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Hi all, I’d like to share two more tsuba, one of which recently came into my hands: a Norisuke and a Chōshū Sadaie piece. As always, any thoughts or observations are very welcome.

於駒橋元近作之 – At Komahashi, Motochika made this. 佐世保市浪瀬免三一番地代五班本郷盛馬 – Sasebo-shi Namise-men 31, the 5th group Hongo Morima

Hi guys, Here is something interesting to show you. A set of f/k awarded to Kamiya Dōichi, by Lord Chimura Nakashige(千村仲展) in 1868. Who was Kamiya Dōichi: Kamiya Dōichi(神谷道一) Known by the courtesy name Shikan and the art name Kansai. He was a Karō (Chief Retainer) of the Chimura family(Hatamoto), Kukuri Domain of Nōshū [Mino Province], during the Restoration. During the Hokueutsu War (part of the Boshin War), he was dispatched as the Commander of the Second Unit. After the Restoration, he became a Negi (senior priest) at the Minami-gu National Shrine. Subsequently, he entered service in Gifu Prefecture, where he was tasked with the editing of historical records. In 1879, he became the first District Governor of Kani, and later served as the District Governor for Ena, Ono, Mashita, and Yoshiki. He resigned from office in 1885 and authored works such as the "Sekigahara Senki" (Chronicle of the Battle of Sekigahara). Translations made by Gemini so I'm expecting some errors, but you'll get the idea. Award for the Echigo Military Campaign. Plum Blossom Fuchi-Kashira. One Set. Meiji 1, Year of the Earth Dragon [1868], November 15th. From the village of Kukuri in Tōnō [Eastern Mino Province]. Humbly received from Lord Chimura Nakashige. [Signed] Kamiya Dōichi. At the time of the Meiji Restoration, the Kukuri Domain of Nōshū [Mino Province] joined the Imperial Army and dispatched troops to Echigo. My ancestor, Kamiya Dōichi, served as a military inspector and fought bravely. Upon his victorious return, the Lord of the Domain, Chimura Nakashige, rewarded his distinguished service by granting him this. From there, it was passed down to my late father, Yoshimichi. The writing remaining on the lid of this case was brushed by the old master Kansai Dōichi. Having escaped the war damages of the 20th year of Showa (1945), it still exists today. It should be deeply revered. Recorded by his grandson, Yasuhiko. Enjoy!

Hi, This is an delicate topic. Swords do get elevated to Juyo Bunkazai, albeit rarely. As far as I know, 3 Tokuju blades have been subsequently elevated to Juyo Bunkazai. As you rightly point out, there are many Tokuju swords deserving of the Juyo Bunkazai designation (The Tokuju "long tail" is vast, and arguably goes all the way to National Treasure). Amongst them, the famous Osafune Mitsutada ken. Owners of top Tokuju blades, however, are uninterested in upgrading the status of the blade to Juyo Bunkazai. This is because ownership becomes a burden, you have a duty to exhibit, and your home will be inspected by police officers to ensure proper care is taken, and the state gains the right of first refusal on any transaction. Any increase in value from the designation becomes subject to the 40% Japanese capital gain tax, and you are obliged to report the sales in a world where discretion prevails. As the Uesugi family council once said "these laws smell of communism" - and this attitude still exists today. This is why the Mikazuki Kanemitsu, along other masterpieces, never got the designation. The trend has been the opposite: Juyo Bunkazai blades "get lost" over time. As always, follow the incentives. Best, Hoshi

Sword of Lt. General Noguchi Kon’no I’d like to share some photos of an interesting sword I was able to acquire recently. The sword is housed in army Type19 field grade officer’s Kyu-gunto mounts, with a black wool, “German-style” sword knot with gold crown. The knot appears to be the type authorized in Meiji 45, and original to the sword when brought back to the U.S. The blade is a wakizashi, 21.25 inches long, rather straight, with a sori of only 3/16”. The hamon appears to be sanbon sugi, but with rounded peaks rather than the more typical pointed. Before purchasing it, I posted pictures of the nakago in the translation section of the NMB. Special thanks to Moriyama Koichi for helping with the translation and providing biographic info. Additional thanks to SteveM for his kind help with the horimono explanation (see the postings in the translation section). From the translation Moriyama-san provided: the sword was a gift from Akizuki Teijiro to Noguchi Kon’no in the spring of 1884 to celebrate the latter’s commissioning as an Army Second Lieutenant. (Dec 25, 1883). Akizuki Teijiro was a famous samurai who served the Matsudaira Clan. He was a senior commander of the Aizu forces during the Boshin War. Later in life, he became an educator and established a close relationship with Noguchi Kon’no, who was his protégé. Noguchi had numerous combat postings and promotions during the Sino/Japanese War. During the Russo/Japanese War, he was promoted to Colonel where he served as Chief of Staff of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division. He fought in the Battles of Oishibashi, Haichen and Shahe, and was seriously wounded during the Battle of Liaoyang. He returned to Japan to recover and was later promoted from Colonel to Major General in March of 1908. (Japan does not have the rank of Brigadier General like we have in the US). While a Major General, he commanded several different infantry brigades but fell ill in 1911. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in August of 1912 (Taisho gan-en) before being transferred to the reserve forces (retirement). The sword does not have the tortoiseshell handle that would be consistent with what a Major General would have carried during the 1908 to1912 time period (when he was of that rank). Nonetheless, I believe that this is, in fact, a sword owned and carried by the late Lt. General Noguchi Kon’no, IJA. The sword would have most certainly been carried by him while he was a colonel, but the presence of a Meiji 45 knot creates a conundrum. He was obviously a General when this knot was authorized, so does that mean this sword was still in active use? Would a sword in this furniture still have been acceptable for a general to carry? Anyway, I am honored to be the new caretaker of this sword, please enjoy the photos! I welcome all comments, corrections and speculations. Special shout out to Bruce Pennington, John (PNSSHOGUN) and Thomas (Kiipu), you guys have more expertise with Kyu-gunto and knots than I do, and I would love to hear your thoughts. Also, I would appreciate any evaluations from Nihonto experts of the blade itself, thank you. Any mistakes/errors are mine alone, and I attribute them to old age and too much alcohol in my youth. Respectfully submitted, Tom M.

I am not a fittings guy but my guess would be it had been fitted for wooden sword, bokutō/bokken.

With the falling population, and villages and shrines suffering, many formerly dedicated swords are rusting away for lack of attention. So far the local chapter has negotiated with many shrine authorities and been able to restore nine swords to their former glory, most of them now housed in Okayama Prefectural Museum. Some of these have even achieved official cultural designations. Each time though,we have had to come up with novel ways to fund these restorations, and it is not a cheap venture. Two swords were housed in the Imamura Hachiman Gu, but the previous priests were unwilling to get involved in any project. The new priest however has been more cooperative, and in our third grand project, two swords are now set for polishing, preservation and display. Osafune Sword Museum has agreed to house them and care for them. There will be an official opening ceremony for the project at the shrine on the 4th of April, 2026. The swords will be funded by various means, lectures, etc., and the target is JPY 3 million. The first is a long Odachi by a relatively unknown smith named Inoue Kyubei Masatoshi, dated 1665. 2 m 63 cm overall, the blade length is 1 m 77.3 cm, and it weighs 4.5 kg. The Inoue Kyubei line of smiths lived under the walls of Okayama Castle, Masashige, Masatoshi, Masakiyo, but very few of their works survive, making this a rare artefact. The total estimate for restoration, including a magnolia wood box for example, is 2.5 million. The second is a 1574 katana by Genbei no Jo Sukesada, with a blade length of 68.2 cm, dedicated by a retainer of the Ikeda Daimyo family to the shrine in 1738. This will add a further 500,000 to the bill making a total of 3 million yen. With this latest project they are not planning to ask for donations from overseas. Both blades will be on and off display over the coming year, and from the April 2027 shrine presentation ceremony onwards, they will be housed at Osafune Sword Museum.

This boundary is non-negotiable on this forum. Take it or leave it. There is no circumstance where we will ever say it's ok to use sandpaper on your blade. You may say the whole thing was rusted and no-one would pay to have it polished. So what about the guy whose blade is mostly ok but has one spot of rust? What about the guy who is in a country where there are no polishers? Do we have to form a committee to decide when it's ok and when it isn't? The fact is that we don't advocate amateur polishing. Yes...we all know many do it, we know there are rusty blades that no-one will ever professionally polish. But without a way to determine what's ok and what isn't, the rule stands that we do not encourage this. Since we are a serious forum devoted to the preservation of genuine Japanese swords, this policy will never change.

Some great photos and video of the Mikazuki starting to appear online... the start of this video catches the tiny Mikazuki just beautifully in the light. What a wonderful sword! Mikazuki.mp4

70 Peony wakizashi 71 Nagamitsu Thanks for posting this Brett . The attached photo shows 70 and 71 which were taken from the Aso Shrine in 1945 and remain missing

1,500,000 yen? *cough* *cough again* Be careful. Goodwill has been the recipient of at least 2 duds I bought over the years, but almost $10,000 is a big hit to take. As much as I am disillusioned with the current NBTHK, I'd want to see papers on something like this. I don't see any mention of papers. Instead, the dealer has written " As this piece is presented in its original, "fresh-from-the-workshop" state, it does not yet have a fitted paulownia wood box (one will be commissioned and prepared for the buyer). " Yes, very fresh from the workshop appearance. Kids..... Be very careful.

The part is 皆焼刃 - Hitatsura ha/ba.

One of mines with a Kogai ana cut in a shakudo plug of an original ana.....

A glorious piece of workmanship - but the material itself is just not up to the task. The fukurin is the only element keeping this piece together. https://www.jauce.com/auction/1224137596 I have to wonder if it was altered to be used as a tsuba? The seppa-dai area does not look as you would expect.

73 Yasuyo This sword is by Shumenokami Ichi no hira Yasuyo not Yasuyori . It was owned by the Miyasaka Shrine in Kagoshima Prefecture who handed it over to the Ibusuki police in December 1945. The blade is dated 1723 and is 33 .5 inches long . There are photographs of the sword and the lengthy inscription on the nakago in the documents from the American Archives that Stephen Thorpe shared with us . Attached to this is a copy of one of those pictures showing the Shirasaya, box and lacquered box that accompanied the sword . Further photos are on page 82 of Satsuma no katana no Tsuba by Fukunaga

Why has the Agency for Cultural Affairs not created more National Treasure or Juyo Bunkazai swords? Certainly in the last 40 years there have been a few Tokubetsu Juyo blades that would more than qualify to meet and even exceed this status when compared to other swords at this designation. This puzzled me. Whilst National Treasures designations have always been hard to come by and nothing has really changed since the latest 110/12 list was created in June 9, 1951... The Agency for Cultural Affairs use to issue Juyo Bunakazai for swords on a pretty regular basis after that date for almost 40 years and then they stopped. Since then there has only been one new Juyo Bunakazai sword allocation in the last 40 years... but why? I did a little digging and found out why the Agency for Cultural Affairs have been reluctant to award any new National Treasure or Juyo Bunkazai to swords. Back in 1989 there was an incident that caused national outcry, when the Agency awarded five "ancient" (Jokoto) swords as Juyo Bunkazai but it turned out that these swords were forged by a swordsmith called Tokukatsu Nakahara. He even confessed to it but died before the investigation could begin. The Agency did open an investigation but after the appointed committee investigating the incident, even though skeptical, could not conclusively prove the swords were real or fake, the Agency stuck to its guns and continued to affirm their intial assesement and decision was correct. Honma Junji however disagreed and before he died insisted that all five swords were fake and that they should be struck off as Juyo Bunkazai. Since this incident the Agency has opted to avoid any further scrutiny until 2018 some almost 30 years from the 1989 incident when a new Juyo Bunkazai status was awarded to, ironically, five naginata along with their accompanying mountings owned by the Nikko Futarasan Shrine - they were classified as "Ritual Weapons". No new Juyo Bunakazai have been issued since. Basically it appears that the reason why we have seen only one new Juyo Bunkazai set of swords in almost 40 years is because the Agency of Cultural Affairs is still embarrassed and cannot/ will not address this embarrassment... and is reluctant to put itself in that situation again.

Lots and lots of photos of the Yamatorige starting to appear across the interwebs. Actually a lot of fun reading the comments and seeing the excitement in the people posting and responding to the pictures.

I was in Sarzana and attended the auction. It was my first time attending in person, and it was a pleasant experience. Unfortunately, the prices went higher than I expected for a couple of tsuba I was mostly interested in. Nonetheless, I successfully bid on two lots for a reasonable price, which is not bad at all.

When I visited a year ago they had an extraordinarily healthy Rai Kunimitsu sword in the display booth. A couple weeks later I saw it in hand as part of a special NBTHK-EB event at the Museums research centre and took this video. It had marumune and Hon'ami Kochu Kinzoganmei

Yes, Ron you are correct. That is a police sword. The few I have seen have been late war.

The Yamatorige is coming out of storage for 2 very short viewing periods in 2026. Both times it will be on display at the Bizen Osafune Sword Museum. Click here for more information. It went on display on Friday, 20th March and will be on display until the 29th March but will come back again at the end of April. They have set it up with a stand that allows you to view it from both sides - which I think is brillaint! Expect big crowds as they have linked up with Touken Ranbu to promote the event. Images from @yoimachi95, @gasmask0821 & @kentaro9614 on X. If you happen to go... please drop some photos here.

Hello all, I would like to share with you my most recent purchase from Andy Quirt over at Nihonto.us . It’s a hirazukuri O wakizashi is shirasaya in good polish and from what I was told by Andy he sent it over to Tanobe sensei for a verbal attribution and based on what Tanobe saw he gave him a verbal attribution of Uda. Andy did tell me that he was hoping for an earlier attribution so he must of thought it shared characteristics of a Ko-Uda blade but nevertheless Tanobe sensei dated it to Muromachi period. It’s undergone Osuriage and also has a bohi. It has a 46.3cm nagasa, 3.3mm motohaba, and 6mm kasane. The hamon is chu suguba in konie deki and has itame hada. Given then lenght of it now after it has undergone suriage I think it possibly coulda been a katateuchi. Best Regards, Chance

An example from the Ashmolean museum EA1978.250 The size of the hole may have been altered even more, to be used as a maedate "crest" but I think it was first used for a practice sword. Another opinion of the useage here: http://www.nihonto.us/ONIN NAGAMAKI TSUBA.htm But I think it more likely these were used on wooden practice swords as others have stated This one - is anyones guess - not suitable for a practice sword - maybe a maedate. [or a bottle opener ! ] one in this group of twenty https://www.jauce.com/auction/x1224304881 [probably the only one of any interest!]

Images designed to make it look dramatic without really showing anything (as Uwe says above). That alone makes me very suspicious. Also the black finish on the shikoro does not look like old lacquer. Also the “gold” plates on the shikoro are heavily worn but the lacing looks brand new. Also the missing rivets holding shikoro to hachi suggest it does not fit correctly…..possibly a marriage? I am also a novice collector of armour and my opinion is worth little but I try to look closely at images to spot things that make me nervous. To my uneducated eye this looks highly dubious. Parts may well be old but………

Just picked this up. A 1934 paper weight commemorating the birthday of Crown Prince Akihito. John C.

Here's the one I got, quite happy with it. I would have loved number 27 or 58, but the bidding went up too quickly. Here's mine, from the Tenhô school.

I would have liked to buy the Onin tsuba but too much for me I won this one. Nice to recent papers #218

This smith's name is also read as Teruyoshi. From Sesko below: "he was then employed by the Matsudaira family (松平), the daimyō of Musashi´s Kawagoe fief (川越藩), he moved to the fief and was granted with the family name Fujieda, in the first year of Bunkyū (文久, 1861) he also got the permission to engrave the three-part tomoe crest of the Matsudaira clan"

These are my tsuba from the auction. And, well, my only regret was not having a bigger wallet... Seeing all those tsuba together was like finding Santa's sledge parked in the backyard for a kid... The second tsuba has a paper, but it's a minus, not a plus... guess what's the attribution?

The JuBi Mitsutada Ken (only known by him) has a sort of Awataguchi finesse and feeing to it. Not a particularly exciting hamon for a Mitsutada but sublime jigane …

Very rare original scroll painting from Yasukunishrine in its original wooden box,complletely untouched, original condition aged very nice This rare painting is nestled inside the wooden box within a Japanese newspaper dated 1938 overall I never saw a second one. signature traslation is: Yasukunishrine respectfully paint's Made at the department of Yasukuni shrine support department Price 395,00 Euro 35,00 shipping worldwide Germany shipping free

The National Treasure status held before the war was lost and the status of Juyo Bunkazai was given under the new Important Cultural Properties laws (same time as the Important Art Objects lost their status). The current National Treasures were allocated under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties that came into effect on June 9, 1951. It is worth noting that this list did included some of the previous National Treasures however most became Juyo Bunkazai. All the missing National Treasures from the post-WWII occupation were reallocated to the status of Juyo Bunkazai. This may change when they are recovered but of the 19 lost National Treasures, the 9 that have been found have not been reallocated to the status of National Treasure. .

I think, as Jean has stated, the first is either Hotei's sack [sometimes also Daruma] but may also represent a "furoshiki" wrap. [but these other designs are not to the same standard of quality - - that is for sure!] I love the wave and cloud sukashi

Everyone’s talking about the recent Haynes auction and the high prices a lot of the tsuba went for, especially the Tanaka school tsuba, which went for €5000 and €12000 respectively. This is your chance to own a wonderful Tanaka-style tsuba for a fraction of that. This wonderful piece has the characteristic sekigane and the wabi-sabi style iron and nunome-zogan. In hand, the surface treatment looks so smooth I first thought it was kinko, but it is in fact iron. It also has a great theme of a dragon, and a very good size (85x80mm). Comes in a delux kiri box with trim around the edge. £1200 ono If you wish for additional images or a video, I'll be happy to email them to you

Regarding the Fujiwara jû Nagayuki, the shape of this sword is typical of Sue-Kotô with koshi-zori and saki-zori with an extended chû-kaissaki. The yokote is present under the rust, which appears to be on the surface. This blade is indeed in need of professional restoration. Please do not give to any of the "so-called" polishers in Brazil. I have seen their work and they are not restorers but destroyers. This smith is not in the Takada School, but as the Meikan clearly states, circa Tenbun, Yamato. As I wrote regarding the Fujiwara jû Yasumitsu, the Fujiwara School smiths are separate from the Sue-Tegai School, but closely related to the Kanabô School. I am in the final stages of my book on Sue-Yamato smiths and would love to include this blade, but as it is out of polish and in Brazil, that does not seem possible. The same goes for the Fujiwara jû Yasumitsu. I would love to have this join my entry on Fujiwara Yasutomo. Nonetheless, I have added Yasumitsu to my Sue-Yamato Meikan at the end of my book. I am expecting the book to be in print either sometime this year or early next year. The text is in English and Japanese and has 100s of example oshigata.

Tachi by Osafune Hidemitsu, dated 1371 designated as Jūyō Bunkazai 31.3.1953, item number 01658. Nagasa: 81,6 cm Sori: 3,0 cm Motohaba: 3,7 cm Sakihaba: 2,7 cm Motokasane: 6,5 mm Sakikasane: 4,5 mm Kissaki: 6,0 cm Nakago: 23,9 cm Nakago sori: 0,6 cm Item is featured in Nihontō Taikan, Tōken Bijutsu 362 as feature sword, Tanobe big book, Osafune Chōshi, Jukken Historically this sword has been in collection of 村上 (Murakami) family. This is just my type of sword and seems to be absolutely wonderful item. It is fun to look into these and probably the first time in 2 years I opened the big Tanobe book.

I hope I'm not bothering anyone by reviving this thread about these rather unusual tsuba. Here's mine with the wasp. The second one is one I saw online. There was one for sale in the Haynes catalog, number 54. The description said it was in the Bushu school style.

I thought it may be worthwhile put up the offical list of currently missing Jūyō Bunkazai swords being searched for by the Japanese Government (in English) so that the non-Japanese sword community can easily reference and keep track of this list for the future. The Agency for Cultural Affairs has included some information on each of the missing swords on their website (you can see this by click on the missing sword's name). Most even include photos of the sword but unfortunately the images are tiny and they do not expand when you click on them... Still it means that the Agency appears to have the images so if we see anything that looks similar we can always write to them to seek clarification. It is worth noting that unless the sword has been brought to the attention of the Agency for Cultural Affairs the sword will not appear on this list, I mention this specifically referencing the missing 55 former National Treasure (国宝, Kokuhō) and Jūyō Bijutsuhin (重要美術品) blades that went missing post-WWII during the Allied Force occupation of Japan. You will see the Honjo Masamune and the Norshige owned by Ian Brooks appear on the list, this is because the Agency has opened a case for both missing swords and therefore they are tracking them. In the case of Ian Brooks' Norishige, whilst we as a community may be pretty convinced that the blade has been found, until the Agency can examine it themselves in Japan and confirm it to be the same blade, it remains in their opinion missing. It is also worth noting that Japan has a statute of limitation when it comes to missing/stolen property, that is, within Japan it is 2 years and internationally it is 10 years. As such, even if the blade is found, if it is outside the statutes of limitation then officially the sword belongs to whom ever possesses the sword. These "new" owners can therefore choose to give the sword back or they can approach the original owner or the Japanese Government to find out if they wish to purchase the sword back. I know it seems a little out there in terms of traditional western legal logic but that is the lay of the legal landscape in Japan. It is worth noting that of the 146 currently missing Cultural Properties 74 or more than 50% of these are swords and that does not include the majority of the 55 post-WWII blades. THE CURRENT OFFICIAL LIST OF 74 MISSING JŪYŌ BUNKAZAI SWORDS 1 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tanto Kunimtisu Found 2 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tanto Kunimitsu 3 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tachi Bishu Osafune Hidemitsu / October, Oan 22 4 Jūyō Bunkazai 1938 Katana Mumei den Norishige 5 Jūyō Bunkazai 1942 Katana Kuniyasu Found 6 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Tamekiyo 7 Jūyō Bunkazai 1931 Tachi Moritsugu 8 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Rai Kunimitsu Found 9 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Aki Iri Nishi / October, Einin 5 10 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Ichi 11 Jūyō Bunkazai 1940 Tachi Unji 12 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Katana Mumei Attributed to Mitsutada / Korean Crane and Gold Inlay with Signature 13 Jūyō Bunkazai 1940 Tachi Nagamitsu 14 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tanto Moritsugu, resident of Bitchu / August, Enbun 2 Found 15 Jūyō Bunkazai 1933 Tachi Nagamitsu 16 Jūyō Bunkazai 1934 Tachi Hisakuni 17 Jūyō Bunkazai 1916 Tachi Nobufusa 18 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Nagamitsu, resident of Osafune, Bizen / Auspicious day in February, Shoan 2 19 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Katana Mumei den Hasebe Kunishige 20 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Tachi Unji, resident of Bizen 21 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Ietada 22 Jūyō Bunkazai 1936 Tachi Mitsutada 23 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Katana Mumei den Kunitoshi 24 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tachi Sukehige - Theft reported (1972) 25 Jūyō Bunkazai 1933 Tachi Yoshiie 26 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tachi Kunimune, resident of Bishu Osafune 27 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Yoshiie 28 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Katana Mumei den Masamune - Theft reported (1982) 29 Jūyō Bunkazai 1939 Katana Mumei den Masamune (Meibutsu Honjo Masamune) 30 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Katana Kinzogan-mei Sukemitsu polished by Mitsunori 31 Jūyō Bunkazai 1937 Tachi Kuniyuki 32 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Tachi Bitchu-no-kuni-ju Tsuguyoshi / October Teiwa 2 33 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Tanto Rai Kunimitsu / Gentoku 2 34 Jūyō Bunkazai 1949 Tachi Sadayoshi 35 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Tanto Kashu-ju Masakage / Joji 6 36 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Mumei Mitsutada 37 Jūyō Bunkazai 1974 Tachi Mumei den Mitsutada Found 38 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tanto Yasuyoshi 39 Jūyō Bunkazai 1939 Tachi Kunisuke 40 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Tachi Bitchu and below Found 41 Jūyō Bunkazai 1911 Tachi Mumei - Theft reported (1960) 42 Jūyō Bunkazai 1911 Tachi Tadayoshi - Theft reported (1960) 43 Jūyō Bunkazai 1922 Tachi Tōchin 44 Jūyō Bunkazai 1940 Tanto Noshige 45 Jūyō Bunkazai 1952 Wakizashi Hiromitsu, resident of Sagami / August, Enbun 5 46 Jūyō Bunkazai 1911 Tanto Front: Mishima Daimyojin Back: Fujiwara Tomoyuki, Teiji 3 - Theft reported (1948) 47 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Junkei 48 Jūyō Bunkazai 1958 Tachi Mitsutada 49 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Tachi Sukezane 50 Jūyō Bunkazai 1935 Tachi Mitsutada 51 Jūyō Bunkazai 1954 Katana Kinzogan-mei Motoshige / Hon’Ami Found 52 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tachi Kaneuji 53 Jūyō Bunkazai 1953 Tanto Kagemitsu 54 Jūyō Bunkazai 1958 Tanto Kunimtisu / March Gen’o 2 55 Jūyō Bunkazai 1970 Sanko-Duka-Ken Made by Shigeyoshi Nyudo / January 7th Genko 2 by Ajari Yorinobu 56 Jūyō Bunkazai 1961 Katana Mumei Ichimonji 57 Jūyō Bunkazai 1926 Tachi Yasuyoshi 58 Jūyō Bunkazai 1927 Tachi Made by Moriyoshi / Shirasaki Hachiman Shrine, Boshu Found 59 Jūyō Bunkazai 1936 Tachi Mumei den Sukezane 60 Jūyō Bunkazai 1927 Tachi & Mounted with gold and mother-of-pearl inlaid scabbard, Nodachi style Gyōshin 61 Jūyō Bunkazai 1928 Katana February 1616, Yoshihito, Shinano no Kami Kunihiro/ Commissioned by Igamo Lord Yasutsuna 62 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Katana Kuninaga Found 63 Jūyō Bunkazai 1954 Katana Mumei Sadamune (Meibutsu Ikeda Sadamune) 64 Jūyō Bunkazai 1941 Tanto Kagemitsu, Bizen no Kuni Osafune ju / February, Genko 4 65 Jūyō Bunkazai 1925 Tachi Rai Kunimtisu 66 Jūyō Bunkazai 1925 Tachi Kunihiro, Kamakura Resident / February, Bunpo 2 67 Jūyō Bunkazai 1955 Wakizashi Namihei Ieyasu Found 68 Jūyō Bunkazai 1917 Uwazu Tachi Mumei 69 Jūyō Bunkazai 1931 Renzudachi Rai Kunitoshi / March 1st, Einin 5 70 Jūyō Bunkazai 1906 Peony Wakizashi Mumei 71 Jūyō Bunkazai 1909 Tachi Nagamitsu 72 Jūyō Bunkazai 1956 Katana Mumei Gō Yoshihiro (Meibutsu Buzen-Gō) 73 Jūyō Bunkazai 1919 Katana Shuuma no Kubi Ichihei Yasuyori Kōhaku 74 Jūyō Bunkazai 1918 Katana Mumei Norishige Found – Owned by Ian Brooks If you have any images or stories associated with any of the blades in this list, please preface the comment below with the # and name of the blade as it appears in this list, it would be good to have a little repository of images and information specific to these blades to help with tracking them down. Hopefully this little list will help with the quest to find these blades.

One of our NBTHK members is a Bizen potter and after much effort he eventually succeeded in making a full-sized version in fired clay. Another member creates detailed exact-scale copies in wood, down to the nick in the blade edge. These are not cheap but there is a waiting list for his work, the Sanchōmō and other famous blades. Even the Mei are faithfully chiselled in.

No. I got it for 10 dollars, which is why I decided to buy it. At first I thought the medallion had been altered into a netsuke so I wasn't going to pony up too much. But for 10 bucks I thought it was interesting enough to get. John C.

Papers should be a start of your research journey, not the end. They are a very educated opinion, but there is so much more to learn depending on what they say or don’t say.

Here is a higher res photo of the Ichimonji Sukeshige that was stolen. The description in the Nihonto Taikan pre-dates the theft and since this book was published in 1966, this may have been one of the last times this sword was in the hands of sword specialists who were documenting it. The Explanation for the sword reads as follows: The

Just came across this thread and decided to apply for a gold membership as well. While none of the upgrades impact my activity on the forum, I find 6 Euros a month more than fair for the amount of knowledge accumulated on here.

This is sort of a strange request... but I'm trying to solve a bit of a mystery. Bruce passed away almost a year ago now. He had acquired and sold off many tsuba over the decades he spent devoted to the study of tsuba and Japanese pottery. Anyway, he probably had this tsuba in his possession at some point, or it may even have been just an image from an online site that he saw it on, but I'd like to know if any of you have seen it or know who has it. Thanks in advance

1000% ! I can't begin to tell you how much of an influence he was on me. I'm trying to piece back together some of the groupings of tsuba he had collected to showcase how each group of tsuba represents the body of work of a single unidentified smith. This is one of those missing pieces that really should get back together with the others, so that all of Bruce's insights and discoveries don't just fade into the mist and get cast about across the world, maybe never to come back together again... I'd also like to present those groupings on a forum such as this to showcase how the limited number of "schools" that tsuba get attributed to, are insufficient and need expansion.

In terms of the swordsmith: 三州吉田住広房 (Sanshū Yoshida ju Hirofusa). You may need to create an account to view the link below. https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/HIR216

Most good sword curators practice safe sword practice that comes down to the theory that sword degrade and therefore swords should not be exposed to the elements for prolonged periods so as to protect it for future generations. This is pretty normal practice for sword presevation. The Yamatorige however is not a normal sword... It is a $3 million mega famous and possibly the most beautiful sword in Japan and as such there is heightened cautiousness not only for preservation but to also protect it. When a blade is that valuable unless you have some insane security which costs money (and is generally not common practice for most Japanese Museums) you cannot display the expensive stuff for too long as this additional security costs the museum significantly more to put and keep in place than normal displays and exhibitions. Hence short exhibitions where they can roll in the crowds and balance bang for buck without compromising security.