Shugyosha

I do find that design very pleasing - some nice tsuba there.

Hi Brian, I think the show is only annually but there’s the North California sword society that has a (mostly) monthly meeting: https://www.ncjsc.org

Hi Jake, This is the one signed Yoshiomi, it has the Nagoya Arsenal stamp and is dated November in the 18th year of Showa. The fittings look better than standard gunto fittings and the tachi mei also adds interest. I’m still not 100% sure that the two sides of the tang photographed are of the same blade: the colour is different and the hand of the inscription doesn’t match for me, however, I’m not a military swords guy but these gentlemen can help: @mecox @Bruce Pennington @PNSSHOGUN

Hi Jake, You might want to start a new thread for each sword and include more pictures than just of the tangs. At first blush the look like a mixed bunch: 1. Maybe a late wartime blade - it has a Showa date and the signature is done in the chippy style of the time. 2,4,5 and 6 look like fakes. 3. Looks like two different blades but it or both could be genuine wartime blades - one has side has a stamp (too small to judge on my screen) and the other is dated to Showa 18 (1943). Signature looks like Yoshiomi and is signed tachi mei which might make it more interesting: 7. Might genuine and might be old but could also be an outright fake or a younger blade with a tang made to look like something older. All first impressions based on tangs alone, for something more definitive I think you’ll need to post more and better photos.

It might be an allusion to its cutting qualities in that the object cut falls with the same motion as snow slides from a sleeve. I don’t think my description does it justice but you can perhaps imagine a frictionless separation of two objects that have been cut by something really sharp. I believe I’ve read of another sword’s cutting qualities being described as cutting “as snow slips from a gate post” and another in the same way that a dew drop slides from a leaf. It may have been in a Markus Sesko article but I’m stretching my memory. Here you go: Sasanoyuki- like snow from a bamboo leaf, sorry I conflated two ideas. https://markussesko.com/2014/02/18/cutting-ability-nicknames-of-swords/

There’s the mountain kanji in there to give …sansui zu but Chat GPT does seem to be getting better.

Hi Sky, The only thing I would mention re the ko Mihara blade is that Aoi’s oshigata hints at utsuri but I can’t see it mentioned in the setsumei (but I’m on my phone and am prone to errors) so that might be something to look at if it might be significant for you.

I read somewhere that his swords and armour were buried with him but it’s a bit of a distant memory so I may have imagined it.

Excellent post Lukrez. I suspect I’m completely unqualified to comment on this thread (but as usual I won’t let that stop me) as I seem to have reached a point in my life where nothing generates a feeling of awe or wonder any longer and I think any kind of masterpiece should do that. Obviously that is totally subjective but I think a masterpiece in any media needs to leap above the run of the mill but I’m struggling to see anything more than “nice” at the moment.

I’d be tempted to leave as is. It looks like there’s already something close to a break in the ito so it’ll need a re wrap if you want to do that. Maybe save it for then and give it a clean at that point? Moisture and old thread doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven to me and I think it would be hard to keep the ito dry whilst working on the same alone and, as Sam says, you wanted an antique right?

I’ve had a tanto with koshirae where the mekugi was made of metal in two parts with a head on each side forming the menuki. My understanding also was that the menuki had a function in terms of padding out the tsuka in longer swords to aid with grip and they are normally offset for that reason. Also that what was purely functional became more decorative over time.

Hi Jean, This might be a bit tenuous and this subject is very much yours rather than mine, but the term oroshigane can have the meaning "blown steel" so maybe a reference to him using this process rather than a tatara to make his steel? From an article by Markus Sesko: "At this point, you may ask yourself, what does the very term oroshigane actually mean. I mean, gane is clear, it means “steel”, but oroshi? In our case, the term oroshi is assumed to come from the term fuki-orosu (吹き下す) which means “blow down upon,” and was probably chosen because it resembles the way the smith blows air into the prepared steel/charcoal arrangement for the oroshigane process in his furnace. Strong and dangerous winds blowing down the slope of a mountain are referred to as oroshi as well, written with the character (颪), which has to be taken literally so to speak, i.e. “down” (下) and “wind” (風)." https://markussesko.com/2018/09/30/oroshigane-mentioned-in-signatures/

Hi Jay, Welcome to the forum. From what I can see (on my phone with old eyes) it doesn’t look like a modern copy. I’d suggest maybe 19th century, made for the export trade, but not cast. It can be difficult to kantei tsuba based on design alone as there were books of designs circulating and popular ones were reproduced. There’s some nice carving there and I hope you enjoy your new tsuba.

Thanks Uwe, got it now!

Steve, To give a clue - first two characters = province; next two = place name ( I’m struggling with this) usual character to indicate what is above and then smith name. Also, for an extra clue, check which side of the tang it’s signed on. Edit: the nakago mune has been shaved so it’s a bit tricky to read.

Hi Nick, Sorry, I can't help directly but if you drop the Token Society of GB a line they'll be able to put you in touch.

Hi Colin, thank you. Wow that is really lovely and very well done - there's a ton of work gone into that. I'll be interested to see who the maker is as it looks like you've snagged a good one there.

Unfortunately, if artists don't sign in block capitals, my small store of knowledge is exceeded. Would you mind posting a picture of the second tsuba please Colin? It looks very nice from the what you've shown so far.

Hi Steven, It's traditionally made and I'd agree with David that it's a shinto blade: the condition of the tang points that way and, for me, the overall shape looks like that which was in vogue around Kanbun so 1660s would be my guess. Unsigned shinto blades aren't very desireable for non-military sword collectors, but an antique blade in kai gunto mounts might have some appeal to you military sword guys - sorry, can't say anything about the fittings as they aren't my thing.

Sorry Gerry, I didn't know that it had papers as I couldn't access the auction site without a password and was relying on the photos you posted here. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to your question, instinctively I would say that one would possibly pass Hozon as "being worth of preservation" but probably not TH but then outliers do crop up from time to time. That very open grained look is something that you get with acid polishes as it tends to eat into the grain of the metal and produce a similar effect to what you see in the blade you posted, to a greater or lesser extent. As the blade was on a Japanese auction site, it didn't seem too much of a leap to think that someone had got creative to try to make an ordinary blade more attractive to westerners or had simply used a quick and dirty way to make an out of polish blade more presentable. As an aside, did you know that the blade had papers when you posted?

Hi Gerry, To me that doesn't look like natural wear from normal polishing. I'd suggest that it is the product of an acid polish and, given the state it's now in with most of the natural activity obscured and what looks like fake hitatsura, I think it is going to be a futile exercise trying to kantei it.

Welcome to the forum Kai. Unfortunately, you don't get much buyer's remorse for $130 these days.

Hi Lewis, Have a look at Michael's post in this thread on the subject which might help you come to a conclusion. I can't draw a firm conclusion and it doesn't help (me) that this is an older form of the kuni kanji. To my eyes the second horizontal stroke off the central diagonal in "kuni" looks like it might run in the opposite direction to normal and the bottom stroke of the enclosure is a possibility too but less obviously so. The long horizontal bar on "mitsu" also looks like it has been done right to left to me but it's finger in the air stuff. I think the best opinion you will get would be from @Nobody san.

Those are the kanji but I think you need another reading for them “Banjuu” is one possibility but there may be others.

A long overdue recognition IMHO. What name have you decided on for your nengo?