Geraint

Dear Chris. As Joe suggested in the other thread takanoha yasurime and a slightly pointy gunome suggests Mino den, ie inspired by the tradition from Mino. Smiths from this group spread widely after 1600 so the style could be produced pretty much all over Japan. What I can't find in your images is one showing the whole nakago which woud be helpful in answering some of your questions. As for thwe koshirae, well a nice sukashio tsuba, niju or two part habaki, the saya has a kurikata and the leather cover has a slot to accomodate that. I note that both seppa are together on one side of the tsuba in one picture, should be one each side of the tsuba and usually there is some indication of one seppa fitting against the habaki. So far what we have is an older sword fitted with a combat cover. If the sword has been shortened or is machi okuri then the koshirae should have been made to fit the blade at that point, even if not then koshirae tend to need replacing during the possible several hundred year life of the blade so this is not likely to be original to the blade unless the blade was made in the realtively recent past, ie Shinshinto. That picture of the nakago from tip to just above the machi would be a help. All the best.

Two birds,one stone! Have a look at the link for the name of the smith and NBTHK papers. What you have is the torokusho, the registration paper that all swords have to have in Japan. It records details of the sword but without any judgement as to its authenticity. As this is a big name you would be wise to consider it gimei until proven otherwise. https://iidakoendo.com/10592/ All the best from not too far away.

Dear All. For the sake of completeness I did mention the thread here in my message to Elliott and specifically drew attention to the image posted above. Here is the reply in full. "I appreciate your comments but be assured that Robert and I have thoroughly studied this piece and can confirm its legitimacy. One should never make a judgement based on what they think they can see from photographs. They are usually proved wrong. Robert and I under very good lighting and magnification and with this piece in hand, have confirmed that this piece is forged and of very high quality. We are fine with the opinions of other collectors. That is what makes this study so interesting. Thank you for your concerns. Best regards," All the best.

Dear All. I took the liberty of e mailing Elliott at Shibui Swords and here is a part of the reply. "Robert and I under very good lighting and magnification and with this piece in hand, have confirmed that this piece is forged and of very high quality." Just thought you would like to know. All the best.

Dear Nicholas. The linear tagane ato are, I think, in this case more to do with correcting the outline of the seppa dai than with altering the nakago ana. All the best.

Dear Caleb. For the first tsuba research Choshu landscape tsuba, compare here, https://www.bonhams.com/auction/30726/lot/104/an-iron-choshu-school-tsuba-with-a-landscape-edo-period-late-18th-century/ For the second your target is Echizen Kinai school, compare here, All the best.

Dear All. With regard to the small rectangular slot we have seen this before. It accomodates a slim spring catch which engages just like the version on an officers sword and is a rare feature on some tanto koshirae. We had a thread on this some time ago but I can't find it now. All the best. Edit to add,here is one somewhat like it but usually theu do not have the two part tsuba. https://thelanesarmoury.co.uk/shop.php?code=24348

Dear Lance. This is a Japanese sword in handachi koshirae, so far it seems perfectly OK. It is older than WWII and sadly neglected. The end of the nakago/tang suggests that the sword has been shortened from a longer blade. An overall picture of the mounts and the length from tip to the notch on the back of the blade where the habaki sits would be useful. All the best.

I wonder which tsuba of the two illustrated actually comes with this set? All the best.

Dear Travis. Just one more thought to investigate, menuki sometimes depict falconry accoutrements and while I am sruggling to fit the cane into that the tassels certainly would be in the ball park. All the best.

Dear Anthony. Have a look here, doable from Kent as the majority of the meetings are London based. Well worth joining up. https://to-ken.uk/ All the best.

Dear All. Just an opportunity to share a new addition. Hope you enjoy. (Not well lit, I'm afraid, the soft metals really pop in hand.) All the best.

Dear Anthony. Please see the coments on the tsuba in the other thread but please heed the advice about not cleaning anything. Stone is not your friend, please only rest on cloth or wood to avoid damage. From what we can see so far your sword appears to have been shortened as the nakago/tang is not the original shape and has threee mekugi ana/holes in it. To tell you more we could do with seeing overall photographs of the bare blade rather like the example here, https://www.aoijapan.com/katana：-mumei-unsigned-harima-daijo-shigetakanbthk-hozon-token/ The menuki/hilt ornaments are of bows and quivers, the fuchi kashira/hilt fittings seem to be of bats, are they iron? To confirm that it is a katana measure from the kissaki/tip to the mune machi/ notch on the back of the blade. Look ofrwaerd to seeing more photographs and for now just keep the blade, not the nakago/tang lightly oiled unti we can point you in the direction of more help. All the best.

Dear Anthony. Welcome to NMB. Might I ask, was it you who 'cleaned up'the metal inserts on the second tsuba? If it was then please resist the urge to do it again. The two inserts in the mounting holes for kodzuka and kogai are shakudo,a Japanese alloy that is treated to give a deep raven black colour, cleaning them destroys that patina though it might in time recover all on it's own. Steve suspects that the centre dot is mother of pearl but is it perhaps silver? All the best.

Dear Max. So you like swords with some sori and extended kissaki, the unokubi zukuri sugata is attractive. I can quite understand why you are interested. On the plus side is the sugata, the koshirae is pleasant and the price at present is quite low for a mounted and papered katana. I would not be surprised to see it go quite a bit higher during the auction. Tsuruta san is impressed with the hada and presence of chikei and has rated the sword quite highly. This sword hits a number of problems in terms of desireability. First, Bungo Takada school swords are generally considered to be functional but not artistic. How valid this belief is is open to question and I sense that well made Takada swords are creeping up the scale of estimation. Next, this is a Sue Koto sword, made at a time when necessity ruled and swords were in the main produced quickly to serve the needs of large armies and hence often do not represent the best work of a school. In addition this is mumei and while that is not a deal breaker in Koto swords in general it is a bit of an issue with a Sue Koto sword that has not been shortened. Last is the blade itself which while not showing any so called fatal flaws, such as hagire, has some quite visible forging patterns. Your money, your call of course. (Adam got there before me!) all the best.