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The backgrounds are all very similar, in horizon and vegetation, almost standardized. A missing scroll makes sense. Is the figure on the left carrying a peach, for Momo Sennin? For the missing panel, another Sennin is likely.

Huge thanks for the Sacramento Japanese Sword Club in doing this, and for you Brett to posting it up here. I remember I used to have the Yamanaka books years ago as the red cover variants. I try to avoid the Sōshū timeline as I cannot really figure it out and to me it is not that important. There is just so much contrasting information it is difficult to know what to believe. For example if Kunimitsu died at that time there are still 1315, 1316, 1319, 1320, 1322 and 1324 dated blades. For me it is also very difficult to grasp that Shintōgo Kunimitsu pretty much always signed and sometimes dated blades, yet for Yukimitsu and Masamune it is quite rare and for Sadamune I am not sure if experts accept the extremely few signed and dated swords by him as legitimate. Then Hiromitsu and Akihiro and onwards the blades are pretty much always signed again. The sword in question might be Kotegiri Gō? It is in collection of Kurokawa Research Institute Some info on it can be found here> https://www.tsuruginoya.net/stories/kotegirigou/ Sometimes it is important how things are written out as meaning can be understood in various ways. To my understanding there is a one single Ōhara Sanemori blade that has the character 勝 on it, likewise there is one single signed item by Norishige that has the character. To me drawing connection to these to smiths and two items 150+ years apart would feel like extremely optimistic. Now if the character would appear on the majority of Ōhara Sanemori blades I might feel differently but as it is on a single blade by both smiths I would think it has a different meaning and does not connect the smiths. I do think it is good and interesting that theories are researched and suggested but sometimes it can be difficult to find reference examples to support the theories as this is especially problematic with Sōshū due to lack of signed works by some smiths.

Perhaps 大和守外永作

Wanted to share an Aikuchi koshirae, entrusted to me by a very good friend. I've held it in my collection a number of months now, so thought it was about time I put together a short post on the piece. The koshirae once housed a Sunobi-Tanto. It must have been a blade of spectacular quality, to be paired with such a koshirae. Visually, the fittings themselves these are quite interesting. Each piece of the set is colourfuly adorned with crabs and water plants, set against a soft background of Nanakoji. Upon closer inspection, I suspect these "waterplants" to be wild ginger, or hollyhock; as stylistically they are similar to the 'cloves' seen on certain Kamon. I thought that this may have been an intentional choice; perhaps to celebrate family ties/allegences of the original owner who commissioned the piece. I feel that these being in *gold* of all things is no coincidence. Now onto the saya... I'm especially fond of this style of urushi; I particularly enjoy the inclusions of aogai and flaxseed/rice husks within the lacquer- it gives the piece a very "three-dimensional" feel. It must take a great degree of skill to achieve such a finish. I do not believe the kozuka itself is original to the set, yet it's subject loosely follows the "aquatic theme" The kozuka shows good workmanship. We see "Omori-esque" beads of silver set into the base, which is a nice touch. The tsuka itself is neatly bound in Jabari maki, black silk over white samegawa. Several sizable 'emperor-nodes' are visible. The selection of samegawa is a telling sign of the overall quality. Again, we see the nautical/riverside theme continuing into the Menuki, with a singular crab peeking through the wrap.

Hi Howard Maybe the middle panel depicts a sennin/arhat/(whatever we call them) reading an unrolled scroll. The missing door would have depicted a similar subject, not necessarily any particular story or theme…..but others with greater religious imagery knowledge may disagree.

Meh. I stand by my statement. A few examples out of tens of thousands doesn’t hold water

I disagree with that. While there have been several big mumei ones like the Miyamoto Musashi tsuba and the Hayashi Matashichi, there was also a huge signed one that someone managed to buy before auction ended. I think there is a fair chance that one will make Juyo next year. Unfortunately, not mine, so it has to stay at that for now. I've papered a few signed ones like Jochiku Murakami. Like Norisuke, Ikkin works seem to be at whatever level someone was paying.

@Lawrence_Lee requested the latest version of the Mantetsu Survey chart. All are welcome to it. Over 445 blades now! See attached. kiipu-mantetsu serial numbers (rev1).docx

Yup, this is the pain of our current hobby. Very few photos are of the quality we require to truly study this art form from a distance. This is why we need to create a Catalogue Raisonne for the great smiths. It will make a world of difference not only for the hobby but for academic study.

I did wonder if it was the Kotegiri-Gō. Here are a few colour pictures of the sword.

Thanks Brian. Yes, I definitely enjoy these pieces! I'm deeply impressed by the workmanship that went into them, particularly the one with the theater mask. That hair! Those cranes! Even the tiny flowers(?) on the edge of the nakago-ana are an 'unnecessary' detail that only emphasize the artistry of the maker. And I've learned a ton just by asking for assistance here. I'm looking forward to continuing learning.

Hi Bruce, I totally understand the confusion! It does look like a wild coincidence, but in the Japanese sword-making tradition, this is actually a very structured practice called Shūmei (襲名, Succession of Names). It wasn’t a coincidence that two guys named Hosokawa used the same name/seal; it’s because they belonged to the same lineage. The WWII smith (7th Gen) was the direct professional descendant of the 1800s smith (1st/2nd Gen). In this culture, inheriting the "Brand Name" (Masayoshi) and the family "Seal" (Kokuin) was a way to show legitimacy and honor the founder. As for your question regarding the specific Kanji in the Kokuin: as a native Chinese speaker, I would describe this as a highly stylised or artistic form of Zhuanshu (Seal Script). It is quite difficult to pinpoint the exact character it originates from just by looking at the strokes, though I suspect it could be "義" (Sometime the '我' part was written in a separate way, as the picture below shows). However, based on my experience with Chinese seal carving, the minor variations in detail you pointed out don't necessarily constitute a different character or identity. In this context, they are effectively the same Kokuin. Given that this functioned much like a Family Crest, it is not surprising at all that Masamori would use it even before officially inheriting the Masayoshi name. Regarding the different form of writing the first Kanja of Hosokawa, the one has a '糸' on its side is a very ancient way of writing it in China. The '小' part was simplified into three dots sometimes, so it was consequently written as '細'. Therefore, they are the same Kanja in fact. However, when Japanese was being standardised during the Meiji Restoration, the '糸' version was designated as the sole official form, which is likely what caused this distinction. Lastly, I've sent some messages to your facebook account about the Mantetsu survey (it was that survey led me to this post in fact), I'd appreciate it if you can have look whenever you are available. https://meitou.info/index.php/細川正義#i8e2d584 https://tokka.biz/sword/masamori.html

I try it, John.

Woke up to a handful of replies here. Interesting insights. I’m not sure I would agree it lacks refinement but I get how the design looks a bit plain. Since I’ve been looking around for an Ikkin I’ve seen some mind blowing pieces and some relatively simple ones. Considering Ikkin’s son used the same kao it certainly makes it challenging to identify shoshin or gimei or just the son. Either way I took some photos of the nakago ana but with the quality limit they might be hard to discern any details.

It's interesting that the tsuba was signed after the sekigane was added. This means the tsuba was originally made with it installed, for later fitting by the owner. We tend to think of tsuba being made to fit after they were purchased but this shows (if shoshin) that they could be made with that already installed for fitting to your blade. hmm

If it has been obscured by scratches or rust, a new polish will most likely be able to restore it. If it is gone due to fire damage, then yes, the blade must be re-hardened (saiha) to restore a nioiguchi. If it is gone due to tiredness then the blade is beyond recovery - too much material has been lost to even attempt re-hardening it. You can see an example of this re-hardening process on the Usagiya website: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/sword6.html

I like them both — each set has its own character. And yes, according to the origami, it’s a joint work made at the same time. Sokujo and Teijo were cousins. Sokujo lived a very short life and passed away at the age of 31. His son Renjo was four at the time, so although he was the intended successor, uncle Teijo stepped in to take over the mainline, raising and training Renjo until he came of age. Renjo, assumed the position at 25, becoming the 11th-generation head.

Hi Mike, Previous set is NBTHK 67th Juyo..this one is Tokubetsu Hozon with Origami by the 12th gen Goto Mitsumasa.

Dear Sebastien. What a nice problem to have. Some questions to ask in your search. Are the HIrata the only people who understood shippo? Clearly not. Does this kozuka fit into the known body of Hirata work? Well most examples of Hirata work do not look like this. In another thread on NMB someone lamented that most of the pieces revealed by a search were attributed by Bonham's, herein lies the problem. Almost everything with shippo is claimed to be Hirata, especially by those selling the piece. Your butterfly appears to have gold cloisonnes and to be finely done. Is this a kozuka by Hirata or one with added decoration by them? A bit of information here, https://www.silk-road.us/hirata.html The tsuba in the link without the shippo would have been suggested to be Ichijo or one of his atelier, was he capable of doing shippo of this standard? Almost certainly so. Was the Hirata school capable of making a plate in this style? Certainly. Whatever you conclude this is a lovely piece to have in your collection. Enjoy as I am sure you will. All the best.