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I haven't seen this variant posted yet in this thread so here goes. This is an old family blade signed Munemitsu kitted out for WW2. I bought it a few years ago because I had never seen this kind of tsuka cover. I unsnapped the cover on the saya and it appears that an old sparkly lacquered wood saya lurks underneath. I would have to undo the threads on the tsuka cover to see what lies beneath and I don't have the courage to do that. I figure some things are best left undisturbed. I also haven't applied any leather preservative to field covers. Que sera, sera.

The “Military Sword for the Nation” Movement (Japanese: 軍刀報国 / Guntō Hōkoku) was a wartime mobilization campaign in Japan during the late 1930s and early 1940s. It encouraged civilians, organizations, and local communities to donate money or materials to produce military swords or sale the blade to army for officers use.

A BILLHOOK!!! How very fitting your 'traditional tool' should appear on NMB. As I'm sure many of you know, the billhook has a long career as a weapon. BaZZa.

Here's a teaser. I wanted to mimic the "feeling" of the design without copying it. The corner braces in their raw form. I will patinate them black to match the old iron. The flowers were stamped in with one of my leather leaf tools (the wife's idea. She thought they looked plain otherwise). John C.

I think it doesn’t really matter where an item is located. Museums often contain works of very different levels anyway, since many of them were assembled from donations from all over the world. Over the past couple of years I’ve become something of a Tosogu maniac - having read through half of the Tosogu forum and studied thousands of different works wherever possible) I find it almost like an addiction or an illness. For me it has become not just a hobby but a form of stress relief in any free moment. And the most pleasant thing is that there is still so much more ahead. As Colin already told you, only visual familiarity will eventually give you understanding - you will start to see the differences yourself. I also insist on studying and understanding the technical processes involved - many thanks to Ford Hallam. As for this particular piece, it is a really good Nara work, and compositionally I find it very appealing. However, when we talk about a master of the level of Sigiura Joi, the standards for the work are somewhat higher. Please understand me correctly - I simply do see differences in the carving, the inlay, and the signature, and in my opinion they are significant. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised by the reaction of many people, so let’s examine it in a bit more detail. As I like to say, everything is understood through comparison, so let’s take two works as a basis - pieces whose authenticity, I hope, does not raise any questions. First of all, all the elements are perfectly inlaid, the boundaries are crisp and carefully finished. Next, look at the treatment and polishing of all the fine elements - Joi truly managed to give them life. Just consider the frozen expression of Benten: the eyelids are perfectly polished and emphasize the smooth contours of the eyes with their inlaid pupils. As for the katakiribori carving - it is almost perfect. All the lines are straight, of ideal thickness, the edges are not collapsed, they have the same depth and are cut at the correct angle, which allows us to see the play of light so clearly - for example, in the hair of Benten’s hairstyle. Pay attention to the elegantly raised shoulder guards of Bishamonten - they truly have volume and a cloud-like feeling. Look at his helmet: all the details are carefully inlaid, and the surrounding surface is perfectly even. Consider the face for at least a minute—through different strokes and careful polishing the author managed to convey such a realistic appearance. The play of light from such polishing is visible even in these photos. And here is our recent mysterious friend In my opinion, one of the best portraits in Tosogu. Look at the palm and the fingers. The reed is inlaid so delicately that it seems to float in the air, this effect is achieved through additional cuts underneath that create a shadow effect - it's fantastic. (It’s a pity the reed is broken at the end, but we can clearly see the taper toward the tip) The forehead deserves special attention. The depth of the hair has been worked out, the hair of different lengths is directed at its own specific angle. Look at the ears of these characters - they are also carefully worked and polished. Also pay attention to all the small katakiribori elements: they are confidently carved, even with the same carving rhythm (those very eyelashes), again to properly convey the play of light. The signatures on those works are also carved with a confident hand, whereas in this example that feeling is absent - especially in the seal. I once held an authentic Joi kozuka with papers in hand, it was a work of similar quality to the examples above. I hope this helps a little with understanding. However, the most amusing thing is that in the end we may never know the truth - we are left only to guess and discuss Best regards! Viktor

Well, you asked for it: On Sunday on a local flee-market, I bought a traditional tool that I will restore (very lightly as it is in good shape and as museum piece, I don't want it to look like new) in the next few days. It has a very solid hand-forged blade of 210 mm length and a max. spine thickness of 8 mm. Similar tools have been used in many cultures world-wide, called "billhook" in the English-speaking parts of the world. In my region, it was traditionally used for forest and agricultural work.

It would be helpful to see better photos, however I do not see an association here with So-den Bizen Kanemitsu or his school and as far as the appearance of the mei and nakago that also does not evoke a feeling of Bizen.

About a year ago I bought a bronze oil pot for an Edo period Japanese andon lamp. A fine-looking thing, but as is often the case, it had lost its lid. Rather slim in silhouette, it needed a small lid. Round and round the antiques fairs I went, rejecting most but buying occasionally, only to be disappointed once more by the lack of a proper material or age match. Months passed. One dealer who has several weathered antique lids on a string handed me a nice one yesterday that he had been saving for me. “Cut this down to the correct size, using an angle grinder.” “Tin snips?” I ventured. “Definitely not. Grind it down to size!” Gulp. Never really been happy working metals. A delicate thing with definite age. What if I ruin the old lid? Still, lonely hearts club, etc., so a potential new life for the pot I reckoned, and got to work shrinking the thing. Hand files and sanding papers though. Getting close to the right size? About 6.7 cm across… Hmmm… .

I believe the mei is Yamashiro (no) Suke Moritake (山城介盛武), and the date is 慶應三年八月日 (a day in the 8th month of 1857 - Keiō 3). Best regards, Ray

Here is a bullet hole, in a narigawa kabuto

Getting there. I'm about a week or two from finishing a suzuribako tansu. Started with just the door with all the ornate metal work, locking mechanism, hinges, etc. Long process due to making all of the supporting hardware from scratch (sheet copper), unfortunately without a full workshop, and trying to mimic the grain and color of the wood. I'll post pics when finished. John C.

One of my favourite subjects in Japanese Art is the depiction of hawks, falcons and other birds of prey. I recently acquired this pair of large scrolls (from Japan). They appear to carry the seal of Kano Naonobu (1519-1592ish). They are said to be two paintings from a now lost Kano hawk byobu screen that were remounted as scrolls in 1914. Do we have any Kano knowledge on our Forum? Does that provenance seem possible? Certainly the paintings are older than the scroll mountings and they look “right” to me but really, I bought them because I absolutely love them. Any opinions anyone? Many thanks.

Takeuchi (竹内) is a Japanese surname. Although the name literally means “inside bamboo,” here it is simply used as a family name. 軍刀報國第四一五號 竹內第二號 Military Sword for the Nation No. 415, Takeuchi No. 2 may indicate that this is the 415th case in the ‘Military Sword for the Nation’ movement and the second sword donated by the Takeuchi sword shop?

Hi Tristan, That’s a Navy sword knot. It’s a nicer quality bullion one. I believe these style were junior grade officer knots.

Blimey, that image brought back long buried memories. We had these on the farm where I was born. As a kid I used them to cut hazel spears and arrows in the wood. I think their intended function was to trim sugar beet and mangolds when harvesting was largely by hand. Gentler days.

Hey guys! Thanks in advance for your help! I bought this from a guy who walked in with it at a gun show. He had it since the 80's and knew little about it. Any thoughts or opinions on this katana?

Hello all, two weeks ago I posted two pics of the nakago of a sword I was buying. Moriyama-san was able to translate the very interesting inscription for me. The sword arrived today! There are four horimono on the blade. I initially thought that they might be Bonji, but now I believe they are Kanji. One of them appears to be "Shu", "to protect" not sure what the others are. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks in advance, Tom

Wow, Trystan! What do you think we are seeing here, with the label/stamp? This seems to imply they were stamping the donated/bought swords as they collected them, and numbered them? Google says "Takeuchi" means "bamboo inside", but I doubt the saya was made of bamboo. What do you think it is saying?

I think it is meant to be the 4-character idiom 以守為攻 (守りを以て、攻めと為す), which in colloquial English would be "the best offense is a good defense". It means secure your victory by shoring up your defense. But it looks like they've spelled it as 以守以攻, with a slight variance in the third character.

A Japanese WWII gendaito sword by Ki Masatsugu is available. Notably, Ki Masatsugu was given the special rank of Jyungenro, second only to Genro, in the 1943 list, the Gendai Tosho Ninki Banzuke. Published by the Nihon Token Tanrenjo (NTT) and the Nihon Token Shinbunshi (NTS), the Gendai Tosho Ninki Banzuke served to rank what were then modern or gendai swordsmiths. He is also given the rank of Jo-jo saku, superior-superior made, on the Fujishiro Ranking System, a rank that is only secondary to Sai-jo Saku. The late Fujishiro Matsuo san was a Living National Treasure polisher and author of the Nihon Toko Jiten. Therefore, this World War II Japanese sword represents an important acquisition for any serious collection. The tang bears the signature “Ki Masatsugu”. Additionally, Masatsugu crafted this blade as a traditionally made, water-tempered gendai sword. As expected for a traditionally forged blade, it carries no Showa or arsenal stamp. The blade measures 24 5/32″ (61.3 cm) from the tip to the bottom of the notch in the habaki. The Army mounts are exceptional. The saya has the hard to find extended prototype drag fitting with kanji. In addition, the tsuba is the only infrequently found special thin variation. The original Company grade (Lieutenant) blue/brown Officer tassel is still attached to the sarute. CONDITION The rare mounts on this Japanese WWII Gendaito sword are in exceptional condition. The blade has staining from past oxidation. This blade would polish beautifully if desired. There are a couple of minor nail nicks in the blade edge, and the blade remains perfectly straight. The hamon (temper line) and boshi are healthy and well defined. Additional photos available by using the link below. $2900 plus postage --Matthew Brice https://stcroixblades.com/product/Japanese-wwii-gendaito-sword-ww2-army-samurai-gunto/

WAKIZASHI AWATAGUCHI FUJIFUSA / KOSHIRAE MEI: AWATAGUCHI FUJIFUSA DATE: 0 c. 1532 MUROMACHI NAGASA: 17.3125" OVERALL: 21.625" MIHABA: 1.01" KASANE: 0.25" SORI: 0.40" NAKAGO: UBU MEKUGI ANA: ONE YASURIME: SUJIKAI MUNE: IORI HADA: KO-ITAME HAMON: GUNOME CHOJI BOSHI: KOMARU HORIMONO OMOTE: NONE HORIMONO URA: NONE HABAKI: 1 PC. COPPER KOSHIRAE Wakizashi in koshirae signed Awataguchi Fujifusa. I could only find one reference for what may be this smith. Hawley’s lists one Fujifusa, a Muromachi smith c. 1532. It could be this smith, the other two options are gimei or an unlisted smith, (see reference and disclaimer below). Nakago is ubu with two mekugi ana. The hada is ko-itame and the hamon is gunome choji. Boshi is ko-maru. The sword is in fair condition but does have numerous small, non-fatal issues such as, surface pitting, kitte-ware, light rust, tarnish and hike-kizu or surface scratches. Comes with a one piece copper habaki. See photos for more detail. Koshirae has some nice fittings. The F/K are shakudo nanako with sparrows and bamboo in gold and copper. The menuki are a floral design of flowers and leaves in shakudo and gold. Saya is a rusty brown with horn koigughi and kurkata. Tsuba is iron with a carved pine with gold highlights. REFERENCES: Hawley’s (FUJ 6), pg. 31 15pt. c.1532 Condition: See Photos. The information I have provided is all I have on this item. Returns: Not accepted unless item is not as described. Ships USPS Priority Mail Insured. Your address and contact information is required to get an accurate shipping quote. Buyer is responsible for knowing your countries import laws and regulations. LIMITED TIME SALE: As with all “sales” sale is final. WAS: $975 plus any additional fees (S/H, PayPal, Wire, Insurance, etc) NOW: $800 plus any additional fees (S/H, PayPal, Wire, Insurance, etc) *Contact me via email only: Yakiba.com@gmail.com *Disclaimer: Information provided on items offered without kanteisho (papers) or with old shinteisho (papers) is nothing more than an opinion or translation of what is inscribed on the item as is along with any pertinent information of the smith referred to! This opinion/translation and information is provided as a courtesy only and is not an indication, opinion, or guarantee that the item is shoshin. Old shinteisho (white, green, blue, etc.) are no longer recognized by the NBTHK and if re-submitted to shinsa may or may not receive the same attribution. Items which are not accompanied by kanteisho (papers) have a higher probability of being gimei, but that is not always the case. Please do your own research, ask questions prior to committing to purchase and commit only when you are ready to purchase. Please, do not commit to purchase, then attempt to negotiate a lower price.

The blade has a healthy boshi and there's sunagashi in it.

The Samurai Museum Berlin owns a katana attributed to Kinju, on whose tang the katakana “Kusarinawa” is inscribed in silver. This is likely a synonym indicating that the blade cuts with ease, as if through a rotting straw rope.

John see Posted February 6 a MEKUGI-NUKI or mekugi peg remover for a tsuka. Yes I think a very serious "user" could wear it as a pendant for "that special occasion" when you need to remove your sword handle.

Hi John, The sword is in beautiful field grade officer's Kyu-gunto mounts. I'm planning on posting an article about LT. General Noguchi Kon'no with photos of the mounts and sword. Wanted to make sure what the horimono were on the blade first. Tom

The cross hatch filing pattern on the Nakago are textbook Mino Den.

Very nice! That will not stay here for long!

The mei is Kanemitsu. Unclear which Kanemitsu that this might be. There were a number of Kanemitsu working in Mino, and in other regions as well.

I see that this same sword was posted here in 2018 (and the same photos of the nakago, rotated).

Tsuba = Echizen ju Kinai saku

Hi Yuliyan, Thank you for your interest. I'm at work at the moment, will be back late tonight. But I'll take some photos for you once I get back.

平安城住下坂 Heian Jo Jū Shimosaka “Made by a Shimosaka smith living in the Kyoto area” The Shimosaka were well-known makers of Yari.

As someone fairly new to studying tosogu, I sometimes find it a bit hard to understand why certain pieces in museum collections or catalogues are considered masterpieces. At first glance they don’t always look more elaborate or technically refined than other examples. I guess with more study and comparison the reasons become clearer, but for beginners like me it can still be a little confusing. So discussions like this are actually very helpful.

Jacques, everyone is at a different stage of learning, everyone learns differently, and everyone has their own expectations for their goals. After all, you weren't born an expert. Personally, I can only express my opinion from my own perspective. And even that opinion was different 15 years ago and might be different in 15 years – if I'm still alive then. Personally, I currently only buy literature that mentions Oshigata, if at all. The NBTHK publications accompanying museum exhibitions often contain both: excellent photographs and Oshigata. And that's a good thing. The NBTHK's Shijo Kantei, for example, is also interesting. In recent years, blades with different Oshigata designations have appeared there, even with slight differences in the description and sometimes even minimal variations in dimensions. The differences in the description and Oshigata of the same blade are due to the author's perspective. Or, to put it more clearly: Someone who has studied a particular smith or their school over a long period will depict the oshigata of a specific blade differently than someone who has had little to no contact with that smith. The former will emphasize the swordsmith's character more strongly, while the latter will approach the oshigata more technically. I would argue that the situation of a professional oshigata artist is not unlike that of a first-class polisher. They must decide how best to express the essence of a particular swordsmith's work. Some elements can be highlighted and emphasized, while others are better kept subtle. A good oshigata offers the student significant advantages, as it allows them to focus more easily on specific details than when studying an actual blade, where many factors come into play—such as polishing, lighting, and even their own ability to concentrate, which is not always consistent. With an oshigata , a large portion of the information is naturally filtered out—information that, when studying a real blade, more or less consciously floods the viewer. This can quickly overwhelm beginners. Over time, one learns to temporarily block out certain things and retrieve them when needed. This requires a lot of practice and good eye training. Finally, I can't help but chuckle when I read Jussi's comment about viewing blades in a museum. You can immediately tell who's a "regular" and who's a sword-fighting student. And it's not unusual to be surprised to see someone performing the "sword viewing dance" in front of the display case—someone you wouldn't have expected at all.

Another good edition for those interested in technical katchu ..

@Scogg Sam: I have a couple more projects that should be finished in two weeks or so - another shirasaya for a fukuro yari and a suzuribako tansu. I was wondering if we could have a dedicated forum (or pinned combined thread somewhere) for member-made sword related items. I know there must be at least a dozen or so separate threads for shirasaya, armor, tsuba, etc. If you think it worth the effort, maybe you could run the idea up the chain-of-command for me? John C.

@Volker62 2 more blades with the same nickname. Bizen Osafune Katsumitsu Asa-arashi Owned by Matsushita Masatoshi Auspicious day in the 8th month, Eishō 1 (1504) Asa-arashi Ōwaki-ke futatsu-dō kiri-otoshi (cutting through two torsos at the underarm) Owned by Maejima Hachirō Signed Tomotsugu (kaō)

It's funny how you set your sights on collecting interesting examples of Showa period swords, and sometimes there occurs a synergy that doesn't at first appear obvious. I set my sights on a WW2 Gendai in gunto mounts with bohi, an example with a dragon horimono, another with kanji horimono, a '98 koshirae with the rare patented extended drag, and a perfect Kai Gunto (thanks Hamfish). The coincidence was, all these examples were made by the 2 million yen, RJT smith, Kanemichi. Two of the five have Showa stamps, and culminate with the obviously special order papered gendai bohi example. All examples are in above average koshirae of the time.

I agree totally with Curran…..some superb works have “questionable mei” but I often wonder…..are they really gimei? How can we be certain? Which ones are genuine and which not? Mei would doubtless vary as artists grew older, maybe even they even changed them deliberately …..we don’t really know. Records are a bit sparse. We do know many of these artists had teachers and pupils, perhaps even akin to many swordsmiths workshops. Iwamoto Konkan is a prime example where many wonderful works are catalogued as “after Konkan” or “school of Konkan” yet someone with immense talent made them. Who?….and why gimei something superb in its own right. Was it done with the blessing of the “master”, was it made by the master and signed by the student (as per some swords). We jump to the conclusion that it was done to deceive ie for £ but I remain hesitant to judge. Of course many pieces fall well short on technical quality or artistry and certainly we can be confident that they are indeed “wrong uns” but sometimes I wonder…… Just some wandering rambling musings🙂

Wow, nice to see we are finally making some progress in the collecting world! ZevAntiques has a souvenir at auction HERE with a title of "US 8th Army Japan Occupation Souvenir Sword" and a full accurate description! Hurray!!! It's the first souvenir on file with an Inaba blade, third with "29"

John, No flack from me, brother. I think you're the guy that started to study the painted numbers, right? If so, you are currently the resident expert! I do think you are right about the colors and number schemes being specific to shops, forges, and arsenals. We have that one photo of several blades lined up with white, or the pale blue, numbers. With that in mind, the 2-digit black numbering on these souvenirs is specific to Tenshozan, which actually backs up your point.

I always admired these guys, with their well positioned gold dewdrops at the temple and cheeks. The facial expression is rich. I would struggle to draw the faces that well, yet alone pull that off in metal.

Here’s the measurements of my sword: Total without scabbard = 838.2mm Kissaki with scabbard = 863.6mm Nagasa = 680mm Motokasane = 5.5mm Sakikasane = 3.3mm Motohaba = 23.2mm Sakihaba = 16.5mm Kissaki = 26.8mm No stamps and mumei:

That is a terrible replica...... Fortunately I have a service where I will take this off your hands and properly dispose of it........and I won't even charge you. You can trust me, I go to church. Seriously though, wow......what a beautiful piece

Thank you from me too. The tool is fantastic. It would be nice if: a) I could send a feature request via the interface. :D b) I could filter search results by length, weight, etc parameters. Some of the items don't have this, but some do and for myself this is quite crucial information. For example, I would love to see items that are Koto, longer than 2.5 shaku and under 800 grams (blade). Even if this would not be quite fool proof thanks to missing info, it would help to limit the many options and there could always be a toggle like "Show items without corresponding information: Y/N".

I recently picked up this interesting one. @Kantaro, does this fit the description you’re looking for? With the button and double hanger? I bought this one in a lot with another saber. Priced generally as two parade sabers, but this one caught my eye with the habaki, engraving, and sharpened blade. The engraved kamon(?) on the backstrap was a nice surprise. (Note: I put the tassel there, it was found without one.)

My new favourite app.

As a noob to nihonto collecting and study I feel I've entered in what could be described as a golden era. There are so many English language resources (thanks in no small part to Markus Sesko @Markus) and individuals like @Hoshi, @nulldevice and @Jussi Ekholm, just to name four. Special mention to @Brano for his incredible photography of some spectacular grandmaster swords. One might argure that doing the hard yards is part of the initiation into Nihonto, but having access to this reference material at our fingertips will certainly enourage others to dip their toe in the pool. Once that spark ignites a lifelong passion will follow. We can count ourselves as the lucky ones.

Hi Clark, welcome to our corner here! First of all, thank you for your honesty and objectivity, which are rare qualities today, and refreshingly appreciated! It is good to know that what we suspected is not far from the truth. Also it is very interesting to learn about where these NLO are manufactured. Your masks have a pleasingly rustic appearance. Mingei 民芸. They could easily be older than your estimate, I feel. The Okame looks almost Korean. The closest signature I have found so far is a Suisen 水仙, but not yet a Suizan unfortunately. Can we see the backs of your two? Anyway, we are all learning here. Sadly I let some of my good Noh mask Netsuke go, but I still have a couple somewhere, oh, and a hyottoko ojime! Thank you for posting and introducing yourself!