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This boundary is non-negotiable on this forum. Take it or leave it. There is no circumstance where we will ever say it's ok to use sandpaper on your blade. You may say the whole thing was rusted and no-one would pay to have it polished. So what about the guy whose blade is mostly ok but has one spot of rust? What about the guy who is in a country where there are no polishers? Do we have to form a committee to decide when it's ok and when it isn't? The fact is that we don't advocate amateur polishing. Yes...we all know many do it, we know there are rusty blades that no-one will ever professionally polish. But without a way to determine what's ok and what isn't, the rule stands that we do not encourage this. Since we are a serious forum devoted to the preservation of genuine Japanese swords, this policy will never change.

Hello all, I would like to share with you my most recent purchase from Andy Quirt over at Nihonto.us . It’s a hirazukuri O wakizashi is shirasaya in good polish and from what I was told by Andy he sent it over to Tanobe sensei for a verbal attribution and based on what Tanobe saw he gave him a verbal attribution of Uda. Andy did tell me that he was hoping for an earlier attribution so he must of thought it shared characteristics of a Ko-Uda blade but nevertheless Tanobe sensei dated it to Muromachi period. It’s undergone Osuriage and also has a bohi. It has a 46.3cm nagasa, 3.3mm motohaba, and 6mm kasane. The hamon is chu suguba in konie deki and has itame hada. Given then lenght of it now after it has undergone suriage I think it possibly coulda been a katateuchi. Best Regards, Chance

They ask you to place a sticker against which sword you liked best.

Even aside from the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, the general consensus in *all* fields dealing with historical artworks and antiquities is that it's better to leave something in a state of decay, arrested as best you can manage, than incorrectly restore it. For your consideration, I submit the most famous example in modern times: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(García_Martínez_and_Giménez)

Partly because it’s in a poor state of polish and condition. Different light and angles = different reflection and illumination

Hello from the UK, hope things are good for you all around the world. It’s grey and damp and chilly here. This tsuba left home a few years ago as part of a deal to acquire a nice sword but it recently had the opportunity to return home again …..and here it is……just for interest. To me it’s an appealing subject artistically rendered and decent quality workmanship. What are your opinions? The thin iron plate has a slight ishime texture and an even dark brown patina. I believe the old Japanese label says something like “old pine tree wasps”…..anyone confirm? H8.5cm W8.1cm T3.5mm at the slightly raised rim.

Actually I particularly like Yoshifusa too. Today sadly I was with people and did not take many photos, *although I do have some Yoshifusa pics somewhere from earlier exhibitions.

I think Kanemitsu, like Kiyomaro, is one of those smiths whose sugata and hamon shape alone is usually so eye-catching that it even enchants people who don't know enough about swords to tell you why a Masamune is superior to a shinsakuto. Anecdotally, for partners/family being "dragged" to one of these exhibitions, Kiyomaro is the undisputed king of "okay, I have to admit that looks pretty cool"

Check out 'This is not a Samurai', and Tetsuya Noguchi. (That should give you some background to this genius guy! Definitely weird, but intricately and uncannily accurate.) PS Re 'ages'. Different times in history.

Not at all. The first step is to appropriately oil it to stop red rust, which is eating the blade, and convert it to black iron oxide, which can be stable As you're rubbing the oil in repeatedly over months with a soft cloth, any dirt, loose flakes and scale will likely come off, leaving you with a blade which is stable and clean, and can be preserved without further deterioration. There will still be pitting if the previous corrosion was serious, as it appears to have been in this case. That's the point where a togishi steps in, when you can afford it. The issue is both maintaining the shape, as discussed above, but also that repolishing to remove pitting is a very precise craft - it's easy to remove too much metal, or to end up with a slightly undulating surface. I have a blade in my possession which was treated with sandpaper (by someone in Japan!) - probably even a power sander. It was already a tired blade, and post sanding it's close to unrecoverable .

I have a daisho that has papers for each by Karabu Kantei organization, a group headed by Shibata. Although printed in Japanese, Shibata was a prolific author of books on nihonto and tsuba. Also see

I like Kaga Zogan. Your tsuba made me take action) I’ll share my new acquisition soon.

九泉堂 - Kusendo 光保 - Mitsuyasu

....and light from the side so the chiseled KANJI can be seen.

Update: Yamanaka Newsletters Volume 4 Issue #9 available: Yamanaka V4 NL09

Is this the same guard as from the Michael Tomkinson collection? Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

John, a basic rule of thumb never clean the tang , sometimes it is acceptable to remove active rust on the tang , but you really need to know what you are doing first . looking at the tang again , it could be signed No-Shu Ju Kanesada saku ? which would mean it is a WW11 sword .

Large tsuba from Higo Jingo school. The Tsuba in an elongated maru-gata shape. Rim in Kan-mimi (Jingo-style dote-mimi), ko-niku. The design features engraved bamboo, executed in shishiai-bori technique. The two large hitsu-ana in suhama style. 8,2 x 7,8, x 0,40 cm 340 € + shipping

John, a basic rule of thumb never clean the tang , sometimes it is acceptable to remove active rust on the tang , but you really need to know what you are doing first .

No guess who is winning. 🤣

There is a paper on Tokyo Masakuni and family in NMB Downloads..........

Nakago. Not nagado.

Pics of the whole tsuba both sides

@Bugyotsuji thank you sir, I appreciate it. Was she referring to "ages" as in actual age, or was she speaking to different ages of time? Thought it would be more.....clever. i dont really get it either way, but then, im not an artist.

John, not nehonto, it is NIHONTO, and again, this is the NIHONTO section which means it is for traditionally made swords. Yours would belong into the military section in case it was machine made. And in WWII, there were no SAMURAI, so it is probably a military sword, called GUNTÔ.

Oh cool, Thank you Jussi. Yes, definately try to get a set of the magazines. They have quite a few photos of the lost swords we have not seen and are under articles by Yuichi Hiroi. The journals that have the lost swords begin with issue number one dated 1978-4 through issue number 16 which is dated 1982-1. The Journals are called: 大素人 All the best!

Thanks John

Hi Paul, It’s a date, Teikyou, gan’en saku kore: …made this in the first year of Teikyou - 1684. Sorry, my phone screen is playing up so I can’t assemble the kanji.

Can't see the Seki stamp

The nakago shots of the date are a little blurry. Looks like it might be 1942. Does the FB post confirm the date?

We do not promote or encourage DIY polishing on the Nihonto Message Board under any circumstances. Our focus is the study and preservation of genuine Japanese swords and fittings, and proper restoration is a critical part of that responsibility. If a proper restoration is not financially possible, that does not justify attempting to do it yourself. Owning a damaged piece does not grant license to restore it, just as one would not attempt to repair a damaged Rembrandt without the necessary training, knowledge, and expertise. Sorry to be blunt, but it reflects the standards we uphold. DIY polishing sets a dangerous standard within the hobby and ultimately risks irreversible damage to the very objects we are trying to preserve. DIY polishing is an ALL STOP situation here. Regards, -Sam

John: I think Ray is looking here. But I can't tell because it looks as if the nakago has been repaired (re-welded?) at that spot. John C.

I love the accompanying documents for such things, very interesting. Okan, could you take a photo of kashira and the signature as well?

Wild blade pattern.

I do have concerns about the sword. In my opinion, it looks severely altered or messed with. The proportions make me wonder if it’s been machi-okuri, and the nakago looks like artificially accelerated aging rather than natural patina. That makes me question whether there might have been an effort to obscure a stamp, or make it "look" older than it is.

One of our NBTHK members is a Bizen potter and after much effort he eventually succeeded in making a full-sized version in fired clay. Another member creates detailed exact-scale copies in wood, down to the nick in the blade edge. These are not cheap but there is a waiting list for his work, the Sanchōmō and other famous blades. Even the Mei are faithfully chiselled in.

These are my tsuba from the auction. And, well, my only regret was not having a bigger wallet... Seeing all those tsuba together was like finding Santa's sledge parked in the backyard for a kid... The second tsuba has a paper, but it's a minus, not a plus... guess what's the attribution?

Hi Justin, By whom and when was the tanto made? If the tanto is special it deserves better koshirae. If it is mediocre or worse, you would be smart to move on and find something better to throw your money at. Grey

Well… Mona Lisa has a kind of …. Shall we say… interesting smile. And the colours are a bit faded. Ah, also there are a few other images underneath the top layer. But… It is Mona Lisa.

Lots and lots of photos of the Yamatorige starting to appear across the interwebs. Actually a lot of fun reading the comments and seeing the excitement in the people posting and responding to the pictures.

I think, as Jean has stated, the first is either Hotei's sack [sometimes also Daruma] but may also represent a "furoshiki" wrap. [but these other designs are not to the same standard of quality - - that is for sure!] I love the wave and cloud sukashi

There are a number of photos of Meito on sho-shin.com that are noted as being gifted to Emperor Meiji, a few of those mentioned above show up if doing a site search. Chogi Haito Sword of Emperor Meiji Chogi Nagasa: 71cm Sori: 2.3cm Standing Itame Hada with JiNie, Chikei and standing Utsuri. Bo-Hi and Sobi run the length. Gunome-Midare ba moves inside a Notare line. There is Ashi and Yo and Kinsuji through the Mid. Yakiba widens in the Monouchi. Boshi is deeply set O-Gunome Midare mound turns to an abrupt Kaeri. Suriage Nakago has two Mekugi-ana and Bo-Hi resolves in Marudome. Signed in the Ji at the bottom: Bizen-no-Kuni Osafune Ju Nagayoshi (Chogi)

Andrew, can't express how much I admire what you do, and what you are able to do. And what a privilege to have the skill to be chosen for swords like this. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

Come on you know you need some "new" sizzle plates! https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/287169240470