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One of NHK's more recent videos explores the use of Nihonto in Kabuki theatre. It explores the Japanese mindset around swords, how legends influence culture and this space through dramatisation. Nihonto have found a lot of interest through the recent Touken Rabu manga series which has now been brought to life in Kabuki. Animating the sword, makes the people associated with it come alive and makes the art form even more interesting. It was a fascinating watch to get an insight into the spirit of the Nihonto. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/3025180/

At 1.00 you can see the Yoshikane tachi and Tametsugu katana they have. By quick glance both would seem to be very nicely viewable. I hope it draws in big crowds and gets people excited about Japanese swords

I don’t see a peg to remove and I think you will end up doing more damage in long run. 100% reproduction, no reason to remove handle it would be crude and unsigned and fake Chinese signature. Enjoy the cool look it is. Doug

SOLD

I also believe it to be a reproduction, likely Chinese. Aside from the lack of visible mekugi (which suggests a rat-tail tang or a glued tang, neither of which are generally found in authentic Japanese swords), the grain of the blade looks far too unrefined, the kissaki shape is all wrong, and while it could be the lighting or photography, the shinogi (ridge-line in the middle of the sword) looks uneven and poorly defined. https://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html

Thanks John, I certainly didn't pay much for it, so it could be a repo, but I don't believe that to be the case. The Saya is covered in real leather, it all looks worn and age weary, nothing looks bright or machined. Not elegant by any means, what you might call a working sword, but I don't thing its repo (doesn't really matter if it is). I wondered about the latch too. But it moves freely and is not holding it together. The Saya has an internal cutaway to accept it, but the outer edge is well beaten down by it, so it has clearly been this way for some time. Anyway it does not appear to be holding the tsuka on.

Michael: My first impression was that it may be a reproduction. But what is going on with that latch? Could that be holding the tsuka on? Could just be the lighting. John C.

An update for anyone who may be interested! I took this item to a local antique dealer I was purchasing something else from, and he identified what it is! It is indeed a piece of forehead wear, but not for a man, but a horse! He said it was probably Bakumatsu or Meiji period in origin, and that such thing would usually be seen in ceremonial settings. I should have guessed as such at first, as it is drastically oversized for a human forehead.

For everything that has been said about the Bristish Museum in the run up to its latest exhibition... Samurai. Here is some footage from inside the British Museum's first exhibition of their Samurai collection. It is a visual effects tour deforce. If I was to describe it in terms of fashion I would call it "Samurai - The Retrospective." And I think that is what this is, a fashion show that would make any Parisian Fashion House proud. It is visually stimulating. Introducing Gen Z to the Museum World. Is it meant to be a exhibition that truly explores the history of the Samurai? Probably not. Does it try to make Samurai Art/Fashion cool and hip to a new generation? I think yes. I think Gen Z would walk in and say... this is pretty cool. So what if some of the facts may be muddled - they are not reading the boards anyway. This is a selfie moment and it looks cool. And subculture is important. Therefore anything that can be done to break into that is a positive. We need to remember the general theme of museums for Gen Z is... boring. This exhibition is not. Would not be surprised to see strong Japanese themes in the next summer lines coming though Tiktok. The exhibition ends with a Samurai Riding a rubber duckie... this is the high light of the exhibition. Social Media remember. I am sure if Tokugawa Ieyasu was trying to reach Gen Z to promote his Japan, he would approve. Ok, to be honest I am not sure what he would say... This is not a serious, stuffy exhibition for Japanese sword nerds! But it is a lot of fun! And like Touken Ranbu, this does introduce a new audience to the wonderful world of the Samurai. And for that... I think we can count this as a win. (If they really love it they will do their own research anyway!) https://youtu.be/Gk8M78g_FXA?si=tBXqAsTvDeQaIwnh

As I am not connected to art world in any way I am curious how this Catalogue Raisonne works. Is it a free publication open to everyone to view? For the Japanese swords I would dare to think that people and organizations are very protective of their items. I have read many stories how even the best Japanese experts have had difficulties to get to even view some items. One hurdle would also be who would be the ones authenticating the items, as I know there are items for which some of the experts have varying views. Would already designated items get a free pass or would they also require lot of study and some might perhaps even fail at passing modern panel. What Piers wrote sounds like the absolute horror story and it isn't the only one like that I have heard, well of course this is the most extreme one as the smith would be Sadamune and actual proof was discovered too. I just cannot understand why the mei needs to be removed, I am absolutely against a mei removal regardless if it would be even an obvious gimei. Of course people see things differently and there are different opinions. Uwe provided absolutely amazing complilation of information about the National Treasure Uraku Kunimitsu, that is wonderful and shows how important it is to have multiple references. Also the text portions give an insight of the history of the sword and it is understandable how the quality and history combined make this sword a National Treasure. Item like this require very high level of understanding of history and appreciation of quality, unfortunately I am still lacking in both of them. I have seen this sword in 2024 and 2025 at Nagoya Tōken World, to me it was very well made sword of obviously very high quality but my level of appreciation is not enough for an item like this. On their top floor there are always just so many other items that are way more to my personal liking and I appreciate them a lot more even if they would be way below this amazing item in quality and historical value.

Is a picture worth a thousand words? Rare Rifle ;)

Lol

In the video, it looks as if they have strung the bows on the wrong side and in addition to that, positioned them upside-down.

I think the sniper version of that rifle used a piece of PVC pipe as a scope. John C.

Hurts being this generations outlier

Let them eat cake! [chocolate for desert!]