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Has anyone been able to get to see the Mikazuki Kanemitsu at the Nagoya Sword Museum? It went on display on Saturday for the first time since the Sotherby's Auction. Click Here for more info on the sword and exhibition. Images from @sanasan555 on X. I am salivating... just a little bit. More photos appreciated from anyone who attends.

Yes, I heard the same and just posted that in another topic - Touken Ranbu is working it's magic and it is also only on display for just over a week initially. As I understand it these two exhibitions may be it for 2026. So people are excited to view it.

That certainly looks tempting, Brett! Thanks for the heads-up. (The Sanchomo/Yamatorige has been on display at the Osafune Sword Museum since last Friday, March 20th, and is drawing unusually large crowds.)

Tachi by Osafune Hidemitsu, dated 1371 designated as Jūyō Bunkazai 31.3.1953, item number 01658. Nagasa: 81,6 cm Sori: 3,0 cm Motohaba: 3,7 cm Sakihaba: 2,7 cm Motokasane: 6,5 mm Sakikasane: 4,5 mm Kissaki: 6,0 cm Nakago: 23,9 cm Nakago sori: 0,6 cm Item is featured in Nihontō Taikan, Tōken Bijutsu 362 as feature sword, Tanobe big book, Osafune Chōshi, Jukken Historically this sword has been in collection of 村上 (Murakami) family. This is just my type of sword and seems to be absolutely wonderful item. It is fun to look into these and probably the first time in 2 years I opened the big Tanobe book.

Tantō by Shintōgo Kunimitsu designated as Jūyō Bunkazai 27.6.1959, item number 01825. Nagasa: 27.6 cm Sori: uchizori Motohaba: 2,3 cm Motokasane: 6 mm Nakago: 11,1 cm Nakago sori: slight (some books have 0,2 cm) Item is featured in Nihontō Taikan, Tantō Book (1969) by Suzuki, Tōken Bijutsu 127 as the feature sword, Tōken Bijutsu 574 as the feature sword. Historically this sword has been in collection of 山内 (Yamauchi/Yamanouchi) family.

The Yamatorige is coming out of storage for 2 very short viewing periods in 2026. Both times it will be on display at the Bizen Osafune Sword Museum. Click here for more information. It went on display on Friday, 20th March and will be on display until the 29th March but will come back again at the end of April. They have set it up with a stand that allows you to view it from both sides - which I think is brillaint! Expect big crowds as they have linked up with Touken Ranbu to promote the event. Images from @yoimachi95, @gasmask0821 & @kentaro9614 on X. If you happen to go... please drop some photos here.

Kanemitsu being one of my favourite smiths, I've been waiting to see pics of this one ever since that auction concluded. Glad to see the wait wasn't too long; hopefully some folks with good nihonto photography skills/gear are in attendance!

Ah, thanks for this, Brett. I missed this, your original post. Was there at Osafune Sword Museum yesterday but busy with other things so did not go inside to see the Sanchomo this time around. Maybe later this week.

Our local NBTHK meeting was held in the meeting hall there yesterday. I arrived to find the newly-expanded parking lots overflowing, and snaking lines of expectant visitors at the entrance. I think Touken Ranbu will do a second exhibition from 4/25 to May 6. Avoiding the crowds I headed to our meeting half an hour early intending to help with the set-up, but imagine my surprise to see that our lot had decided to do instead a related morning event with a quickly-assembled show of koshirae from Mr Koike and Mr Katayama's personal collections, so visitors got to see these too as they wandered around the sword museum's facilities. I was thinking of starting another thread on that and related events, but here I am hijacking your thread, Brett.

I know the idea has been tossed around a few times. Are you thinking of something done professionally, and sold like Sesko books through Lulu.com? If a free digital, you could simply do what I have done and take the .pdf's to a print shop. I combined the Mantetsu, Souvenir, and Stamps articles and paid a print shop to print them out as a single book.

Let’s cool it guys. This isn’t on topic or going anywhere good. For what it’s worth, people with gold memberships can see who’s upvoting and downvoting who

This was a shocker. Paul Kremers says these tsuba are fake and I would assume he should know.

I thought it may be worthwhile put up the offical list of currently missing Jūyō Bunkazai swords being searched for by the Japanese Government (in English) so that the non-Japanese sword community can easily reference and keep track of this list for the future. The Agency for Cultural Affairs has included some information on each of the missing swords on their website (you can see this by click on the missing sword's name). Most even include photos of the sword but unfortunately the images are tiny and they do not expand when you click on them... Still it means that the Agency appears to have the images so if we see anything that looks similar we can always write to them to seek clarification. It is worth noting that unless the sword has been brought to the attention of the Agency for Cultural Affairs the sword will not appear on this list, I mention this specifically referencing the missing 55 former National Treasure (国宝, Kokuhō) and Jūyō Bijutsuhin (重要美術品) blades that went missing post-WWII during the Allied Force occupation of Japan. You will see the Honjo Masamune and the Norshige owned by Ian Brooks appear on the list, this is because the Agency has opened a case for both missing swords and therefore they are tracking them. In the case of Ian Brooks' Norishige, whilst we as a community may be pretty convinced that the blade has been found, until the Agency can examine it themselves in Japan and confirm it to be the same blade, it remains in their opinion missing. It is also worth noting that Japan has a statute of limitation when it comes to missing/stolen property, that is, within Japan it is 2 years and internationally it is 10 years. As such, even if the blade is found, if it is outside the statutes of limitation then officially the sword belongs to whom ever possesses the sword. These "new" owners can therefore choose to give the sword back or they can approach the original owner or the Japanese Government to find out if they wish to purchase the sword back. I know it seems a little out there in terms of traditional western legal logic but that is the lay of the legal landscape in Japan. It is worth noting that of the 146 currently missing Cultural Properties 74 or more than 50% of these are swords and that does not include the majority of the 55 post-WWII blades. THE CURRENT OFFICIAL LIST OF 74 MISSING JŪYŌ BUNKAZAI SWORDS 1 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tanto Kunimtisu Found 2 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tanto Kunimitsu 3 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tachi Bishu Osafune Hidemitsu / October, Oan 22 4 Jūyō Bunkazai 1938 Katana Mumei den Norishige 5 Jūyō Bunkazai 1942 Katana Kuniyasu Found 6 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Tamekiyo 7 Jūyō Bunkazai 1931 Tachi Moritsugu 8 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Rai Kunimitsu Found 9 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Aki Iri Nishi / October, Einin 5 10 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Ichi 11 Jūyō Bunkazai 1940 Tachi Unji 12 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Katana Mumei Attributed to Mitsutada / Korean Crane and Gold Inlay with Signature 13 Jūyō Bunkazai 1940 Tachi Nagamitsu 14 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tanto Moritsugu, resident of Bitchu / August, Enbun 2 Found 15 Jūyō Bunkazai 1933 Tachi Nagamitsu 16 Jūyō Bunkazai 1934 Tachi Hisakuni 17 Jūyō Bunkazai 1916 Tachi Nobufusa 18 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Nagamitsu, resident of Osafune, Bizen / Auspicious day in February, Shoan 2 19 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Katana Mumei den Hasebe Kunishige 20 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Tachi Unji, resident of Bizen 21 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Ietada 22 Jūyō Bunkazai 1936 Tachi Mitsutada 23 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Katana Mumei den Kunitoshi 24 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tachi Sukehige - Theft reported (1972) 25 Jūyō Bunkazai 1933 Tachi Yoshiie 26 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Kunimune, resident of Bishu Osafune 27 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Yoshiie 28 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Katana Mumei den Masamune - Theft reported (1982) 29 Jūyō Bunkazai 1939 Katana Mumei den Masamune (Meibutsu Honjo Masamune) 30 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Katana Kinzogan-mei Sukemitsu polished by Mitsunori 31 Jūyō Bunkazai 1937 Tachi Kuniyuki 32 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Tachi Bitchu-no-kuni-ju Tsuguyoshi / October Teiwa 2 33 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Tanto Rai Kunimitsu / Gentoku 2 34 Jūyō Bunkazai 1949 Tachi Sadayoshi 35 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Tanto Kashu-ju Masakage / Joji 6 36 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Mumei Mitsutada 37 Jūyō Bunkazai 1974 Tachi Mumei den Mitsutada Found 38 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tanto Yasuyoshi 39 Jūyō Bunkazai 1939 Tachi Kunisuke 40 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Bitchu and below Found 41 Jūyō Bunkazai 1911 Tachi Mumei - Theft reported (1960) 42 Jūyō Bunkazai 1911 Tachi Tadayoshi - Theft reported (1960) 43 Jūyō Bunkazai 1922 Tachi Tōchin 44 Jūyō Bunkazai 1940 Tanto Noshige 45 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Wakizashi Hiromitsu, resident of Sagami / August, Enbun 5 46 Jūyō Bunkazai 1911 Tanto Front: Mishima Daimyojin Back: Fujiwara Tomoyuki, Teiji 3 - Theft reported (1948) 47 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Junkei 48 Jūyō Bunkazai 1958 Tachi Mitsutada 49 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Tachi Sukezane 50 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Mitsutada 51 Jūyō Bunkazai 1954 Katana Kinzogan-mei Motoshige / Hon’Ami Found 52 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tachi Kaneuji 53 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tanto Kagemitsu 54 Jūyō Bunkazai 1958 Tanto Kunimtisu / March Gen’o 2 55 Jūyō Bunkazai 1970 Sanko-Duka-Ken Made by Shigeyoshi Nyudo / January 7th Genko 2 by Ajari Yorinobu 56 Jūyō Bunkazai 1961 Katana Mumei Ichimonji 57 Jūyō Bunkazai 1926 Tachi Yasuyoshi 58 Jūyō Bunkazai 1927 Tachi Made by Moriyoshi / Shirasaki Hachiman Shrine, Boshu Found 59 Jūyō Bunkazai 1936 Tachi Mumei den Sukezane 60 Jūyō Bunkazai 1927 Tachi & Mounted with gold and mother-of-pearl inlaid scabbard, Nodachi style Gyōshin 61 Jūyō Bunkazai 1928 Katana February 1616, Yoshihito, Shinano no Kami Kunihiro/ Commissioned by Igamo Lord Yasutsuna 62 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Katana Kuninaga Found 63 Jūyō Bunkazai 1954 Katana Mumei Sadamune (Meibutsu Ikeda Sadamune) 64 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tanto Kagemitsu, Bizen no Kuni Osafune ju / February, Genko 4 65 Jūyō Bunkazai 1925 Tachi Rai Kunimtisu 66 Jūyō Bunkazai 1925 Tachi Kunihiro, Kamakura Resident / February, Bunpo 2 67 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Wakizashi Namihei Ieyasu Found 68 Jūyō Bunkazai 1917 Uwazu Tachi Mumei 69 Jūyō Bunkazai 1931 Renzudachi Rai Kunitoshi / March 1st, Einin 5 70 Jūyō Bunkazai 1906 Peony Wakizashi Mumei 71 Jūyō Bunkazai 1909 Tachi Nagamitsu 72 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Katana Mumei Gō Yoshihiro (Meibutsu Buzen-Gō) 73 Jūyō Bunkazai 1919 Katana Shuuma no Kubi Ichihei Yasuyori Kōhaku 74 Jūyō Bunkazai 1918 Katana Mumei Norishige Found – Owned by Ian Brooks If you have any images or stories associated with any of the blades in this list, please preface the comment below with the # and name of the blade as it appears in this list, it would be good to have a little repository of images and information specific to these blades to help with tracking them down. Hopefully this little list will help with the quest to find these blades.

1,500,000 yen? *cough* *cough again* Be careful. Goodwill has been the recipient of at least 2 duds I bought over the years, but almost $10,000 is a big hit to take. As much as I am disillusioned with the current NBTHK, I'd want to see papers on something like this. I don't see any mention of papers. Instead, the dealer has written " As this piece is presented in its original, "fresh-from-the-workshop" state, it does not yet have a fitted paulownia wood box (one will be commissioned and prepared for the buyer). " Yes, very fresh from the workshop appearance. Kids..... Be very careful.

I haven't really studied this. Quite the old thread. An international member in one of the other groups I co-moderate sent me an image of a well known Sekibun dragon tsuba. He also sent me images of some iron ones that were visually very convincing as a .jpg I was aware that the Swimming Carp Sekibun design was also a target of casting, copying, or or other technique. Within a month or so of his convincing evidence to me, this popped up on a dealer site: https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/VT-038.html

This is the nihonto, with the "I'll fitting" habaki. (most of it, getting to grips with photos, tech not a strong point)! It's Tokubetsu Hozon (didn't have enough KB to post origami) Again opinions welcome.

That's a really great find and writeup, thank you for sharing. It isn't unknown for a general officer to still retain his field grade sword, Lt. Gen Baba's sword in the Australian War Memorial is a field grade cavalry Kyu Gunto with Shin Gunto general officers knot. From memory the black knot was authorised for use by all ranks in the field, the sword may have also been used by one of his sons? Did you have any details on how the sword came to the USA?

There appears to be several colour variations with the rooster design, I don't see inlays but rather overlay. The base metal underneath is very difficult to pin down - not iron, not shakudo?

No need to put it through shinsa now, I guess. John C.

When I saw the one that Glen posted from Bonham's, I became convinced that it is likely a copy. I contacted Buyee to cancel the sale, but no such luck. I will save it as a study piece, but be careful not to buy it when my post mortem auction happens!

Yes......and yet somehow im not lashing out complaining about them and demanding their removal, followed by a insincere apology blaming my ethnicity for my temper tantrum.