.

Adam, i know and I understand. My remarks were meant to be helpful for a successful sale.

I suggest you make a 5x5 grid collage, number each square in the grid, one tsuba per box, then post here. That way you can display all the tsuba for sale in three images. Not many folk are going to bother spending hours trawling through that very unfriendly google drive interface just for low level tsuba.

Yours is similar to the one posted by Sam, and shows how the haikan fits just aft of the second snap. Thanks for posting!

Appears to be Fujiwara ju Yasumitsu. Fujiwara as a place rather than a clan is unusual to see, but you can see other examples searching in Sesko

Hi folks, Mark Jones and I have, for years, sold tsuba and kodogu that we acquired from Skip Holbrook as he whittled down his large collection to something more manageable. After his recent passing, we were contacted by his family and we have purchased a large portion of the pieces he left behind. Today I have listed the first (Kyo Sukashi tsuba, see below) of what will eventually be near 100 tsuba and other kodogu; my plan is to keep at it till all are listed. Many of the pieces are quite fine and with papers but many are within reach for a beginning collector. You will find them at the top of my Tsuba and Kodogu section: https://japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/item-category/tsuba-kodogu/ All will have a number that starts with an H. Much, much more to come. If anything is of interest, please contact me by email through my site, not by personal message here; I need your emails to keep track of business. Thank you, Grey

I completely agree with Curran and Skip will be greatly missed. Will also check out the Grey's website but will be especially looking forward to seeing what Grey and Mark bring to the Chicago show as well from Skip's old collection.

Resembles the style of Mogi-To that Meirin Sangyo sold in the 1980's. https://global.nipponto.co.jp/

Yeah, I would also guess removed mei.

to David E, that is exactly what I am thinking when venturing on a daily scroll through Aoi Japan s auction website. it is simply astounding every time, I have saved over 3000 images from that particular site alone over the past years. i do however own 6 real nihonto which I have had the pleasure for acquiring cheaply through eBay, spending my last bucks at 23 years of age on them. but these swords are holy. there is something about nihonto that seems to me always as divine, almost. as if these things weren't even physical objects, but cosmic portals, antennas to other dimensions.. best regards, jerry

It really is one the nicest examples I've seen of a kyu gunto of that grade.

Could be the site of a crushed signature, whereby they then re-applied yasurime and artificial patina to match?

Looks perfectly fine. I don't see anyone putting a kamon on a fake one. The fake ones are pretty obvious looking. These come in all forms of quality, and even very crude ones.

I have seen on several occasions where a blade from that seller has sold only to be relisted a short time later. I have never done business with him, so I don’t know anything about his practices, however, it’s likely one of two reasons. Either the buyer backs out after auction end, or the bids are artificially run up.

232 is back up for sale...again. No reserve so not sure what's going on with this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/236695575484? John C.

Cross-Reference Arsenal Stamps.

These Kyu Gunto dress swords are relatively inexpensive and fairly common, which is why they are rarely faked. The few replicas I’ve personally encountered have been very obvious; typically much more poorly made than this example. They were generally unsharpened and often feature an etched hamon. Of the couple dozen I’ve handled, the quality has varied quite a bit, with some clearly better made than others. My understanding is that these were produced by a wide range of workshops, which explains the significant variation in both design and overall quality. @lonely panet would be the guy I would ask for confirmation, if he's willing to offer his input. -Sam

Dave, The kiri in this case is a kamon, or family crest. There have been a few posted at NMB over the years. Here is one for example: Concerning the knot, Dawson, page 432, calls it a "standard naval sword knot used from 1883 (possibly earlier) until 1945". Like the brown naval tassel, I believe he is saying that they were both for all ranks. Page 422 has a photo of an admiral with this standard knot on his sword. So, navy for sure, but rank not knowable.

Jean, although I fully agree with you about the need to post the items here directly, it seems he is within the rules for this section. Rule reads: If you are selling something, please post a price indication. Do not ask people to contact you for the price. If you do not have an exact price, then please put a rough guide to what you are after, and mention that the price isn't firm or is negotiable. For sale posts without a price will be deleted. $300-$400 is a "rough guide" although he does need to state the prices he eventually gives are negotiable. For me, I dont click on google drive links, so im out.

Hello, some news about this set, as I am in Japan, ans in same city as the seller, we met. The set is carved from thick shakudo, relief carving is not takazogan as I first thought, and its not thin material work like menuki, the gold is solid, some wire used for the leaves and two different gold color for the flowers, every relief is carved from solid shakudo base. The set is quite heavy, even not very thick. The ground finish is ishimeji

Hello everyone, TLDR: Interested in Japanese swords and fittings? I made this to help the field. Open nihontowatch.com on your phone browser, and add to home screen (Share → Add to Home Screen). Thank me later. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been thinking for quite some time about the future of our field. I have been blessed with incredible mentors and opportunities, most notably the late Darcy Brockbank, who was so generous in sharing his knowledge. Since his tragic passing, I have felt a responsibility to carry that work forward. What I am about to present, I built as an homage to his memory. Our field has problems. We operate in a field of extraordinary depth without being equipped with the knowledge and tools to understand what we're looking at when we browse the market. Refreshing dozens of dealer websites every week, most in Japanese, copy-pasting listings into translation apps, pinching to zoom on sites built twenty years ago — market awareness is just painful and you miss things constantly. You spend an hour and walk away unsure you have seen everything. And this is just the market experience. The deeper problem is access to knowledge. There are no catalogues raisonnés for artists. Yuhindo would have grown into it — it was planned. But alas, Yuhindo is no more. No way to know, with any confidence, whether a price is reasonable without decades of experience or tens of thousands of dollars invested in published references. No way to know why something costs what it does. Communication with Japanese dealers remains daunting for most. No easy way to know who is a reputable dealer. The barrier to entry is simply too high, and this friction keeps our field artificially small. Fine art has Artnet. Watches have Chrono24. Antiquarian books have AbeBooks — markets with comparable depth and comparable opacity, served by platforms that bring transparency and accessibility. These fields have benefited immensely: they have enabled new entrants in droves to collect in confidence. Our field needs more knowledge and transparency to build interest and trust.Japanese swords and fittings. Eight hundred years of collecting history at the highest levels. The category that contains the most national treasures in Japan. The indefatigable search for perfection of an entire civilization. And yet, we have nothing. This had to change. As I write this, there are 3,021 Nihonto and 1,607 Tosogu items for sale across 44 dealers, Japanese and international, in a single searchable interface. Every listing is structured with attribution, certification, measurements, and artist intelligence data. NihontoWatch is on track to follow 100% of the online market for genuine items with NBTHK papers. Refreshed 12 times a day. Everything is translated and structured, as it trickles in live. But what is this worth, if it's so hard to know what you're looking at? Especially for newcomers, it is so hard to tell what you're looking at. This is where the magic is. I am nostalgic of reading through Yuhindo's artist descriptions. It made me deeply appreciate the field. It got me in. NihontoWatch scales this experience and creates something approaching a living catalogue raisonné for every Tosogu and Nihonto artist. It matches every listing against a database combining the complete Juyo, Tokubetsu Juyo, Juyo bunkazai, Kokuho, and Gyobutsu designation data — over 23,000 items at the highest level, with rich text in classical Japanese. This data is then processed, synthesized, and presented into NihontoWatch's artist directory in a way that is respectful of the NBTHK's copyright. With this, you'll be able to discover a maker's historical reputation through quantitative analysis of exhaustive provenance records, in ways never seen before. Over time, all of these artist pages will come alive, forming an ever-expanding knowledge base. - How rare is it? - How many Tokuju? - How many designated works ranked Juyo and above? - Why is this important? - Where does it rank relative to other works? - What is for sale right now? - What was for sale recently? All the answers are in. These are questions that come up constantly in our community, and until now, answering them required years of collecting published references worth tens of thousands of dollars, and patiently indexing them with post-its or one-by-one in a spreadsheet. Only professional dealers or major collectors could afford to do this. This is a BETA, so there are errors. The more obscure the artist, the higher the error rate, and there are still basic errors I need to fix with some famous artists. A lot of algorithmic tinkering and curation ahead. It will keep getting better with your feedback. See the results for yourselves: - Soshu Masamune: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/masamune-MAS590 - Ichimonji school: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/NS-Ichimonji - Yasuchika (tosogu): https://nihontowatch.com/artists/yasuchika-TSU001 - Goto school: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/NS-Goto Click one and explore the designations, the provenance abalysis, the measurement distributions. This is just a first shot — over time this data will grow. Here is one where I have published an item I studied for my Substack article on Mitsutada: - Osafune Mitsutada: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/mitsutada-MIT281 Imagine Yuhindo, but with a page for every artist and every piece ever captured on camera. Saw a national treasure at an exhibition in Japan? Share your photos on NihontoWatch's artist catalogue. In the future, owners of particular works will be able to publish them to the artist's catalogue. Think of it as a growing, community-curated knowledge base for every artist in the field. And so much more Browse and filter: Designation, dealer, item type, school, province — all filterable, all instant. Prices display in JPY, USD, or EUR. Every filter combination is a shareable URL. The sold archive tracks thousands of items for pricing research. And it works for every budget, for collectors at every level. - All Tokubetsu Juyo Nihonto on the market - All Tsuba with Hozon or Tokubetsu Hozon, maximum price $2,000 Setsumei translations: On some items, you can press the floating book icon on any Juyo item to toggle between photos and the Juyo setsumei translated text. For most Juyo and above items, the NBTHK evaluation text from the dealer's page is identified by computer vision and translated into English. It will fail if the dealer has not posted the Juyo Zufu extract, but in the majority of cases they do, and the result is remarkably accurate. Do use responsibly — the quality is great, but not perfect. Always purchase professional translation from Markus Sesko when contemplating the purchase of a Juyo-designated piece. Search alerts: Never miss an item again. Define keywords and filters and save them. NihontoWatch will run your search every 15 minutes, and when something new appears, immediately send you an alert email. In practice, missing a listing that fits your interests becomes almost impossible. Tip: I recommend avoiding overly specific queries. "Juyo tsuba" or "Kamakura signed tachi" are safer than specific artists such as "Yozozaemon Sukesada," which would be more fickle. Broad queries give you the best market coverage. Inquiry emails: Press "Inquire" on any listing to draft a professional inquiry in Japanese. Handles etiquette and formality, and can help you request the 10% consumption tax exemption available to overseas buyers. Did you even know you could get 10% off? How many new entrants lost 10% on this, at least at the beginning? I for one did. I've seen countless high spenders neglect to request it while shopping across Japanese galleries. Glossary: The technical language of Nihonto and Tosogu is deep and specialized — needlessly so for non-Japanese speakers. Anytime a technical term comes up, you can click and see what it means. Over 1,200 terms, searchable, automatically linked from the setsumei translations. Who remembers always keeping an index open to keep track of terms when studying Juyo items? https://nihontowatch.com/glossary How best to use NihontoWatch While it works wonders on desktop, NihontoWatch works most beautifully on your phone. I use it every day — it feels like I have the market in my pocket. Open nihontowatch.com on your phone, hit Share → Add to Home Screen. And voila, you have an app. It becomes something you check with your morning coffee, the way one might check the news. A word of caution The data has errors — always verify independently. This is a tool to explore the market, not a substitute for critical thinking. If it looks too good to be true, it likely is, and this system can't easily correct online misrepresentations. Old listings where dealers have not marked items as "SOLD" will still appear as available. Listing errors will slip through, but data quality improves continuously as the system learns over time. Get involved - Missing a listing or dealer you like? PM me or post here. - Bug? PM me or post here with steps to reproduce. - Dream feature request? Reply in this thread. I will keep this thread active and share major updates when time permits. Everything is free right now, and will remain so until ready for official release. This is no trivial task, and it is expensive to operate — it will need to be covered in some way down the line. It will be tempting to keep it for yourself. But if we want our field to grow, we must share knowledge and expand market access and transparency. The single most impactful thing you can do right now is help others discover and use the tool. Share it with your study group. Share it with your collecting circle. Share it with a friend who has been curious about Nihonto and Tosogu but found the barrier to entry too high. That barrier just got a lot lower. Farewell, Darcy. This is for the teacher in you. Hoshi

Nice sword, Steve. If you decide to sell, I would leave the seppa in place to avoid unnecessary rattling during shipping. Just disclose the use of newly made leather seppa in the auction description. John C.

Scogg...... Thanks for the video. It enabled me to overcome my fear of 40+ years and remove the tsuka. The mekigi proved difficult to remove. It fragmented into small pieces and dust as noted on the attached photo. Notes on the Shin-Gunto The Shin-Gunto is believed to be a Type 98 with machine made blade The blade was observed to be free of any defects or corrosion and is believed to be in very good to excellent condition. The cutting edge is intact with no defects along the whole length. The overall length of the blade is 93.6 cm. The length of the blade from the tip to the notch is 64.6 cm. The length of the tang is 24 cm. The width of the blade at the notch is 33.5mm. The blade thickness is 7 mm. The blade includes a fuller or Bo-hi the full length The temper line is quite visible but could not be photographed nor identified as to type. Ditto for the tip temper The tang was examined under well lighted magnification. No marks, stamps nor logos were observed with certainty. No serial number stamp was observed A possible temper stamp was observed just above the Muni-machi. The presence of such a stamp cannot be confirmed. The tang exhibits three each 6 mm diameter holes. The peg hole is elongated along the tang long axis. The Tsuba is metal with what appears to be a gold tone finish.The finish is everywhere degraded. In addition to the Tsuba guard , there were 6 O-seppa spacers. The Tsuba and all of the O-seppa bear the stamped digits 2 and 7. The stamped 2 and 7 are the only marks by the sword maker that are observed. The guard and all the fittings exhibit sharply formed cherry blossoms and leaves. All the metal decorative work is very sharply defined and seems to be well made. Research has revealed that the silvery attachment with a logo resembling the infinity symbol is a Kamon or Mon that is not related to the sword maker. Specific identity was not determined “The silvery diamond-shaped metallic inlay (pressed or inlaid into the flat end-face of the kashira/pommel cap) with a symbol resembling the infinity mark (∞) is almost certainly the personal or clan family crest (kamon or mon) of the Japanese officer who owned or commissioned the shin-guntō” Further research may yield more detailed family identity with this rare mon

Beautiful tanto one great thing about the internet is I get to see blades well above my budget for free

Yes, I saw that one, too, and was equally intrigued by it. What a coincidence to have two copper tsunagi show up in just a couple of weeks. I would think copper would be an unlikely choice for tsunagi material, because it's going to corrode and play havoc with the insides of the saya. Maybe its alloyed version doesn't corrode so easily. By the way, I liked and agreed with the translation that @xiayang gave. There is an additional aspect of it that may be relevant. The Japanized version of the saying on that sword, "一心定めて、万物服す" was a slogan of Former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (1957-1960), meaning basically "If one acts with intention, one can conquer anything". No doubt he borrowed it from the Zhuangzi.

Prolific Namitoshi...... tsuba transformed latter with shakudo plugs

I recently picked up this lovely tsuba signed Tatsutoshi. Three Minogame are carved with beautiful detail, these are turtles from Japanese folklore that are said to live up to 10,000 years old and have long strands of algae growing from their shells, which resembles a straw raincoat—or mino—from which they get their name. Best, Tom