Shugyosha

For me not great quality, but price seems to be about right based on similar ones on the Aoi website: https://www.aoijapan.com/fittings/fuchikashira/

According to Markus Sesko's eSwordsmiths of Japan there are two smiths with this name and the "Mutsu kami" title, there's some detail about the earlier one: YOSHIYUKI (吉行), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Tosa – “Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki” (陸奥守吉行), “Yoshiyuki” (吉行), real name Morishita Heisuke (森下平助), he was the second son of Harima no Kami Yoshinari (播磨守吉成), that means he was the younger brother of Kōzuke no Kami Yoshikuni (上野守吉国), later he was adopted into the Yamaoka family (山岡) and took their family name, like his father and older brother he studied in Ōsaka under the Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi lineage (丹波守吉道), he came originally from Nakamura (中村) in Ōshū but settled later in Tosa´s Kōchi (高知), he worked in the style of his master, gunome with chōji-ashi, wazamono, chū-saku YOSHIYUKI (吉行), Bunkyū (文久, 1861-1864), Tosa – “Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki” (陸奥守吉行)

亦 is pronounced "mata" meaning again, or also. 泥 pronunciation is "doro" meaning mud, slush, mire, dirt. Yes, I believe the last two kanji are read "kuni" and "on". Sorry about the shading...don't know where it came from.

So what's in it for us exactly? It doesn't appear that you have a lot to share and the build relationships thing isn't working out too well either.

Hi Neil, I suspect that this is a slogan rather than a smith's name - anyhow the last kanji isn't "tada", it is read "on" and means benefit, favour or obligation. I can't find a match for the first kanji so you are going to have to have some better help than I can provide, but here are the others: [ ]泥亦國恩 Best, John

Hi Henry, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner; I've been away for a few days and didn't have access to the sword. I've just dug out the paperwork that goes with the blade and I've had a bit of a brain fart: it actually has NPO NTHK papers rather than NBTHK, so it has been authenticated by a body that doesn't use the Hozon, Tokubetsu Hozon etc system. Apologies for that - let me know if you are still interested and I will post pictures and full details here, otherwise I will offer it for sale generally. Kind regards, John

Hi Metamon, I've got a mumei wakizashi with Hozon papers that I was thinking of moving on. I'd be happy to offer it to you before I post it in the for sale section. Drop me a PM if you think you might be interested and I'll send you the details, alternatively I can post them here and you can ask for the views of the other Board members...but you would be better off spending some money on books and learning about what you should be looking for first of all. Kind regards, John

Mishina [ta?] jima kami Kanemitsu. I'm not sure about the match on the third kanji but it may be. This guy from Markus Sesko's eJapanese Swordsmiths: KANEMITSU (兼光), 1st gen., Kyōhō (享保, 1716-1736), Settsu – “Kanemitsu” (兼光), “Sesshū Amagasaki-jū Mishina Tajima no Kami Fujiwara Kanemitsu” (摂州尼ケ崎住三品但馬守藤原兼光), “Tajima no Kami Kanemitsu” (但馬守兼光), adopted son of Tanba no Kami Kanemichi (丹波守兼道), real name Mishina Mondayū (三品紋太夫), itame, ō-midare, chūjō-saku Best, John

Hi Snorman, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that is a Chinese fake. I hope you can get your money back from the seller. There's an article on fake swords here: http://jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html Best, John

Hi Greg, The before shots can be found here on Andrew Quirt's website: http://www.nihonto.us/KAGA%20MASAKUNI%20KATANA%20A.htm This are the ones after polish:

You're absolutely right Robert, sorry Edwin, please disregard my previous comments regarding the missing character. Best, John

First one is [Yama] shiro Daijo Fujiwara Yoshiyuki. There is only one guy signing Yoshiyuki this way who was awarded the honorary title "Daijo" of a province, so by process of elimination it's this one if it's genuine. It seems like a pretty big typo to miss off the first character for the province though - all of the province names are composed using two characters, that said he's not an obvious candidate for a false signature. This guy from Markus Sesko's eJapanese Swordsmiths: YOSHIYUKI (義行), 1st gen., Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Bungo – “Yamashiro no Daijō Yoshiyuki” (山城大掾義行), “Bungo-jū Yamashiro no Daijō Fujiwara Yoshiyuki” (豊後住山城大掾藤原義行), “Bungo Takada-jū Fujiwara Yoshiyuki” (豊後高田住藤原義行), he changed his name later to Toyohira (豊平) and Kunihira (国平), see also “KUNIHIRA (国平), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Bungo”

Hi Josh, I've PM'd you. Just to let you know, I've offered this tsuba back to Stephen, but if you should decide that you'd rather have a tsuba I can offer something equivalent. Best, John

Hi Josh, I can give you a couple of options that might draw you further down the rabbit hole. I don't know what you were looking at for the tsuka, but see what you think of this: For £250 I can sell you a mounted koto (warring states period) tanto. The good bits are that it is in polish, signed and dated in an Edo period scabbard and has a tsuba and a kogatana and kodzuka. It has fuchi and kashira in copper and shakudo nanako and menuki with a bow and quiver motif. The bad bit is that the hamon runs off the edge of the blade near the point so it has no real value other than as a nice way to hold together the other bits of the fittings. If you buy it, I'll make a donation to NMB. Alternatively (or in addition), I'd be more than happy to sell you an Edo period tsuba for a donation to NMB of whatever the USD equivalent of £80 is on a given day. I'm treating it as a "catch and release" tsuba as I won it on the last NMB raffle so I'm happy to pass it on if NMB gets something out of it. It is katana sized, iron with pine tree sukashi motif, has a nice patina but someone (not the person who donated it or indeed myself) has pimped the hitsu ana plugs by colouring them in with a gold sharpie. I'll throw in a box for it too. If you go for either of the above, I'll chuck in a couple of general books on Japanese swords and I'll cover UK delivery costs. If you're interested, PM me and I'll try to get you some pictures and further details, but I'm travelling at the moment so it's down to what I have in my head and on my laptop. Kind regards, John

Sergei, Have I been dumb and linked to your own web page?? Sorry, John

Hi Sergei, I think you've answered your own question. I'm guessing maybe a later revivalist piece or utsushi mono: it looks like the hitsu ana were put in at the time of manufacture as the carving seems to stop before the edge of the ana rather than the hitsu ana cutting through the carving. Some interesting information here: http://varshavskycollection.com/kamakura-bori-tsuba/ Best, John

For those fans of Satsuma swordsmiths, here may be a chance to pick up a cheap one. Am I being dumb when I take the origami to read that the smith was six years old when he made it? https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-oite-ryuzan-okuhira-motoyasu-nen-6-sai-saku2nd/

I understand that the problem is linked to gang culture and the magic of social media. In these days of instant gratification, it’s possible to post your diss rap on line and be at daggers (occasionally pistols) drawn with the dissees all on the same evening. It’s not like the good old days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iRTB-FTMdk

Well, right now I'm considering exporting myself to the EU and taking my swords with me but this is not a well reasoned or well researched argument.

Hi Les, When I was growing up in the UK we had a saying “well…I wouldn’t kick her out of bed if she farted”. So essentially I’m saying that, if this is to be considered to be a flaw, then the addition of the hi doesn’t greatly detract from the beauty of the whole thing in the context of the criteria of “age, condition and rarity”. I’m probably in the camp of taking each example on its own merits: there are some truly awful ato hori but I don’t think this is one of them. Best, John

He’s not just trying to clear the air then?

Maybe a clue here? http://mentalfloss.com/article/66345/amazing-images-classic-Japanese-fart-battles

Just a quick message to say thank youto all who were involved in organising the event, and to say how much of a pleasure it was to be able to meet some of the usual suspects from NMB. I’m rather late to the party and there is little that I can add to what has already been said about the viewing and educational opportunities on offer, but what I think is worth stressing is how the event offered serious value for money. I’m not as well travelled as some on the board who pursue sword events, but the only thing I can compare it to in sheer quantity of quality in one place, was the Cutting Edge exhibition at the British Museum a few years ago and, aside from the Token Society of Great Britain’s event there, there was no opportunity to handle the exhibits. Think how far we Europeans would have to go normally to see the equivalent and the associated cost of that – in terms of bang for your bucks, this event would take some beating. And there’s more to it than that, the venue was very well chosen because Utrecht offers plenty of other stuff to do in terms of shopping, eating and drinking and non-sword related culture, so there’s something for the non-sword lovers in the family and we were able to make a decent city break around the expo. I hold out hope that there will be more of these so, if you are this side of the Pond and you can’t afford DTI, forgo a cheap tsuba and put the money aside for the next one. Best, John

It might be the photo or my eyes, but something about the patina on the tang, nakago Jiri (not typical bizen shape) and badly done signature makes me think Chinese copy. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sure you'll get some other views soon. Best, John

Hi Robert, If it helps, I've been very happy with Paul's service regarding a sword I submitted to shinsa. I plan to send him some fittings when I get around to it and have no reason to suspect that his service in this regard will be different. Best, John