Geraint

Hi Steve, What do you think about the nakago and the location of the mei? All the best.

Hi Jeffery, (We are expected to sign all our posts with a name, by the by.) I have found that tracing paper as such is not needed. A very thin and light weight white paper is great. I use a variety of pencils for mine rather than the Japanese materials but whatever technique you use this is certainly the best way of examining a sword in detail, even if you are not too pleased with the results compared to some that are published, the process is certainly worth it. Have fun with this! All the ebst.

Hi Miha, You suggest that the material is shakudo, which would be first guess for these though the colour for your images is hard to tell. The technique is not katakiri bori, that is engaaving in a surface where the chisel changes angle so that the lines are not regular, many examples available if you search the internet. Menuki are normally made by a different process, have a look at this. All the best.

You are spot on with the Chinese coins but I don't think the tsuba are fakes at all. Hard to say with these images but don't dismiss them too quickly. (Mind you, if he keeps them on that wet window sill they won't be much good for very long!) All the best.

Hi Bruno. If you have not already come across this one, http://www.aoijapan.com/img/fittings/2013/F13313.jpg Compare the treatment of the plate.............

Hi Bruno. I can see why you are heading in that direction but almost any artist trained in that school could be a possibility. Have a look at this thread, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11103 All the best.

Hi Brad. I can't narrow down the generation of this smith for you but there are five generations listed in Hawley from 1624 to the 1700s. The later ones Hawley lists as signing simply Yoshinaga but the five character mei is a trait of Hizen smiths, and many others, so perhaps best not to assume that this restricts it to just the few. You may find it impossible to narrow this down unless you can compare the mei to one of the smiths via an oshigata in one of the reference works which I don't have but I am sure someone here will have. The crack in the same is almost universal if you mean the vertical slit. It is the join where the same is wrapped around the core of the tsuka. Regular horizontal slits are also common where same has been cut and matched from smaller pieces, the join often under the ito. The shaped seppa and fuchi, seppa seem to be silver foiled by the way, are designed to make it possible to draw one of the two implements stored in the saya, the kodzuka or kogai. I can't see from your images if there is a corresponding pocket in the saya for either of these but the shape of the ana cut in the tsuba usually suggests a kogai. Lots of references to sword mountings around, have a search on here. All the best.

Hi Brad. Gets pretty tricky quite soon, this game. Your translation was right, Hizen kuni Yoshinaga. There are several characters for Naga used in swordsmiths signatures and several generations used this mei. Images of the rest of the blade would help members comment. Certainly looks interesting. All the best.

Hi Alan. Nice photos, looking forward to seeing the whole koshirae. Dragons are often depicted in crashing waves in Japanese art so this one certainly fits that convention. Have a look for dragon tsuba and you will find many renditions to compare with yours. Happy New Year.

Agreed Thierry, but at the size quoted Ken's tsuba is approximately one thirteenth as thick as yours. :D

Hi Ken, 0.23mm? That's really thin!

Hi, might not help you too much with the age question but this might be of interest, http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/echizen%20kinai.htm All the best.

Dear Keith. I cannot speak for Jean but I think you may have misunderstood his intent. I don't think he is suggesting that your sword is gimei, merely pointing out that the sword itself is the thing to be studying. You have found a nice sword which is worth preserving and restoring properly, congratulations. If it lives up to it's promise then it is a really nice find. I think the message is enjoy and explore the sword, don't worry too much about the signature yet. It is perfectly understandable that you want to find out about this smith and your hunt for information is leading you down some interesting paths but what will really fire you up is what is in the blade. Something to look forward to. Enjoy the sword and have fun.

Hi Andy, In the meantime have a look at the sword in this thread, second image. http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/ ... =15&t=8923

Woah! Easy everyone. The original response regarding books was I think directed at the reply which suggested that this was a kyu gunto. We all agree that once you start to learn about nihonto then you would be well advised to spend some money on books but let's not pile in on that one just yet. Andrew, our expertise is often in limited areas of the subject, hence what you might see as conflicting advice. Some people are very interested in swords of the type you posted, others specialise in gendaito, others will have a particular period or school that they are devoted to. Everyone wants to help, just that some advice is better than others for any particular topic. This is a rare mount and should be preserved as such but fitting a blade to it will not do anyone any good as several people have pointed out. It is well worth collecting from the point of view of those interested in military swords, many collectors would not be interested as their focus would be the blade itself. Someone has removed the blade, possibly because it was damaged beyond repair, possibly because they thought they would get more for the blade alone, who knows? Stick with it and this is a fascinating hobby whatever avenue of collecting you decide to go down. All the best.

No Donny, look up Shitahara school. There is a structure to sword signatures, have a go at the mei now that you know what it says and see if you can work it out, it gets easier over time. Slowly I grant you. Have fun. By the by, it would be nice to see some picture of the blade........ It may be gunto mounted but........

20 minutes each? That's a bit hasty Curran. Back to the topic. We all know that tsuba ko used design books and I have a photograph in one of my books of wooden templates or design models used to explore designs before committing them to metal. The picture shows tsuba and solid fuchi kashira in white wood with inked designs. I don't know if these were used to show customers but it is certainly true that designs are repeated, sometimes copied by other schools and so on.

Perhaps we could allow ourselves the leeway to say that any thought of having it remounted by anyone should go straight out of the window as it is a relatively scarce item and should be preserved exactly as it is.............

Brilliant link, thank you James.

What does the other side say, Gary? Sorry, missed your other post!

Hi Jason. Really sound advice here that the signature is not the most important thing. Learning to spot quality is important. Try comparing your fuchi with this, http://www.nihonto.com/4.26.12.html Your fuchi is not bad and would look good mounted but compare it to this kozuka and you should start getting your eye in. All the best.

Hi Curran. Kevin can get them. http://www.ryujinswords.com/tsukaito.htm Hope this helps.

Dear Gethin. Your first tsuba has had the nakago ana filled and then drilled but from my very limited experience all the small sword shell guards and rapier hilts that I have seen dismounted have had square or rectangular holes for their tangs. You mention some marks, if you are going for better photographs could you capture those? All the best.

Or perhaps more specific.

Hi Alex. There is a thread somewhere in the Izakaya about 3D printing. I guess the answer is, "Not yet!". All the best.