Geraint

Dear Haon. I assume that by wartime you are referring to Kamakura/Nambokucho period koshirae? In which case there is not a lot of information around but you might find what you are looking for in the Tokyo Museum collection of Sword Mountings. Of course this contains many examples of more recent manufacture but does have some early tachi koshirae. All the best.

Dear Dale. I'm sure you are right, you can see the ken on each of the pieces in the post held downward against Shoki's leg. All the best.

Dear Colin. What a cracker! I love it. I think your Shinshinto call is a good one from the sugata, nakago and what I can see of the boshi. Personally I have ditched the idea of a merchant's sword, unless you have documentary evidence of a sword's history and it's koshirae there really is no way of telling who carried it and, malachite flecks not withstanding, I think this is a very harmonious and attractive koshirae. Thanks for sharing and enjoy! All the best.

Dear Vitaly. I really like the second tsuba, whether Saotome or Myochin, at least we are in katchushi territory. Attribution apart I find it a very pleasing tsuba; the iron, the asymmetry of the shape and the sukashi make for an appealing tsuba. Good catch indeed! All the best.

Dear T. Could we have a first name to address you by please? Have a check around Kiyonori as a name for your swordsmith. Of course we would like to see pictures of the whole blade please. All the best.

Dear Vitaly. Spot on! Usually read Shoami Shigenobu. Quite a few of these about and a classic design. As a matter of interest what size is it? (I have to agree with you about the 'better in hand' idea.) This one looks like it will improve with a little tsuba fussing. All the best.

Dear Dan. Thank you for the extra photographs, I think you did well to find this koshirae with a decent blade. To my eye this looks like a late Edo/Bakumatsu koshirae, smothered in Tokugawa mons to make it more saleable to the West. I have an example but yours is much more decorative than mine. Too good to resit especially as us mere mortals are never likely to find the originals. that Rivkin was talking about in his post above. All the best.

Dear All. One new to me and another that I have to confess I bought to complete a koshirae and only recently took a good look again. Just for enjoyment. All the best.

Dear John. Perhaps Yoshiyuki and kao? All the best.

Dear Dan. It would be wonderful to see some more photographs of your lovely tachi if possible. For what it's worth I do not think yours conforms to the attributes of a kazari tachi, though the saya fittings do have similarities. Specifically the tsuka is not comparable and one of the distinguishing features would be a shitogi tsuba whereas your koshirae carries the more traditional tachi style of tsuba. The other factor of note is that kazari tachi are remarkably slender and yours has more traditional proportions, not to mention a papered Muromach blade which would never fit into kazari tachi koshirae. Looking forward to others adding to this but I'm sure we would all like to see some more detailed images please. All the best.

Dear Alex. Just to start the ball rolling..... As we will have a hard time seeing very much in these photographs then take what I say with the proverbial pinch of salt. The nakago would certainly suggest that the sword is suriage however that of itself does not indicate age. The image that does seem to be clear is of the boshi which appears to be sugu ha. Given the rest of the hamon this would be a strong indicator of a Shinto sword. All the best.

Dear Piers. Thank you very much for the additional information, much appreciated. The barrel inlay was as black as the rest so almost invisible, now it's come back to life I will let it settle down a bit. I have not been able to find the number on any of the other parts yet but it is early days. I will have to try and get some photographs of the other matchlock which is quite similar in many ways. All the best.

Dear Jan and Piers. Very many thanks for the additional information. Jan I think this one would be classified as a Sakai gun, pictures below. Piers I have tried to photograph that last kanji but it is pretty rust obscured, I'll add a closeup with the other pictures. Still working on the bisen but the gun was sold as, 'action not working' and it does now! All the best.

Dear Steve. Thank you so much, I would never have got the smiths name. I'm guessing that in the context makibari? Still working on the bisen but I'm fairly sure the stock has never been off the gun; pins still partly in place and some degree of corrosion but externally pretty good so far. Once again a big thank you! All the best.

Dear All. Well the box arrived this morning and my new tanegashima is here. Delighted to find that it's signed but would love some help with this. Pictures are not great but the best I can do at the moment. Thank you in advance for any help. All the best.

Dear Carlos. Puzzled by your last statement. Honoki is Magnolia Hypoleuca or Magnolia Obovata and is deciduous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_obovata All the best.

Dear Sascha. Overall shot of the blade and one of the mune plus a shot of the koshirae please. All the best.

Dear Clive. (Post crossed with Maurice.) Sweet little fukuro yari! The mei will be Nobukuni, Chikuzen as you suggest. As to period , well I'm not sure how you could arrive at a specific period. All the best.

Dear All. Just to answer the question that Carlos posed, it is relatively simple to make a soft metal plug that is a good fit into a mekugi ana and just a little too long. Insert the plug into the hole, rest one end on an anvil or stake and then gently plannish the exposed end, turn the blade over and repeat from the other side until the soft metal has been expanded to fill the hole. Clean off the exposed surfaces as needed. Just to add that sometimes an existing hole is plugged with steel and as such is all but invisible. I had the opportunity of examining a blade that purported to be Hizen only to discover that the mei had been cut over one such plugged mekugi ana. Presumably the location didn't match that found on Hizen blades. All the best.

Dear Yves. Welcome to the world of Nagoya mono! https://www.espace4.com/collections/tsuba-nagamarugata-ko-kinko-insectes-et-fleurs/ All the best.

Dear Seth. You know that this sword carries a Seki stamp don't you ? Also what that means? All the best.

Dear Jarom. Welcome to NMB! You have clearly done quite a bit of research on your sword, that's refreshing to see. Clearly at some point you are going to face the restoration issues, do ask for advice when that time comes, it's an attractive sword and deserves to be restored properly. As to it's maker, you have already done some research but my immediate response is that the mei is a little too neat and if you look at the second kanji, bottom right stroke, on your example the stroke curves upward whereas on the papered examples I have looked at it curves the other way. I'm sure you will know that a great number of swords carry false signatures and this may be the case, however it is still a good sword so don't do anything hasty. All the best.

Dear Patricius. Nothing but gut feeling base on the, for want of a better term, chippy nature of the mei. The handwriting style as it were. Nothing else to go on as others have suggested but my immediate response was based on the rather similar style of mei found in the Yokoyama school. The overall sugata seems to me to be more late Muromachi but............? All the best.

Dear James. Well the auction photographs are not much use, are they? Pre 1860 simply means that it is a genuine Japanese blade made before the end of the Edo period, a safe but uninformative bet. The koshirae was not to bad but is now in need of some attention, the tsuka ito is gone and so, as far as I can see, are the menuki. The blade is so badly out of polish that you have no chance of spotting even quite serious flaws unless you view it in hand and even then it's a doubtful proposition. So let's say you buy it. You are going at the least to get a proper polish which is not cheap. While you are about it probably a shirasaya and maybe habaki. Some restoration on the koshirae, new menuki and ito...... You can see where this is going, can't you? Add to all that the fact that during polish you may well find, "something nasty in the woodshed", and you are in for quite a gamble. On the whole I think you would be wise to pass. All the best.

Colin. I'm sure you have tried this but click on the blue link on the page you show and see if that helps. Really nice thing to find, just been clearing the parents in law's house and the only thing I've found in a garden shed are some rusty shears! All the best.