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The Toyama Sword Research Society brings together young people and women from all over the country. In recent years, the Toyama Sword Research Association, a sword enthusiast group based in Toyama Prefecture, has seen an increase in its membership among young people and women. Due to the influence of online games such as "Touken Ranbu ONLINE," the number of young people becoming interested in swords is increasing, and the company has made great efforts to make the game more approachable for beginners and to spread the word on social media. This initiative, which is rare nationwide in the world of swords, where middle-aged and elderly men have been the main fan base, has paid off, and the sword is becoming a popular choice for "sword beginners" from a wide range of regions, not just within the prefecture. The Toyama Sword Research Society was formed in 2017 by Yasunori Sawada (57) (Nanto City, civil servant), an enthusiast and former director of the Sword Museum (Tokyo). He holds sword appreciation events about five times a year and visits art museums both within and outside the prefecture. The study group, which began with around 20 members, has now grown to 220, 70% of whom are women. By age group, the most common age group is those in their 30s, followed by those in their 20s and 40s. 40% of people live in the three Hokuriku prefectures, with many in the Kanto, Kansai, and Chukyo regions. Some members are from Hokkaido and Kagoshima prefectures. In order to encourage young people and women to join, the study group has put in place a number of measures to make it easy for beginners to participate. This new sword study group has proven itself to be very successful and is quickly showing the way forward for Japanese Sword Societies in local communities.

Hello! I had wanted to add a Kaga tsuba to my collection for a long time, and recently Okan finally convinced me with his wonderful example that was shown here not so long ago. Recently I came across this tsuba. It depicts the classic theme of drying fishing nets, and in my opinion the Kaga inlay is perfectly suited to the delicate nets. Overall, the composition is quite refined. The tsuba itself is made of rich and expensive shakudo, although this is somewhat hidden beneath the dark patina, it is especially noticeable when viewed at an angle. The plate is perfectly polished and shimmers beautifully in the light. I would also note the beautiful sekigane - it was probably mounted on two different swords.

This is the kind of thing that makes me wish I lived in Japan... A famous sword appreciation event co-sponsored by the Toyama Sword Research Association and the branch e-Sword Research Association will be held on the 30th May. At the sword fittings exhibition, you will be able to see the sword fittings that came with the mountings of Satsuki Amee and Atsuto Shiro. This time, the sword lineup is also luxurious, including Bizen Saburo Kunimune, Shindo Go, Masamune, Norishige, Go, Hidari, Kunitsugu Rai, Naotane Daikei, Dewa Daijo Kunimichi, and Kashu Kiyomitsu, and it's already packed to capacity. Getting to hold and examine this calibre of sword is the stuff of legend. No wonder it is already fully subscribed. Sounds like the kind of meetup that Honma writes about in his memoirs. The next one is in July - for those interested and able to get to Toyama.

Probably to speed up production. Urushi with black dye (roiro urushi?) on cloth gives thicker layer.

Yesterday's meeting and update indicated that 78 people have contributed JPY2,430,000 so far, just shy of the 2.5 million yen they are initially aiming for by the end of this month. A plan for the polishing of the Odachi was also handed out, to take place over the first three cold months of 2027 when rust will not be too much a problem. I had a chance to see their Muromachi period blades display, including upstairs a 1499 Katsumitsu/Sadamitsu joint-work naginata that Jussi might recognize. Photos: A B C

The chiseled characters on the tang are imperfect because of wear and tear. But I think that the second kanji looks like 継 (tsugu). The name may be 義継 – Yoshitsugu. FYI: yoshtsug.jpg (91×250)

Seals for the calligraphy are: top left: 臨済正宗　(Rinzai Seishu) bottom right, upper seal: 黄檗主人 (Ōbaku shujin) bottom right, lower seal 大雅法印 (Taiga-hō-no-in)

@Conway some Asano Kanezane info in NMB Downloads:

Urushi on fabric is a well known Japanese Armor trick. You will find all sorts of pieces this way. It makes them strong and water resistant.

Keisuke Nakamura gave an interesting treatise on the subject of these 2 blades exhumed from Mitsutomo's tomb. By comparing horimono carving styles with other Sadamune attributed blades and historical oshigata he is a little skeptical and reserves judgement. https://note.com/katana_case_shi/n/ne850e4972025

The yosegaki hinomaru that wasn’t… sorry for putting this here. Seemed the most logical of the forums. This short monograph is about a flag I bought, or more appropriately the box it came in. I’m sharing this as a small example of rudimentary translation, historical research, and how the potential story can mean more than the item itself. So if interested, get your favorite beverage, sit back and relax, and read on… While perusing an online auction site, I came across this seemingly uninteresting Japanese flag (hinomaru 日の丸) in a box. What intrigued me was the number and variety of labels on the box. I assumed the flag was a modern one. But intrigued none-the-less. Fast forward two weeks and the box arrived. The first thing I noticed was that the flag seemed original – possibly silk or Rayon, silk himo cords on the corners with leather corner stiffeners. A quick measurement confirmed this suspicion with a Silver Ratio of 7:10 Y to X ratio and the center “sun” being 3/5Y (see Nick Komiya’s articles about yosegaki flags on Warrelics.com for an explanation on what this means). So the flag was from the time period; a pleasant surprise. Next, was to tackle the various labels. A dream for practicing a bit of translating and research; though a bit frustrating as it turned out. I do not speak, read, or write Japanese. So I use a technique that I suppose many use, however I wanted to talk a little about it for those who struggle as I do and need a method. As shown in the pictures, there were 4 labels, writing, and a stamp all over the thing. To affect the translation, I started with pictures of the individual labels. I then take screen shots of the labels and, in some cases, part of the labels or individual characters. I drop those pictures into the Google search bar and hit the translate button. Here’s the tricky bit – you can’t trust the translation. It’s always something weird. But it can point you in a direction. So the next step is to reverse the process. I ask google “XXXX (whatever the words were) in Japanese kanji.” I then match the results to the kanji on the label. If it matches, great. If not, then I start putting in the individual characters and repeat the process. Sometimes I use the drawing app to draw the kanji and get an individual word. Eventually, I get to what I believe to be the closest meaning to what is written on the label. I know, it would probably be faster to just learn Japanese. But teaching an old dog new tricks and all that… So get to the results, you ask. Okay, here it is. The first question is whether or not the box is as old as the flag. And I think it is. The writing on the front says “National Flag” and the stamp says “Great Japan National Flag Association.” (大日本國旗協會). The long vertical label in the center translates to Chief Priest of Meiji Jinju Admiral Arima Ryokitsu.” That’s interesting. Why is that there? More on that later, however he lived from 1861 to 1944 so if the label is period, that’s good. The round label translates to roughly “Humbly made by the Japan National Flag Company, Ltd. (日本国旗株式会社)” and their address of Tokyo City, Kyobashi-ku district, Kobikicho (a neighborhood). The important part of knowing that is because the Kyobashi district was merged into another district in 1947. More evidence the label is period. The horizontal label, says “Great Japan National Flag Association.” This was a nationalistic group that promoted the military, nationalism, and the use of the hinomaru flag. If you look at the two sets of kanji marked by arrows, you’ll notice on both labels that those characters are the old style characters used prior to the 1946 revision. This further points to the labels being period. Now to the small label on the back. The kanji means “stop”, however when combined with the .25 yen it most probably means “discontinued” or what we might say in the States “clearance.” The whole package paints an interesting potential picture. An unmarked period flag in a period box labeled with the Greater Japan National Flag Association and the Japan National Flag Company with the label from Chief Priest of Meiji shrine Admiral Arima Ryokitsu. How does it all fit together? Well, Admiral Ryokitsu was the Chief Priest of Meiji Shrine from 1931 to 1943, which matches the period for the box, labels, and the flag. Additionally, flags were sold, and sometimes blessed as an amulet, by various shrines to citizens to be used as yosegaki (寄せ書き) flags. But this flag has no writing and it has a clearance tag. So here’s my theory: the flag was made by the Japan National Flag Company Ltd. for the Greater Japan National Flag Association who donated the flag to the Meiji Shrine sometime before 1943. As it’s chief priest, Admiral Ryokitsu’s label was attached. But the flag never sold. So when Admiral Fujita took over as chief priest in 1944, the flag went on clearance. It must have sold at that time because US fire-bombing destroyed the temple in Feb 1945. And for whatever reason, the flag was never used. Disclaimer: The translations, and therefore the theory, may be completely incorrect. And of course, the true story of the flag/box may never be known. John C.

I wonder if a human at Ebay would have a different response. The term we use in the US is "false or deceptive advertising", which I would hope is a violation Ebay's policies since it's illegal according to state and federal laws. John C.

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Aiden , your Naval sword ,as has been pointed out, is junk however your Army sword is definately genuine and could be quite a good one . The presence of the owners name in the silver plaque and the lacquered scabbard are indications of the blade possibly being a good one . You really need to get the handle off in case it is rusting underneath and it is this rust that is preventing you getting the handle off . I would remove the peg completely ,pad the tsuba with cloth or leather then start tapping the tsuba with a block of wood . If you don't feel comfortable doing this seek out a collector who has done it before and get them to help .

Hello Hector, probably a reseller scheme like all of those yahoo auction resellers on ebay. Once you purchase the item on eBay, they will themselves buy it from the real dealer and reap in the difference. Very common with Japanese ebay stores. If you see a listing that you like, you can often reverse image search to find the original listing. I did not know they expanded to actual physical stores so thanks for sharing.

It's been discussed here often. There are PLENTY of sellers who are listing items that are for sale elsewhere, for much higher prices. If they sell it, they attempt to buy it from the original seller, and make a profit. If they cannot get it, they cancel the sale. Not illegal, but highly frowned upon. But we have seen many sellers of tsuba etc on eBay listing stuff that is for sale on Yahoo Jpn etc. Not uncommon at all.

Very true, and that only comes after doing the hard yards researching the literature and more importantly experiencing high end swords in hand. Elias, since you are in Germany you should seriously consider attending an NBTHK-EB meeting either in Solingen or Manching. There are many members in Germany who have some magnificent Juyo and up swords, and are only too happy to share their knowledge and collections.

It must be a typo. 純正眞鐵入鍛 I do not know its correct reading either. Junsei magane nyutan (?) - Forged from genuin iron.

FYI to all re eBay. There is an offer on the table to buy the company. If the offer is refused by management there will likely be a hostile takeover fight. eBay has had problems like the ones highlighted in many posts on this forum for a long time, duplicate posts etc.. I stopped selling on eBay and only buy items that I can’t find on Amazon. If the takeover is successful I believe that the new ceo, Ryan Cohen, will finally start to address these problems.

The Tokugawa Art Museum apparently has a signed Sadamune. Is the blade legit or gimei? The signature appears on a Kowakizashi recovered from the excavated tomb of Tokugawa Mitsutomo (2nd lord of Owari.) It has a rather long inscription: "By Sadamune of Sagami, New Year's day of the 2nd month of Kenmu, 42 years old." Would a forger go out his way to make a long inscription and even include an age - very unusual. I don't know if this is real but it certainly very interesting. Tokugawa Mitsutomo obviously felt it must have been real else why would he want it buried with himself? Has anyone seen this blade or know more about it?

Wow! Talk about an amazing event to attend. I have been happy to see in many of my searches for famous swords, links and references to Touken Ranbu. There are a lot of sword "characters" representing many of the famous meito and other kokuho blades.

I thought this might be a good place to ask this. I have noticed watching two different shows with Japanese named actors that they don’t say all the syllables. One was named Mitsubishi, but they pronounced it “Mits’ke”. The other is Yusuf, but they pronounce it as “Yus’ke.” Are these contractions?

Interesting, thanks!

Because he's probably using a translator and copying/pasting and not choosing to remove formatting, so it pastes the format from the website it was copied from. Have mentioned this numerous times. It even gives you the option to remove formatting when you paste it. Oh well.

Thanks John, yes, back in July 2022. It's 1941 Spring Koa Isshin. Didn't record the source, at the time. Paul, is this yours? What you are showing is the serial number SO 231. Assuming they were made in sequence, it would put your blade around November'ish of 1941. Here's the photos I have:

Dear Edward, Here is a simple way to look at all the Yari in the market and order them according to your budget. https://nihontowatch.com/?tab=available&type=yari&sort=price_asc Cheers, Hoshi

I think that combining 'eBay' with 'intelligence' is already an oxymoron without adding 'artificial'.

Hello Dale Thank you for the answer. I did'nt mean Myoju. The name I read was Meiju, and he was working in Osaka around 1800 ?. Unfortunately as I wrote it, I can't find where I saw this. Maybe it's a mistake ! thank you again. JPB

I think you're right. I was using a Mac with Safari. On the PC with Firefox its legible. Must be a Safari specific issue.

Those are unvoiced/voiceless consonants, something which the English language doesn't really have. https://Japanese.stackexchange.com/a/1122 https://www.quora.com/Is-the-U-silent-in-Japanese

Glad to find out about this! As I live in Japan, I might try to subscribe to a future event. Best, Hector

昭和乙酉春，The only year of Yiyou in the Shōwa period is the 20th year of Shōwa, i.e., 1945 CE.

I suspect the blade is the original, western-style Type 19 blade that was broken at some point and reprofiled into what we see here. I’ve seen other swords converted into knives/dirks/daggers in this manner.

When the sword was initially procured and priced, the FX rate ¥/$ was close to 100. So, you were looking at c.$25k back then. Currently the FX rate is closer to 160, which means the $25k would be nearly ¥4m. Furthermore, the Japanese dealers in the last couple of years overcompensated for the yen depreciation somewhat. While previously they used to think purely in yen, as their inflation has been next to 0% for decades, lately they started mentally converting to $ and pricing accordingly, as the sword market internationalised in the last 10-15 years beyond recognition. I remember decent TJ perhaps 8-10 years ago was in the ¥14-15m range, then that became ¥17-18m, now you are looking at ¥20m+. A famous dealer complained to me a few weeks ago about former customers also demanding extremely high prices from him for the swords he had sold to them years ago (but that is a different story for another day…). So, the maths for this sword: You add to the aforesaid ¥4m (the historic price) then the ¥0.75m-¥1m koshirae, the cost of the polish, the fact that the seller probably wants some return to his investment and you get to ¥5m. The sword is rather nice, albeit not my cup of tea. But indeed in the last 15 years the floodgates of information and access have opened, so one naturally has a lot of choice. Just go to Chris’s Nihontowatch website and see what AI has enabled in the last few months. He has put a tonne of valuable (and monetarily rather expensive) information in there - for now for the benefit of people. But such access and info should really be premium….. One important thing: buy what you like and resonates with you emotionally and do not get swayed by people’s likes and dislikes in Sa or Nanbokucho shapes, or more/less nie etc. And measure and weigh carefully options, opinions, facts.

In my opinion the interesting point about this sword is that it is a unokubi-zukuri katana.

While historical sales are not good indicator of current prices due to several factors of which we have discussed previously at NMB too. You can see Aoi Art had this same sword for sale without koshirae in 2021 for 2,500,000 yen https://web.archive.org/web/20210802211856/https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsigned-attributed-as-sa-yoshisada/ So you can see koshirae has not been historically with the sword. Also new habaki and shirasaya have been made for the sword. To me the workmanship of the blade seems very good but I am not after that in swords. Size and shape of the sword are the factors that would put me off from this purchase. If I would be in position to purchase a Sa school blade some day I would want it to be of the imposing Nanbokuchō shape in which there are plenty of Sa school attributed blades.

@Conway Thank you very much for posting those images. As I mentioned earlier, the two that I owned and the third that I had in my possession were all very different. One I wish that I had been able to obtain, and one that I really wish that I had kept! The last mentioned blade was full of tobi-yaki. Thank you again.

That article is misleading. The first pic appears to be a fake too. The hada you'll see on unpolished swords or ones not fully professionally polished looks nothing like that. In fact, it's barely visible in most cases. And looks nothing like layering. The closest you'll find is visible hada like on Gassan ayasugi hada etc, but in most cases it will appear more like this... There are high end sword oils recommended, but for the average sword that is found out of polish and has been cleaned with Isopropyl, a few drops of any decent gun oil will work to prevent rust. Don't pour oil on the blade or leave a thick layer. A quicj spray or a few drops onto a clean soft tissue, and then wiped over the blade in one direction will leave enough film. If you can see pooling or droplets, you have used too much.

Tsubaki oil specifically for blades is recommended after initial cleanup with isopropyl alcohol. Amazon sells it.

The Type 98 is likely genuine. Wipe it over with pure isopropyl alcohol and then oil lightly. The second shinogi line is likely a stripe in the gunk from the sheath. But it looks ok so far. The Kai Gunto is definitely a complete and poor fake. Even in polish, real Japanese swords don't look Damascus, and the hada is subtle. A vivid pattern like this is a sure sign of a fake. Focus on the other one. If both mekugi are out, you should be able to tap off the tsuka. Make sure you are using something like wood or plastic and you should have minimal chance of damaging anything. Seeing that tang is vital.

Hi, I will write only the characters. （I also do not know the correct reading of the first sentence.） 「純正直鐡入鍛 　濃刕住浅野兼眞作之」 （To me, it looks like the character “入,” but on the auction site below, it is identified as “人”. 　Looking at the photo of the registration paper on the same website, it says “入”.） ↓ 刀　(銘：濃州住浅野兼真作・純正眞鉄人鍛) auction site（yahoo!Japan）There are still some photos near the bottom of the website. 刕＝州　濃刕＝濃州＝美濃Mino 住＝live 浅野Asano兼眞Kanezane 作之=make this 眞＝an old-style “真” ↓There was also a brief biography on this website. sword dealer Giheiya 「Mei 濃州住浅野兼真 　Real name 浅野真一 　Date of birth 明治45年3月15日（March 15, Meiji 45 [1912]） 　Address 関市仲町住 Title 陸軍受命刀匠」 ↓以安来鋼浅野兼真作之刻印 Asano Kanezane sword dealer Meirin sangyo

Gets later and later every year. Soon it's gonna be a Xmas show. I liked the end of Oct, beginning Nov. Great weather. Hmmm

刀剱造法其理明而不畏古之冶工雖然亦不侮是唯以鍛錬去 鈍滓全鐵氣而不泥刄文陰陽相和鉾刄清利難折難撓無所疑 According to the site below, the meaning is: The principles of swordsmithing are well understood, and although I do not believe it is impossible to surpass the old masters, I cannot say that I am better than them. The most important thing in swordmaking is to continue forging (folding) the steel until all the impurities are removed, preserving the essence of the iron, and to not become preoccupied with the shape of the hamon. The blade will become pure and sharp when the yin and yang are in harmony, and it will doubtless become difficult to break, and resistant to bending. https://www.touken-world.jp/search/38586/

Dear Eric, As Yas said, the "Backing Material" or "filling" is a mixture of urushi (lacquer - or the sap of a certain kind of tree) and other materials. Its purpose is not “support” (meaning to keep the menuki from being crushed - as Barry said, that would not be necessary in his iron menuki). Instead, it is an adhesive or leveler. The mixture may have several different names depending upon the use and materials mixed with the lacquer. Mugi-urushi or nori-urushi is lacquer mixed with wheat or rice flour to make a glue. Sabi-urushi has powdered burnt clay mixed in for building up or leveling things. Kokuso-urushi has sawdust or plant fibers mixed in with wheat/rice flour and urushi to make an adhesive filler putty. Remember that Menuki are sometimes glued to the tsuka (handle) and do not have ito or tsukamaki (the cord often wrapped around the handle) to help hold the menuki in place. One of the urushi adhesives mentioned above can be used to fill the back of the menuki and glue them onto the tsuka (e.g., a bare samegawa - ray skin - handle). So even if your menuki were wrapped with ito or tsukamaki, perhaps they were not at sometime in the past. The other reason that these urushi mixtures are sometimes used is as a “leveler”. Remember how the nodules of the samegawa or ray skin can be bumpy and uneven. Also consider how the edges of the backs of the menuki are slightly concave and may not sit perfectly straight on the samegawa. Therefore, one of the filler urushi mixtures can be used to “level” the menuki on the ray skin and keep them from shifting (even if they are covered with tsukamaki)... The filler on your menuki looks like Kokuso-urushi to me (it appears to have sawdust/plant fibers mixed with the lacquer). Here's a beautiful example of a glued menuki from www.yuhindo.com

Well if the AI says so, it must be true!

Well, the seller did not remove the listing (even though I physically own the item) - they simply reduced the price. And I got a response from eBay - they have found in the seller's favour.

It’s on eBay. Where else would Steve find a sword? The sword is being sold by a member who is active on NMB.

Brian, One can only wonder why it didn't sell. The gentleman clapper is rendered in a similar vein to The Scream that could be off-putting for some. For myself, it is a magnificent piece clearly unappreciated in SA. I see others have offered to house it for you - let me add my offer to look after it and send you pictures. HAHA - I'm reminded here of a particular gnome statue that was a fond possession of a nerdy engineer in my working days. One day it vanished, stolen from his office. Strangely, the whole workgroup suddenly started getting email messages with pictures of this gnomey personage holidaying all around the world. This went on for months until the gnome suddenly came home... Congratulations Brian, it is good to see you getting a real win. It's a great lift to one's spirit, desu ne?? BaZZa.