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Yes, probably this is the habaki on the Kanemitsu.

The square inscription that looks like a seal reads 大明成化 (Dai ming sei ka), or, if you use the Chinese pronunciation Da ming cheng hua, alluding to Chinese emperor Chenghua (mid-1400s) It's apparently a motif that was used by Japanese ceramic artisans to give their wares an air of antiquity and authenticity. I think used by Imari porcelain artisans in the late 1800s.

I remember chatting with Markus about this maybe few years ago when it was displayed first time? I can't say about the legitimacy of the item, I just accept it as genuine piece as Tokugawa Art Museum seems to accept it. Now what is interesting about this item that it is maybe not intended as a weapon in my eyes. Markus would be the best one to write his view but I think there could have been some perhaps ritualistic purpose for these extremely wide wakizashi that few shrines have. The historical Masamune (NBTHK demoted it to Tomomitsu) that currently resides at Yasukuni Jinja is another example of these, and there should be few more such wakizashi if I remember correctly. This is of course my personal view but I cannot see any actual advantage in usability when the short swords are extremely wide.

Hi Not sure where to put this question so I have added it here. I picked this up in a Car boot sale over the weekend, I did not pay a lot so it is is a rubbish tourist piece I don't mind as I really like the workmanship fantastic piece of carving and I think some age to it also I am not finding much on the net about these so would love some opinions as to age, what the tag might say and are these anyway collectable and any idea of value. Many thanks all Regards Ken

Yep, it is Chinese. Well outside of my knowledge! Looks old but the Chinese are masters of ageing things including ivory.

I found this entry mentioning Meiju From this site : https://datekatana.jp/en/column/tsuba-artisan-guild-independence-school-formation During this period, "Umetada Meiju" appeared. While possessing the skills of a sword smith, Meiju elevated the creation of tsuba and sword fittings to an art form, introducing "pictorial high relief carving (takabori) and inlay work (zougan)" to tsuba—a revolutionary artisan. The appearance of Meiju became the turning point in establishing tsubashi socially as "metalcraft artists." But I think it merely reflects a misspelling of Myōju. From Captain F. Brinkley's "Sculpture on Sword-Furniture" [1902] He lists a Meiju, Umetada Okada. 1640 - originally an artist from Kyoto, but moved to Hagi in Choshu and founded the Okada family. I find Brinkley very unreliable.

Thank you for the update Piers And of course the pictures of the naginata too I should be able to see that one next month. It might be crazy but seeing that one is more exciting to me than many of the National Treasures... It seems their Kanemitsu tachi with very long signature is on display too, will be great to see that one too.

Keisuke Nakamura gave an interesting treatise on the subject of these 2 blades exhumed from Mitsutomo's tomb. By comparing horimono carving styles with other Sadamune attributed blades and historical oshigata he is a little skeptical and reserves judgement. https://note.com/katana_case_shi/n/ne850e4972025

Only coz your bird’s feet reminded me of it, but here is a Kaga-zōgan kozuka with 5 egrets. Cousins? Congratulations on your tsuba!

Mark, the sword has a mei of Kenryushi Sadaharu. You can see the entry below from Markus Sesko: SADAHARU (貞晴), Keiō (慶応, 1865-1868), Settsu – “Naniwa-jū Mizuguchi Kenryūshi Sadaharu saku” (浪華住 水口剣龍子貞晴作), “Settsu Ikutama ni oite Kenryūshi Sadaharu kore o tsukuru” (於摂津生玉剣龍子 貞晴造之), “Naniwa-jū Kenryūshi Sadaharu saku” (浪花住剣龍子貞晴作), student of Gassan Sadayoshi (月山貞吉), his gō were Kenryūshi (剣龍子) and Kensaishi (剣斎子), we know blades from the Keiō to the Meiji era (明治, 1868-1912), mostly a magnificent sugata with a wide mihaba and an ō-kissaki, dense ko-itame or masame which tends to muji, suguha-hotsure, notare, gunome, he works in the style of his master Sadayoshi, he also added a koku´in seal in the form of the character “chū” (忠・忠) , chū-saku

just saw this on the UPS site while checking on another shipment

Nice piece. And if you didn't pay much even better. I was eyeing this Noh mask at a fancy flea market in Paris a couple of months ago. The carving and coloration on the inside are comparable. I probably know about as much as you, but I find them to be aesthetically attractive works of art. I'm sure there are ways to date them, especially if signed but I don't have those references. Edit: Not sure why the images are formatted like this when uploaded on a PC. I'll correct this when I get on my Mac.

An obvious explanation would be that this is an imitation made in China or Hong Kong (and I would guess quite later than Taisho).

That's because we have our own issues: There is a "wa" sound at the beginning of the word "one" but no "W". Where did it go? in the word "two", of course, where it isn't voiced! Silent E's, silent P's, Ph's pronounced like F's, and vowels that change sound for no apparent reason (re: the "O" sound in Bomb, Comb, or Tomb). John C.

Michael wrote a great post on how prices have fluctuated. Unfortunately I don't collect in this price level so I cannot give any actual advice. Also as my personal collecting interests are way outside the norm I would not dare to give advice other than on general level. There are for example people specializing in Sa school and can give advice on how the sword would compared to other similarish works by the school. There are many different approaches and layers in this hobby. In overall I feel the change in price is within reasonable range. New polish is an expensive addon, I have never had anything polished so I cannot give a good estimate on it, others will know much better. Likewise the koshirae is high quality addon as was mentioned above. It is fairly reasonable package for the right buyer in my eyes. Aoi Art in general is in my opinion quite reasonably priced. They have huge volume of items passing through them, sometimes you can find good deals, sometimes the item might seem expensive.

As Piers suggests……. “Signature” is not a Japanese one. Crudely carved and awkwardly orientated. The underside is not finished to Japanese standards. Can we see the okimono please? I feel this could be Mammoth tusk.

I’ve been wanting to post these two tsuba from a daisho pair for some time as I have some questions you guys might be able to help with. The tsuba are almost truly round, flat iron plates with large sukashi openings, probably stylised butterflies, though I have seen similar examples described as clouds. I go for the butterflies because of the symmetry in the piercings. One of the first things to be noticed is the surface of the ji which seems to have been etched. The high points of the etched surfaces appear to be a random mixture of shapes and sizes. Some are large (ca. 5mm), whereas others consist of clusters of pin pricks. How did the artist manage to apply such a varied variety of resist coatings before etching? My own view is that the plate was sprayed with a fine mist of resist solution and the large areas applied by hand. Spraying with a viscous resist like lacquer to form a fine mist would have been impossible, so how? The other less likely scenario I have is that the plate consists of a very heterogeneous mixture of hard and soft iron and the acid preferentially dissolved one of the materials. If this were the case I would expect the depth of etching to vary. The second unusual feature of these tsuba is the gold nunome cherry blossoms. Each inlay is surrounded by a circle of cross hatching in the iron to secure the gold leaf. While this method of securing gold nunome inlay was standard the observation that the area of the plate prepared to anchor the inlay was far larger than the inlay indicates sloppy workmanship in my opinion. Perhaps the outline of the cross hatching on the plate was not visible when the tsuba was new but subsequent aging and oxidation (rusting) has made it noticeable. Both tsuba are signed, but with gold kao, making them unreadable. Anyone got any ideas? Also, opinions as to whether the signature relates to the guy who made the whole tsuba, or to someone else who finished the tsuba (etching and inlay). Although I cannot read the signature, I have attributed the tsuba to late Hayashi/Kamiyoshi on the ground that the overall design is typical. One of the last tsubako (late 19thC) of the Kamiyoshi ha was Rokujo, who reportedly liked to experiment with surface finishes and signed his name in a variety of ways, including gold inlay. He also had students and so I expect their works would have been similar. Best regards, John Just a guy making observations, asking questions and trying to learn

Hello! I had wanted to add a Kaga tsuba to my collection for a long time, and recently Okan finally convinced me with his wonderful example that was shown here not so long ago. Recently I came across this tsuba. It depicts the classic theme of drying fishing nets, and in my opinion the Kaga inlay is perfectly suited to the delicate nets. Overall, the composition is quite refined. The tsuba itself is made of rich and expensive shakudo, although this is somewhat hidden beneath the dark patina, it is especially noticeable when viewed at an angle. The plate is perfectly polished and shimmers beautifully in the light. I would also note the beautiful sekigane - it was probably mounted on two different swords.

Hi Jean P. Do you mean Umetada Myōju? There is a brief history of him here : https://www.giuseppepiva.com/en/news/the-umetada-school-and-the-work-of-myoju/ As far as I know Umetada Myōju lived 200 years before Seiryuken Eiju. Myōju was born in 1558. Seiryūken Eiju (成竜軒栄寿) was the art name of Tetsugendo Toryuken, also known as Naofusa (尚房). He was active in Osaka, Kyoto and later Edo from circa 1775-1800. He was a student of Okamoto Harukuni and adopted son of master craftsman and founder of the Tetsugendo school; Okamoto Naoshige. Tsuba carrying his name and signature vary considerably in style and quality, and many even exhibit different kao (personal seals). The most likely explanation is that he ran an atelier with several craftsmen, and was only involved in some of the pieces himself.

I was talking to Ray Singer about this yesterday. The problem here, as we discussed, is the connection with the Tokugawa. That association is such that few are going to ever say it is a fake, even to this day. Cultural respect, etc. But the fact that sword has no official status -- not Kukuho,Jubi, JuBun or any flavor of Juyo -- is telling. So it appears to be exactly as labeled: a sword signed Sadamune that was owned by powerful member of the Tokugawa family. No more. No less.

I believe I ve finally settled on a sue bizen piece that came up on Samurai nippon . Messaged Komaki san and waiting for an invoice. https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/Q-325.html Bizen koku ju osafune Kiyomitsu Saku (Attributed to Magoemon Kiyomitsu ) Unfortunate that part of the date in missing but I think the attribution to Magoemon more than makes up for it and narrows down the production date. And a good length just over 71cm and a massive .88cm motokasane Dont really see any red flags but perhaps someone more experienced may catch something I missed

Full cover probably freshly bought. Rest of offered photos is nice too https://ebay.us/m/iVl1gv

I’m sure I posted some on the forum https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/216883484_uma-thurman-signed-kill-bill-hattori-hanzo-bride-replice-prop-sword-bas-coa-dover-de

Modern English is a bizarre hodgepodge of French, Germanic and the Old English language. I found this exercise pretty entertaining/enlightening: https://www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-back-in-time-understand-english For me, everything back to 1300 was more or less readable and comprehensible; 1200 took a bit of re-reading and reading out loud to comprehend, and 1100 was completely illegible.

Kmad, looks like one sticker over another…(?) Old Japanese price tag???

Japanese swords are no more a investment, then a expensive watch. if you like it-buy it, but if your justify your spending on the speculation of a profit once sold then your going to get a rude shock. The Japanese sword market is indead not keeping up as a hole. less peaple interested, less peaple with spare money, more issues with taxes, trasport, theift and damage, less good stuff to find. yes restoration prices go up. remember pigeon racing use to have big prize money and alot of peaple took part, now find me a person that keeps birds??

There are Masamune and Sadamune signature in oshigata, but at least some of these blades would certainly be flagged as gimei. Ken is great, even in such horrible photos. The tanto is unpleasant enough. It would provide a link to Masamune's hocho, but...

The remains of three price stickers I see! The dark dyed signature seal looks as if it was added later, following along some of the ivory cracks. For this reason my gut feeling is that any reading will not help us at all. Ready to be proved wrong of course! Good luck with your project. It’ll be interesting to see what others say.

Hello, Posting here on behalf of a friend. It has inscriptions on the blade, nakago and shirasaya. Any help with translation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Wow! Talk about an amazing event to attend. I have been happy to see in many of my searches for famous swords, links and references to Touken Ranbu. There are a lot of sword "characters" representing many of the famous meito and other kokuho blades.

Those are unvoiced/voiceless consonants, something which the English language doesn't really have. https://Japanese.stackexchange.com/a/1122 https://www.quora.com/Is-the-U-silent-in-Japanese

D E F

Yesterday's meeting and update indicated that 78 people have contributed JPY2,430,000 so far, just shy of the 2.5 million yen they are initially aiming for by the end of this month. A plan for the polishing of the Odachi was also handed out, to take place over the first three cold months of 2027 when rust will not be too much a problem. I had a chance to see their Muromachi period blades display, including upstairs a 1499 Katsumitsu/Sadamitsu joint-work naginata that Jussi might recognize. Photos: A B C

Aiden , your Naval sword ,as has been pointed out, is junk however your Army sword is definately genuine and could be quite a good one . The presence of the owners name in the silver plaque and the lacquered scabbard are indications of the blade possibly being a good one . You really need to get the handle off in case it is rusting underneath and it is this rust that is preventing you getting the handle off . I would remove the peg completely ,pad the tsuba with cloth or leather then start tapping the tsuba with a block of wood . If you don't feel comfortable doing this seek out a collector who has done it before and get them to help .

Seals for the calligraphy are: top left: 臨済正宗　(Rinzai Seishu) bottom right, upper seal: 黄檗主人 (Ōbaku shujin) bottom right, lower seal 大雅法印 (Taiga-hō-no-in)

Very true, and that only comes after doing the hard yards researching the literature and more importantly experiencing high end swords in hand. Elias, since you are in Germany you should seriously consider attending an NBTHK-EB meeting either in Solingen or Manching. There are many members in Germany who have some magnificent Juyo and up swords, and are only too happy to share their knowledge and collections.

I have looked it up and I in fact am NOT crazy lol It's called Inoshishi-no-ke (boar-hair lines) because the pattern mimics the coarse fur of a wild boar... Stop gaslighting me thread!! I'm not crazy I swear

Hello Aiden, Welcome to the forum! I have some unfortunate news. The Kai Gunto is a Chinese replica made in the last 30 years. I say this based on the signature and tang(nakago) of the sword. This sword is not a Japanese sword unfortunately. The Type 98 is a little harder to judge because you weren’t able to remove the tsuka to photograph the nakago. But the sword has a few red flags. It seems like the sword has a second shinogi-ji (ridge line). Which is not really done on Japanese swords in this fashion. This sword could also very well be a replica. Don’t let this discourage you, there are many good swords out there to enjoy. If you have any questions then please let me know. Greetings, Lex

柴山工 Work by Shibayama? The signature 芝工 looks very weak, so I would skip any attempt to understand why it was written like this, i.e. probably in order to give a cursory impression of Shibayama. (The decorations under the base look to have been undertaken to hide the natural cracking.)

*NOTE: Information provided on items offered without kanteisho (papers) or with old shinteisho (think green papers) is nothing more than an opinion or translation of what is actually inscribed on the item along with information of the smith smith in question. Nothing more! This opinion/translation and information is provided as a courtesy and is not an indication, opinion, or guarantee that the item is shoshin or gimei. Old shinteisho (white, green, blue, etc.) are no longer recognized by the NBTHK and in the case of a mumei sword, if re-submitted to shinsa, it may or may not receive the same attribution. As well, they may receive an attribution/opinion of gimei (false mei) or horyu (needs more study). Please do your own research, ask questions prior to committing to purchase and commit only when you are confident in your decision and ready to purchase. Do not commit to purchase, then attempt to negotiate a lower price.

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

Modern Chinese fake. Sorry.

Not Japanese and not older than 30 years in my opinion. Better photos on a plain dark background may prove me wrong.

Jaco, if ever you should happen to pick up something Japanese, please refrain from cleaning, grinding, or polishing! The patina is often a hint to age and value, so NEVER touch it!

Proof by meme, must be true then... 😂 It's fine to have an opinion, but there should be some basis in verifiable facts (especially when asserted as a statement). Anyone can have a favourite den, school or smith - that's personal choice, but getting into the "better" classification, you need to cite how. Are Italian cars best? Fastest, most reliable, best overall value, quietest, least polluting, most innovative, successful in racing etc. At least with Iaido guys, there's some objective testing with verifiable results. But it still becomes subjective - the light sword is quicker, easier to handle, stout swords more robust, thin sword better for slicing soft objects etc. What's the criteria being judged? Like the car example, are we judging American cars against the Fiat or Ferrari? Shinto is what, 180-200 years at most. Shinshinto 100 years. Then factoring demand, and surviving works along side the available time periods, are we comparing average works, the tenth percentile, best ever? Still comes back to agreeing the criteria by which quality is judged, which again, is subjective...

Shots fired... 😂 No, we don't know that. Lacking in prestige, perhaps - but there are several factors that influence the perception on Mino-to. Being newest, association with mass production etc. along with general focus on practical use, rather than decoration. Is there any objective data, showing which den produced "better" swords? Sharper, more resilient edges, less prone to breaking etc. Very little that I've seen. Conversely, the availability of quality steel improved, as did the knowledge and technology of forging (as this thread began with) and construction techniques. The presence of certain hataraki doesn't necessarily denote quality (which effects were intended versus consequentially etc.). The lense of the modern art sword collector is but one, very subjective lense (with a great deal owing to tradition and bias).

FYI, from two sets of experiments done in the early 2000s with bladesmiths (published by Prof. Takuo Suzuki), there is little evidence that the "impurity" content (I mean atoms that are not interstitials, like carbon) actually changes with folding. Only the carbon content and the amount/shape/distribution/size of inclusions changes with the folding and forging process. About the effect of composition, it has a clear effect on oxidation, but I am not aware that it changes the colour of polished steel. Forging indeed will give you smaller grains, but then again, how the smith heats the blade prior to quenching will also change this grain size. There was a very nice study in Prof. Morito's team where they managed to show how different the grain size prior to quenching was with different smiths. Also, I thought a lot of the final aspect of the blade depended on the polisher. But here, I have virtually no knowledge. EDIT: All that to say that I think the carbon content, the smith, and the polisher have a larger effect on the final aspect of the blade than the other elements present in minute concentrations.

So, from what I've read, by the 18th / 19th century, the Chugoku region (a big chunk of western Japan) eventually peaked at around 80% of domestic steel production. But, that's at its peak. Regional decline in steelmaking started around the 11th century. And at least by the start of the Edo period, there were still several hundred furnaces spread across Japan (with more than 100 from the Chugoku region). So, more centralised, yes - but there were still at least a dozen steel making prefectures spanning the entirety on Honshu. You'd imagine swordsmiths had some degree of choice in materials - as much of the steel was transported. In any case, the picture it paints, is a progressive reduction in steelmaking distribution, over the course of half a millennia - and whilst by the end of the Edo period, one region was dominating - this wasn't the case at the start - and there had been a similar progression towards centralisation starting centuries before that.