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Hello everyone, I also wanted to share with you my result at the last NBSK contest. Last year, at my first participation, I received the “Kasaku” (佳作) award and it was a great honor for me, as well as seeing my work exhibited first at the Tetsu Museum in Sakaki machi (Nagano) and then at the Meiji Jingu in Tokyo. The results were published in last days, and I can proudly say that I have confirmed the Kasaku award for the second consecutive year, in a context where the level is extremely high and the pursuit of perfection is constant. This year, I decided to raise the bar with a more elaborate work and a more challenging execution technique: from the choice of an “archaic” hitatsura hamon, complex and highly dynamic, to the realization process itself, which led me to a nearly three-dimensional result. I worked in multiple layers, with different dilutions, using brushes and a shodō ink stick, following the teachings I received during my last trip to Japan and after countless hours of experimentation to find a balance that satisfied me. It was a process with no margin for correction. There are some imperfections but that's okay, we have to know how to accept them. It was a long process—a true pursuit of perfection—almost a form of active meditation in which time seems to lose its meaning. The choice of the kakemono (made in Japan), too, was not accidental: on the shirasaya there is an old label bearing the name of the blade, “Amanokawa” — the Milky Way — likely inspired by the long sunagashi and the brilliant nie that characterize it. For this reason, we chose a display that would evoke, even if only from afar, a starry sky. Below I leave you some photos, and thank you for your attention.

Hello, Which school for this Tsuba ? It looks like Ko kinko style but ... Any opinion welcome Thanks Sebastien

Alexander I also did a four volume book series on the A.H.Church collection - the unpublished Koop catalogue in book form with the addition of both views of the guard, which unfortunately the museum's online resource does not have.

Greetings folks. I am a newbie to nihonto and have a katana in shin gunto mounts. The blade is mumei, has some rust, and seems to me to possibly have an itame hada. On the nakago, there are file marks that seem to be katte-sagari. Where the blade meets the habaki, the blade is sharpened, so I doubt it is gendaito. It needs a polish badly but don't know if this blade is worth the cost. What can you tell me about this katana? Thank you in advance. Jose

As a historic enthusiast I might say who cares about the condition as it is such a rare signed tachi Well that is of course slight exaggeration but I do think to me this is far more interesting than lot of the fine mumei Jūyō blades. I have so far found 11 other signed Yoshimochi swords, and here are few of them Jūyō Bunkazai owned by temple Tokubetsu Jūyō owned by Tōken Nagoya Museum Tokugawa donated tachi owned by Ise Jingū Jūyō Bijutsuhin in private collection Jūyō Bijutsuhin in Sano Art Museum Jūyō Bijutsuhin in Tokugawa Art Museum I have only seen 1 signed Yoshimochi tachi with Tokubetsu Hozon sold online. It was very short blade but in better condition. Still I think I might prefer this longer tachi in weaker condition over it. I must say I am totally out of clue when it comes to valuing items like these, as I could see this selling way more than it is currently listed.

Congratulations Francesco, that is awesome. I feel this wonderful execution also shows your good eye for fine details

Amazing, many congratulations . So nice to see that such skills, knowledge and ability still exist in this world. I understand your comment re “active meditation”. It is a very peaceful place to be.

Some similarities here?

Very, very tired…. Signs are everywhere: weight, jigane (with all the forging lines visible all over the blade), hamachi narrowed down, hamon running off the edge in a few places. It must have been a very good blade once. Yet, zaimei ubu Ichimonji…. so it has historic and other value….

Greetings, This is my 1st tsuba ever. What can you guys tell me about it?

Is this the link John? https://www.aoijapan.com/tsubakishu-ju-sadanaganbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-tosogu/ A sold example Kishu Ju Sadanaga https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/326823576742?srsltid=AfmBOooDqcgIxmv03s_wR7cQ7XFjIeKKX6whNdNtt8f67q0RrvY9ApMm https://www.bonhams.com/auction/16021/lot/139/an-iron-tsuba-by-kishu-no-sadanaga-teimei-mid-edo-period/ About thirty guards down the list is this one from https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_kogatana&tousougu&youhin.html Looks like Sadanaga varied his style a lot [if it was the same guy and not several with the same name?]

2nd picture

545g is lightweight for it being nearly 75cm in length. I agree with others that it appears to be tired, and the weight suggests that it has lost a lot of material over the years. But zaimei and ubu would seem to be worth more than the auction’s low starting price. I’m guessing it will go for quite a bit more.

The school of "exquisite" - and out of my pay grade! Wow beautiful piece.

Kyō-kinkō?

I believe this reads: - Sagami (no) kami Fujiwara Kaneyasu - Noshu Seki ju

both replaced by Dawson, and this is coming from someone that has owned pieces published in all three

Moses Becerra at NihontoAntiques.com also

The scabbard once had a leather combat cover that is now gone.

I defer to your expertise, John, but what do you think about he nakago shape and two holes? Not a standard WWII nakago .... unless it's something late war? But hamon seems too good for late war.

I've been hijacking @Shamsy's Type 95 Black Saya thread for too long, so I'm starting a Gold-painted gunto thread to track the gold ones. I considered labeling it "Painted Gunto" to gather all the colors, but the discussions of each can get quite lengthy, so I'll keep this one just on the gold. But for reference, Steve's thread also has several examples of officer gunto painted black as well. And we have the thread on Mottled Green paint on Type 95s. I've had examples of all 3 colors and regret stripping the 2 gold-painted 95s and the mottled-green 95. I still have one black-painted 95. But back to the gold! My interest started with the acquisition of 2 Type 95s, one totally painted gold (even the blade) and a late-war 95 painted black and gold: I believe this one might have been post war as the paint come off relatively easy using acetone, and the blade, once cleaned, had lots of scratches and marks as if used plenty prior to painting. Also, there was no original paint underneath. It had been completely stripped before re-painting with gold. The late war 95: In hindsight, I now believe this one to be a wartime personalization. The paint was hard to get off with acetone, and the original color was underneath. The following are other examples that I've filed, beginning with a primo one just posted by @Arty A on this thread HERE. The paint is old and abused from use, and is covered with patina inline with the rest of the gunto: (out of time for now. Will update and continue later)

I haven't seen this variant posted yet in this thread so here goes. This is an old family blade signed Munemitsu kitted out for WW2. I bought it a few years ago because I had never seen this kind of tsuka cover. I unsnapped the cover on the saya and it appears that an old sparkly lacquered wood saya lurks underneath. I would have to undo the threads on the tsuka cover to see what lies beneath and I don't have the courage to do that. I figure some things are best left undisturbed. I also haven't applied any leather preservative to field covers. Que sera, sera.

Spotted on eBay this morning. https://ebay.us/m/6KRoOF

Here's a pic of my tropical cover.

At a glance many of the swords look too good to be true, when you examine the pictures closely you'll quickly see why they're so cheap. That being said if your goal is to simply own one genuine Japanese sword that's papered I doubt you'll find a more affordable source.

He lists things very cheap and gets bought instantly. Mostly unpapered but there are occasional hozon and toku ho. If u look closely, most items will have some form of kizu but you cant really complain with how cheap they are listed. It s always good to remember that cheap unpapered blades are cheap bc they most likely cant paper OR they arent worth the shinsa money. Like a lot of the mumei shinshinto tanto and wak

I'm very surprised by the Omori School papers. Personally, I thought this was high grade Kaga Kinko up there with some of the examples in the Kaga Kinko Taikan.

I linked to the listing above. Lots of photos on the dealer site. Unsigned but it does have NBTHK papers for Omori.

Construction appears to be different. I'm not seeing a silver insert. This is the original listing https://eirakudo.shop/487812

Nosyu in Seki City Gifu Provence. Keiji Igarashi the owner is who I would recommend.

Stephen - I have the same affliction of making decisions with the heart over head. Sentimental value is what I'm trying to convey to my wife. Suggestions from experience in this type of spousal negotiation is invited! Kronos - Chris said the togi-shi did take a look at it and said it was difficult to tell without taking it to the stone. Before shinsa is sent a photo of it to Mr Benson who thought it could polish out however I can appreciate the judgment is not based on in-hand observation. So far I take the togi-shi opinions it to mean restoration might be possible which is far better than an outright no. Brian - Great advice and justification. I'll have to borrow it. Better yet, may I have your number so I can have my wife call you? Perhaps start a nihonto spousal negotiation service? (Joking Regards, -allan

When a sword costs $475, and gets 76 points, then it really starts to become worth it to polish. I would. Maybe consult with the service mentioned here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/12772-sword-polishing-service-in-Japan/ Your initial outlay was minimal, so it is worth spending some money on it imho. Congrats, that is a surprise and welcome result.

Firstly, I need to say a very belated thank you to those that have responded. The collective wisdom and openness to sharing your knowledge on nihonto is very much appreciated. I even received a welcoming PM and invited advice which I consider invaluable (Thank you Arnold!) . Based on the advice of the board, I was able to secure the Shinsa services of Mr. Bowen (Thank you Chris! Considering the logistics and possible complications, your offer to act as an intermediary for shinsa is an amazing service!) and I was fortunate to have the sword appraised by the NBHK-NPO team. I was happily surprised that the sword passed and was very surprised at the score of 76. From what I read, I was under the impression that a sword in this condition (see photos of the original post) wouldn't make it above 70. It makes me curious if the score is representative of the sword and condition in hand or if it might be representative of the "potential" of the sword once restored. It also makes me wonder how the blade could score if it were restored (by a reputable togi-shi. How much can a pre- to post polish affect the score? I'm attaching a scan of the worksheet. There are some written comments in the Nakago, Kitae, Hamon, Boshi and Kantei sections of the worksheet that I'm hoping that someone would be kind enough to translate for me. I do have inquiry placed with a family friend to translate but I fear that they may have difficulty with the translation with nihonto-specific terminology. Lastly, I find myself entering into financial discussion with my boss (wife) about the possibility of submitting the blade to a togi-shi for restoration. I expect the discussion will center on "how much will it cost?" and "how much will it be worth after polishing?" I'll try my best to explain the intangible value of learning, experience and satisfaction in restoration of a blade. My battle is to try to figure out how this is worth considering even though it is I who would benefit in that regard. Time will tell how this plays out. Someday I hope to follow up with this post with before and after photos! Regards, Allan