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Here is for sale something you don’t encounter every day, Nanbokuchō period naginata. As many might know ōdachi and naginata are my main thing in collecting and research. I am not too happy to sell this one as finding Nanbokuchō naginata is very difficult. However, I will try to save up towards something better so I need to let this one go. This is in no means a perfect piece and it has been shortened but it still remains as a naginata. It has few flaws which can be seen in pictures but also parts of this have quite nice workmanship and interesting activity in hamon. NBTHK has attributed this to Ko-Uda, and I would think this would be Nanbokuchō work. I believe this naginata has been shortened around 25 cm from its original blade length that would have been around 75 cm. As can be seen in the pictures the original naginata-hi is only on the nakago with soe-bi continuing small portion into current blade. I have really enjoyed owning a shortened naginata like this that is not a naoshi, these are quite rare to come by at this length of shortening. It is far more common to find slightly shortened ones. The NBTHK Hozon papers show the item as naginata and attribution to Ko-Uda. I am not that good in kantei as I don't focus on the smaller details that much, I prefer the bigger picture. However, I can understand how NBTHK went with this attribution. There is lots of interesting activity in the blade but I think the Ko-Uda attribution is fitting as this item might be lower quality in overall. There is also a piece of the item missing on the mune. It is about 2cm in size. I tend to think it could be battle damage but it is impossible to tell for sure. It could be someone dropped it to stone by accident in 1980's Japan etc. I know many dealers would tout battle damage view and I understand it in business field. I feel the picture with flaw shows also some blade details quite nicely, I am not really good photographer and only have my phone to take pictures. I would believe this one has lost the original shaft it has had and someone made this shirasaya style shaft for this. The saya is what I believe is called Raden, it has some pieces that have flaked off and it is in worn condition with small split near the tip area. Unfortunately, I don't think in this price range professional restoration would be feasible. It has two piece copper habaki, it is plated to make it golden color. Nagasa: 49,4 cm Sori: 2,2 cm Motohaba: 3,1 cm Motokasane: 5mm Nakago: 42,5 cm Weight: 865 grams (blade) Tsuka: 87 cm Total: 127,5 cm In saya: 130 cm In overall I think this is interesting item. Definitely this is not the best item out there but I think it is a cool very old naginata, and they are hard to find. I've been tracking them down when they appear for 10+ years now. I tried to put some interesting images in the sales ad. I do have lots of more on my computer and I can take any pictures that are wanted. I needed to reduce the size of pictures a lot to forum, here is a link to a dropbox with full sized pictures. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/uoojaq9z0u2sukoingnky/AFdEMoQUVW2_45g-rHbXdws?rlkey=1fmzk5iuusccggb3rb2w1h2ha&dl=0 I would prefer bank transfer as the method but can also accept PayPal. Message me and I will check the postage costs to you. One thing that is needed that I can send 150 cm package to your country by Finnish Post. Price: 3000€

Bit late, but better late than never. The original question is not quite as simple as it seems. The sword I own is a 4th Gen katana with a katana mei and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers. I asked Sensei Tanobe about it and he wrote back (Jan 2000) and said " Dear Mr. Robertshaw, Even though your Tadayoshi sword is slightly too long to have a Katana -mei, there are indeed some exceptions amongst swords made by Tadayoshi II, III and IV in length slightly over 2 Shaku. The mei is undoubtedly genuine, thus this sword may be considered a very rare example of such exceptional works. Sincerely yours, Michihiro Tanobe" with seal. The Hizen kaji cutoff for 'Katana' versus 'Wakizashi' is 2 Shaku 1 sun, so a technically long sword at 2 shaku 0 sun 8 Bu (for example) and classed as a katana by the NBTHK, would be thought of as a Wakizashi in the Hizen Kaji and would therefore have the signature on the "wrong" side for the average collector who uses 2 Shaku as the cutoff! The sword referenced above (4th Gen) is ubu at 2shaku 3 sun 3 bu --- so not in the questionable zone of 2 shaku 1 sun, in fact, way outside this zone.. Never say "Never" when it comes to swords! Cheers, Rog

Being a diagnosed dyslexic myself, makes this stuff pretty challenging. Even keeping word order and spelling straight in English can be rough. I usually reread my posts 5-10 times before I finally catch mistakes that other people notice almost immediately. Sometimes I don't even see those mistakes until I leave and come back with a fresh perspective. It gets even harder when kanji are involved, especially counting strokes. A lot of that comes from just not being familiar with another language, but it still takes a fair amount of effort. I've done it before, but I don’t really like using dyslexia as an excuse, because it’s just part of my everyday life. It’s very common, and most people who have it don’t even know, and those who do, often don't lean on it like an ailment. I literally don't even know what it's like to NOT have dyslexia . As I understand it, there's varying levels severity with dyslexia, so I must have the more common mild version... So it may be the cause for mistakes in spelling here and there, but it's typically no biggie. It makes me a slower and more careful learner, and I think that's a good thing. I even read slowly, which is how I was flagged to then be diagnosed while I was in school. I still have to google MENUKI and MEKUGI half the time, so I don't mix them up -Sam

三善長道上□ - Miyoshi Nagamichi shortened (this?)

All judgements rendered in 1970s had a tendency to be optimistic. Today's judgements are often pessimistic. It ebbs back and forth, as it usually does. There is some tendency in nihonto community to see the "green to modern" papers transition as a seminal and unprecedented event, but in my experience this is hardly so. My grandparents both collected at reasonable level (violins and firearms respectively) and many relatives wrote "papers" of their own. One had to change his signature entirely, realizing he missed a very prominent series of fakeries. So he disavowed the old signature on such pieces and would generally indicate the need to rewrite other appraisals because the research had advanced in the meantime. But after being burned with those fakes, and more concerned at this point with his reputation, his late writeups have acquired a reputation for being very conservative to the point few actually opted for the "new signatures". In the end blue papers are upper grade judgements from an optimistic period. They can be off, but seldom really raise eyebrows. Koshirae judgements quite frankly have a tendency to be insufficient to begin with, to the point of listing the motifs and not really qualifying who and when made the piece... Also, a very strong contributing factor is that for high value pieces an attempt to repaper would be natural and therefore "green and high value" is a red flag not so much because "all green were bad", but because the "good ones" were repapered... Which in case of koshirae with no specific high value attribution brings a question - what exactly would one expect them to be repapered to? Its often a very generic attribution, blue simply means the piece earned some respect...

A little correction, 梶の葉 – Paper mulberry leaf/leaves

A curious example on a Fujiwara Kanenaga sword where a Mon has been engraved on the blade, authenticity unknown:

Modern generation...instant gratification and everything handed on a plate. You get used to it. Many of the people are innocent though...some sign up and forget their details to come back and say thanks. Some just assume it's implied. I try give them the benefit of the doubt. But yeah...it's common everywhere online nowadays.

Hello everyone: As many know, swordsmiths change their mei for a variety of reasons over time. RJT smith Kanehide was no exception. But since there has been no readily available study on these changes, I've compiled as many examples of Kanehide's mei as I could find - 76 to be exact. That's not to say there aren't others, however I believe the sample is large enough to paint a definitive picture of his changes and when those changes took place. I'm including the first two pages of the study here in (low res format) for those interested in just the conclusion. The entire study, which includes an extended biographical background and all of the collected samples plus references, has been submitted to Brian for approval and inclusion in the downloads. In the meantime, if you are a fan of Kanehide, have a general interest in RJT smiths, or are just interested in smith mei changes, please enjoy the short read. Respectfully, John C.

Cheers for 2026 Year of the Horse 午 Uma

Yes - basically it's like you write But let's think rationally If there are blue papers with attribution for a big name. or for a zaimei with a big name ( Shinkai, Kotetsu, Tsuda Sukehiro ... - not necessarily Koto blade ), why not make modern papers? if the blade is in Japan we are talking about a cost of 300 USD

Volker - I don't dispute your claim However, you show blue papers and modern papers for zaimei Shinto blades In most cases, the discrepancy is in the old papers that have an attribute for a prominent swordsmith from the Kamakura/Nanbokucho period or the few from the Muromachi No one is saying that all old papers are compromised Everyone need to make individual assessments and especially not have too many expectations from a blade that suddenly appears on the market somewhere, has old papers with an attribute for famous names

Hello, Yes, blue papers are not comparable to green papers. They are, in general, closer to the truth - survivorship bias not withstanding. They are also more "lenient" - and subtle downgrade are not uncommon (but it is rarely a free fall). The reason for this is that blue papers were issued by the central authority of the NBHTK, and not regional branches. This is the root of Han Bin Siong's observation. Well, it somehow does if you're deep into this. In your example above, your set went from being a true daisho (2 swords, 1 papers) to two distinct blades with separate papers. This means the modern NBHTK judges did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that both swords were ordered from the smith with the intent of forming a daisho. While this may not seem like much, it has surprising implications on the market with regard to value. We are entering arcane topics, but it is worth pointing out. Nonetheless, I would still insist on modern NBHTK papers and Tanobe sensei Sayagaki, and evaluate every piece deeply, in context. Hope this helps, Hoshi

盛世 (Moriyo) on the left!

No. Atobori was a historically common and context-dependent practice from the Edo period onward. To recap.. Atobori (後彫り) refers to carving in a blade separate from the original design for the blade at its time of manufacture. That is to say after the sword was originally forged and finished, rather than as part of the smith’s initial “conception”. While often viewed critically by modern collectors, atobori was quite common practice from the Edo period onward. The prolonged absence of large-scale warfare in the Edo period reduced the practical emphasis on armor-piercing and battlefield durability, while factors such as balance, handling, and visual refinement gained relative importance. Within this context, atobori bo-hi were sometimes added to existing blades to alter weight distribution, improve handling characteristics, or adapt older swords to contemporary preferences. Atobori was also influenced by aesthetic fashion. Certain periods favored the presence of hi as a visual element, particularly on otherwise plain blades. Adding a groove could visually sharpen the sugata, emphasize curvature, or lend an older sword a more “classical” appearance in keeping with prevailing taste. When carried out by skilled hands, such work could be executed in orthodox styles, including nagashi terminations, making the best atobori difficult to distinguish from original carving. In the Meiji period, motivations shifted further. The abolition of sword-wearing and the collapse of the traditional samurai market led to the modification of many older blades to enhance their visual appeal to collectors, tourists, or foreign buyers. Atobori bo-hi from this period were often added to make a blade appear more dynamic or refined, sometimes with little regard for historical coherence, though the quality of execution varied widely. In the early 20th century, atobori continued for mixed reasons. Some blades were modified for martial arts use, where balance and handling were prioritized, while others were altered during remounting or refurbishment. As before, the workmanship ranged from careful and traditional to purely cosmetic. Importantly, atobori does not automatically imply deception / fake / gimei or poor quality. Many atobori hi were executed competently and reflect legitimate historical practices. However, because the carving was not part of the blade’s original forging concept, any but the best often reveal subtle inconsistencies in proportion, termination logic, or stylistic harmony when compared to original work. For this reason, experienced observers tend to assess atobori not by a single technical fault, but by the cumulative weight of visual, stylistic, and historical considerations.

The blade is proposing to be by Chikuzen Daijo Taikei Naotane and dated Tenpo 8. This is a very famous late Edo period swordsmith and there are many gimei (fake inscriptions) purporting to be his work. Compare with authenticated examples.

Hey guys....I notice this a lot. Newbies with one or two posts, publish something with questions....they get a whole lot of opinion and discussion (mostly correct) but there is a distinct absence of acknowledgement let alone comment by the OP ???? Is it just me?

鉄地真丸形両櫃 梶の葉透し 無銘 尾張栃畑 江戸時代初期 昭和五十三年孟秋 宗完 Iron ground, round shape, twin hitsu-ana Paper Mulberry leaf openwork Unsigned, Owari Tochibata Early Edo period Early autumn, Shōwa 53 (1978) Sōkan (Kao)

... and Shodai Munetsugu was probably about as close to "mainline" as you could get other than Tadayoshi ... He was the head priest of the entire Hizen Kaji, and is postulated to have become "Tosa no Kami Tadayoshi" (by Eguchi).... the 'conspiracy theory goes along the lines of Shodai Tadayoshi becoming too famous, so the name Tadayoshi was given to Munetsugu as head priest, so Tadayoshi changed to signing Tadahiro in 1624, got a bit hacked off, and used dai-mei --- hence most Shodai Tadahiro mei are dai-mei. Interestingly a whole bunch of smiths disappeared (died) around 1632...including Shodai Munetsugu. Natural causes, a fire?, or a bad case of eating contaminated fish at the local takeaway? (Joking).

John, I think you are correct. That is for brushwriting paper, a billfold or a tabako-iré for tobacco, but it’s a nice old lacquered leather example! Always nice to have lettering and/or a mon. Musket ball were downloaded from an ammo box, and then generally carried individually in small leather pouches, usually attached somehow to powder flasks. Many of these pouches had Karasu-guchi mouths, crow-beak dispensers. I’ll take some photos in a minute. Assorted ball pouches and crow beaks

It looks like a nice modern made tsuba to me. Not cast, but some of the working makes it look more like a modern utsushi to me. Fine for what it is, depending upon your pricepoint to satisfaction ratio. That is just my opinion. I have been fooled once or twice before and given the item to Goodwill thereafter.

David - sorry I cannot help with the auction question just want to send greetings from the Bay Area. -t

Interesting discussion. There are at least three (four?) systems of transliterating Japanese to English, some from the 19th century. I used to agonise over this in my early days of collecting, but no more. My view is that we should be as good as we can by example individually and be gentle and encouraging with other folk as Jean has done, without being didactic in the matter. The Hepburn system is the preferred method, but these days I reckon we should roll with the punches instead of being overly precious about it. The way to have the stuffing knocked out of you is to study Japanese intensively for a few years... BaZZa.

LB142 straight guard Type 30 bayonet with bright blade,豐田自動織機（Toyoda Automatic Loom Works)made， under Nagoya arsenal‘s (名古屋陸軍造兵廠）supervision .Ser# on the bottom of the pommel should start with Hiragana ろに,which means 100th Series.

正阿弥 Shōami on the right?

Smartphone in hand it feels akasaka senjuin mino. Datewise late Nambokucho or beginning of Muromachi. Mune does not match, but everything else looks good for it....

I have discussed it a bit in the Guide, but generally if you see one of those with say Kaga Muromachi blade, they are reliable and the blade itself is often good grade because those were not dished out in huge quantities. If you see it with very top name, the modern judgement was obtained and was 1-2 grades lower. Blue papers are never crazy, they can be optimistic... or the modern team could be pessimistic, or even plain wrong.

荘司筑前大掾大慶藤直胤 = Shōji Chikuzen Daijō Taikei Fuji Naotane 天保八年仲秋 = mid-autumn of Tenpō 8 (1837 CE)

Sorry, I've been kind of guilty of this recently. I posted about an old sword magazine I found and also asked advice on a wakizashi which I ended up buying. Unfortunately, I haven't posted updates or photos of either yet because the end of year vacation has seen me on the move between various friends and relatives. As soon as I'm back home, I'll update those two threads with pictures.

Tks Rohan...understand what yr saying.... sadly, more often these days it appears manners are a thing of the past.

@Fusilier David, as noted smith signed Nobumitsu 信光 on tachi-mei, and date is Showa ju kyu nen ju ichi gatsu 昭和十九年十一月 Showa 19 (1944) November. Late war mounts as noted. Rather quick/rough signature, maybe was left-handed. But an arsenal product and Gi in sakura shows he was from Seki (Gifu) but could be working in Nagoya Arsenal. Its likely the suguha hamon is artificial. There was a Seki smith Sako Shinichi Nobumitsu, born Meiji 38 (1905) June 24, living in Seki, and registered as a WW2 Seki smith on Showa 14 (1939) October 26. He produced some quite good work ,, not sure if him. but towards end of war they were mass producing in arsenals. The painted numbers are 541 which are assembly numbers for the different parts.

Should be Nobumitsu 信光 dated November 1944.

Thank you very much! I'll be doing a ton of research and I fear that I may have found another expensive hobby.

Welcome to NMB Zack! A relatively common Kinai school tsuba. Some are cast but as yours has tagane-ato [punch marks aroumd the tang hole] I would think it is carved. If you look on-line and find another with the same punch marks in the identical spots - then you can worry. These dragons appear as Kawari-gata [irregular outline] or within a maru [round ] rim. Check this thread: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/46711-a-tsuba-with-ryu-design-kinai-school-signed-edo-period-for-your-comment-and-appreciation/ Also check the free download on Kinai tsuba:

Hi @Nazar, very shiny! Yes, unfortunately this is a fake. The biggest tell aside from the brass tsuka; is the bohi terminating early. Also the stamps are oversized and incorrect. Among other incorrect fetures. I have personally never seen a genuine Type 95 with anything carved on the habaki. If one does exist, it would have been done after manufacture. All the best, -Sam

Hi @Bendy, Unfortunately this sword is a fake, and not made in Japan. https://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html Thanks to @Bugyotsuji's translation in the other thread before it was split, he stated: "Ishii Tarō 石井太郎 A random name added for decoration I would guess." When I split the thread, many of the comments did not carry over unfortunately, but this basically sums it up. Apologies for the bad news, -Sam In an attempt to clean things up for now, i've hidden the posts on the Mantetsu thread. Apologies @Hector @Bruce Pennington . Maybe Brian can merge them here in time.

dont listen to him, DONT strip that apart. the tsuka is deformed and the wood liner is most likey damaged. meaning re-assemble maybe troublesome, you dont need to see the nakago its a machine made blade. you dont need to run the risk of devaluing it evan more. the photos are good enough for this type of sword. i have sold plenty of type 95s on the NMB including the copper handles. you can see everything needed to sell

Thanks Hector (and wife) and members...I have done some more thinking and have decided that the name NOBUSHIRO is the most likely. After all the feedback from you all and some more studying by me I am sure this must be correct....so, NOBUSHIRO it is. Please make a comment if any of you find some written facts in the future...all the best, and thanks! Happy new year to all, George.

Hello, You allude also how to recognize good or poor workmanship. You are obviously not sure on your piece in question. There are a lot of examples discussed in this forum which show clearly a low level workmanship in comparison with more elaborate works - mostly depicting scenes. It is much more difficult to judge on Tsuba with simple design. And here’s only one picture. However, what I can see here is a well made shape: the kaku-maru-gata has regular curved corners and slight curvature at all sides. In my eyes a good impression. The surface seems to be very plain, without any intended irregularities. But that’s typical for Edo-Tsuba. I made a quick sketch to show the construction. Even it is a simple composition it is properly made at least. There’s a contrast in between the straight bars (which meaning is still unclear) and the curves at the edge. I remember a similar example somewhere in my books in which the bars have been filled with shakudo (if I remember correctly). Maybe I will find it. Is there a difference in thickness between edge and seppa-dai? Dimensions will be helpful, too. Best

Thanks! One of these days I'll get one of these handwritten inscriptions 100%!

That is very interesting. I don't know that much about details of Hokke and don't know the kantei features of the school so well. But it was nice I got close with Ko-Mihara guess. I actually have blade that has old papers to Hokke Ichijō and it has portions that have nice fine looking hada. Unfortunately my photography is awful...

Please don't be offended at the directness of some of these replies, Glen - it's just the style of this forum and these are all good guys. The trouble is these obvious Chinese fakes show up on here every week, often with an accompanying story claiming some provenance from WW2. If you were given this sword by your son's friend, I'd advise keeping quiet and accept it as a well intended gift. If, however, you spent good money on it, I would consider having a word about getting reimbursed. Best, Hector

The first design may be 輪違 (Wachigai) as Jean said. And it also reminds me of 錫杖 (Shakujo). Ref. Khakkhara - Wikipedia The second design looks like common paulownia leaves. 錫杖 (Shakujo)

Of course it’s possible they are thinking of Dōran hip boxes or bags for hayago quick-loading tubes and gunner’s accessories, but these have 3D depth to them for the tools.

John, referring a bit late to your post of December 1st, when you posted an altered TSUBA with ITOMAKI design. I had a look in my collection on these calm days and found perhaps what you were thinking of:

Appears to read: Munechika. Best regards Ray

An immediate give-away (there are plenty others) is the angle of the blade tip. The Chinese do this with blades, the Japanese don't I THINK I saw a tanto, years ago, with this shape, but it's the only time I've seen one in all my years. On the other hand, 90% of the fakes that come through here have this shape.

ChatGPT should be a member here and study the subject!

Good question Jean. This pattern of the Type 95 is secured with a barrel nut where the sarute is located. On later patterns, they added a mekugi in the more traditional location. Nice looking Pattern1 Copper hilt type 95. For those who may not know, they made less than 7000 of this pattern, making them pretty rare. Best of luck with the sale, -Sam

ChatGPT got both the name and the date wrong.