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Florian, I wish you well. I look forward to reading your paper. Someone said, "If Japan is to turn in swords, Emperor Hirohito should first make an example." At wars end, the Imperial house was only allowed to keep a small number of swords out of the large number in their collection. Originally, they were told by GHQ that they could keep only 50. These 50 or so they chose were known to have been in their family for centuries. An article said that relatively new swords in the collection were placed in the sorting out section and were to be liquidated. In 1947 the swords that didnt go missing were placed in the newly named Tokyo National Museum in Ueno. Previously Tokyo Imperial Museum. There was a sword collection in the Imperial family at wars end under the category of Emperor Meiji's (Gunto) military sword collection and consisted of about 13 blades. These blades were in the Imperial Household collection for a short time , under 100 years, so they were not as important as swords that had been owned by them for centuries. These blades were the ones surrendered to Emperor Meiji in about 1868 by the Tokugawa's and other high ranking officials. Emperor Meiji chose to rule with those swords by his side. One of these from the Emperor Meiji collection, a famous Masamune, was handed in at wars end by none other than Iemasa Tokugawa. How painful that must have been considering the circumstances. People continue to search for it till this day. Some of the story can be seen in Token to Rekishi 445, 1968 . Also in the Biography of Emperor Meiji, these swords including the missing Masamune are listed as the 12 or 13 military swords of Emperor Meiji. Stephen T.

Hello Christian, I know the tanto you speak of. The guy from twitter said the HM was in the USA, so I do not think it was the Honjo Ke Masamune tanto. A rough translation of what he said: "My teacher heard from Honma Sensei, Very few people, including his teacher, actually saw it before it was taken to America. He said it was a short sword and probably only he would understand it. They were informed that it exists it the USA." Again this is a poor translation. Sorry. All the best, Stephen T.

Hello Simon, Please calm down. It's great to know you are looking out for me. I don't know this Stephen Tokugawa you speak of. If this is your way of asking my last name, ..that's not the way to do it. I already told you, they said it wasn't the sword. Tell you what. Since you want to put me on the spot, Message me privately and I'll send you an article written by his Tokyo dealer telling of the event in 2003. Be sure to give top man a copy so he can read it. I think he'll like seeing it. Mr. Tokugawa is a very warm kind gentleman. He was nothing but kind. I wanted to give him something to show my appreciation. Ask him about the glass negative of Iemasa Tokugawa and family. Tsunenari's mom at age 16 was in that picture along with Iemasa, his son, and others. I gifted it to him and the museum. I also want the Masamune to return. How can something return to an owner without a full public description/ pictures released stating and showing what was lost? That's what needs to happen. Simon, do be careful how you word things. Be respectful. He is cousins with the Emperor, not Stephen. These people are very intelligent. They know your intent before you speak. Stephen T. (not Tokugawa)

Hello Simon, I'm glad you missed me. Hehe! J. , Hello! If you value other up close detailed drawings of Honjo, please hit me up. Very few people ever saw the missing Masamune. If someone wishes to know its identity, they will need to search out the clues. Find the people in Japan still living that were friends of Honma Junji. Those people may have heard details. I spoke to a few, one was Dean Hartley. For examle, It was said by Mr. Hartley/ according to Honma Junji's records, that its a Tanto of Wakizahi length, made in shinogi Tsukuri construction. He whispered "that was a secret". In other words, you won't see this in a book. Last year, a fellow in Japan, who I don't know, said on Twitter something about wanting to see the HM. A person writes this guy back, He said something like his teacher knew Honma Junji and he said Honjo M was a short sword and probably only he, would be able to identify it. Said something like they thought it was in U.S. For the sake of this forum, the conversation is attached. The conversation is still on Twitter surprisingly. There may be another missing one, but the list only indicates one Masamune. Of course, no one person really knows what came out. Stephen T.

Ok Darkcon , I'll answer your question. "What happens if the blade is found?" One who is not part of the research team chosen by Tokugawa's are not allowed to discover it. It can only be officially discovered in Japan by the chosen team. There are people in that team that include a well known Tokyo dealer, and one who used to lead exhibitions at N.Y. Met. Yeah, you know... There is a claim against Honjo it if recognized in Japan so the American owner can only surrender it if taken and recognized. It would be up to the Japanese owner if you get a reward, though I am 99.999% sure there is none since an actual description has never been released by their family. Their main intention is that no one can know its identity. It's like the Imperial Regalia according to books. Still want to find it? Do you know the details? Do you know the secret clues? If you do find it, you'll show a sword to the Japanese owner like I did in 2003. And they'll say, Awe, theres a problem. "According to record, H.M. has no mei. I'm sorry your sword was not found to be H.M." " take it to our team expert in NYC Met museum if you wish to find out what you have." I didn't take it. Why should I? Then later on T.V. documentary, owner says the person who has it won't let anyone see it. Lol! My sword had a Mei..a mei that is special but still a Masamune Mei. Much later in 2020, One of the Tokugawa research team wrote about the event. He said the Americans sword was Zaimei no M.M. Mmmmm......So I have a perfect twin to Honjo sword but Honjo is not signed, so its not the missing Masamune. Great! Well maybe there are other Masamune swords to discover! Lol! Not! Trust me, run! Enjoy your life. Get out, walk your dog. If you want a good sword, buy something beautiful like a Norishige. Let a terrific fellow like Ray Singer or Ted Tenold to teach you. Then buy something nice. All the best fellas Stephen T.

Hello Ray, I agree, Marcus Sesko's book is a wonderful refrence. It's very important to know what a sword actually is and if the smith used alias names. The swordsmith we are speaking of made a secret play sword. I could not use O-suriage, mumei, or katana to describe the missing Masamune. I have never seen a description directly written by an authorative figure from the Tokugawa family stating "we want this back" "description given". In the US, if something is lost we tell what we lost. I am the type of person to give it back if you prove it's yours publicly. Forget the millions its worth. I would like a public "Thank You for returning such n such sword". Sadly, I don't think that's in the plans. To link Masamune with another name would be embarrassing. Secrets run deep in Japan. Especially secrets that would uncover that Masamune probably was never a mei on a Masamune sword..... Stephen T.

Jussi, Hello, the lack of signatures by these smiths was answered well by Rivkin. He said, "the quality is sky high but the real names might have been a bit different." Also Dmitry's book enlightens on the subject. So basically the answer is Masamune was not born Masamune. He signed differently. As to why that's such a guarded secret even in Japan, ..... beats me. Lol! Stephen T.

Hey thanks for the explanation. I don't see any ogi-ba. Do you have a clear still picture of the area you think is ogi-ba? Also, may we see the boshi? Stephen T.

If you wish to see current photographs of Ogaki Masamune, copy and paste the kanji into twitter. There are a few photos. 大垣正宗 If you are searching to see if you found a lost Masamune, some say this one is lost. (Sakakibara Masamune) Stephen T.

Thank you Pat and Rivkin, Wow, this certainly opens up and answers some questions in my past. In 2003, I thought I found a lost important sword. I had contacted a well respected person in Japan who's grandfather had owned my sword. This person, respectfully asked me to contact Morihiro Ogawa to get answers since at the time we were both in the USA. At the time, I was monetarily embarrassed so I did not make the contact or the trip. Sadly, later I found that it was impossible to contact him unless you're somebody. That excluded me. Lol! I feel if this ex NYK ceo asked me to show the sword to Morihiro Ogawa, he probably knows Morihiro Ogawa knows the correct identity of his missing prewar Kokuho sword. To add to the topic here, there are some important missing swords that have slightly or largely false descriptions. That is why, I feel they have not been discovered. I was told the reason for this is not because of dishonesty. It is probably because these particular swords were held in high regard. They were like the Imperial sword called Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. No one is allowed to see it or know its dimension because of tradition. Regardless of what one thinks, if you have what appears to be a treasure, you need to find the expert that truly knows. (Talking to myself here) Since Morihiro Ogawa is patronized by all US museums, that's clear indicator that the man "knows" and is seeking. If someone has Morihiro Ogawa's contact information, I would deeply like to follow through with what is to be and what was asked of me. Thank you kindly Stephen T.

I have been speechless to hear of this trajedy of Darcy's passing. This past year many times, while reading his articles on Soshu, I caught myself thinking, this Darcy is a treasure to the sword society. His writeups didn't just say, it is this maker and you need to believe me, but his articles explained in detail "why" it was who he said. In honor of Darcy, can NMB start a "Wall of Honor" area of the forum to celebrate Darcy and others who have touched our lives but have passed on? Perhaps this area could show lists of names, when the name is clicked, the reader could see a picture, description of who they were and articles by that person? RIP Darcy Stephen T.

I'm very sad to hear the news. I'm praying for you Guido. Do get well soon! Stephen T.

There was an exhibition a while ago. The actual Koshirae of HM was displayed. https://tsumugu.yomiuri.co.jp/special/桃山展「本庄正宗」の刀装初公開/ Stephen T.

Your welcome JP I put up these 3 videos. The first one is not a comparison but just is of a section in need of full polish. This side is opposite of the pictures above. Look closely at the twisting Chikei and thick lines of Hataraki running down through the Hamon to the Ha-saki. https://youtu.be/FQPmOUJzdgw https://youtu.be/mtSSLaSdEtE https://youtu.be/lKaVuI4ubLQ All the best friends, Stephen T.

I'll get them back up tomorrow for ya. Thanks, Stephen T.