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Seems to be Benkei on the kashira reading the fake subscription list at the Ataka barrier. The hat on the fuchi could hint to Yoshitsune in disguise. The other detail seems to be a barrow used for traveling. (print copied from Fujiarts.com)

If it is not 忠 (Tada), it could be 徳 (Toku).

I absolutely agree with Colin. I should also add that the Ford Hallam videos helped me a lot. This allowed us to understand how these things were made and what the difference is between them. Everything is always learned by comparison. For this money, I think it's a good tsuba.

Colin is right, developing an eye for quality is priority number 1 in this hobby. High standards and an eye for quality lead to a collection of appreciating assets... That said 400 Euro or so for your tsuba seems like a decent price to me. I don't think you did too bad at all.

Maybe you already know that tsuba with the very same design: from https://tsuba-kanshou.hatenablog.jp/entry/d385ea903371e9967804aebacba147c3

Good afternoon NMB, This will be my last sale for the foreseeable future, and it's a tough one to let go of. Misa Naoki (1947-2023) was a Kamakura-based potter specializing in the cosmos of Raku. Working in a very traditional manner - making glaze from crushed stones found in the Kamo river in Kyoto and firing pieces one at a time using red pine and charcoal as fuel. Carefully monitoring the kiln and while relying only on vision and experience, removing them when the glaze has reached the perfect melting state. Raku firings are a short, volatile process, with hers carrying a roughly 10% success rate. A brutal method to stake your livelihood on, but for those who do things the old way, it's simply the only way. This guinomi has seen its black glaze give way to an awe-inspiring array of color during the firing. While areas of it remain, it is organically intertwined with moss green, warm orange and deep red. Japanese raku has been a core focus of my pottery journey, and the only other artist I've seen that achieves this level of color is the legendary Yamada Sanan, who's bowls will run you a cool million Yen. This piece is in excellent condition with no flaws, measures 6.3cm wide, 5.7cm tall and comes with it's original signed box, cloth and paperwork. In addition, the original owner included the receipt from when it was purchased during the artist's exhibition in February 2022 at the Nihombashi Mistsukoshi department store in Tokyo (a pinnacle destination for such events that hosts artists as prestigious as the mainline Raku family masters). Misa Naoki passed in May of 2023, with this piece marking one of her very last firings. $180 shipped to the USA, international buyers please contact me for a quote. Payment via Paypal friends and family is strongly preferred, but will accept Venmo if necessary. Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional pics. Thanks for looking!

Had to look that one up, great question. Its seems yes, the lines are present in all naturally occurring ivory, however, the angle of the crisscross will vary. Learning something new indeed.

Steve: I use 8-9 oz leather for holsters, sheaths, and such. If you have an old leather belt, holster, or sheath you aren't using, it's probably 8oz (about 1/8 inch) and would do nicely. John C.

There are fewer meet-ups in Manching, probably 2 per year and 4 in Solingen. What I have noticed is the turnout is a little better down South, usually 30-35 attendees. For 2026 the Manching meetings will take place on 25/4 and 26/9. You are entitled to attend one meeting as a guest and to see if it interests you. I promise you will not be disappointed. Finally early bird tickets for the Japan Art Fair in Utrecht in mid June have just gone on sale. This 3 day event is as serious as it gets, growing every year with dealers from all over Europe, Japan and North America. It's the best event to see and purchase Nihonto, Kodogu and Tosogu this side of the Atlantic.

Yes shakudo does contain gold in varying proportions. ….and therein lies the crux of the matter. lower quality compared to what? Compared to other similar tsuba (Soten or otherwise….iron or otherwise)? Compared to other Shakudo tsuba? Compared to Nagoya mono? (search on this forum for this topic……you will find it enlightening and a great place to start) How long is the proverbial piece of string? …..and it also depends on your own “taste”

Thank you very much for your evaluation. I originally made an offer for 350 Euro which will be about 450 after taxes and fees... I honestly did not fully expect to actually win the auction as this looked like quite an impressive Tsuba for me as a layman. Overall there were several Tsuba in this auction that sold for little money compared to listings from Japanese dealers. I guess I have to do my homework next time before bidding. Here is a picture of the entire Tsuba for reference:

Fukurokuju is often depicted with a scroll, and the pyramid shaped item on the fuchi is his backpack? Anyway, check him out and see what you think. All the best.

Hi Piers, Tanks for this idea. Here's a better Photo ? Gwyn

Hi, I have a fuchi kashira set on a nice koto blade. I was wondering if anyone could interpret the theme of what is going on please?

Great explanation. Thank you.

I always thought that Schreger lines occur only in elephant and mammmoth ivory. A quck google search doesn’t provide any evidence of the contrary. https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/resources/pub/E-Ivory-guide.pdf

TSUNAMI on a sword? That sounds really dangerous! Did you mean to write TSUBA? That one looks a bit like JAKUSHI style. I cannot see the MEI properly which might be TOMOKANE (not sure), but the writing is not the typical JAKUSHI grass-script style.

…….unless you’re an elk☹️

Not to forget the stick on the Fuchi: Benkei beat his Master Yoshitsune to avert suspicion of the officials.

Smaller, for ojime perhaps? Do they have crisscross schreger lines internally like elephants and mammoth tusks? Learn something new every day!

As I understand it, there is no way to distinguish elk tooth ivory from elephant ivory, they are the same composition. Not all elk teeth are ivory, only two per animal, but still a more sustainable source of the material for small things like netsuke.

Its traditionally made and probably late Muromachi or early Shinto. The school... I don't know, the elements look like Bizen, but the arrangement is Mino. Probably late Muromachi Mino Kanetomo or maybe someone (other) from Senjuin lineage. Some of them did do Bizen-like chouji.

Much like Mauro noted, I don’t see any of the typical motifs that link this to the Race across the Uji. It is very nice, but the Chinese armour and sword, combined with the lack of a bow, or bridge, or companion to race make me think that it is more likely to be depicting something else.

When you say barrow, it does indeed look like a seoibitsu armo(u)r chest with shoulder straps. (Nearly bought one just last week!)

The scabbard was in pieces when I received it, held together with old tape. I believe it could have had a leather wrapped Saya at some point, no way to know. I know of a couple other non-gunto swords with legitimate battle damage. These were still commonly carried in theater. The damage is legitimate shrapnel damage, not damage from a bullet. As evidenced by the light damage to the scabbard in multiple areas, and not just in one. Shrapnel damage would be unbelievably hard to replicate and I don’t see why anyone would attempt it. Especially on such a nice sword. I just don’t see that scenario as plausible.

Christopher, you can read about these file marks in the monograph below. It is free to download and is courtesy of Bruce Pennington, author extraordinaire. Stamps of the Japanese Sword

Steve: WW2 mounts, however I don't think it's a ww2 blade. Could be an older family blade or a pre-war made blade. John C.

The mei (inscription) reads Norimitsu. At a glance, this does not look like an authentic mei of the smith from the Bizen Norimitsu lineage.

Good afternoon NMB, On offer today is beautiful woodblock print that harkens back to the glory days of the bushi. This particular piece is the cover to a collection of prints by the artist Kikuchi Yosai, a prominent late Edo/Meiji painter and printmaker and was published in 1894 by Aoki Suzando. The Image is classic - an early period armor set belonging to Minamoto no Tametomo (1139-1170), complete with longbows, arrows and a tachi complete with the instantly recognizable bear fur saya. The print itself is in phenomenal condition and presents with a fabulous patina. The paper has mellowed beautifully, yet the images retain sharp color and are blemish free. A heartfelt tribute to the warrior class, printed shortly after its downfall. This was professionally framed by my local shop, who does immaculate work and gets all of my pieces. The frame is very high quality, dark brown solid wood with a subtle texture to compliment the strength and age of the print. I believe the material is walnut but not 100% sure. Finished off with a French mat style accent line that I chose to accentuate the iconic Japanese red orange featured in the artwork. The size of the frame is 15 by 18 inches. Asking $350 shipped within the USA, which is about what it cost to frame. International buyers please contact me for a quote. Payment via PayPal friends and family is strong preferred but will accept Venmo if necessary. Thanks for looking!

Plenty of guys have used leather to make seppa.

I received the koshirae for one of my blades today and after taking everything apart I found the fuchi is signed. I’m not knowledgeable at all about tosogu and would love more information. I figured out the mei is Togintei Yoshiteru (Kao) 東吟亭義照 (花押) and that he was a Shinshinto fittings maker who has made some nice examples of work I've seen on Aoi, Tsuruginoya, and other auction sites. The fittings are in good shape but just a bit covered with grime. Only the fuchi is signed but the theme among the fittings is all the same zodiac animals and the work to my eyes looks to be of the same maker (particularly looking at the gold inlaid tiger stripes).

More photos

Like Lewis (great advice there), I say this a lot as well…… One of the best ways to start developing an “eye” if you cannot physically handle a lot of pieces is to study past auction results. Usually you get a few decent images and can often see the price they sold for, when and where they were sold etc. Images can be enlarged if of sufficient quality enabling the finer details to be examined. You will not learn everything but you will start to be able to discern what “quality” looks like and what quality costs. It’s just my opinion and others will disagree but I think it’s far more important to recognise quality, both in artistry and manufacture than it is to chase Mei. It’s the same principle that is applied to swords……buy the item, not the Mei A good place to start….(and your tsuba is fine around that price imo) https://www.bonhams.com/search/?chronology=past&query=Tsuba

Hi Mauro, I had considered this with my other fuchigashira above that I posted back in April. You can see how the fuchi in both sets shows an unusual, seemingly foreign armour that seems more characteristic of China or Korea. That said, the content of the kashira and the bow in the mouth more or less makes it clear that the depiction is of Kajiwara Kagesue. The new set does not include the bow in the mouth which does leave the door open to alternate possibilities but I couldn't say for sure and given the similarities, I am unsure. Another notable difference however is the fact that this new set features a polearm of some kind on the warriors back, so perhaps you could be right. It's funny you should mention the 3 Kingdoms, another piece I purchased from the same collection, also signed Hamano Naoyuki depicts Liu Bei's crossing of the river during his retreat at the battle of Changban Bridge. Here it is below:

Not TADA?? 忠 TADA does not have a seeming radical to the left?? BaZZa.

昭和二十年二 – Showa 20th year (1945), 2 The last “2” must be folloed by month and day which are not taken in the picture.

Hi guys this was on katana I brought couple years ago. No signature though.

Just in case anyone didn't know: https://archive.org/details/japaneseswordmou00joly/mode/2up