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Two almost identical other than the nakago-ana: One in the Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/35193 what I find odd is the shape of the Met's example nakago-ana, too sharp for its age and little to no wear? https://eirakudo.shop/tosogu/tsuba/detail/324249/ a papered piece as Katchūshi I also see these on some auction sites - makes me think many are Edo revival pieces.

I received my tsuba a few minutes ago as stated: Scheduled delivery date - Wednesday, 13/05/2026. Updated yesterday to 14/05/26 Very well packed with the papers and box The tsuba was wrapped in tissue inside the box with a pillow (normally a no no) but in this case there was no damage 8 pages (what a pain for the auction house) with an interesting comment: This artworks are exempt from Reciprocal Tariffs' under chapter 99 Secondary Classification 9903.01.32, as informational materials. These goods are ART antiques and more than 100 years old. HS code: 9705100090 I was surprised that I didn't have to pay import duty A very nice Kanayama tsuba, good condition with a lovely patina, with papers, just so pleased I wish the best to other buyers from this auction and I hope you are as happy as me with your purchase

This doesn't look right. It is either low end WWII war time or a fake. Grey

Hi Freed025, It appears to read "SEKI-SHU SADA-YUKI" Tom M.

Second version "colonello" :D Production started 2009 Paul Chen Yasukuni Captains Gunto swords PC2444 Main thread below.

Steve: The following passage is from an AI search: The Four Gentlemen (四君子; Sì Jūnzǐ) are plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, representing the four seasons and core Confucian virtues. Deeply rooted in Chinese culture, they symbolize the ideal Confucian scholar (junzi) by embodying resilience, humility, integrity, and grace, often depicted in traditional, meditative ink wash paintings. [1, 2] Key Elements of the Four Gentlemen Plum Blossom (Winter): Symbolizes perseverance and inner beauty, blooming in the cold when other flowers do not. Orchid (Spring): Represents humility and high moral character, often found in remote, quiet places. Bamboo (Summer): Signifies strength, flexibility, and integrity, standing tall yet bending without breaking. Chrysanthemum (Autumn): Represents fortitude and dignity, thriving in the autumn when other plants fade. [1, 2, 3] Confucian Significance The Junzi Ideal: The term jūnzǐ literally means "gentleman" or "noble person." These four plants embody the virtues a Confucian scholar aims to cultivate, including standing firm in adversity (plum) and remaining modest (orchid). Moral Symbolism: They have been used for centuries to represent the four seasons, symbolizing the natural order and harmony, which are key principles in Confucian philosophy. Artistic Practice: Painting the Four Gentlemen is considered a meditative practice to cultivate these virtues, emphasizing a calm, focused, and upright moral nature, notes 0.5.14 in a 0.5.14Korean context. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Symbolic Meanings in Art The Four Gentlemen have been popular subjects in "Bird-and-Flower" painting for over a thousand years, highlighting the harmony between humanity and nature. These plants represent: [1, 2, 3] Perseverance: Standing against the elements. Purity: Remaining untainted by worldly corruption. Humility: Growing without arrogance. Uprightness: Maintaining moral character. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] In my case, rather than a painting, the artist quoted Li Bai's poem about the orchid carved into a tabako bon. Then he signed it noting "the gentlemen of a cold winter" or words to that effect. This suggests to me he was creating a Confucian theme. The kiseruzutsu, however, has a daruma carved into it - so more Zen Buddhist. John C.

The days when you could buy something cheaply at a flea market that turned out to be a treasure are, unfortunately, over. Even in Japan.

Type (Tachi, Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Naginata, Other) : Tanto Ubu, Suriage or O-Suriage : Ubu Mei : (Mumei, Signature) : Hisakatsu Saku Kore (久勝作之) Showa Ju Ichi Hinoe Nezumi Doshi Roku Gatsu Hi (昭和十一丙子歳六八月日); Year of the Rat June 1936 Hoju" 宝珠 (wish-fulfilling jewel). A pearl with flames that is supposed to grant the owner his wishes. Papered or not and by whom? : not papered, not necessary Era/Age : Showa 11 -> 1936 Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Shirasaya Nagasa/Blade Length : 16,2 cm Sori : 0 mm Hamon Type : Suguha Jihada : Ko-Itame Other Hataraki Visible : - Flaws : Little rust spot on Mune Sword Location : Germany Will ship to : EU (Unfortunately no longer in the U.S.) Payment Methods Accepted : Paypal Price and Currency : €1200 + shpping Other Info and Full Description : Takeshima Hisakatsu was born as Takeshima Masao on February 28, 1909. From 1926, he studied the art of sword forging under Horii Toshihide and in 1934 founded his own forging center in Yamaguchi Prefecture. His artistic name was Suiryusai. He was the winner of the Shinsaku Nihonto Daikyoshinkai Yushusho and the 1st Nihonto Denrankai Tokusen, as well as the Honorary President Award in 1935. The following year, in 1936, he won the Minister’s Prize at the 2nd competition. In 1938, he joined the South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. (SMR), headquartered in Dalian, China, and together with Wakabayashi Shigetsugu oversaw the production of Koa Isshin blades. In 1958 he resumed the art of sword forging in his hometown. ¥ 1,5 TK-513, Jo Saku by Akihide This is a beautiful Talisman Tanto. It has been polished (the Ubu-ha is gone), but there is a small rust spot on the mune. Since the original wooden box was destroyed, I commissioned a calligrapher in Japan to create a sayagaki. Sayagaki: 御守護刀 Go Shugo Tō - Protective blade; 於石城山道場造之 Oite Iwaki Yama/Zan Dōjō Tsukuru kore - Made at the Iwaki Mountain Dōjō Hisakatsu has made a few of these tanto; I have 7 in my database. In the NMB you'll find more information about other Talisman Tanto made by Hisakatsu. https://www.Japanese-sword-katana.jp/未分類/1410-3043.htm

Here are two specimen of yasurime enlarged which made me think they must have been etched and heated: However, Fords video made me think - although he used the scraping tool on a copper plate.

Luminol is used to local/reveal potential blood stains, typically post clean up. OBTI is used to confirm presence of human blood. Both are field tests.

望後　bōgo = 2nd half of the month.

I don't think this can disproof the genuinity of the sayagaki.

Hi! This reads 但(closer to although/albeit than but/however)大磨上無銘(Osuriage Mumei)也(kind of like "this is"). 刃長(hacho)貳(formal "two")尺(shaku)参(formal "three")寸(sun)八(eight)分(bun)半(half, or in this context "and half")有之(formal "this has"). (Characters are overlapping a little so I made this↑) 昭和(Showa)癸丑("Mizunotoushi" in the sexagenary cycle, 1973 in this context)年(year)弥生(Yayoi/March). This was really hard! I'm not sure if this is genuine Kanzan Sensei's sayagaki, but whoever wrote this I guess made a tiny mistake when writing top half of 癸, and they just went with it. The bottom half of 癸 (天) and 丑年 below it are very recognizable, so it's X丑 in the sexagenary cycle, 癸丑 being the most likely option. The rest of the translation is very good. Hope this helps! Baby Joe

I considered posting this on the Fittings Thread, but think it deserves it's own conversation, as I believe we will see several examples pop up, and the fittings thread is really about unusual examples of fittings. What got me interested is a Type 98 says with leather cover posted by steve88 over on this GMIC conversation. His snaps say "H.K.408 ... W.K.Bee" which is the "Wilkinson, Kaye & Beebee Ltd., a company based in Walsall, England. They were officially established around 1906 and were a major contractor for British military equipment during both World War I and World War II." - No One, GMIC. There was a little concern in the discussion that a Type 98 would have fittings made by a Brittish company, but I don't have any reservations about it being WWII period legit. I'd like to see other examples of English lettering on snaps, and hopefully come up with the shops that made them...... I know, mostly chasing ghosts ... but really - what else do we have to do!!!

One going to auction now! https://www.jauce.com/auction/b1193004897 it looks a little older but probably still Edo? You know what I say "never just one!"

You're too honest, Colin. A cheater can lie, and after looking it up, say he or she already knew the answer! As it is, you have gained two points already. The minogame is a symbol of old age, having been in the water so long that waterweed grows off the back of its shell. I once actually saw one in a nearby river, but did not have the camera with me. Countless times I went back to that bridge, but never saw it again.

Arghhh, I can’t play ……don’t know what a Genbu is (without cheating) Guess….something to do with one having a very hairy tail (minogame) that the other does not?

Found it... 1- straight line guide on a practice plate 2- Wavy line guide on a tsuba in progress

As far as Yasuri lines go, I see the thick kiku-petal outline type and the irregular thickness + placement ones as being done with deliberate chisel strokes, while the very fine, regularly spaced ones would have been scraped by pulling out from center to rim using a "guide rail" that pivoted in the center of the tsuba where the nakago-ana would be. Like @ROKUJURO said, Ford demonstrated this guided scraping technique in one of his video tutorials. I suspect there is no one on the planet who could free hand engrave each of those fine lines and be that consistent in their linearity and spacing. Personally, I wouldn't even bother trying to free hand it because I know I couldn't do it.

umm sorry, but likely none of the above. That's way too clean and crisp everywhere for it to be that old. Even the inside of the sukashi is way too smooth. "ko-katchushi style" for sure but most likely made relatively recently.

Yes! Sorry, I should have included that, 但 = tadashi, 也 = nari, 半 = han.

Thanks John and Steve. Interestingly, Xi Jinping has cast himself in the mold of the Chinese philosopher-king, guided by Confucian dictates.

This is now up on NihontoAntiques where you can view more images: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/bishu-osafune-sukesada-fss-988/

There s several good recent listings im looking into . Wish i could have them all 😅 There s am Aoi Norimitsu and a Kiyomitsu attributed to Magoemon that just came up on samurai nippon that I sent a message about. Hope they get back to me today. I never liked how little photos samurai nippon posts on their listing

Hi All, Here is my very faded company grade tassel. Regards

Congratulations…..a beautiful collection. Eagles, hawks, tigers, dragons……evocative powerful images.

Was just about to post that ^

Mario, you are almost convincing me to take the trip from Jhb to Cape Town. Hmmm. The boss has been wanting me to go to Durbanville to check out our new shop..maybe this is a good time for a few days down there. Congrats, looks awesome. Really nice to see this sort of stuff in SA. Best of luck!

I would like to make a partial correction. I previously translated 「聡隊」 as “総隊,” but in the military organizational terminology of that period, they may have referred to different units.These were probably pronounced the same (sōtai). “Sōtai” (聡隊) is said to have been a colloquial designation or unit title referring to an internal formation within an infantry regiment, particularly a battalion-level unit. Rather than forcing an uncertain translation, I would prefer to leave the term untranslated and defer to those with greater expertise in historical military terminology.

A little snapshot of my "Fake Archive" around this serial number range. Disclaimer: I record these with much less diligence than genuine examples. I primarily just like to get the serial number and what makes it fake. This faker seems to really like the serial numbers 7, 2, 1, and 0. -Sam (Columns in order left to right: Serial# - Tsuka and pattern - tsuba material - ferrule material - ferrule stamps - Scabbard # and notes - source - Notes.)

Hi Jackson, it is a very good idea to gather some authentic information BEFORE starting to write! Generally, that could be quite an adventure as the different parts of the KOSHIRAE were made by different craftsmen. In olden times, the SAYASHI would take care of the woodwork only and leave the lacquer work to another expert. Often the metalwork was divides among artisans, so the TSUBASHI would just do the TSUBA and leave other TOSOGU to other metalworkers. The raw TSUKA was sent to a TSUKAMAKISHI for finishing with SAMEGAWA and TSUKA ITO. In case you wanted to expand on this subject, you could even go as far as to the making of a SAGEO on demand and a new HABAKI!

We are all lucky that such a complete linked set of old documents has survived together with all the exquisite items created to make the wakizashi and koshirae and has been carefully translated in English for us to enjoy.

Truly living up to the lofty title of "Tokubetsu Juyo" (Especially Important) in every sense of the words.

Hello again, Yes..., last weekend I bought a third tsuba... 🤷🏻‍♂️ And, as always, all comments are more than welcome 👍🏻 Some info: 70 gram 5,5 x 4,5 x 0,5 cm Shakudo (?)

Good afternoon all: I recently acauired this old Wakizashi with a Koi-toshi Hi. The pictures attached are as I recieved the bladeout of the Veteran Estate so not a prefect condition specimen. In any event, I would like to get some opinions as to how old the blade may be in age and possibly which school, den, or maker? It is two hole tang, possibly surigae, and quite old from what my amatuer eyes see. The Nagasa at present measures about 21 1/2 inches. The nakago file marks are quite faint. The Gunto Handle has a faded Lt Grade Tassel and also a Mon from Maeda Toshiiye Family. Any thought or opions would be deeply appreciated. Edward G

I’m amazed that photographs from the Taishō era could survive in such beautiful condition. Thank you very much for sharing them here!

Hi! This is really hard, but I'm on it. This could take a little while though for I'm helping many others doing something else at the same time orz This reads "緑雖千種草 香只一枝蘭 乙巳仲夏" from top to bottom, right to left, ChatGPT's translation seems fine. (though used the wrong quantifier 株 instead of 枝 somehow) 乙巳(1665)仲夏(mid-summer) is just a date in the Chinese sexagenary cycle, incidentally last year 2025 is also the year of 乙巳, the next year of 乙巳 is going to be 2085. This is signed 黄檗木庵山僧戯筆. I might try to understand what the red seals/stamps said under, maybe later orz 黄檗(Ōbaku or Huangbo) is Mu'an's school of Zen(Ch'an), 木庵 is Mu'an, 山僧 means a monk living in the woods, a humble way to refer oneself usually by Zen monks, 戯筆 means "wrote/drawn playfully", one of many ways to sign one's work, and Mu'an used many other, like 題 ("inscripted"), 手題 ("hand inscripted", not that others are not by hand though), 自題 ("self inscripted"), 敬題 ("inscripted respectfully"), 並題("inscripted also", ususally in drawings), 戯墨並題 ("played with ink and also inscripted"), 書 ("wrote"), 敬書 ("wrote respectfully"), 謹書 (literally "wrote carefully", but really it's "wrote respectfully", too) and many, many other...... Not sure what this two words are orz The Chinese poem "緑雖千種草 香只一枝蘭" is perhaps Mu'an's creation because this has 0 hits on the Chinese internet, but Ogata Kenzan, a later-day artist and brother of Ogata Kōrin of Rinpa used it in one of his works. See the Chinese poem "緑雖千種草 香只一枝蘭" written in the red rectangle area on Ogata Kenzan's work. Hope this helps! Baby Joe

Taking / displaying heads is well documented.

And the other side:

Dear Hokke, The topic is a bit more nuanced that throwing a "yes +xx% price per marks" but much of this is due to the framing. There something better out there that captures the essence of your question in a period-accurate way and reframes it: A recorded kiritsuke mei inscribed on the nakago that allude to battle circumstances and defeating certain prized foes and nemesis. Once such blade, a Tokuju Osafune Motoshige, had the name of the son of a Daimyo it slayed inscribed on the tang along with who performed the deed during the Sengoku Jidai. The blade was retired subsequently and kept as a family treasure celebrating the deed. The inscription is ancient, and the act recorded in the archives of the family. Does this increase its value? Of course, in front of the right buyer. I would go as far as personally to consider chasing only this specific Motoshige if I wanted to make an exception for a mumei motoshige blade (there are enough signed ones - 56 to be precise - to target signed). In the NBHTK setsumei: In addition, this piece preserves a carved inscription (kiritsuke-mei) stating that on the 13th day of the 6th month of Eishō 18 (1521), Hayashi Motokatsu killed Kageharu, the youngest son of Asakura Sadakage of Echizen. However: Would I be interested in generic but verifiable "kill notches" without further context, per se? Not at all, to the contrary. There is little historical and provenance value in my eyes. For the same reason, Edo period cutting tests are also not my cup of tea. Why? Some introspection: perhaps because war is necessary, high-stakes, and epic in the human story arch, but death itself is a tragic byproduct. Remove the battle, the stakes, the heroes and the villains - and leave only death as a memory - well - it does not appeals to my personal sense of life aesthetics. The Motoshige with kiritsuke mei recounts the story of defeating a family nemesis. This fits in the arc of the human epic and adds an enchanting element. More generally, is provenance valuable? It can be everything - take the following provenance extreme case: A gimei Kotetsu blade belonging to one of the famous Shinsengumi with kirikomi with ironclad provenance documentation. This blade is likely to be extremely valuable and command in the mid-to-high six figure results at auction. The price is solely driven by the provenance in this case. Famous historical figures and Daimyo collections, romantic Bakumatsu ronin stories, all of these hold a special place of interest to many collectors and have market effects, and no wonders - these are genuine moments of history that create enchantment in the experience of collecting and studying history. Long live epic stories, Hoshi

According to Ford Hallam, the finer AMIDA YASURI was not chiseled, but scraped with a sharp tool. Another YAMAKICHI BEI: A following YAKITE KUSARASHI treatment is very likely.

Here is Shodai Hoan tsuba with a yakite-kusarashi (or kusarakashi -- the term is often shortened in usage) finish. The recognizable motif of a kiri-mon may be seen in the lower-left quadrant, and others appear elsewhere on the plate. I believe the effects are achieved via the process I described in my earlier post. Florian, as far as I know, the creation of amida-yasurime was often accomplished by painstakingly careful application of the chisel onto the plate, at least in the tsuba I'm familiar seeing this presentation in (e.g. some of the Owari province artists and groups, such as Yamakichibei, Toda, Fukui). Attached is a Nidai Yamakichibei tsuba where the amida-yasurime was first chiseled into the plate, and then (perhaps?) there was some application of acid afterwards to soften the effect. This is how it appears to me, anyway.

On a whim this evening I decided to lay out three of my Type 97's to compare their sayas - photos attached. In the first photo, from Left to Right: Toyokawa arsenal with black lacquer saya, Toyokawa arsenal with lacquered shagreen (shark skin) saya, Tenshozan Forge with lacquered ray skin saya. In the second photo, close-ups of the sayas' surfaces from Top to Bottom: Tenshozan Forge with ray skin saya, Toyokawa Arsenal with shagreen saya, Toyokawa Arsenal with black lacquered saya. I find the various Kai Gunto saya types interesting.

Mechanical removal is possible, but it will probably not create a "natural" looking surface. Scraping and grinding would work best on a completely level surface. 'Burnishing' (= MIGAKI JI) is a technique which does not remove material. It only creates a glossy surface. URUSHI will stick firmly to a clean metallic object and is quite difficult to get rid of with mechanical methods as it creeps into the smallest gaps and fissures. Please find below a test-piece with (artificial) corrosion on one side and URUSHI on the other. Without heat, it is not possible to remove the lacquer completely as it remains in the fine structures of the surface. However, I scraped and ground most of it away, leaving an almost glossy surface.

Nice looking sword, my immediate thought was also Sue Bizen from the Sugata and Nakago-jiri. It seems these short Gunto were not always for pilots, tank crews, submarines, hot air balloonists etc etc, and were simply made to the whims of the officer. In the thread below you can see many period photos showing full size swords being used by pilots and tank crews.

Just wanted to share this for anyone looking at Moses for polish - I recently received back a Taikei Naotane that was originally polished by a very elderly togisihi in Japan that had many problems. Finger stone marks left, hazy ji, a very scratchy surface etc. Now it looks incredible to say the least. The pictures do not do it justice, but I would highly recommend Moses. These pictures are very much a blue tone as his camera white balance must have been on the cooler side, but to the naked eye in real life, the hamon has a beautiful shade of light blue to it.

Certainly, not an expert but I do have a type 94 gunto for comparison. This one though is different from most of my Guntos, it appears to be a smaller scale version of a Shin-Gunto sword. The top sword is a Type 94 in picture 1 & 2. I have enclosed more of the handle. Hope this adds to the information Edward G

Returning to Shōei… Unlike his father, 元信Motonobu, Shōei is said to have been gentle and kind, and it’s often noted that this quality is reflected in his paintings. His son was the famous Kanō Eitoku狩野永徳, and I believe that Eitoku’s success was also supported by Shōei. I almost never get a chance to talk about Shōei, so I was really happy to be able to write about him here this time. Thank you very much. The inscription appears as follows: Credit:日本書画落款印譜 Maar-sha Publishing Co., Ltd.

Hello, such beautiful paintings! If they’re by 直信 (狩野松栄Shōei), that makes them even more special. I like Shōei, so this part especially stood out to me →「two paintings from a now lost Kano hawk byobu screen that were remounted as scrolls in 1914. 」 I wonder if these might have been dispersed during Haibutsu Kishaku廃仏毀釈 (the anti-Buddhist movement) in the early Meiji period? I looked into where the “花鳥図Flower-and-Bird” paintings by Shōei that are still known today are currently housed. As a result, I found information suggesting that the “四季花鳥図Four Seasons Flower-and-Bird Paintings” once at 大徳寺瑞峯院Zuihō-in of Daitoku-ji may no longer be extant. The “梅花雄鶏図Plum Blossoms and Rooster” painting that was at 真珠庵Shinju-an, also within Daitoku-ji, is likewise no longer there; however, there seems to be a view that a pair of six-panel folding screens now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston may in fact be that work. ----- Incidentally, Zuihō-in of Daitoku-ji was founded in 1535 (天文Tenbun 4) by 大友宗麟 Ōtomo Sōrin as the family temple of the Ōtomo clan. Sōrin himself later converted to Christianity, and it is said that a painting depicting his meeting with missionaries is held in Germany (in the Schönborn Collection at Weissenstein Castle). However, Anthony van Dyck, the court painter to the English royal family who created this work, never traveled to Japan, so Sōrin’s likeness was imagined. It’s a bit disappointing—had van Dyck visited Japan, we might have been left with a truly lifelike oil portrait of him. Ōita City.Ōtomo Sōrin.pdf

I would have liked to buy the Onin tsuba but too much for me I won this one. Nice to recent papers #218