Ed

I have both the hard bound and semi-hard bound. Contact me via my email below.

If you don't own any of these books, you should! Markus has done an outstanding job putting these together. Collectors and enthusiast today are so lucky to have so much information available in English. It hasn't been that long ago that there were only a few basic beginners books in English by Robinson, Yumoto, and Hawley. Then AFU, Harry Watson translated and published a few welcomed titles such as the Nihonto Koza 6 volumes, and the Translations of Fujishiro's. Then Nagayamas Connoisseurs Book of Japanese Sword hit the stands and was a welcome addition. Markus has made many titles available in English, both hard copies and e-versions. E-books are great once you start using them. I was a hold out, a die-hard who believed in only having real books, hard copies. And I still like the hard copies, however the ease of use with the e-books will convince the hardest of hard asses of their value. As pointed out above using the search function makes thumbing through pages much reduced. With 99% of research, I start with Markus's e-books, and while I may still follow up with hard copy references such as the many Taikans, I find the e-books invaluable.

You should probably be more specific. There were early fittings of iron and soft metal pieces as well as various schools and motifs. Knowing more about your preferences might help. Additionally, it is difficult to know exact dates of fittings manufacture. Very few that I have seen have had papers with dates or period attributions. Some fittings will be attributed to schools such as "ko-mino", "ko-kinko", but that generally indicates "pre-Edo".

https://yakiba.com/yasunori-kajiyama/

As Mark pointed out one of the main means of support for the show is booking a room and staying there. There have been rumors of this being the last SF Show. While that is not true, what is true is that if the show doesn't receive more support, like booking a room, it may come to an end. These next two years attendance/support will be monitored closely to determine the future of this long standing show.

Dale was a great guy and great friend for 30 years. We had many good times in Houston and at the sword shows. Sad to see him go.

Orlando 2024 Florida Token Kai.MOV

Both are very nice.

I agree this mei looks stamped, but it could be the lighting or something. But forget whether it is stamped or carved. More importantly there is no Yoshiharu in the Meikan which the "Yoshi" character that even remotely resembles the one on your tsuba. In fact, there is no Yoshi character of any mei in the meikan which remotely resembles that. Same with the Kao, not good. If you are thinking of buying this, don't. If you already did, sorry.

Photos might help.

Looks like a nice sword. Thanks for sharing. Ed

You mean for shinsa submission for others?

Can you show us your sword?

You will likely be fine if your budget is excluding fittings. Best of luck with your project. Ed

Like I said, depending on the style and the level of quality, your budget may be insufficient. I never said a koshirae could not be made for that if you want bare bones. But I do know that you can spend much, much more than that as well. Which is why I said depending on style and quality. Of course, I am referring to the entire finished koshirae, which includes fittings. A decent quality tsuba can cost 1-2K alone. But everyone has their own opinions on things.

Mauro, That is not entirely true. When I co-owned my small shop in Fukuoka there several times when we disagreed with an NBTHK attribution. My partner who was Japanese went to the NBTHK and confronted them about their attribution. Of course he went armed with documentation to support our opinion, but every time their decision was changed in our favor. I always felt it was due to them being overwhelmed with the volume of swords they were required to judge in such a short period of time. They simple do not have time to do proper research on the swords which require more time. You have probably seen a shinsa outside Japan, it is conveyer belt style with each sword receiving 1-2 minutes of judgement. If not textbook perfect, it gets bounced.

This kind of attribution is common these days. From what I understand it is a multi faceted problem. Older shinsa team members have passed on or retired. Newer members are not knowledgeable enough to be confident in more specific attributions. They err on the side of safety. Same with swords, just look at the results of last years juyo shinsa, 80% fail rate if memory serves me.

Not understanding why anyone would advise against this or where you got that information. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It is yours, if you want a koshirae made, go for it. Cost is the only reason I can think of why anyone would advise against having having a koshirae made. Depending on the style and the level of quality, your budget may be insufficient. It is not cheap to do. Keep in mind that there are additional costs incurred outside the koshirae itself. Shipping, insurance both ways, torokusho fee, broker fees, etc., etc. Also, it is time consuming if you plan to have it done traditionally whether here or in Japan. Curing Urushi takes quite a while. There is a process for importing a blade into Japan. I wouldn't call it complicated, but it is subject to the Japanese rules and takes a little time. I am preparing a couple for shipment now, have one currently awaiting the next Shinsa.

Thank you for posting it. I like it, although if those tusks are ivory, it will probably never get out of the UK. Even if not ivory, I suspect shipping to the US will be met with opposition from the know it all powers that be. Best, Ed

Hey Mark, Yes, I put a bunch on FB. The NMB 's controls only allow so much size wise, so if the photos are very big, you cannot add many. Ed

It was a great show. I too, didn't get to stay the entire show, but had a great time seeing old friends, made a few new friends and saw a ton of nice swords and fittings. Didn't take any sword photos but here are a few photos for your enjoyment. Edit: Sorry, it only allows so much for uploads. I have many more but couldn't upload them. Juyo Goto Ichijo Juyo Nobuiye

Glad it helped.

John, Wish I could help you more, but this one has no stamps and no koshirae. Shirasaya only

KANEHIDE, SEKI INTANGIBLE CULTURAL PROPERTY 2 MILLION YEN SMITH MEI: SEKI KANEHIDE SAKU KORE DATE: SHOWA JU ROKU NEN JU ICHI GATSU BI (NOVEMBER 1943) NAGASA: 26" OVERALL: 34.375" MIHABA: 1.25" KASANE: 0.25" SORI: 0.5” Courtesy of Sesko’s, Swordsmiths A-Z: KANEHIDE (兼秀), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Nōshū-jū Kanehide” (濃州住兼秀), “Nōshū-jū Kanehide kinsaku” (濃州住兼秀謹作), “Nōshū Seki-jū Kanehide saku” (濃州関住兼秀作), “Nōshū Seki-jū Kanehide kinsaku” (濃州関住兼秀謹作), real name Tanaka Isao (田中), he was born August 24th 1913 in Ōkura (大桑) in Nagano Prefecture, in 1928 he went to Kōchi Prefecture and studied there under Kawashima Masahide (川島正秀), in 1937 he moved to Seki and entered another apprenticeship under Watanabe Kanenaga (渡辺兼永) whereupon he became the head of the coaching section of Kanenaga´s training center Watanabe Kanenaga Nihontō Tanren Juku (渡辺兼永日本刀 鍛錬塾), he retired from this post in 1940 and founded in February 1941 the company Seki Tōken Corp. (関刀剣株式会社), during World War II he worked as a rikugun-jumei-tōshō but after the war he did not continue to forge swords until spring 1954. He received the title of intangible cultural property of Gifu prefecture and died in 1989 at the age of 75. References: Hawley’s pg. 165 (KAN 850) Toko Taikan TK-122 Gendaito Meikan pg. 81 Sesko’s pg. 204