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I got informed that the tsuba i submitted to the 2026 NBSK tsuba contest ranked Nyusen. It was my first time attending this competition so overall it's a positive result. Let me introduce my work: The omote depicts plum blossoms, traditional symbols of resilience and elegant beauty, as they are the first to emerge at winter’s end, often pushing through the lingering snow. On the ura, I have engraved the haiku: 見らわても 見らわなくとも 花は咲く Mirawetemo / Mirawanakutomo / Hana wa saku (Whether seen or unseen, the flowers bloom) This serves as a gentle reminder to the bearer: one should act with integrity not for the sake of recognition, but because it is one’s nature—just as a flower blooms to fulfill its purpose, regardless of an audience. The intentionally naive, almost childlike rendering of the blossoms and calligraphy creates a deliberate juxtaposition against the raw strength of the iron and the tsuba's martial function.

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.

Has it really been over 15 years since I wrote that post?? Oh my gosh... :-D. Alex, you are very welcome, and thank you so much not only for acknowledging my post, but also sharing with me how it helped shape your perspective and drive you to continue your quest to study, learn, and *enjoy* this magnificent art form! I am *truly* touched by your post. You've made my week, and I am so happy for you. Sadly, the Nihonto community has lost every one of the folks you mentioned before; Guido, Ford, Keith, and Darcy, three of whom were very close personal friends to me, and while I could not presume to call Ford a friend in the truest sense of the word, I held deep respect for him as a craftsman. Friendships and relationships that were forged with shared enthusiasm and the joy within Nihonto. Herein lies the profound and salient point; the most precious of all things we collect in this wacky field is the friends, relationships, and experiences that stay with us forever while we help preserve the arts that brought us together in the first place. Thus in turn, these things can continue to do the same for future generations. Keep going. You're doing great, and it gets better. Cheers, Ted

The study/collection of nihontō can be a slow-burn pursuit. Some of you with bear-trap memories may recall (though I concede, it may be unlikely) this blade I posted here, coming on seventeen years ago. At the time a recent graduate living in the UK with plenty of enthusiasm but very little knowledge and severely limited means, this board (and SFI) was effectively my only interactive window into the realm of nihontō. At this stage of my 'study', which I recall very clearly, I was not content in taking the very good advice to spend my hard-earned pennies on boring old books! I was keen to get my mitts on medieval Japanese steel, and was rather more inclined to trawl eBay looking for a deal than to drop my “first thousand dollars” on dusty tomes. (You gotta be kidding me!) I had three criteria for buying my first ebay sword: be sure it’s koto, thick, and not rusty. Eventually I settled on something I could be certain, I told myself, was genuinely old but still healthy, which to me meant thick. In my defense, I tried hard to be selective, gravitating towards something with an “obviously old” and active jihada. This sword represented my first foray into online auctions, and marked my first thousand dollars spent there. I always had faith that this sword was a bit special and unusual; however, try as I might, I could never confidently match it to any school. It seemed to my ignorant eyes to have the traits of several, all at once. I am pleased to finally and at long last be able to share a reliable update and judgement of this sword. The sword was examined by renowned expert Mike Yamasaki, who appraised it as the work of... More recently, I had the opportunity to exhibit the sword locally at a cultural arts festival in Orange County, alongside a few others. It was a small thing, but meaningful to me, and felt like a way of (finally) contributing something back to the wider “nihontō study and preservation” community. I wanted to return to this thread to close the loop, but more importantly to say thank you. A great deal of my interest in deeper study began right here - I was so determined to uncover the mystery of this blade's origin. The friendships, knowledge, and perspective that followed all trace back, in part, to those early exchanges. NMB has a lot to answer for. Over the years I’ve had the chance to meet and correspond with some of the people who replied here and elsewhere. That has been an honour, and always both enlightening and entertaining. I feel compelled to mention a few names in particular who I wish I could properly thank: Guido Schiller, Ford Hallam, Keith Larman and Darcy Brockbank, among others. Ted, I have been meaning to thank you for your responses to that original thread for a very long time. So, a belated thank you to Ted Tenold for such a detailed reply; it became, whether you realised it or not, a lens through which I’ve looked at sugata and three-dimensional blade geometry ever since. This post is not intended to resurrect an old thread but rather to close the loop on an earlier discussion, which I have always felt was left unresolved, and also to acknowledge the influence it had. My thanks to those who contributed their knowledge then and who continue to do so now.

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

All, I am looking to reenter the habit after a long hiatus. For those that don’t know me, I used to focus on the Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu group and amassed a nice collection before life took a detour. I am specifically looking for the Miyairi school, Enomoto Sadayoshi group, and Minamoto Moriyoshi. I do like So Tsutomo and Matsuba Kunimasa as well, so while I do have a preference to these groups, I’m not locked into them. I do have a preference for shinsakuto, gendaito, and possibly shinshinto. I’m looking to get a couple of blades to get started. Feel free to message me if you have any excellent examples you’re looking to move - or know of any.

Just had lunch in Fukuoka at the udon place called Bizen Fukuoka Ichimonji, and was explaining to one of the offspring that this name means more than just a random udon shop by the river.

I have done a three book set on the subject, along with five others centering on specific collections from the 19th century and early years of the 20th. Plus a few related design references - the books mentioned concentrate only on tsuba other objects from those collections are not included. Total pages 934 1924 100 pages 1894 > 1902 88 pages 1916 98 pages 1911 68 pages 1884 and 1898 82 pages I did the Wrangham collection along with the Hartman collection for my own study source. A thick book of 415 pages [I guess it is a "pirate book" as it is the only one in the world ] The Georg Oeder collection was translated from German to English - the original German is here: https://archive.org/details/japanischestichb00vaut/mode/2up Willkommen bei NMB, Alexander!

The most common material used for inlaid eyes in Japanese Art is translucent horn often with a darker pupil. Found on metalwork, netsuke, Shibayama, okimono etc. This is what this eye looks like to me. I’ve made 100s of them! Quick pick of something similar….

@Bruce Pennington @Kiipu You guys might find this interesting. Through a discussion with a dealer, I commented on showato getting torokusho. I was told that this dealer was commisioned to gather swords to be sent to Japan for resale. The Japanese dealer had several shops and would ask the swords be sent to his Osaka location and not his Tokyo location because the regulations were less strict (or at least less enforced) in Osaka and getting a torokusho for gunto was easier. I bring this up because I was thinking about...gulp...doing some research on registered gunto by location and frequency - unless you guys have done that already. John C.

59th Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival - sword display

Hi Forrest, welcome to the forum! Unfortunately I have to agree with everyone else, this does look like either a homemade blade, or one built to intentionally deceive. Quite a few of us started the same way, buying a fake and then getting introduced to the world of Nihonto and wartime blades the hard way, do so don't give up hope - they are out there! Hopefully you didn't pay too much for it... I'd heavily advise reading up on as many threads in the forum as you can - you'll be able to train your eye pretty quickly about what a type 95 or type 98 etc should look like. Also, did you remove the tsuka wrap? Hopefully not something you'd do on a real ww2 relic 😅

Sorry, it is a Chinese reproduction. Probably made within the last thirty years.

My problem with this is that the NBTHK has started just throwing into one single basket anything that is kinko and comes from that area. Kozenji and Owari Goto level workmanship vs Nagoya mono . Since 2014 or so, increasingly it is simply labeled "Owari kinko" way to dumb it down. ... way way down.

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.

That Mōgusa tachi at Eirakudo is indeed interesting item. I am not sure if it is indeed from Heian period, I would personally be more comfortable with more conservative Kamakura period estimate. This does indeed show the bit "rough" northern style quite well. However I think I am seeing hamon dropping off from the blade at several places, or at least getting extremely on the edge. Even though I am big fan of the school I am not digging the price. I think this has been my all time favorite of Eirakudo Mōgusa swords (funny enough I have seen 3 tachi and 1 katana sold by them that were attributed to this rare school) https://web.archive.org/web/20240624062731/https://eirakudo.shop/token/tachikatana/detail/644744 As for the big Hōju blade, I am not sure if I understand it well enough. It is either ō-suriage ōdachi as the description says or it could be later very large katana close to original size. It is unfortunate to admit that just by looking at the pictures I cannot say if it is indeed ō-suriage ōdachi or an ubu katana. Maybe I could give better opinion if I saw the sword in hand, maybe I wouldn't still be any wiser. From the pictures I cannot say if the hamon continues onto nakago or if it terminates around the machi. NBTHK has attributed this to kōdai Hōju and by that they mean later Muromachi Hōju. This type of sugata occasionally appeared during late Muromachi to Keichō. You can see signed sword that is shorter but has quite similarish sugata by the same seller here: https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/P-993.html It is an interesting item for sure. With large items like this one I think seeing them live even behind museum glass is important to get the real perspective about the size, as it is indeed a big sword. There are some ōdachi by Hōju school, I have seen the Hōju ōdachi at Musashi Mitake jinja few times, it is a marvellous sword.

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.

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….

Both Aoi's Japanese and English websites are mistaken. The Japanese website claims the sayagaki and polish were done by "the famous Hon'ami Kōkei", but Hon'ami Kōkei died in 1800 or thereabouts. And...I don't think he was particularly famous. He seems to be a bit obscure. The English website is completely lost in translation, as it says the sayagaki and polish were done by Hon'ami Kōson. Anyway, the sayagaki has a date of 1990, so it couldn't have been written by either Hon'ami Kōkei or Hon'ami Kōson. The sayagaki isn't signed by the author. The sayagaki does say that the polish was done by "Kōkei" (光敬), who I presume refers to the living national treasure sword-polisher Ono Kōkei (小野光敬), who died in 1994. No idea about the condition of the blade. Looks OK from the photos. Ubu, signed, published in a very old book (Muromachi-era "Ōsekishō" 往昔抄), validated by the NTHK in 1980, and by NBTHK in 2020. One worth looking at in hand. The timing of the NBTHK papers makes me wonder if this sword maybe never quite got the approval of the old guard at the NBTHK.

Kyō-kinkō?

This is from my file that I did about year ago

An auspicious day in the fifth month of Genji 2 (1865).

We apologise for the recent lack of updates. We have now listed six new items on our website, featuring a strong mix of high-quality Koto, Shintō, Shinshintō, and modern works. Jūyō Token — Mumei (Attributed to Unji) Naginata An ubu (unshortened) mumei naginata attributed to Unji, dating to the 14th century. This is an exceptionally healthy example that has seen very few polishes, retaining an outstanding sugata together with excellent jigane and hamon. A rare opportunity to acquire a high-level Jūyō naginata in such condition. 🔗 https://www.toukentakarado.com/tk037-mumei-juyo-unji-naginata Tokubetsu Hozon Token — Mumei (Attributed to Tametsugu) Katana A Nanbokuchō-period katana with a bold and powerful sugata, displaying strong and attractive Sōshū-den characteristics throughout. A highly appealing work attributed to Tametsugu. 🔗 https://www.toukentakarado.com/tk036-mumei-tametsugu-th Yanagida Fukutsugu Daishō A purpose-made daishō by leading modern swordsmith Yanagida Fukutsugu, designated an Intangible Cultural Property holder of Moka City. Commissioned by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato for Mr. Hirata Fuhō, a 17th-generation descendant of Hirata Shōgen (Grandfather of Miyamoto Musashi). Executed in the style of Kiyomaro, both blades feature impressive ō-kissaki and commanding presence. 🔗 https://www.toukentakarado.com/tk038-yanagida-fukutsugu-daisho Tokubetsu Hozon Token — Sasshū-jū Kiyosada Wakizashi A Shinshintō-period Satsuma wakizashi with a bold and powerful sugata, representing a strong example of the Satsuma tradition. 🔗 https://www.toukentakarado.com/tk035-sasshu-ju-kiyosada-wakizashi Tokubetsu Hozon Token — Sanshū-jū Kunisuke Katana A long and dynamically shaped katana by a direct student of Koyama Munetsugu. Executed in a Bizen-influenced style with a tightly forged ko-itame jigane, and accompanied by Bakumatsu-period style koshirae. 🔗 https://www.toukentakarado.com/item-tk039-sanshu-ju-kunisuke Tokubetsu Hozon Token — Shinano no Kami Fujiwara Nobuyoshi Katana A refined Shintō katana featuring a tight ko-itame jigane and suguha hamon in fine nie-deki. Accompanied by a practical and understated ryaku tachi koshirae. 🔗 https://www.toukentakarado.com/item-tk040-shinano-no-kami-fujiwara-nobuyoshi-katana We hope you’ll take a moment to explore these new additions. Please stay tuned, as we will continue to list more of our inventory in the coming weeks. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Warm regards, Nicholas Fu Touken Takarado 🌐 www.toukentakarado.com

Funnily enough, that's also how I found the sword initially; I had been searching for an iaito online for my own practice, and because the story about the iaido sensei was in the seller's description, the listing showed up in my search results. The koshirae is very nice for a fatally flawed blade, albeit rather low-key, which lends some credence to this story (as does the blade being extremely thin and light due to having taken so many polishes - suitable indeed for an elderly practitioner). I was particularly fond of the tsuba, which has some subtle detailing reminiscent of Kagamishi school work. At any rate, I am pleased that both you and the previous owner were both upfront and well-informed about the blade's condition, and that it has found its way to someone who can appreciate it for what it is and the centuries of history behind it.

If you fellow collector's, enthusiasts and scholars would like some very nice nihonto items to study then check out the upcoming morphy auctions may 12th 2026. It looks like lots 1301-1328 are some fantastic tachi, katana, wakizashi , fuchi kashira etc.. Juyo items, TB Hozon etc. I was studying the suishinshi masahide today for some time. Here is a link to the sale. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/A_RARE_AND_IMPORTANT_SUISHINSHI_MASAHIDE_WAKIZASHI-lot664367.aspx

Hi, yes, took screen shots, cropped them, turned them upright and saved them. The first is a Settsu (Osaka) gun made by a smith (name obliterated) working for the House of Enamiya. 摂州住榎並屋ｘｘｘ衛作 The second has stuff I need to double-check on. The date at top is fuzzy but looks like 萬延 Man-en Gannen (1860). The Mei 鈴木鉄造　典直　作之 Suzuki Tetsuzo (?) Norinao Saku Kore, = made by Suzuki Tetsuzo Norichika/Norinao (not sure about how he wanted those characters read!) but no place of manufacture is indicated. NB I did find a record of another gun made by this second smith above Nick, dated Bunkyu Gannen (1861), which does put yours inside the ballpark.

Good afternoon/evening! See, things like this is why I adore the Nihontō community - it’s such a small group of honest people! You were under no obligation to point any of this out, and yet you felt compelled to be open and honest - I wish more communities had this level of integrity. because… The seller 100% notified me of the concerns/previous issues with this blade, but he could not completely remember what was originally told to him. He was absolutely open on the “risks” of the purchase, and had provided a more than reasonable price (in my opinion). I was indeed wondering, although it wasn’t stated at the time, if this was an artificially applied hamon. That said, I noticed some aspects of the blade (like the hamon not extending into the kissaki, exactly), and figured something like this was going on. The fact that the suguha hamon is not original, while sad, doesn’t bother me too much to be honest. Ultimately, I ended up purchasing the blade based entirely on the fact that it (appears to have been) mounted so many different times, and has some aspects like the asymmetrical horimono that I enjoy as well. I set out to purchase a koto blade that was used throughout its life, and despite its issues and although it may never see a kantei due to those concerns, I *think* I still accomplished that at least (though I’m still very much a novice in this!). The other amusing thing is that, I am a student of iaido of about a decade now, and I did also hear that note about the sensei - while that story may or may not be true, I found it enjoyable nevertheless. Out of curiosity, being mounted so many times and based on the profile of the blade, I had imagined this was somewhere in the ballpark of 1400-1500. Did you ever place the blade in a particular time (understanding the school/tradition may be impossible now) when you owned it? Thank you! Very Respectfully, Vincent

@Bruce Pennington From the auction posted above: I know you have Masahide's kokuin listed in the stamps doc, however this may be a slightly clearer pic. John C.

That’s why it is confusing CET vs CEST. Midnight CET is 01 am CEST so bidding could be like last minute snipe. But yeah lets go with first bid with 20$ and I will add another 5$ so We get same amount and no dissapointment on any side. Especially first bid was made at 14th. @Marius 35$ from me. Donation already made via paypal. @Brian paypal gives you Rands? I exchanged for 600 R and paypal took 35$ so I have 17,48 R left. Do You have something like revolut? great multi currency account. So simple cheap wire transfer.

The only Yoshimochis of note are Fukuoka Ichimonji so it doesn't need to be qualified here. If they thought the mei was legit but belonged to some other, less well-known Yoshimochi, then they would add a qualifier in brackets.

Katana Ubu nakago Mei translation- forged with care by Minamoto Yoshitsugu on a lucky day in the 9th month of man'ein 1860 year of the monkey. For Tsubosaka Morinobu from Matsunomoto the province of Harima. With use of water from the famous and blessed Tenjin'yama spring located on the property of the sword owner. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Era- 1860 In shirasaya and beautiful sword bag. Nagasa- 70.7 cm Hamon- strong sugu ha A stout blade, very thick. High/wide with ample Niku. Itame hada, mixed with Mokume with chikei. Kinsuji on both sides and kissaki. . Mune machi is 5/16 , gold and silver two piece habaki. This is a big strong special order piece. No fatal flaws, polish is perfect. Located in canada.44will ship to USA and canada. Will accept bank money order or bank draft. 4900 US obo plus shipping

It was sold for 4.2 million yen, or roughly $26,000.

A fine Ko-Gassan wakizashi with NBTHK Hozon paper Nagasa: 48.9 cm Sori: 1.1 cm Motohaba: 2.9 cm Kasane: 0.5 cm Date of registration: Showa 33 (1958) Ishikawa pref. The Gassan school of Dewa Province is one of the most respected traditions in Japanese swordmaking, with a lineage extending from the Koto period into modern times. Authentic Koto-period Gassan Wakizashi are rarely encountered on the market. Based on its workmanship, excellent Ayasugi hada and overall characteristics, including its ō-kissaki (approx. 6 cm), the blade shows traits associated with the Nanbokuchō to early Muromachi period; however, precise dating remains difficult due to the consistency of Gassan style throughout the Koto era. Price: $5,600 USD A solid, papered, and increasingly hard-to-find Ko-Gassan piece.

Small update. I managed to contact the buyer other pieces and offered to sell him the blade. He's going to get back to me a bit later. Fingers crossed!

In the download section you can find the english Token Bijutsu. In 58/59 you can read a long article about the first and second generation.

The beginnings for the licensing system were bit funky. I believe the registering started at bit different dates in some provinces, some started earlier and some later. I did quite a bit of research about this in 2025 when I was calculating the total number of licenses issued. Now I can't even understand why I got so invested in quite useless information like that. The license in Gerrys OP is amongst the first issued in Shizuoka. The license in Johns post is from Tochigi. Here are some numbers from Tokyo that I have found, items highlighted in yellow are ones in which the numbering does not fit the running numbering. As you can see pretty much after S26 the running numbering starts to flow in Tokyo area. I think currently Tokyo must be passed 330,000 licenses issued, for comparison I think Tochigi is somewhere above 55,000 licenses and Shizuoka might be around 75,000 licenses (unfortunately the last certificate I found for each early last year when I searched were 2024, 2023 and 2018).

thanks Zack...appreciate your openness and honesty. My unsolicited advice? If your friend has asked you to sell it then do everything possible to make contact with the person who bought the tsuka etc and do a deal (this seems to be the universal term these days ) As I see it, what you are selling now is really not worth much. A collector won't be interested unless they have all the missing parts (UNLIKELY) and even then, its mismatched. A sword enthusiast is better buying something recently made and cheap, at least the bits would have been made together and it will cut (unlike a Type 95 blade). The person who bought the tsuka etc would be crazy not to pay a good price for the matching blade etc given they can put it all back together (or find someone who can/NMB will help there) and it will be worth a squillion more than it is now in two houses with two different people. and....you would be doing the collecting world a big favour! Rob

Here's a quick video in sunlight of the tsuba for you to better appreciate it https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xPGDzFvqnX69nEFrNMGgFwfyYPqa5tLJ/view?usp=drivesdk

Thank you, yes they have to be traditionally made. It took several weekends to make, I don't really count hours since it's an hobby and what matters is just the final result

Not meaning to muddy the waters here... But there is nashiji hada aka "pear skin" and several other forms of densely forged hada. As well as mu-hada "no hada". All three can appear very frequently in Shinshinto blades. This one might be a good candidate for Shinsa, just to get an expert opinion on the hada alone!

G'day Guys, I eventually was able to find a copy of "Nippon Toh". I scanned it using my phone in three parts. I am no computer wiz, so it is a little messed up. I will see if I am able to upload it to the forum. Interestingly the photo used as an example of "Masamune Den" actually shows itame hada. Cheers, Bryce

In the auction it will go higher... However the prices of signed Ichimonji in suguha-like execution, tired - were never super-high. This one is not really suguha, there is definitely plenty of choji and activity but its probably still not the most active blade in hand. It may sound conspirational but I was always surprised by how large percentage of signed Ichimonji blades are actually less active compared to an average suriage one... or is it just my impression. I am not sure its a great Juyo candidate, could be, but it looks like a nice blade anyway.

Suspect it may have been dumped by someone who was hoping it could go Juyo, being ubu zaimei Ichimonji, and decided to cut their losses when it failed a couple of times. But for someone who cares more about the historical value/significance, it could be a good pick up - assuming there aren't bigger flaws being hidden by the photography.

Congrats Manuel! Being recognized even with Nyusen means your work is accepted as traditional and of a certain standard. We all wish you congratulations.

Deleting the pics renders this thread pretty useless. It would be nice if you would upload at least 1 or 2 pics of each here directly. Not because anyone thinks any less of someone with fakes, but because it may help someone down the line looking at something similar. We have a nice reference library growing here, and I am sure we have saved more than a handful of people from wrong purchases.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/137238358374 looks like top of the range!

Hi, I recently purchased this Kashira & was surprised to see this on the side! I instantly knew it was special! Looks exactly the same as an earlier post & pic of a Tsuba. In all the years I've been collecting & studying Japanese Swords I've never seen anything like it before. If looked at in detail it has Christ on the cross which has been etched in gold with the cross outline etched in silver. The etching is very detailed & you can even make out the eye's ? The Kashira appears to be made of iron for the banding & copper/brass for the face. It appears to be Edo period?? When positioned on the handle the hand definitely covers the symbol hidden at all times. It may have been etched on after the ban on Christianity was lifted at the end of the Edo Period??? But I still think it's Special & is a welcome addition to my collection & a great conversation piece!? Any information would be appreciated. Cheers. Shawn.

Harima no Kami Fujiwara Tadakuni The date is for someone else...