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Sword of Lt. General Noguchi Kon’no I’d like to share some photos of an interesting sword I was able to acquire recently. The sword is housed in army Type19 field grade officer’s Kyu-gunto mounts, with a black wool, “German-style” sword knot with gold crown. The knot appears to be the type authorized in Meiji 45, and original to the sword when brought back to the U.S. The blade is a wakizashi, 21.25 inches long, rather straight, with a sori of only 3/16”. The hamon appears to be sanbon sugi, but with rounded peaks rather than the more typical pointed. Before purchasing it, I posted pictures of the nakago in the translation section of the NMB. Special thanks to Moriyama Koichi for helping with the translation and providing biographic info. Additional thanks to SteveM for his kind help with the horimono explanation (see the postings in the translation section). From the translation Moriyama-san provided: the sword was a gift from Akizuki Teijiro to Noguchi Kon’no in the spring of 1884 to celebrate the latter’s commissioning as an Army Second Lieutenant. (Dec 25, 1883). Akizuki Teijiro was a famous samurai who served the Matsudaira Clan. He was a senior commander of the Aizu forces during the Boshin War. Later in life, he became an educator and established a close relationship with Noguchi Kon’no, who was his protégé. Noguchi had numerous combat postings and promotions during the Sino/Japanese War. During the Russo/Japanese War, he was promoted to Colonel where he served as Chief of Staff of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division. He fought in the Battles of Oishibashi, Haichen and Shahe, and was seriously wounded during the Battle of Liaoyang. He returned to Japan to recover and was later promoted from Colonel to Major General in March of 1908. (Japan does not have the rank of Brigadier General like we have in the US). While a Major General, he commanded several different infantry brigades but fell ill in 1911. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in August of 1912 (Taisho gan-en) before being transferred to the reserve forces (retirement). The sword does not have the tortoiseshell handle that would be consistent with what a Major General would have carried during the 1908 to1912 time period (when he was of that rank). Nonetheless, I believe that this is, in fact, a sword owned and carried by the late Lt. General Noguchi Kon’no, IJA. The sword would have most certainly been carried by him while he was a colonel, but the presence of a Meiji 45 knot creates a conundrum. He was obviously a General when this knot was authorized, so does that mean this sword was still in active use? Would a sword in this furniture still have been acceptable for a general to carry? Anyway, I am honored to be the new caretaker of this sword, please enjoy the photos! I welcome all comments, corrections and speculations. Special shout out to Bruce Pennington, John (PNSSHOGUN) and Thomas (Kiipu), you guys have more expertise with Kyu-gunto and knots than I do, and I would love to hear your thoughts. Also, I would appreciate any evaluations from Nihonto experts of the blade itself, thank you. Any mistakes/errors are mine alone, and I attribute them to old age and too much alcohol in my youth. Respectfully submitted, Tom M.

Everyone’s talking about the recent Haynes auction and the high prices a lot of the tsuba went for, especially the Tanaka school tsuba, which went for €5000 and €12000 respectively. This is your chance to own a wonderful Tanaka-style tsuba for a fraction of that. This wonderful piece has the characteristic sekigane and the wabi-sabi style iron and nunome-zogan. In hand, the surface treatment looks so smooth I first thought it was kinko, but it is in fact iron. It also has a great theme of a dragon, and a very good size (85x80mm). Comes in a delux kiri box with trim around the edge. £1200 ono If you wish for additional images or a video, I'll be happy to email them to you

This FB reel immediately reminded me of this tsuba. Beautiful in both cases: https://www.facebook.com/reel/3864905883643507 Part of the commentary goes: On my way to pick up our guests this morning, I said to my colleague, “I’d love to see a snake today.” Ten minutes after collecting our guests… there it was. A stunning tiger snake, right there on the road — calm, aware, and absolutely beautiful. Moments like this always feel a little bit magical… like nature is listening. Of course, we made sure it was safely guided off the road, given space, and left to continue on its way — exactly as it should be. Wildlife encounters are never something we control… but sometimes, they arrive just when you ask for them. Maybe there’s a little bit of nature witch in me after all 🌿🐍 Kangaroo Island Hire a Guide & Nocturnal Tours #australianwildlife #tigersnake #kangarooisland #wildlifetourkangarooisland #tourkangarooisland #authentickangarooisland #natureconnection #wildlifeencounter #southaustralia #kangarooislandguardian #respectwildlife #wildlifeguide #australia #naturelovers #snake #reptile BaZZa.

Hi John, I did inquire with the seller about additional info on the sword, unfortunately how it came to the US is lost to time. It would have been nice to have some additional provenance to link this to the general. He did have a son, but I couldn't find any history on him. It is also my understanding that this black wool knot was authorized for all officers in Meiji 45, and I am excited to hear that there is an example of a general officer carrying a sword in field grade mounts! I believe that this sword was an important possession of the general, and that he would continue to carry it. Tom

I was off forum for 1,5 month and almost missed this. Dream is for combined work @Scogg and @Bruce Pennington added some kyu gunto/kai gunto koshirae variations and most important mantetsu. Great job!

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.

One of the main areas of focus in the collection of Nihonto is attribution. Years of study and reflection go into being able to look at a swords details to determine who made it. Once this is done by a professional organization, papers are issued which are intended to accompany the sword. But papers are delicate, can be easily forged, or lost. The question I pose: Why don't any organizations apply the attribution right on the nakago? I get that there is the thought that to alter one is to destroy provenance, but if there is none to preserve (say where Gimei was removed already, where it was sanded "clean", or is so rusted away that it cant be read anymore), why not? It would be more permanent and become part of the provenance moving forward. EX: Historic organization X says this Mumei blade was made by smith Y, day month and year. I suggest this because as time goes on, knowledge will be lost. It's inevitable. Papers will certainly be misplaced or destroyed for any number of reasons as time passes. Would not a more fixed and permanent "certificate of authenticity" be desirable? And yes I'm aware of sayagaki, but the same rules of damage and decay apply. Ok. Hornets nest squarely kicked... Kurt

I don't know, its kind of two different worlds - people who place kinzogan and museums which drill numbers to make sure they don't get lost. The latter happens when a curator dies (its a lifelong appointment by default), they hire new one, next day he comes to department head and asks politely - where is the actual collection? Because the storage box is empty but there is a bunch of stuff without tags on dead curator's table. The next day, everything qualifying as portable-walkable Michelangelo gets a little number drilled on its ass. Or feet.

70% of swords in museums have either chiseled or permanent ink written catalogue number on them. Yes, Goto Teijo tsuba with white number across the plate.

As @Rivkin pointed out, it was done through kinzoganmei, shumei, and sometimes even inscribed as mei when the shortening was done by a smith - and this was hardly a guarantee of authenticity as handwriting, kao etc. can be faked just as easily (perhaps more easily) than NBTHK papers. Some things to consider: Even kinzogan, shumei and actual mei are subject to decay, especially as it's still mostly considered taboo to oil or otherwise preserve the nakago. There are many swords papered by the NBTHK with a signature or attribution that is no longer legible. Attributions can, and do, change frequently as scholarship in the field advances - and that's excluding all the known cases where nefarious intent was involved. Appraisers' trustworthiness can fall into disrepute, and even the NBTHK itself had to invalidate an entire series of papers (Kicho and Tokubetsu Kicho) due to corruption in the branch offices. If those had been inscribed directly on the nakago, that's now permanent damage to a historical artifact that cannot be undone; at best, covered up or crushed. These are not just historical artifacts but in many cases, works of art with national significance. Imagine suggesting that museums place an official stamp on a Van Gogh or chiseled into a Rodin as proof of its authenticity, should the item be stolen. Can you anticipate what objections to this might arise? In the end, as time, knowledge and researching techniques advance, the same holds true for nihonto as with any other form of art and historical artifact: the work has to speak for itself. EDIT: there are, however, some technological solutions that may become available. For example, something similar to an anti-theft ID dot with microscopic details or miniature RFID chip with identifying information affixed to the end of a nakago in a non-destructive manner is something that may become feasible in the future.

I personally think putting kinzogan was always being a bit nonchalant with a historic item, but people actually do it today. The thinking is that if you want to box in NBTHK into giving you exactly what you want or failing the item completely, do nijimei kinzogan. On the border Yukimitsu/Taima - put in "Yukimitsu". It has been far less uncommon in the past 100 years than most think.

Sure thing. I will get that tomorrow when the sun is out again here.

At current exchange rates that works out to around 175-180 USD, 27,500-28,000 JPY or 150-155 EUR

I read the signature as Ueno no Kami Fujiwara Kunitsune. He worked during the Kan'ei period (1624-1644 A.D.). The NBTHK paper was issued February 8th, 2002. The nagasa is 68.8 cm, or 27.1 inches. --Matthew Brice StCroixBlades.com

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?

Not tosogu guy, but Aoi piece looks like Meiji period work or closeabout, not modern, not old. Fairly decent piece for the style.

PRICE: €3300 (EURO) Free shipping within the EU International shipping available (extra charge: €20–40) Express insured shipping (FedEx, UPS, DHL Express, etc.) Located in the Netherlands – Pickup available Payment Methods: Various payment methods are accepted, with bank transfer preferred. Please contact via PM to discuss payment options. Any questions are welcome. Feel free to contact me anytime. PS: There is no damage to the tip of the sword; this is a piece of dust still attached to the kissaki while taking pictures (which I did not notice when taking the images). There is also a Shirasaya, as can be seen in the first image.

Nice one folks, I like the "leave alone" advice! The fit isn't the best & at this stage replacing the habaki etc isn't an option at the moment (if ever)....

Having a particular fondness for brass-inlaid tsuba, I eventually added several pieces from the Washida school of fittings makers to my collection. This sparked my interest in learning more about the school and its production. Over time I gathered a fair amount of information and eventually decided to compile it into a single document, which you can find in the download section of the board: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/210-the-shōnai-washida-school/ I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. As I mentioned, given my particular weakness for brass inlay, the document is somewhat biased toward the work of Washida Mitsunaka! Just as an example of the Washida production here are the pieces from this school (or supposed to be from this school) in my collection: NBTHK Hozon to Washida. Dimensions 85.4 mm x 85.3 mm, thickness 3.9 at seppa dai, 4.2 at mimi. NBTHK Hozon to Washida. Dimensions 85.3mm x 79.2 mm, thickness 3.6 at seppa dai, 4.0 at mimi. Identical to tsuba attributed by NBTHK to Washida. Dimensions 87.2 mm x 82.2 mm, thickness 3.7 at seppa dai, 4.0 at mimi. Signed in kinzogan mei Kyozan Mitsunaka with Kao. Dimensions 87.2 mm x 77.6 mm, thickness 2.6 at seppa dai, 4.2 at mimi. Dimensions 83.5 mm x 78.6 mm, thickness 3.0 at seppa dai, 4.1 at mimi. Dimensions: 96.9 mm x 13.9 mm, thickness 4.7 mm. REgards Luca

I usually collect all the information on a school that I am interested in and at a certain point I feel the the need to put all toghter in a coherent form. From that to sharing it is a just a small step. Regards Luca

Hi @Ben A Harris, @vajo, @John C and @Bruce Pennington I have relocated this thread to the NIHONTO section. Ben, I did this because it seems that your blade is not machine made. It appears older, and maybe interesting. Sometimes older blades were put into WW2 fittings to be carried during the war. Now that we're in this section, you will be asked to provide more detailed photos (if willing). You will want to remove all the fittings, including habaki, and focus on the blade. Use my photo below for some guidance. Please understand that it's very challenging to get blade details photographed, so it will not be an easy task. I recommend looking around the forum, and getting an idea of what some good photos look like. Looking forward to seeing more of your sword, if you choose to share with us. All the best, -Sam