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Ok my friends I feel like a ass. Apparently Kyle68 was only inquiring about koshirae the same seller had for sell. It was koshirae with papers and I google lensed it for translation and his post came up. I must have just glazed through it and didnt realize he was inquiring on purchasing it not just translation. If moderator can some how take delete this post I would appreciate it. I dont wish for Kyle's name to be reflected in my stupidly.

Alas, This video is very difficult to watch. Beyond the factual errors, it is representative of the lack of museum budgets for qualified curators and European decline in museum scholarship on Arms & Armor. This is not to blame the presenter. His effort is earnest, and I am sympathetic to his predicament in the society he is embedded in, it is a survival strategy. He is but a symptom of a deeper societal issue. This is a general trend, museums follow the elite taste and ideology of their donors and subsidizing government bodies. Sadly, the BM has been marred in a battle against the Woke Mind Virus and its denunciation of colonial history that renders everything it owns, hires, and does, suspect. The presenter is a product of this tension. It is an unfortunate situation, but this too will come to pass in the broader arc of history when necessity calls back for common sense. Best, Hoshi

Ok, this is a real fluster**** So Kyle68 is innocent of any wrongdoings, for the record. I'm tempted to delete this whole thread, but first let's try get a name of the actual person who sold this to you. We can take it from there. Also, let's not discount the possibility (although I don't think it's the case here) that a real blade was taken and the whole nakago ground down and altered to fit something.

@Adam001 an honest mistake! No worries man!!

I think there must be a misunderstanding. I’ve never met or spoken to @Adam001 I have never owned nor seen this blade/ and I never sold it and never told anyone to buy it. I have no idea what this is about. I’ve never sold a blade on this forum or have any posted for sale outside this forum . I’m not even sure what this has to do with me or why my name is included in this post@Adam001 @Scogg @Kiipu @Ian B3HR2UH

Apologies for a quick hijack, however this reminds me of something. I had to make a patch for my martial arts school. The outer ring was the belt colors starting with white and ending in black going back into the white to express the never-ending learning process. John C.

The blade was also a part o the Walter Compton collection but yes it seems it passed based on the explanation due to its signature and ubu status rather than sporting a healthy ji and ha. The video could have been great, but I found myself uninterested mid-way through. It seems like they have some real gems in their collection and could put out some wonderful quality videos with a bit more effort.

This is an absolute gold mine Brett! Thank you so much for putting up these links! Just looking through the first issue I found a wonderful analogy worthy of keeping for posterity: "It has been our experience, that the less a collector knows about swords, the more he wants swords with big names. This is quite often the type of collector who refuses to study swords. There is a term in Japan for such people, a tengu. A tengu is an imaginary being with a very long nose like Cyrano de Bergerac, and in Japanese legends a tengu is very strong willed, although being capable of being outwitted or conquered. The term tengu in this case is applied to collectors who know very little but profess to know everything."

I just wanted to add some clarity to the above statement. I found this clarification by Honma Junji regarding Kunimitsu and his tachi to be enlightening to highlight what Shintogo Kunimitsu's "inferior tachi" really means.

The Sacramento Japanese Sword Club has been given permission to re-present and upload Albert Yamanaka's Nihonto Newsletters online, which they are doing one newsletter at a time as Leon Kapp finds the time to work on the next Newsletter. It is an incredible effort and credit needs to be given where credit is due. I have managed to track down links to all the available Newsletters and will post every new one as they appear online. In the mean time I encourage everyone who downloads these newsletters to follow Sacramento Japanese Sword Club on Facebook and drop them a line thanking them for this excellent work on providing access to this invaluable resource. Albert Yamanaka's Nihonto Newsletters Volume 1 Yamanaka V1 NL01 Yamanaka V1 NL02 Yamanaka V1 NL03 Yamanaka V1 NL04 Yamanaka V1 NL05 Yamanaka V1 NL06 Yamanaka V1 NL07 Yamanaka V1 NL08 Yamanaka V1 NL09 Yamanaka V1 NL10 Yamanaka V1 NL11 Yamanaka V1 NL12 Yamanaka V1 NL12 Extras Volume 2 Yamanaka V2 NL01 Yamanaka V2 NL02 Yamanaka V2 NL03 Yamanaka V2 NL04 Yamanaka V2 NL05 Yamanaka V2 NL06 Yamanaka V2 NL07 Yamanaka V2 NL08 Yamanaka V2 NL09 Yamanaka V2 NL10 Yamanaka V2 NL11 Yamanaka V2 NL12 Volume 3 Yamanaka V3 NL01 Yamanaka V3 NL02 Yamanaka V3 NL03 Yamanaka V3 NL04 Yamanaka V3 NL05 Yamanaka V3 NL06 Yamanaka V3 NL07 Yamanaka V3 NL08 Yamanaka V3 NL09 Yamanaka V3 NL10 Yamanaka V3 NL11 & NL12

I have a copy of this book and again I was hoping for something a little more here. The book published in 2005 is unusual in it's layout. The first half of the book 82 pages explains the Japanese sword and it's makeup. The majority of the book is in black and white (photos included) except for 25 pages from from pg 49 to page 64 that are in glorious colour and offer some wonderful colour photos of paintings and some koshirae - no blades unfortunately. I suspect that this was a cost cutting exercise which just made what could of been a rather exciting book rather dull. The actual discussion of the swords in the exhibition starts from page 40 where it gives a brief outline on the 99 blades in the exhibition in chronological order (with no pictures - did I mention dull) and then once that is all done it shows the 99 blades and korshirae from page 82 - again as mentioned before abandoning all colour and showing them in NBTHK TJ certificate style with the tang, tip of the blade and small full frame image of the blade in black and white - even the attachments like koshirae are in black and white. It is very academic in approach following the NBTHK protocol down the line for the photos. What makes this approach frustrating is that this is not an academic paper and therefore for a catalogue it would have been lovely to see some colour photographs. Makes you realise how just in the last 20 years blade photography and book publishing have progressed. Photography still has a long way to go but you now have the likes of eirakuda.shop leading the way with regard to showing off this wonderful art form - if you have not seen their photos do a favour and go have a look. Back to the book, as mentioned above the layout of this catalogue definitely makes for some interesting reading as the reader is required to flip back and forth between the pictures of the blade and the explanation of the blade that are separated by some 40+ pages. Not sure why they did this other than again it was a cost saving exercise as part of some crazy British notion of austerity. Would not have wanted to be a fly on the wall of that meeting - super boring. As a result the book is as dull as a British summer (again I realise the last few years have been rather exceptional so perhaps a bad example here.) All in all I was left rather flat reading this book and I was quite excited when I purchase it. It could have been a real treasure instead because of the austerity measures, the lack of colour and unusual layout I would say unless you have a massive desire to see what the Bristish Museum own or it is part of some sort of academic research, skip this book.

Hello, While perhaps controversial, I have come to the conclusion that "Masamune's ten disciples" is best understood as a memory aid. This practice of memory aid, I believe, was quite common during the Edo period. The most parsimonious explanation is not that smiths traveled, rather, armies traveled across garrisons, and these travels led to the spread of different styles of sword-making. The exception is of course after the fall of Kamakura, where smiths were displaced not by choice, but by survival requirement. I understand that it is not good from a marketing perspective to adopt this view, but it is more congruent with the western school of historical analysis, which tends to be less deferential to historical sources. While Masamune's historical existence is attested beyond doubt, one must remember that he was not the only smith in Sagami working in nie-deki. It is perhaps more parsimonious, all things considered, to speak of Sagami influence on the taste of high-ranking Bushi dispatched across strategic garrison strongholds. This is further supported by the fact that the archetypical Masamune style, with its otherworldy Inazuma, unaffected yubashiri, and distinct angular chickei, is not reproduced anywhere else or during any other time period. Rather, we see a more pronounced emphasis on chickei and nie. The only maker who comes close is Go Yoshihiro in the traditional attribution corpus. Go Yoshihiro, Shizu Kaneuji, and Sadamune are the most likely candidate smiths for a direct student connection. Best, Hoshi

@Bugyotsuji The NBSK are an organization that focuses on promoting modern swordsmithing, and offer certifications for newly-made blades that would otherwise not qualify for NBTHK documentation (both as a way of boosting visibility for the smiths under their umbrella, and helping to combat gimei targeting contemporary smiths). They also run an annual competition similar to the NBTHK's competition, and many smiths choose to enter both of them. https://nbsk-jp.org/english/ Here are the results of last year's competition: https://nbsk-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/15th_kekka_e_02.pdf

The accusation without evidence is very, very clumsy. Fortunately @Kyle68 is being gracious. If someone suspects a member, how they arrived at that suspicion is important. Post the original sale post, DMs etc. If there's no proven link (tying a member to an outside transaction) then a public blasting is not appropriate. For more general advice, get a second opinion _before_ purchase. This forum's own sale section has a level of review. People won't generally comment on people's pricing, but anything (obviously) misdescribed will draw comment - and the history of any sale will clearly link back to the member selling the item.

Yes to both, 1940 March.

Kyle only inquired about something the same seller sold. He sold that koshirae to my friend. I did not notice that till Kyle contacted me. This is Kyle's post and a post from the same seller that sold me the blade. I did not notice that Kyle was only interested in translation. Probably from all my rage unfortunately.

Here is my attempt:

There's a common saying in martial arts about this - you start with a white belt, get a black belt, as you advance further the black belt becomes white again from age and the dye being worn out, and as you reach mastery it becomes black again with all the dirt and wear and tear.

Great Quote, Hector. I am not sure what the Japanese call a the being who knows nothing and therefore keeps learning but finds that after all that learning he knows even less... I definitely fall in that camp.

John, there is an index for the original Newsletters (here) created by the legened that is Mr Hartmann. I have also been working on a more detailed index for the original newsletters (to include the Tokugawa Jikki, Kyoho Meibutsu Cho and the Famous Sword list) but currently the pages for these updated online newsletters are different to the old newsletters and as such the old index does not correspond (although majority of the work has been done) and it will need to be updated to reflect these new page numbers. Once we have all the updated newsletters then I will look to see if we can push out an updated index. Cheers.

The top writing when present was often the mark of the person later decorating a barrel, but when in fine silver etc., inlay, it was sometimes an exhortation. It looks readable but my brain is not yet coming into focus 韮張 plus 花王 doesn’t seem at all right… maybe you could post that in the translation section for fresh eyes! The woodwork of your gun could well be newer, meaning the gun was possibly rebuilt at some time. The absence of a front sight is puzzling, but these pistols were never designed for accuracy, meaning the placement of sights was mostly a token gesture. If the base marks of a front sight have been erased, it is a very good job.

Kashira "Key chains" https://www.jauce.com/auction/e1218491451 I think the owls expression is resigned shock! [Can you imagine the damage caused by a set of keys rubbing against these!] Something like these saucers has been seen before: https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1189151587

Thanks to @MassiveMoonHehfor posting the Yamanaka Newsletters. A quick perusal uncovered a Kokuho tanto signed Kunimitsu. What caught my eye was that this blade is described as having an iori-mune, which is incredibly rare amongst all Shintogo tanto. I have only come across one other Shintogo tanto with iori-mune and that was described as Katakiriha-tsukuri. The takenoko-zori is also intriguing. Anyone have a link to oshigata or more info on this Kokuho sword? Extract from the Newsletter Kunimitsu 国光 (新藤五) Tanto Length: 42.3 cm (this has to be total length) Width: 2.1 cm Shape and Construction: Hiratsukuri, and takenoko sori. The mune is ihorimune. Hamon: The Hamon is hiro suguha with ashi, and there are abundant nie all along the hamon, and especially along the hamon edge. Kinsuji are seen along the hamon too. Boshi: The boshi has a komaru with a kaeri which is a little longer than the usual Kunimitsu, and there are small hakikake at the very tip of the boshi. Jitetsu and Hada: The hada is ko-itame hada and tightly forged. There are abundant ji nie all along the blade, and these form chikei in places. Nakago: The Nakago has been shortened a little and the tip is cut in kiri. The file marks are katte sagari of which very little can be seen due to age. There are two mekugi ana and the one at the top has been partially plugged. There is a two character inscription “Kunimitsu” on the omote side. This Kunimitsu is probably is probably the least conventional Kunimitsu work, and when compared to the other two kokuho Kunimitsu, it is a little Inferior, although the steel of the blade certainly is just as good as the other two. Kunimitsu is more of a master at making tanto than making tachi. There are very few tachi blades by Kunimitsu, although tanto are seen in greater numbers. Also, Kunimitsu is regarded as one of the better sword smiths who made tanto, along with such other masters like Awataguchi Toshiro Yoshimitsu, Soshu Masamune, Sa, and Rai Kunitoshi, and possibly Rai Kunimitsu and Kunitsugu. The fact that the hamon of this Kunimitsu is hiro suguha attests to the fact that this blade has been well preserved.

Well we were warned. https://Japan-forward.com/is-the-british-museum-rewriting-samurai-history/

I only lasted about 4 mins into the video. Embarrassing to think this the best they can do.

I still have my book from back then in connection with the event and lectures related to the exhibition at the BM. I think that was in the fall of 2004. At that time, you could see some of the newly restored blades at this event. I admit that I basically only remember the Shintogo Kunimitsu. When I buy literature today, it is almost always with meaningful oshigata. However, it is an exhibition catalog in which the blades on display are described and the photos are of relatively good quality. One must not forget how much effort, work, and expense is involved in producing a catalog. In this respect, the catalog is a nice reminder of a special exhibition over 20 years ago, at which (I believe) never again since then have so many blades been presented to the public in a museum outside Japan.

It's not Chinese. The document looks really weird. With a few exceptions (like the title 鑑定書), the "characters" are either completely unreadable or sort of resemble real Hanzi/Kanji, but not getting them quite right. I suspect it's AI-generated slop.

Hi all, Since I had some time for photos today, I thought I’d share this one as well. A mitokoromono by Sokujo, the 8th-generation mainline Goto. According to the origami, the nanako ground was made by Teijo, the 9th generation. Enjoy!

Thank you for the clear and detailed review as to why I should now take this out of my Amazon basket. I had particular interest when I read of Kenji Mishina's involvement (its not often we know the togishi who polished a sword), but if the blades are not presented so they can be appreciated in print (especially as B&W images), what is the point. I will skip this publication.

Also interesting is that the smith that pretty much everyone agrees was almost certainly taught directly by Masamune and inherited his style - Soshu Sadamune - is notably omitted from all of the various sources listing the Juttetsu. Which could be seen as evidence in favour of your "memory aid" theory, in that nobody needs to be reminded that Masamune's heir would also be working in Masamune's style of Soshu-den.

Indeed, hence why I did not mention his name, nor that of Yukimitsu.

Norishige as well, although the general consensus now is he was more of a junior contemporary to Masamune rather than an apprentice.

Thanks for the clarification. Its clearly a knotty subject with many interpretations and plausible hypotheses. The last one though sounds more like sour grapes. If I had to choose I would say Option 3 was the most likely. It couldn't have been easy to travel over such a large area in the early 14th century. Go is said to have Yamato infuence in his forging style and might have been another journeyman smith, like Norishige, with swordsmithing roots in Yamato.

To be more precise, there are several theories about the Masamune Juttetsu, none of which can be definitively proven or rebutted with the knowledge we currently have: They were all direct students of Masamune, and learned from him in Kamakura (common belief) They were all direct students of Masamune, who taught them outside Kamakura (Yamanaka's theory that you cited) Many of them had no direct contact with Masamune, but instead sent representative smiths to Kamakura to bring back his techniques (e.g. Dr. Honma's research led him to believe that Chogi and Kanemitsu learned Soshu-den techniques from their older brother/senior Nagashige, and likely Hasebe Kunishige did something similar) Many of them were not taught the Soshu-den techniques at all, but came up with good approximations by looking at Soshu-den swords that were in vogue at the time (this is generally thought to be the case for Sekishu Naotsuna, and Rai Kunitsugu's Soshu-influenced style has been found in at least a handful of works by his predecessors, suggesting he learned it from them rather than from Masamune) Disciple in the latter two cases can be considered more of a "follower" or "admirer" than an actual student; whatever their lineage, they were among the greatest smiths of the time who took inspiration from Masamune and showed it in their work. You can think of Masamune Juttetsu as describing artists who worked within a specific emerging movement (Soshu-dominated Nanbokucho works), roughly analogous to painting terms like Impressionists, Cubists and Dadaists. There is also, of course, the theory that Masamune himself did not exist and is merely a marketing concept/brand name invented either contemporaneously or by later collectors and appraisers (the Hon'ami and the Tokugawas are the two most commonly accused of such), and therefore none of the Juttetsu could have learned from "him".

Dear @MassiveMoonHeh, Thank you for your dedicated effort on this, it is much appreciated. Yamanaka is a precious resource. Best, Hoshi

The British Museum had a big chunk of their collection polished by Kenji Mishina some years ago and it formed the basis of an exhibition then. If anyone is interested, the book cataloguing the items that formed the exhibition is still available and is entitled "cutting edge: Japanese swords in the British Museum". https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Edge-Japanese-Swords-British/dp/0804847347

Goldmine of info is right. I've only skimmed half the newsletters and its already changed some misconceptions I had. For example I had always assumed the 10 Masamune Juttetsu were smiths who had traveled to Sagami to learn his techniques. Yamanaka states it was Masamune who traveled around Japan visiting the home provinces of these 'disciples' where he learned from them and he in turn passed on his knowledge. Sort of makes sense.

@dkirkpatrick is it sho wa 15?

Brett: First of all, great work! Secondly, do you know if an index has ever been created for these? John C.

Scogg, the early copper Type 95s had an offset ha & mune machi. So never say never!

Wonder Nagasa 25.2 cm

Jim: It looks like several have menuki (matching?) with them. You could have some nice pieces there. Definately seek out some sword collectors (NOT pawn shops or the like - they aren't likely to know the good stuff from average) or at least post some good quality pics here. John C.

Hi Piers once again many thanks for your valued information … yes it is another addition .. to be honest I got this before the Tanegashimas - but … I had my reservations about posting this worried it may be a copy due to the “ scribble “ underneath the barrel . Anyway glad I did now - knowing it is a honest gun😊 Piers have you any idea on what the inscription says on top of the barrel? Also any idea of period ? It is strange that it does not have a front sight .. I’ve looked and to be honest I can’t see any indication it had one… but that would make no sense . Here are close up pics of the front of the barrel .

James, There is a sword club located in your state. Search for "Texas Token Kai" here on this website and reach out to them. I am sure they could help you better than anyone could. In person is always better than squinting at photos. ~Chris

Hi James, you will need to attached a larger, higher resolution image in order to receive feedback. The details cannot be seen these photos. Show each piece clearly, front and back. Best regards, Ray

Final price reductions (if applicable), blade #7 has sold and the board has received a $50 donation. 1. 28" katana in shirasaya. $2200 -> $2100 2. 19" wakizashi in substitute saya. $1600 -> $1500 3. 27" katana in partially restored gunto mounts. $2000 -> $1800 4. 23.25" o-suriage early to mid Kamakura tachi in assembled mounts. No reduction on this one! 5. 24.5" katana in remnants of WWII leather-cased mounts. $1900 -> $1800 6. 26" katana of WWII origin. $950 -> $900 7. 17" wakizashi in American-made saya. No reduction on this one! SOLD! 8. 11.25" tanto in restored mounts. $1300 -> $1200 9. 26" katana of WWII origin. $1100 -> $1050 Trade values can be discussed still, just ask. Shipping is still $100 CONUS, and will include the original valuation insurance. Outside CONUS, shipping will be discussed and as reasonable as possible! My goal is to make sure these blades get to people who will appreciate them and to make the transfer process simple and quick. If you would like pictures of one, feel free to DM me. ~Chris

庚午秋 畫於 静修齋 Painted in the autumn 1930 at Studio of Quiet Cultivation 林肇基 Lin Zhao Ji(Painter) Lin Zhaoji Former Deputy Director, Cultural and Educational Affairs Office of the Military Control Commission of PRC. Lin Zhaoji was a native of Gutian County. He was born in 1899 (the 25th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty) in Shanyang Village, Gutian. After the establishment of the Military Control Commission in June 1949, he served as Deputy Director of its Cultural and Educational Affairs Office. He passed away from illness in Beijing in 1962 at the age of 63.

Just wanted to share some images for study that Keisuke over at https://www.katana-case-shi.com shared with me today during a chat. In the order from the title.

Quintessential Soshu-den joko in the Yukimitsu pic - ji-nie like a fine layer of snow, with chikei winding through as if traced by someone's fingertip, and a hamon that lights up from nioiguchi to blade edge.