Geraint

Ah! Not just a Welsh name, Cornish too and also Arthurian. As to banished, well I'm still in Cornwall so if you ever escape come and look me up.

Welcome Denis, Always good to hear from another collector on this side of the pond. Cheers

Dear Curran. Have no hesitation in your analysis, as you will have realised tosogu are not my field. For what it is worth I will attach an image of the very similar mei on the fuchi. I am sorry that my photography/scanning is not as good as I might wish. If nothing else the presence of the mei has sent me off on a research path that I would otherwise not have taken, one of the joys of this hobby, and I have spent some very pleasant hours looking at late kinko work. It is unlikely that I will ever submit this koshirae for shinsa but if I do I will be sure to let you know the outcome. Ford, many thanks for the fascinating article. All the best.

Ford, it's beautiful!

Hi John, thank you for your kind words. The copper fuchi and koiguchi are signed in the same way, no discernible signature on any of the other mounts. Cheers

Promised I'd try and add some images so here goes. The bashin has a total length of 110mms and the koshirae overall is 340. Enjoy.

Thank you Ford, I will have to try to get some decent photographs of the koshirae to post. The bashin has a design of flowing waves with silver spray inlay, the aikuchi fuchi/koiguchi are suaka carved with the same flowing waves and silver spray. Menuki are very deep suaka squid and what I think is a tai fish. I will have a play tomorrow with camera and scanner. Many thanks.

Thank you John, that is a great help. Of course I was looking for Kazukin.........sword collectors, huh? Many thanks.

Dear all. My new toy arrived today and though I have no trouble translating the mei I have no information that seems to fit. Pound to a pinch of salt that the blade is shinshinto but I have no information on a smith from this era using the mei Ryokai. Any ideas? It looks too obvious to be a serious attempt at gimei.....? Many thanks.

Dear All, I would appreciate your help with this one. Just bought a late tanto with a set of mounts carrying this signature. Well out of my field but just wondered if anyone had any information on this maker? The tanto is in aikuchi mounts, I will try to post some reasonable pictures of the whole thing if I can. Thanks in advance.

So usually only seen on later swords such as shingunto, showato and sometimes shinshinto.

Hi Kim. So you have bought a signed wakizashi for what you can afford, I assume the "restorer" charged you for his work which has added to what you have in the sword. It is by a smith with a relatively low ranking in Hawley, though as someone else has pointed out that shouldn't take away from the sword, merely add some information. If you aspire to collect only swords by smiths with high rankings then you are going to need deep pockets. Chris has already pointed out that the work you have had done is poor quality and others have advised getting to grips with swords by meeting other collectors. Can we all add a plea that you don't send anything else to this man to "restore"? His work is doing neither you nor the sword any favours. Regardless of the ranking of the smith you have a signed blade which deserves to be looked after. You might do well to keep the sword, hold off on any further work on this or other swords and get to look at quality. There are many websites listed in the relevant section where you can see what good looks like both in terms of polish and hilt binding, when you can recognise why the work you have had done is poor then you might feel like getting the blade properly poliched and mounted in shirasaya. Don't give up, it is worth all the effort in the end!

And, this found while searching for Kotetsu guns. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LM-4 ... un&f=false Maybe not the most reliable source....

And, this found while searching for Kotetsu guns. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LM-4 ... un&f=false Maybe not the most reliable source....

Dear Chian. I think the conclusion of the discussion is that gun barrels were made from tamahagane. The method of producing steel this way was not exclusive to nihonto so gun barrels were also made from tamahagane. A swordsmith using them to make a sword would be using tamahagane so, yes it would be classified as a gendaito, notwithstanding the comment that swords made form iron from other sources have been papered in Japan.

Dear Chian. I think the conclusion of the discussion is that gun barrels were made from tamahagane. The method of producing steel this way was not exclusive to nihonto so gun barrels were also made from tamahagane. A swordsmith using them to make a sword would be using tamahagane so, yes it would be classified as a gendaito, notwithstanding the comment that swords made form iron from other sources have been papered in Japan.

Bruno, I think Chris was agreeing with Brian's recommendation and confirming that it is the only one available in English.

Hi Mark. Mark's tip about the coat hanger wire is a good one but the other is to see if the tsuka and saya line up well when the sword is mounted. Good clean lines here are a clue as mix and match often don't achieve that. If the sword seems right here and the fit is good then chances are it is just what it looks like, a mounted wakizashi fitted with a gunto mount for war. I will attach an image of two swords that both have civilian wakizashi blades in gunto mounts and as you will see both are considerably shorter than the koshirae. I can assure you that both these swords were mounted in this way for war. Neither one has civil mounts as yours does. Whatever the outcome it's a nice find. Enjoy. Cheers.

The assumption underlying the original question is that there were other means of producing iron available in Japan throughout the edo period. We know that imported iron was available, Namban tetsu, I have also read reports of swords being made form foreign anchors and so forth. The Royal Armouries have an early European dirk that was put through yakiire and mounted as a tanto. We know that cast iron was in use for other purposes (No, don't go there again!) We also know that tamahagane is picked over by contemporary swordmiths to make sure that the pieces they use are suitable for their purposes. If gun makers had access to a totally different source of iron for their work then the question stands. If the iron was produced in a tatara, as I suspect it was then reusing gun barrels is simply a way of accessing supplies of tamahagane. The fascinating blog posted elsewhere on the Board today shows a smith mixing tamahagane and the nails recovered from old buildings. He seems to suggest that he is doing this to create a specific result.

The assumption underlying the original question is that there were other means of producing iron available in Japan throughout the edo period. We know that imported iron was available, Namban tetsu, I have also read reports of swords being made form foreign anchors and so forth. The Royal Armouries have an early European dirk that was put through yakiire and mounted as a tanto. We know that cast iron was in use for other purposes (No, don't go there again!) We also know that tamahagane is picked over by contemporary swordmiths to make sure that the pieces they use are suitable for their purposes. If gun makers had access to a totally different source of iron for their work then the question stands. If the iron was produced in a tatara, as I suspect it was then reusing gun barrels is simply a way of accessing supplies of tamahagane. The fascinating blog posted elsewhere on the Board today shows a smith mixing tamahagane and the nails recovered from old buildings. He seems to suggest that he is doing this to create a specific result.

I have only ever seen them illustrated so your search may be a long one. I am sure that Ford would make you one and it would be stunning............ All the best.

Matt, please check out your earlier post for another reply including some suggestions for additional pictures. We are asking because we can't see enough to help you yet. Cheers

Hi Matt and welcome. I assume you have added the pictures, you will need to take some more if anyone is going to be able to tell you something. I clear image of the whole tang, both sides, tip to the silver foil habaki, the collar around the blade. If the habaki will slide off the tang then so much the better but be careful as it may be quite firmly stuck if it has not been removed for years. Another image of the full blade and if possible close ups of the boshi, the point section, again both sides. The advice not to polish was good, don't even think of cleaning up the fittings at the moment, and while we are on the subject a good pair of images of the tsuba, the guard might be worth posting in the tosogu section on this board. So far what it looks like you have is a Japanese sword that has been shortened and mounted for use in WWII. The blade seems much older and the carving in the blade on one side is interesting. You mention that the blade is 24" long, believe it or not this matters, where did you take the measurement from? Ideally from the tip to the point on the back of the blade where it starts to disappear into the habaki. Lots more to discover here and an interesting first find. Looking forward to more pictures. All the best.

Hi Peter. From time to time you do come across kodzuka that are wider than normal and it sounds as though your saya is designed for one of these. Cheers

Hi Mark. Try Kevin at http://www.ryujinswords.com/ He should be able to help you. Another cabinetmaker, huh? You should have no problem then. Cheers