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I thought you might want a picture of my railroad tassel. Tom

Hamano school. Workmanship says someone close to Shozui (aka. Masayuki), or along the Shozui line. It is good these are unsigned. When the Europeans came, dealers would often add a gimei 'Shozui' signature to upgrade these for sale to the west. This is my honest opinion. I hope it helps. I don't collect Nara schools work, but this is a nice example in shibuichi.

It's all over the news here, and apparently is continuing. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/648580-massive-internet-problems-in-south-africa-2.html

This JAF fair edition is something special for the Japanese Armor Society. For the very first time, a shinsa will take place outside Japan. 3 Japanese NKBKHK shinsa members will come over to evaluate armor related items. The team will be in contact with the Japanese jury during the evaluation. Unfortunately, the session is fully booked, I hope we can do this again in the future. For the record, since last Year the NKBKHK is recognised by the Japanese Governement.

Luke: I agree with Conway that the tanto has likely been mistreated rather than combat damaged. On the issue of historical weight of WW2 objects, some real heartbreaking stories can be read through the Oban Society. This group repatriates yosegaki hinomaru ("writing flags"), which every Japanese soldier carried and were a prized souvenir by allied forces. John C.

Hello everyone, Iron tsuba from the Akao school. Edo period. Beautifully crafted in sukashi (openwork) depicting a Japanese bird called a chidori against a full moon in the background. Dimensions: 71 x 68 mm. Thickness: 4.5 mm. The Akao school was founded in the 18th century by Akao Yoshitsugu shodai, a samurai in the service of the Matsudaira clan, lords of Echizen province. It was later transferred to Edo by his son, Yoshitsugu nidai, but the Echizen branch was nevertheless preserved. The work of this school is characterized by openwork motifs influenced by the Kawaji and Kinai styles. The Akasaka style developed later within the Edo branch, where the positive silhouettes of natural or artificial objects are reduced to such conventional forms that they sometimes become unrecognizable. 450 € (plus shipping)

Thank you @jawob 🙏 I cant believe how much attention this thread got . Very thankful of everyone who chipped in to help. I truly appreciate it and It made the process a lot more fun

@Sukaira Yea i ve accepted that I ll always have a Kiyomitsu 😆 And yes a lot of intense chikei and kinsuji.

Hi Ken, Sorry, I'm not going to be able to tell you too much about your sword, but lets start with what we can see. The sword is a real Japanese sword called a wakizashi, traditionally a sword between 12 and 24 inches. For Samurai it was a companion sword carried along with a long sword (katana). Merchants and non-samurai could carry a sword of this length, but not a katana. The sword was carried edge up inserted through an obi. I'm guessing it is a Shinto period sword. That is, a sword made between 1596 and circa 1780. The condition of the polish is not good, so no details of the grain or hamon can be seen to help us evaluate it. Hawley lists only four Tadayuki working in Higo or Hizen, all between 1661 and 1845. Perhaps one of our better sword evaluators will weigh in, and can provide a better appraisal for you. Hope this helps, Tom

Haynes lists a Meiju as a student of Araki Tomei (H09800) working about 1865-75 and that there is a relationship, or the same person as Inoue Akiyoshi (H00089) The kanji are the same. I have a tsuba signed Akiyoshi which was an early name used by Kiyotoshi (H03368.0, 1804-1876). Not sure if its the same guy. An entry in ‘The Early Famed Works of the Kyoto Smiths (Kyomono no Ko-Meisaku)’, tanslated by Gordon Robson lists a tsuba by Akiyoshi with a shakudo ground. The text states that ‘Akiyoshi is among the skilled kinko of the Aizu during the late Edo priod’ ‘There must be some connection with Kawano Haruaki, and because of his signature and kao, we can agree to such a conjecture.’ There appears to be a similarity between the kao on this tsuba and examples attributed to Kono Haruaki, so it looks like the artisan of this tsuba is probably the one referred to. Akiyoshi seems to have worked around the mid 19thC and changed his name several times Not sure if this helps, or just muddies the picture further. Best regards, John

I would say there wouldn’t be many collectors of Japanese swords or military artifacts if we were all haunted by the potential back story of the items or their owners. For me, it’s important to place these items within their historical context and have some level of respect for people who served their nation and were thrust into armed conflict by their political leaders, regardless of being a member of an “Allied” or “Axis” force.

Hi Luke, That’s quite the post, but it’s a good sign you take your work seriously. The majority of these naval dirks were neither intended, nor built for combat use. Being a naval dirk, I think both the owner and dirk would have gone down with the ship had the owner perished. More than likely, its current condition is the result of its conservators of the last 80 years not taking care of it.

They are real and legit men. I just received my package which was enormous. Quotes from upc was literal ransom. I want to describe story of one katana-zutsu and 120 meils needed to ship it to my door :] Just remember that You need package and pickup.

Target practice? And yes, server was unreachable for the first part of the day yesterday.

Shintō Period Wakizashi with Powerful Big Notare Hamon Signature: Echizen Ju Nobuyoshi This is an attractive Shintō period wakizashi showing a bold and highly active temper line. The blade carries a large, flowing notare hamon, formed in thick nie-deki, giving the sword a strong visual presence and a lively appearance. The hamon is one of the main highlights of this blade. It is full of movement and internal activity. There is abundant nie throughout, with clear sunagashi sweeping through the hamon and fine kinsuji appearing. These activities give the blade real depth when viewed under good light, rewarding close study from different angles. The jigane is also very pleasing, showing an itame mixed with mokume hada, creating a natural wood-grain texture across the surface. Within the steel, there are visible ji-nie and areas of chikei, adding further character and showing the quality of the forging. The combination of active hamon and interesting hada makes this wakizashi much more engaging than a simple or ordinary Shintō blade. Overall, this is a very appealing wakizashi for collectors who enjoy blades with strong activity, visible workmanship, and a hamon that has real personality. The thick nie-deki big notare, together with sunagashi, kinsuji, ji-nie and chikei, gives the sword a powerful and refined appearance that can be appreciated both as a collectible piece and as a study blade. Measurements / Size Overall length: 80.2 cm Blade length / cutting edge: 55.6 cm Curvature / sori: 0.8 cm Width at base / motohaba: 2.8 cm Width near tip / sakihaba: 2.1 cm Thickness at base / motokasane: 0.6 cm Thickness near tip / sakikasane: 0.5 cm Blade weight: 491 g Blade is in excellent condition. Asking €1780 + shipping Watch the following videos in 1080 HD quality.

More videos Watch in 1080 HD quality. https://youtu.be/7JhWQi68tFo https://youtu.be/Tds3SIUX8F4 https://youtu.be/GtzUcqtklIM https://youtu.be/ibxEbr_UodI https://youtu.be/OQrW8AW1qzA https://youtu.be/HwyoZgIh-9E https://youtu.be/bsPgtcjhyJ0

It looks like a late Muromachi kabuto, made in the style of Nobuie. Made front to back, 5 rows of rivets, mabezashi… certainly Kanto work.

Nice grab! I've enjoyed watching your hunt

Looks really good and the attribution is awesome. Nakago seems very well cared for and even though the pictures are not super high res, there seems to be great activity around the habuchi. Chikei for sure, maybe some hotsure and ashi? Super interesting suguha base though. Kiyomitsu seems to be in your destiny

Selling an uchigatana with signature of Hizen Koku Ju Musashi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro. Mei looks decent and the blade itself is definitely mainline hizen, but it is not papered. Has very nice nashiji hada, incredible nie-deki very typical of mainline hizen works. Discussed the sword with others and if its not gimei we think that it is probably a dai saku work from masahiro or another smith that made swords for shodai tadayoshi during his later years. Personally like the sword but I mainly collect nihonto in koshirae and do not feel like going through the effort or time to get koshirae made for this piece. Stats: Nagasa: 73cm Motokasane: 8mm Sakikasane: 5mm Sorii: .2 inches Motohaba: 2.8cm Sakihaba: 1.9cm Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dFZQFthXgDBUnDph8 Looking to get 3000 for it, price as always is negotiable.

Holly, better then previous one. Bring more such a pieces and ebay is over ;] So nice to watch it.

Just to let others know, this is no longer for sale. Jason

It may seem like cold comfort, but it looks like what you have is quite a nice Shinto katana. The seller hasn’t oversold this as (sorry) the Bungo smiths are mostly not that sexy, so it may be gimei or just an unrecorded smith (or one outside a mainline textbook)… Hopefully you didn’t speculate on the signature and can just enjoy it for what it is and can learn from and enjoy your new sword.

Exactly. I mention everywhere I can about deep hole that yen currently is in. Dunno what will come this June [15-16]. I read in couple places that markets "truly expect" higher intrest rates - 1% minimum. So dollar/jen should be lower like 1$/150y. Happy for You earning euro :D

I don't see any "Fujiwara Yukishige" referenced in Markus Sesko's eSwordsmiths.

I experienced the shut-off as well.

The Obaku did consider themselves the true bearers of the mind seal all the way back to Rinzai, often using seals that identify which generation they are in relation to Rinzai, even though they have an admixed practice of Zen and Pure Land Buddhism (e.g. practice of chanting of the name of Guanyin), which Hakuin Ekaku considered a deviation from the true practice. Those of us who practice Rinzai Zen actually all trace back to Hakuin as a monumental reformer who returned Zen practice to the original Rinzai focus on koan study. These religious movements are really important in doing attribution of Japanese arts and crafts and can provide useful clues and even conclusive evidence. So far, it seems, the calligraphy may have been done by Ike no Taiga. I just don't know if the brushwork is consistent with his style. It seems a bit crude.

I was told there was an issue but by the time I logged in, all was working fine. The whole of SA has had some serious internet disruptions the past few days. Apparently massive DDOS attacks launched against all the ISP's, and most have had some serious problems, so I'm guessing that was part of it. No-one knows why or by whom, but it's a large one, and taken down most of the providers for a bit. I expect there may be some lingering issues over the next few days.

I'm not very well-versed in these things, but Wikipedia tells me that the Obaku school considered themselves a kind of orthodox version of Chinese Zen, hence the use of "Rinzai Seishu" in not only this seal, but in others I saw online while fishing around. There are a few other examples on the calligraphy at the site below https://note.com/hakubutsu/n/n2fba5de59e7a "Taiga-hō" ...I just assumed "hō" (法) was the same as sometimes seen in swordsmith signatures, and represents having achieved a certain level of study/enlightenment, but again, I'm out of my zone of experience here. Just to clarify, the three seals I mentioned above are the ones on the calligraphy (text), and not the ones on the depiction of the seated figure. So the seal with Taiga in it is attached to the text. The seals on the figure are 葉室山主 (Hamuro-san shu) and 檗僧半囗 (can't read the final one...looks like 霞 or something).

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

That’s the stuff, yes. Functions like sandpaper. Also widely used for polishing lacquer. 砥草 Tokusa, often pronounced Togusa.

I was thinking tokusa! Dried and used to polish shirasaya?

Genbu of the north is the ancient Chinese tortoise upon which the universe stands. A snake appears from its rear end. Genbu is the black warrior of the north, chief of the four directional guardians. Genbu is painted on ancient tomb walls in Japan. Genbu later became Bishamonten, chief of the Shiten-no-o guardians. Bishamonten was the god of warriors and listened to their cry. For this reason the turtle Genbu has ears, although tortoises and turtles don’t. Genbu is the turtle shell, the brain pan, the crown, the 甲 shell of armour. 甲 the shell is Number One, the top/best, in the old counting system 甲、乙、丙、丁… Recently I bought a pair of Menuki with a gold-shell Genbu on a shakudo background. You can see the ears, …but the tail is from a Minogamé.

Maybe pics like this are of some use for You? https://ebay.us/m/PhyHll

Perhaps someone can explain their use better? For everyday use when burning charcoal for heating a tetsubin, yes, but also for the tea ceremony, to keep the ash ground neatly raked. (What I really wanted was the candle/wick pincers/tongs; all the rest were a bonus.)

Yes, essential part of your kit for lighting match cord for your matchlock(s). The Netsuké also act as bowls for protecting the lighting process. Yesterday on the main steps of Tsuyama Castle.