John A Stuart

It looks more like Shino Oribe. Older, I don't think contemporary. John

I have one leather one left. I had to throw out one that got so stiff even with oil to soften. John

手裏剣 shuriken (should be 車剣 shaken) 大五方 large 5 sided. I can't read the rest. John

Shinobi or ninja did exist, but, not as in the movies with famous night suits and flash bang disappearing tricks. The east in general had operatives that worked to gather info or cause logistical confusion as did most armies world wide and currently. What would you call black ops? Throwing darts and knives could be all considered shuriken if in a Japanese context. The stars are actually shaken. What is special about them? They can be fabricated in the field relatively easily and their loss causes little problem. Most young bushi would be adept at knife throwing, just as sport for children, I find it still fun..

Right repro's. Left not only better quality, but, more appealing. Backs please? John

Noshu Fujiwara Kanesada, I believe. 包貞 John

I think it is maybe an artistic rendition of the flower and leaves of Trapa Japonica as it grows, not the fruiting body. John

I don't know how to take 一菱実図鐔 Ichibishi mi zu tsuba. Water chestnut seed drawing tsuba. Does this not refer to having good luck? Help? John

Various seal scripts are on the top of the Kang Zi document I posted. I don't know if it is so. John

A mistake I correct 鋤残耳 is suki-no-koshi mimi. Sorry. I checked sukidashi bori and that is correct. John BTW, these terms appear often in the context of Kamakura bori.

Thinking on 鋤出 彫 maybe better said sukidashibori. John

鋤出彫 Sukishutsubori, type of carving. 鋤残耳 Sukisan mimi, type of edge. 魚子地 Nanako-ji, fishroe surface. John

I don't see this as seal script for 壽 John

Anything that calms the mind, soothes the soul or entices reflective mood is art, and gardens are art. This is the proper place in my mind. Even suiseki is art and they are natural formations. John

The top one looks like 諸 Moro and the next as 崟 Taka. I'm poor at sosho so a little salt. John PS maybe 諸崟 Moromine

That sounds like an okogatana to me with no mekugiana. Mine is 16.2cm and that's large. John

Without pictures it is tough. The are oversize kogatana that fit this description. Does it have a mekugiana? I have one such that I got from Curran and is published, Okogatana. John

This 惟時壬辰暦 indicates the time of Mizunoe-Tatsu. What year though? 1352 1412. I suspect 1352, right smack dab in Nambokucho. John

Actually the nanori for 木 includes 'moto'. I would have read this 栗木 'kurumoto' though. John

Why this? " You cannot bid on this item. Buyee has already manually reviewed this auction and determined that it is prohibited. We are very sorry for the inconvenience."

Gabriel, Pierre is very active, in fact he does seminars in the region. John

"Ibota-ro is a natural insect wax. The larvae of the wax scale insect (ibota mushi; Ericerus pela) live on the ibota-no-ki bush (a species of privet, Ligustrum ibota), and frequently form an infestation. The larvae protect themselves by producing a fine waxy thread that form little balls on the branches of the ibota privet. Eventually branches are densely covered by the waxy deposits, which are then collected, heated, and cleaned to extract the high melting point wax. The wax has a wide number of applications. In polishing it prevents friction between the migaki-bo and the blade. It is used in tsukamaki for polishing samekawa prior to doing the wrapping. It is also used for as a final polish for shirasaya, as a traditional finish for Japanese coloured metalwork, and has been used in Japan to coat tsuba in order to inhibit rusting. Ibota-ro is also used to polish furniture, cabinet work, wooden utensils, and to make sliding doors move smoothly and noiselessly." Ryujin site.

Karigane 鳫金 in the cutting test 鳫金土壇拂切手山田五三郎 means an horizontal cut across the body just below the nipple line. A tough cut. John

Oil quenching is only favourable in that it is less stressful and had fewer failures, Desirable for fast wartime production where quantity was paramount and hardness of the ha was a less critical consideration. Because oil has such a low transfer of heat compared to water less nie are produced and this is apparent in the hamon being weak and less attractive. The grain produced by folding and forging should not be affected by the type of quench. Most modern heat treatment of non-Japanese swords are oil quenched and you can see many examples of well defined grain structure. John

Well worth the effort. John