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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.

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

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!!!

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.

All aboard !

"Beautiful Katana with bright blade with 26" cutting edge. The blade is bright with an active hamon. The one hole tang is signed. The Katana has shin gunto mounts and saya. The tsuka has ray skin grip and silk wrap. CONDITION: The Katana is very clean throughout and only shows minor wear. A very well preserved example. Excellent" I wrote to them. 200$ bp isn't worthy bad reputation.

Moses just put up a nice one here: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/bishu-osafune-sukesada-fss-988/

望後　bōgo = 2nd half of the month.

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

Was just about to post that ^

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

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.

Happier now to leave them like this. Genbu on Aoi plants

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 (?)

Nice ko-kinkō tsuba, possibly shakudō-nanako-ji, with tsuyu-zōgan iroe. Here a similar example:

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

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.

Huh…This explained why 和平以靖国 has 0 hit on Japanese internet or library.

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

Hello Everyone. Hope that you are having a great week and making a nice cup of matcha while researching your next Nihonto purchase. I have an unidentified wakizashi I am struggling with, as it is mumei and exhibits features of Mino and or Bizen. The hamon and overall sugata is similar to Bizen school, closest I found in geometry and hamon was the Sukesada line or Oei Bizen. What confuses me is the toriizori curve, which is generally a Mino feature. The hada is mokume, kissaki is chu-kissaki and the boshi is hakikake. I place this wakizashi to mid to late Muromatchi period based on the overall patina on the nakago and the features within the steel. A beautiful gunome midare hamon with a slight fumbare which both give me the sense of great elegance, stability and power. Any additional information on this wakizashi will help a long way, Japanese swords are a long time passion of mine, and I am so glad to have the opportunity for this particular one to find me. After your careful assessment and review of the photos I would make a decision on whether to take it to Shinsa or not. Warm Regards, Gordon S

These guys bought replica and gave it to their dog for some bite marks. It must be made with fraud in mind, tassel is obviuously wrong. Now We have battle scarred war bring back