paulb

thank you Brian

I have today written to the institute regarding the comments made in this report about me and the Society. I do not propose to print these here but should anyone wish to see them I will forward a copy. I made a great mistake. I liked a post on Facebook which supported the NBTHK. As a result it would appear that I am now dishonest commercially driven and stupid. (some of these may be true but certainly not commercially driven) I hope when I retire as Chairman of the Token Society I will be remembered for more positive things rather than this diatribe which has little or no foundation in truth.

you are most welcome. I hope it helps on the road.

I think the starting point for any pricing is to compare the item with similar examples that have sold before. Having done that one then needs to focus on specifics. The governing factors (at least I think they are) Quality- the level of skill employed in producing the piece, the material used and how successfully they have achieved their vision (subjective I know) Condition- The better the condition, fewer faults the higher the value rarity- it is easier to be more forgiving about condition if what you are looking at is one of very few extant pieces by a particular smith. Within a single smiths work there can be great variation. I have seen Rai Kunitoshi blades that were breathtaking and others that were quite frankly boring. One would expect that the work of a smith's mature years might be better than their earlier works but this is not always the case. Ultimately price is established and based on what someone is willing to pay. There are no hard rules. If someone desperately wants something they will pay more for it. If what is on sale is one of many examples of similar quality then the price becomes more sensitive.

Mark If you let me have your contact details I will happily give you contact details for the Armouries and my contact details if you wish to discuss your sword Regards Paul

Congratuatons Guido and thank you for sharing the story.

Matt, I think that is absolutely stunning. To achieve the image with such economy and such a simplistic composition is truly incredible. A beautiful thing. Enjoy

Thank you all for the positive comments. It has been a labour of love and I was very lucky for the various components to appear at the right time. I confess to having had to make very little effort. Rich re: patience, I think my wife would fall on the floor laughing at the thought of me being patient I will leave the tsuba as is for the time being and see how I feel about it after living with it for a while. In the meantime I have other blades to consider putting a koshirae together. Thanks again to all who commented.

Hi Piers I am inclined to agree with you which is why I am not rushing in to restoration. The wear might be considered different colouring in the rodents. I will take some time to think about it. The Shikkake Naginata Naoshi is the one I photographed not so long ago. It also is written up in an early article in the article section under the heading "study of a Juyo blade" At the time of writing there were far fewer in circulation (I think less than 10 in the UK then) So the title seemed more appropriate then than now!

This started nearly 5 years ago when I bought the fuchi kashira and menuki. I decided to put them in to a koshirae for the Shikkake naginata naoshi shown in a previous post. The Koshirae was duly created. At the time the only tsuba I had was a Ko-shoami sukashi "boars eye" tsuba which I duly added. Recently a far better suited piece came up for sale. The images below show the completed set. At some point the tsuba may go for restoration to freshen up the worn areas of gold and shakudo but at the moment the wear doesn't offend or detract too much from the end result. Who knows in another 5 years it might be finished!

You make a valid point JP blades changed shape to accomodate different fighting techniques. Therefore by definition in terms of fitness for purpose they were better for that application. However when one defines "the best" sword making period I think you need to look beyond the utilitarian aspect and dare I say it, at the art aspect. The quality of steel and the way it was worked is in my opinon far better in Kamakura blades than later work. This is very subjective in terms of material but not so in the way it was worked. The quality of forging activity within the jigane and hardenning created much greater variation than seen in later periods. I think this is due in part to some of the local variations in raw material. I am not weighed down by tradition and I think my opinion is based on what I have seen rather than what I have read. But as said before when discussing better and best in any area you rapidly get in to subjectivity.

While I think John is correct and master works were made in all periods of sword making history I am not aware of any other source claiming shinto blades were better than koto. the vast majority of important works and recognised great masters of the art came from the koto period.

In response to Roberts request and thanks to the generosity of a fellow collector please see some images of Matsukawa hada from a juyo Norishige.

Dear All, In attempting to make the most of enforced time at home I have been trying to further improve my collection of images of different hada. I posted the images below on the Nihonto discussion group which I believe many of you visit. My apologies for the repetition if you have aready seen them there. I thought they may be of interest here, particularly to those who have recently written about being new to the subject and looking for information. Starting with Masame and progressing through various forms to arrive finally at nashiji. I have tried to encompass some of the huge variety one sees in koto blades (Soshu work is sadly not represented)

One of the most prolific users of foriegn steel was Yasutsugu. as can be seen in the sword currently on Aoe-Art's website linked below, he frequently recorded his use of this material. There is a lot of debate in the past regaridng what qualities , if any, incorporating nambantetsu gave to a blade. It is often said that His blades were darker but I think this is a general trait of Echizen based smiths and not necessarily due to Dutch iron being included. It has also been recorded that Hizen Smiths used it. Considering their close proximity to the Dutch trading port this would seem possible but I am not sure it has ever been proven conclusively. While many claims regarding performance may have been made it does fly in the face of the more generally held view that Tamahagane was the purest and best material for sword manufacture. If this is so why incorporate a lesser material? I think there are two reasons firstly availability, it was shipped in in large volume and offered a lower cost alternative to the home produced product. Secondly at a time when smiths tried to differentiate their work from everyone else claiming it had this mysterious foreign iron gave them a USP and separated them from the pack. https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-yasutsugu-tei-motte-nanban-tetsu-oite-bushu-edo-saku-kore/ .

Having been here since the start, going back to both Rich Stein and Rich Turner before Brian took the helm, I am very confident the board will survive this as it has many previous disasters (albeit of a different scale). This will end. We are not sure when yet but it will end. limitations on what we can do should stimulate people to read more of the information here and perhaps contribute more by sharing their own ideas and research. This situation is a pain, it is frightening and disruptive but lets see if we can draw some advantage from it by using the time suddenly available to us to get more involved in a subject we love and in a group we respect. The Board will definitely survive well beyond Corvid-19 and come out the other side stronger than ever.

Dear All, In light of the current situation regarding Corvid-19 I dont think it will surprise anyone that the organisers of Japan Art Expo have taken the decision to postpone the event. While regretable I think the decision is fully understandable and the correct one. As soon as there is news regarding revised date and schedule the information will be posted on the japanartexpo website. I will also post further updates here.

Yamato pumpinng out blades is a bit of an exaggeration. They produced a lot of weapons for the temples standing armies and many of these were destroyed, I guess through use. Mino and partcularly Seki were responsible for an early form of mass production making bundle swords for the various armies as was Bizen prior to the flood. In addition Mino smiths travelled around the country teaching and some say effectively franchising their technology to rural smiths. Thus their style spread despite their relatively late start. Soshu virtually disappeared when the Bakafu relocated to Kyoto from Kamakura. Yamashiro were supplying a diminishing and increasingly impoverished aristocratic client base. and Nobunaga destroyed much of the temple's power and their standing armies eliminating Yamato customer base. Thus you are left with Bizen and Mino.

Jean You may well be right I just thought the blade looked too slim and delicate to be regarded as a wakazashi and the shape is totally wrong for a tanto. I am not sure there are any hard and fast rules as to what is and isnt included on a Boys sword (like everything else). Either way it does not greatly effect the worth of the piece historically or financially. Also I was basing this idea more on the blade than the koshirae which may or may not be original to the blade or added after. edit: removed question about use of capitals. Misunderstood intent (sorry)

Can I throw another possibility in here. This looks to be a Boys day sword. If you look at the overall shape it looks much more like a miniature katana than a wakizashi. Can still be traditionally made and I have seen several that are good quality and well mounted so it doesnt mean it is bad it just isnt either a tanto or wakazashi.

No JP there are issues. A number of shipping companies either won't handle swords or won't insure antiques Unfortunately the policies seem to change every week I haven't shipped a sword in the UK for a while so will leave it to someone with more recent experience to advise

Hi Michael, I think we are largely singing from the same page. I don't think I was suggesting you were implying anything about the importance of a mei. If it read that way my apologies it wasn't meant too. You were simply explaining your preference and why it was important to you. Likewise all I am saying is that from my own standpoint a signature is not a major consideration, perhaps it should be more than it is.

At the risk of being repetitive while facts and fundamentals has a lot of information it is not a good place to start. Some of the ideas and opinions expressed are rather controversial and fly in the face of more generally held views

Neil, Thank you for your thoughts which I fully understand and agree with. I think your post reflects quite clearly the change in the market over the past 10 or 12 years since I wrote the original. At that time Showa blades were regarded as a first step in to the field and a potential springboard to the study of traditional blades. There was a significant price difference between Showa blades and others and they therefore offered an entry level for the beginner. Since then the interest in Showa period work in its own right has grown dramatically, particularly in the USA and Australia where the majority of these pieces can be found. The section on the board here clearly illustrates the rise in interest that has occurred in that time. David, Thank you for your comments and yes I think you are right about the Gendaito being made prior to and during the early part of the war. However the needs of the time also meant that later swords were made using all sorts of methods and material. Also Gendaito produced during that period are expensive in their own right and therefore not really an entry level piece to use as a learning tool. Bottom line is that if your primary interest is in traditionally made Japanese swords the most cost effective way to dip your toe in the water is not to buy a Showa blade. It would be better to spend the same or less money on a reasonable wakazashi. If your interest is in swords of the second war or militaria generally then Showa swords offer a varied and interesting path. Bryce what you describe is I exactly how I started albeit rather a long time ago. And certainly my interest took off once I had that blade. I think JP also made a very valid point that over time our motivation and interest can and do change. an interest in one area does not exclude interest in another. None are better or worse than another they are just different. Thank you all for your comments and thoughts

JP I think a lot of what you say is right but a couple of points I would like to pick up on: I am a Nihonto-Collector. That does not make me part of some elite grouping. I certainly believe the best swords were made prior to the end of the Nambokucho period but having said that there have been exceptional blades made throughout the whole of sword history. Its just that I think the very best came from that time. And yes I believe them to be art but no I do not believe they are necessarily an investment. I do not believe any of your groups are necessarily exclusive, I think you can have interest in several or as you progress your motivation and interest can change. My reason for saying WWII blades are not necessarily the best place to start is simply in many cases you cannot be sure what you are looking at. I have seen very experienced people misjudge WWII blades which may be in less than good polish. If you are trying to identify what makes a Japanese sword unique at least start with one where you can be confident it has been made in the tradition way with traditional material. At current prices it is probably less expensive to buy a wakazashi in reasonable polish than it is a showa period work and at least you know it has been made in the traditional way.