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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).

Some general shots of the place. A B C

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).

The percentage of ones fully forged, folded and with decent hamon are a very small percentage of the total seen, and when you see them, they are usually in shirasaya or apart from average kozuka. Yes, of course they exist, but look at the way yours is signed compared to the usual "chicken scratch" type mei we see on most. Now show me one like yours in full polish in that condition that is original to an average kozuka and mounted that way from the Edo period? Again, they exist, but best to always consider them gimei until proven otherwise. Once you see a hamon with nie and hataraki, you can start looking closer at the mei.

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).

Alex, I absolutely share your opinion. I am an 'iron guy', but to my surprise, in some cases, a little gold does not hurt. The below shown typical TEIMEI TSUBA (one of the "underrated" styles/schools) has a fine gold decoration which is rarely seen on these. How do you find that?

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.

Thank you Alex! The motif is FUNA KADASHI - a boat rudder.

Marcin, The civil swords refitted for the war came in all sorts of combinations. I've seen old blades in: full military koshirae; military koshirae, but civil tsuka; military koshirae, with civil menugi; full civil fittings, leather cover; civil fittings, military tsuka; field saya, civil tsuka, army menugi; etc.

@Rawa, the kobuto-gane is kind of ugly? You often find these "Civilian Guntō" with weird kobutogane situations. The older swords that were converted often did not have a way to secure a tassel; so a way to add a tassel was fabricated by either adding a crude kobutogane, or by other creative means. I've even seen some with the tsuka drilled through and a sarute added to the "drill hole". Best, -Sam

Hello all, After a few people enquiring about a plain Tsuba display stand I now have one to offer in the same successful shape offered a few years back on this forum. there is 'no theme just the Tsuba Kanji on the front. Created in solid cold cast resin with iron powder. No two will ever be the same as these are hand finished. If interested please message me. Thanks for looking

The fastener method is quite common. That kabutogane is a bit unusual, but knowing what we do about the late war effect on supplies, it doesn't bother me. I agree, it's likely late war. As to who carried it, it's not possible to know. We've seen it carried by active officers, NCOs, and Gunzoku.

Hi, Mihara Nihonto: https://nihontowatch.com/?q=mihara Many to choose from. You can adjust the size filter to narrow down to exactly what you're looking for. Hope this helps, Hoshi

Not a US vendor, but still, that is a long Hokke katana: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsignedhokke-ichijo-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/

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.

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.

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.

I was wrong…..they did thank us!…..

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.)

I can agree to Mauro, it looks legit to me. There are layers visible. Sometimes they stick out more, sometimes less. Owari design and workmanship of Akasaka.

Thank you @Hoshi Been using the app non stop daily 😁 And thank you @Natichu , saw that one last night and it s definitely worth a strong consideration

Please add a price and do the advert in the for sale section, thanks.

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.

A charming Edo period (Shoami?) tsuba. The motif is tea ceremony (chanoyu) represented by the following utensils: chawan (tea bowl), chagama (kettle), chasen (tea whisk), hishaku (laddle), chaire (tea caddy), habōki (feather brushes used to smooth out the ash) and hibashi (iron chopsticks for handling the charcoal). I am not sure what the flower-shaped object in the lower left corner is... maybe the lid of the chagama? A kōro (incence burner)? Any ideas? I'll get measurements later $150 (HOLD) plus shipping

Hello Everyone. Hope that you are having a great week and making a nice cup of matcha while researching your next Nihonto purchase. I have an unidentified wakizashi I am struggling with, as it is mumei and exhibits features of Mino and or Bizen. The hamon and overall sugata is similar to Bizen school, closest I found in geometry and hamon was the Sukesada line or Oei Bizen. What confuses me is the toriizori curve, which is generally a Mino feature. The hada is mokume, kissaki is chu-kissaki and the boshi is hakikake. I place this wakizashi to mid to late Muromatchi period based on the overall patina on the nakago and the features within the steel. A beautiful gunome midare hamon with a slight fumbare which both give me the sense of great elegance, stability and power. Any additional information on this wakizashi will help a long way, Japanese swords are a long time passion of mine, and I am so glad to have the opportunity for this particular one to find me. After your careful assessment and review of the photos I would make a decision on whether to take it to Shinsa or not. Warm Regards, Gordon S

Interesting blade. Maybe late nambokucho period. But die pictures should be better. I wonder why all that interest is in the fittings. Its a nice old blade.

No measurements then? I was waiting for these to make a decision...

Hi guys, I was offered lately three books in Japan, that I already have. I know they are quite hard to find, so I am happy to give you the opportunity. 1/ Soshu Den Meisaku Shu, 1500 copies only, by Honma Junji - 850$ + shipping (the shipping cardboard box is a bit damaged / soiled, the book is in excellent condition) 2/ Mino To Taikan, 1500 copies, by Tokuno Kazuo - 200$ + shipping (the box is sun faded, book in excellent state) 3/ Studies in Kyo Goto, by Naohisa Tsujitomo - 200$ + shipping (book and box in good condition)

On hold.

With the falling population, and villages and shrines suffering, many formerly dedicated swords are rusting away for lack of attention. So far the local chapter has negotiated with many shrine authorities and been able to restore nine swords to their former glory, most of them now housed in Okayama Prefectural Museum. Some of these have even achieved official cultural designations. Each time though,we have had to come up with novel ways to fund these restorations, and it is not a cheap venture. Two swords were housed in the Imamura Hachiman Gu, but the previous priests were unwilling to get involved in any project. The new priest however has been more cooperative, and in our third grand project, two swords are now set for polishing, preservation and display. Osafune Sword Museum has agreed to house them and care for them. There will be an official opening ceremony for the project at the shrine on the 4th of April, 2026. The swords will be funded by various means, lectures, etc., and the target is JPY 3 million. The first is a long Odachi by a relatively unknown smith named Inoue Kyubei Masatoshi, dated 1665. 2 m 63 cm overall, the blade length is 1 m 77.3 cm, and it weighs 4.5 kg. The Inoue Kyubei line of smiths lived under the walls of Okayama Castle, Masashige, Masatoshi, Masakiyo, but very few of their works survive, making this a rare artefact. The total estimate for restoration, including a magnolia wood box for example, is 2.5 million. The second is a 1574 katana by Genbei no Jo Sukesada, with a blade length of 68.2 cm, dedicated by a retainer of the Ikeda Daimyo family to the shrine in 1738. This will add a further 500,000 to the bill making a total of 3 million yen. With this latest project they are not planning to ask for donations from overseas. Both blades will be on and off display over the coming year, and from the April 2027 shrine presentation ceremony onwards, they will be housed at Osafune Sword Museum.

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.

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

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

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

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----

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.

Kudos to you Colin, and to them for actually listening. A small victory, but a victory none the less.

@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:

Alex, I absolutely share your opinion. Coming back to the title of this thread, I am often more impressed by the inherent craft in a TSUBA than by its artistry. I can admire the work in a gorgeous and opulent 19th century KINKO TSUBA, but for owning one, I would choose a genuine KACHUSHI TSUBA with a well-made DOTE MIMI. But they are no longer underrated and now sold for big money!

Seen on Haynes

As a disclaimer I must say I am not a martial artist even though I dabbled few years in Japanese sword arts when I was teenager. As a ōdachi fan I will vouch many of them were indeed used in battles. So far I have seen 30 historical ōdachi in various places in Japan and I am hoping to still see many more in the future. There are however some limitations by size and by age that are my own personal feelings, I will expand more on them later on the post. Most of the ōdachi I have seen are preserved in various shrines in Japan and photography in shrine treasure rooms is forbidden. So I don't have pictures taken at the shrines apart from few where the museum staff wanted me to take a picture of the item. However in books I do have lots and lots of pictures and information. I don't know my martial arts history that well but I know in Japan there are some arts that are seen as koryū (古流) and they have strong historical standing. I believe the martial art shown in above video is Enshin-ryū (円心流), which is to my understanding classified as koryū, old historical martial art. To my limited understanding the meaning and specifics of kata in koryū is not really given outside the school. So even if you see that ōdachi is drawn from the hip in videos it could possibly be just a form of training. I believe I have seen other videos of this same person using the same sword over the years. I believe it is ōdachi with a blade length of 三尺六寸 3 shaku 6 sun which in centimeters is 109 cm. He does have impressive drawing and sheating technique and I believe he would be very seasoned martial artist. This brings me to the koshirae and how they were worn. I have recorded currently 151 ōdachi in Japan. Extremely few of them are in katana koshirae, as wearing them thrusted through the belt was not really that good option in my personal opinion, and as they were intended for battlefield use I don't see wearing them thrusted through the belt, they were already out when going to live battle or in many cases high ranking samurai had sword bearers who carried the ōdachi and allowed their master to draw it. There are however few very large Edo period swords that I classify as an ōdachi that are in katana koshirae, I can remember few from memory. - Itsukushima Jinja has 99,8 cm blade dated 1867, it was commissioned by a sumo wrestler at that time. (I have seen this sword at the shrine) - Matsubara Hachimangu had 101,3 cm blade (if I understand correctly it is dated 1644 and dedicated to the shrine when made). - Unfortunately there is only small picture but I believe the Takaoka Jinja sword 106,1 cm and 1641 dated blade that was in previous Okayama Branch restoration project might have katana koshirae, the pic I have seen is very small. However mostly the old historical ōdachi had various types of ōdachi koshirae. Many of the Edo period ōdachi that still have koshirae have an ōdachi koshirae too. Also the dating on the blades for Edo period can show how it will fit historically into timeline of Japan, as battles ceased after the early 1600's. I watched some Japanese youtube videos and in one of them it was mentioned that actually commissioning an ōdachi cost several times the normal amount of money, which is easy to understand, as the project of making a giant sword is lot more complicated than a normal sized one. This usually would mean that the person commissioning the sword must be wealthy and/or possibly a high ranking samurai. Finally comes the size of the ōdachi. These are just my personal opinions after seeing many of them live at shrines and lots and lots in books. Of course unfortunately currently handling experience is limited to modern swords. I am talking about blade lengths here, I see the length range of 3 to 4 shaku (90-120 cm) as perfectly reasonable range, there shouldn't be any issues with these. blade lengths of 4 to 5 shaku (120-150 cm) is where I see the upper end of actually usable ōdachi. When you go to blade lengths of over 5 shaku (150+ cm) I just don't see them all that reasonable for usability. As you have to calculate the tsuka in, these weapons are over 200 cm in total length and the majority of it is in blade. For usability I would rather exchange some of that blade length to handle/shaft length, arriving towards large bladed nagamaki and naginata. I think the longest ōdachi that I know has historical record of it being used in battle is the gigantic Tarōtachi (太郎太刀) of Atsuta Jingū it has blade length of 221,5 cm. There is a historical legend and provenance to back that up and there is a story for it. In my understanding the short version would be that two relatives wielding two giant ōdachi Tarōtachi and Jirōtachi, were stalling the enemy troops while wielding these on horseback. The enemy finally killed both of them but they gave time for others to get to safety. I believe they were dedicated to Atsuta Jingū in 1576. Atsuta Jingū has three ōdachi in similar koshirae Tarōtachi, Jirōtachi and Kanetake ōdachi made in 1620. As there is historical story and provenance I cannot discard the fact that the giant sword could indeed have been used in battle. In my brain I just can't figure out what would be the benefit in having these extremely long blades compared to very long blade with slightly longer handle. The post came quite a bit longer than I originally intended and had to do some fact checking as I hate making errors.

Yesterday the blades (and the assembled guests) were blessed at Imamura Gu shrine by the Priestess, before they started their new journey to the Osafuné Sword Museum where they are on temporary display. The TV crew were there to cover it. And

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

On the road from Santa!