Geraint

Dear Nathaniel. With regard to your specific question regarding NBTHK classification I am unable to help you but simply from an observation of the blade I would suggest that this sugata was originally made just as it now is. To describe it as 'naginata naoshi' is to say that it has the form of such a blade, not to describe its history. All the best.

Dear Gerry. I don't think there is a simple answer but all polearms suffer from the sheer inconvenience of the length of the pole from the point of view of transport and storage. As a result the blade is often separated from the koshirae, which is a shame. I have come across three yari fairly recently which come with their saya but not the pole, they now have what I suppose I should call shirasaya poles, much shorter than the originals but sufficient to protect the blades which are in their original saya. Several of the pole arm blades that I have seen for sale are fitted with shirasaya, sometimes quite elaborate but always with a short pole just sufficient to house the nakago. I do not recall ever having seen a tsunagi fitted to a yari koshirae but as with everything in this field I am sure they exist. Not directly relevant to your question but I have a fine yari which has been mounted in tanto koshirae and that has both tsunagi and shirasaya. All the best.

Dear John. I do not think the plate was/is ever welded in, simply inlaid and secured by the edges. Given that fire welding was the only available option for gaku mei the necessary force would destroy the mei and make the process useless. All the best.

Aaaannndd back to the sword! First picture seems to show a forward stoop from the monuchi, as though is has been struck against something pretty solid. Just the photograph? Or possibly just my eyes. All the best.

Dear Adam. Just a wild hunch but is it the same saya that you love? A nice sword indeed! All the best.

Dear All. Thank you for your contributions and to Okan for sharing his tsuka. If you are not familiar with Kunishige then this excellent article of Peter Dekker may be of interest, https://www.mandarin...ary/hirado-kunishige Edit to add: Alex, our posts crossed but I do remember that tsuba well. As for the dragon theme you are right, an NBTHK article says of him,'For an artist, Kunishige did not much vary his motives (sic) because almost all of his works show this subject of a tamaoi-ryu.' (trans: Markus Sesko) Having said that Okan's rather wonderful fuchi kashira show shachihoko, perhaps more suited to the space. All the best.

Dear All. Very pleased to have received this one in the post today, much better in hand than the rather sketchy photographs would indicate. The patina appeared washed out in the photographs but is a lovely deep brown, there are scattered silver and shakudo inlays of shells on the carved wave background and the obligatory dragons and sacred gems. I have long fancied to add one like this to my collection but assumed they would be forever out of reach. Somehow this one slipped through the auction net and is now mine, just wanted to share it with you as I know some here are interested in this school. Enjoy! All the best.

Dear Grev. As regards the second tsuba what is portrayed is a garden hut; thatched roof supported by wooden pillar and bamboo fence. Given time the shakudo will heal and it will look much better It hink. All the best.

Dear Jason. I agree that it's an unusual feature but not altogether unheard of. https://www.ricecrac...471_tsuba_jingo.html Enjoy the journey!

For any who do not know there is a little information about these here, https://www.Japanese...com/tsuba/sanmai.htm The basic quality point stands but one would not be looking for/expecting the level of quality that one might find in other tsuba when looking at san mai awase tsuba and as they are often early then a considerable degree of wear is accepted, I think. All the best.

Dear Colin. Are you teasing? That's an unusual san mai awase daisho, surely? Good to make us look carefully though. All the best.

Gentlemen. Without wishing to speak for Colin, which he is well able to do himself, it seems that the purpose of the exercise was simply to be able to spot Nagoya mono work and tell it from other examples. The uniformity of the punch marks around the nakago ana, while different from the tsuba in the OP, is a distinguishing feature, as is the brownish tinge to the base metal revealed on the nakago ana. So far, so good. Within the constraints of the post that should lead you to an obvious conclusion in the exercise that Colin set. The responses demonstrate that this was a useful exercise for some of our members. The larger point that I feel Franco is suggesting is that none of the three examples used to illustrate the point represent really great quality, either in design or craft. This takes the discussion to a different level, one which, with a certain degree of irony, Colin has consistently spoken to with his emphasis on training one's eye by viewing genuinely high quality examples on the sites of auction houses such as Bonhams. All who have contributed to this thread have been engaged on the same quest, developing a critical and informed ability to look at and assess tsuba, to learn to see what is good and what is truly great. Some have been teachers and some students but that is the best of NMB, is it not? All the best, (And learning every day!)

Dear Lex. Thank you for sharing this sword with us, it's a beauty! For what it is worth I would not choose to describe the hamon feature as anything to do with Mt Fuji, what are often called picturesque hamon such as kikusui and so forth are associated with Shinto swords. All the best.

Dear Jason. Really like your tsuba, research around Higo Jingo school. All the best.

Dear John. Research nunome zogan. All the best.