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Thank you. It seems like it's as difficult for everyone else as it is for me!????

Hi all. I was wondering if anyone could help me with the mei on this kozuka. So far I've got tempo 14, year of the hare, but I'm struggling with the rest. I'm by no means a collector of kozuka or even soft metal fittings but the workmanship looks very good.I'd be most appreciative if anyone could help with it. Thanks in advance Gethin

Hi everyone. Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll definitely be sending it to the NBTHK soon. I have two other tsuba that need papering so it can go at the same time. Gethin

Hi all. I came across this tsuba recently and I thought some of you might like to see it. When I first purchased it I had no idea it would be as old as it was. I initially had it down as mid to late Edo as the condition Was fantastic. It came in a custom fitted box and the the seller didn't have a great deal to say about it other than it was signed "Nobusada" which of course, it wasn't . After establishing the signature was Nobumasa I began my research. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything in any of my books to give me any information. It seemed so well made that I found it hard to believe that this man wouldn't have been recorded somewhere. Eventually I found him, Of course I was looking at the wrong period of time to start with. This Nobumasa in fact is momoyama period and said to be a student of the famous Nobuyie. Also with some help I managed to locate a photograph of an almost identical tsuba that was part of the Oeder collection in Germany at the turn of the century, which is also signed by the same man. Unfortunately, the collection went missing in 1945 and has never been seen since. I think this one would be a reasonable candidate to send to shinsa. Has anyone here seen any examples of this mans work? Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated. Gethin

Hi all I recently purchased this little gem. It's signed choshu hagi ju kawaji Hisatsugu saku. I would like to know if anyone has other examples of his works and possibly some examples of his mei so i could compare. Also, does anyone have any information on him? the only thing i can find is that he was the 4th master of the kawaji branch. I do think its an excellent peice and would like to know your thoughts. many thanks Gethin

Thanks Ford Ordered my copy and it arrived today! Very interesting book! Thanks for the info! Gethin

Hi guys Thanks for your input! I dont recall seeing a theme like this one before but the bold design is the main reason why i purchased it. Can anyone shed some more information on the 3rd and 4th masters please as i have very little information on Akasaka. Thanks again Gethin

Hi Gents I recently picked up this tsuba and have been trying to do some research on it. I have little knowledge of the Akasaka school but I do believe it is of the school and judging by the bold design and the defined chisel marks it may be representative of the third generation Tadatora. However, as I know that the rest of you have far more knowledge on the subject than myself, I'd like to know all your thoughts on it. The dimentions are 75. 44 mm x 73.77 mm x 6.61 mm thick. Many thanks. Gethin

Hi gents! Thanks for all your replys! so the general opinion is that it may be Sado work! i need to study this school more as another tsuba i have could possibly be from the same school! the iron quality is similar only a lot smoother! Does anyone know of any books relating to sado island tsuba? Thanks again Gethin

Thanks both! I havent seen many examples of sado island work but i quite like this one! does anyone else own any sado work? Gethin

Hi gents! I recently picked up this tsuba and have been identify what school it belongs to. The theme I think would be termed as bracken? The iron appears to be extremely good after I cleaned it up a bit and almost has a wet look! I found a very similar example in one of my old books but I can't translate the description. I was wondering what all your thoughts on it are and any help would be most appreciated! Gethin

Hi guys Thanks for your comments. the yari is signed wakasa daijo fujiwara fuyuhiro chozaemon. I've looked at many examples of the schools work but never anything like this. Could it be a special order for some sort of so jutsu practitioner? Gethin

Hi all I would like to know some of the more experienced members thoughts on this piece and what it may have been made for or used for. I purchased this yari a while back and have been trying to carry out some research on it. I've taken a picture of it next to a standard sized monju sansaku yari. As you can see it is massive in comparison! I have seen omi yari in which the Blade length would be advantageous but this one is not what I'd call overly long as it has a 285 mm Nagasa. The weight however is the surprising factor as it weighs just over 1.2 kgs while the standard yari blade next to it weighs only 120g! Has anyone ever seen a yari this heavy or this size before and if so, what could its purpose be? I would have thought it would be far too heavy to carry around for any considerable amount of time. Any comments or thoughts would be much appreciated. Gethin

hi guys! I purchased a couple of gunto items on the weekend and one of the tsuka have some inscription on it so I was wondering if anyone could help! It has a kanji mon on the kabuto gane and the same kanji are in the inscription on the tsuka. Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks again Gethin

hi gents! I found this tsuba in a sale recently and it was in pretty rough condition. I cleaned as best I could and this is what's left. It's a pretty hefty piece for the size. It's 77mm in diameter and has a thickness of 6mm. I've seen similar designed tsuba labeled as Ono school but the ones I've seen look more like two triangles intersected. This one however looks like a triangle within a circle. Would this still classify it as Ono school? Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks again Gethin

Morita San! Thank you very much! You make it look so easy! Gethin

Hi all! I purchased this shinsaku kogatana some time ago and am still baffled by the insription on the blade. I was wondering if any of you fine gentlemen could give your best shot at translating it. Many thanks in advance Gethin

Hi guys! I recently purchased a set of armour which came with this hata! I'm aware it's a reproduction and no where near as old as the armour but I was wondering if anyone could tell me what it says! Thanks in advance! Gethin

Hi Steve Thanks again for the reply and the help. Yes suruga is another possibility I hadn't thought of. No that I'm concerned who the maker is because I simply bought it as I liked it, but it would be great if I could narrow it down. It is a lot better in hand than what the pictures make out. I'm even trying to look at which schools had rudder themed tsuba aswell. Teimei yagyu and myochin I've found so far! Thanks again Gethin

Hi Steve Thank you for your reply. I mentioned that the surface reminded me of akasaka but then you have the mimi which is indeed squared. I've seen teimei tsuba with similar themes and also some owari work. Myochin would also be a possibility aswell as shoami of coarse. Ono school work is similar and some of the tsuba from Sado island look much the same. Kanayama school maybe a possibility or some of the umetada iron tsuba have similar surface. I'm not saying it isn't Akao, just wondering how it was attributed as Akao. What are you're thoughts on it? Thanks again. Gethin

Hi gents. I recently purchased this piece and I was wondering if anyone could give me they're opinions on it. It's previously of the Holbrook collection and the original description and pictures are as follows:- From the Holbrook collection: a classic early Edo Akao sukashi boat rudder pattern. Exceptional iron with large globular tekotsu in the mimi, and fine granular tekotsu throughout the face. Excellent color and condition. 7.77 cm x 7.68 cm x 4.8 mm. Because of its age, it would likely be the hand of the first or second Echizen Yoshitsugu. The Shodai Echizen Yoshitsugu, said to be a student of Umetada Myoju, is credited as the founder of Akao school in the early seventeenth century. There are no signed examples of his work. At the encouragement of the Han Lord, he moved to Edo, and was employed by the Bakufu. The second generation became a tsubako whose common name was Kobee, he signed tsuba Akao Yoshitsugu. There is an interesting tsuba, dated Kambun gan san gatsu jitsu (March 1661), with the signature Kawachi no Kuni Akao Kinai. My question is this, what makes it attributable to Akao when there are many other schools it could likely be? I have seen Teimei tsuba with the theme of a rudder although I don't think this is one and the Surface reminds me of akasaka work. Could any of you more knowledgable gentlemen enlighten me as to why this is Akao or even if it is Akao. Thanks for your help Gethin

Thanks gents! I've looked up all the higo literature I have and I can't find any similar designs. I picked this tsuba up in the same sale. Same molten surface and an interesting treatment of the kozuka ana. Not a pillow and not completely filled in either. I haven't seen this been done before. Is it particular to any school? Thanks again Gethin

Thanks guys! Evan, the dimensions are 71x67 mm with a thickness of 4.5 mm. Has anyone seen a solid plate yagyu before? Grey, I thought higo on first impression or maybe umetada but I'm not so sure anymore. The quality of the iron is definitely among the best I've got. Gethin

Hi gents! I require a little bit of help from some people who are far more knowledgable than myself. I recently purchased this tsuba in an estate sale and wanted to know your views on it. The box it came in had yagyu written on the bottom but I didn't know this till after I purchased it. I really liked the tsuba and it does seem to have that molten yakite finish. I have looked in sasano's book and there are two very similar tsuba in there on pages 221 and 234 But they both have sukashi of pine trees. The dimensions of the tsuba I purchased and the ones in sasano's book are almost identical but, having never seen a genuine yagyu tsuba up close I can only go by pictures. I'd like to get some of your thoughts on this one. I know that it is pretty plain in design and there are quite a few schools it could be but I'm hoping to narrow it down a bit on school and time period. I apologise in advance for the pictures as my camera is playing up but it looks a lot better in the hand than the pictures make out. Thanks again for any help you can give. Gethin

Hi Gents! Thanks for all the info and help! I couldn't place what school the tsuba would have been and i had difficulty ascribing it to any of the higo schools although the iron is of a high quality like you'd expect to find with most higo work! i'll start to look in to sado and see where it takes me! Once again, thank you all for your help, its much appreciated! Michael, I think this tsuba is one that our late friend Mr. Parr would have liked! Gethin