Geraint

Dear April. Welcome to NMB! Here is another thread which discusses this smith, (as well as quite a lot of other stuff). It is interesting that this too has an inscription naming the person for whom the sword was made. If you scroll down a bit you will find a link from Grey to a care and handling guide. Once you are familiar with those things we would all love to see photographs of the restored sword. I can't throw any light on the box signature but if it coincides with the time your Father sent the sword to Japan then it is probably the maker. All the best.

Dear Bob. Thank you for deciding to post these, the face of Shoki alone is enough to justify their inclusion! Beautiful set. All the best.

Dear Derek. Some information here, http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/fuchikashiramade.html Let us know how it goes. All the best.

Dear Dan. Heed Brian's advice! Because of the association with Musashi this design has been endlessly copied and is widely available in the martial arts fraternity. Look at the shape of the seppa dai, the awkward shaping at the top and bottom and the fact that the punch marks around the nakago ana seem to be the same on both sides. My suspicion is that this is a reproduction that has had a hard life or been deliberatley aged. Have a look at some papered examples and compare, see what you think. All the best.

How unfortunate for Mr Walter Bruno Brix that his name should be proudly appended to such a load of twaddle, and given the nature of the internet there for all time! At least in the UK no one admits to having written the catalogue entries. All the best.

Thank you Piers, that really makes sense now. All the best.

Dear Giordy. Certainly all the swords in the exhibition I referenced were proudly signed by the maker, even though some were direct utsushi of existing well known blades. From time to time you do hear of certain smiths who were very good and whose blades had the mei removed to pass as Koto and by a good smith. In this light I think we are talking about at least three categories utsushi mono, made to investigate technique or demonstrate mastery and signed by the maker, deliberate forgeries, sometimes with a gimei added sometimes left intentionally blank, and blades turned into forgeries by someone who thinks the work could pass as a great smith if only that mei could be removed. Now we are entering all the troubled waters of faking in general. Take a really good Shinto blade, turn it into an o-suriage, add some mekugi ana, taking care to make them spool shaped, add just a hint of provenance and away you go. Do all this badly and you and I might spot it, do it really well and who knows how far it can go? Throw into the mix Daimyo who were 'creating' big name swords when they ran out of real ones for rewards for their retainers. It would be nice to see detailed discussions about why a shinsa team decided that an apparent Koto masterpiece was in fact a fake but it seems such a discussion by experts is not forthcoming. Not sure if any of that is relevant to your enquiry but it got me thinking. All the best.

Dear Jeremy. Quite a normal hi, impossible to tell whether it's ato bori, I think it is Nakahara who says that all hi are ato bori because they are carved after the blade is forged. Some people will look at the open grain inside the hi and suggest that it was carved to obscure those, on the other hand it is quite likely that they were only exposed as the hi was cut so who knows? Unless there are some clear clues one would assume that it is original to the sword. ALl the best. P.S. Love the auto translate: "Horimono carving" A piece of Chilean stick gutter is washed away under the habaki.

Dear Giordy. A new term for me, (there are just so many!) "KONASHIMONO – Shinto blades with some faking to look like koto." (From https://www.samuraisword.com/about-swords/glossary/#1525890402753-70eaa809-a259 ) As oposed to, "UTSUSHI-MONO / UTSUSHIMONO – Copies or recreations of past masterpieces (not to be confused with forgeries)" Given these then perhaps the difference could be characterised as in one case a deliberate attempt to deceive as opposed to an attempt to learn by copying to understand the technique of a master smith. I suppose that those making konashimono would not advertise so very lttle known about them except for Kajihei, about whom more here, https://markussesko.com/2019/12/31/kajihei-鍛冶平/ All the best. Edit to add. Some years ago there was an exhibition called, "The Beauty of Shinsakuto" which brought together works by many of the leading smiths of the day. The exhibition was brought to London by the Token Society who did a translation of the catalogue which was subtitled, "Challenge to Masterpeieces of the Old Japanese Sword". Indeed the word challenge appears throughout the catalogue and I think conveys the spirit of utsushimono very well.

Dear Brian. From the distortionat the mouth of the kodzuka and the fact that the lettering seems raised I would suspect a pressed piece and therefore of no great interest. Not neccessarily a problem for your purchase as another could easily be used should you choose to do so. More important, what's the blade like and how about the other one in the show case? Let us know what happens. All the best.

Congratulations, Kyle! All the best.

Dear Lee. Forgive me for stating the obvious regarding auction houses. The more I look the more this one puzzles me and I don't think the answer will be forthcoming unless someone views it in hand. Like Darrel I thought leather wrap but........... Don't think I have ever seen fuchi kashira like these and I can't match the hilt. The habaki looks as though it is foiled. Perhaps Colin has got it. Just in case you have not seen it I attach a photo of a different style of wrap. All the best.

Hi Lee. Photographs do look good and that kind of wrap always attracts me. Rule 1. Auction houses rarely have sufficient expertise to catalogue swords well and their terms and conditions hedge them around so that they cannot be held responsible in any but the most egregious cases. Rule 2. You really need to see this in hand if you are going to spend some money on it. Rule 3. Don't be lead astray by their estimate,see Rule 1. All the best.

Dear Tristan. Just some thoughts to add to what has already been said. Everything depends on the fit of the parts, if this is good then there is every chance that this is how this sword was mounted the last time it was in Japan. It is quite common to find older swords mounted in various ways to serve as Gunto. In this case the leather seppa was probably fittted between the hilt and the guard and an extension passed through the tsuba to clip onto the stud at the top of the scabbard. The habaki is perfectly ok as long as it too fits the blade well, note that sometimes with an older blade the tang, nakago, is thicker than the blade because of repeated polishes, this sometimes means that the habaki does not fit snugly to the sides of the blade but it should fit at the edges. The two holes are not a problem, I have a habaki, no, thinking about it two habaki with the same design. I don't have any clear reason why the saya is white but it looks perfectly OK for what it is. All in all, given that the parts fit well I don't think this is a mixmaster but thank you for introducing me to the term. All the best.

Me too, Bruce. (Although in today's climate I should probably have phrased that another way). All the best.

Dear All. Come on! Let's start with the fittings, poor castings, wrong wrap, menuki, well! Then let's look at the sugata, look at the shape of the blade! Is the mei engraved, as most Chinese fakes are, or is it chased ? If the yasurime have been removed then how come it has tagane makura? I could go on. Okan called this from the first, the fact that this one has a recognisable mei doesn't change a thing. Roman, I'm sorry this is a fake, or at best a reproduction. Very glad to say it was only peanuts. Stick around and have a look at some of the stuff posted and enjoy discovering the stunning quality of Japanese swords. All the best.

Dear Steff. Is this affixed to the metal kojiri on the saya? I speak for myself but could we se the whole koshirae please? All the best.

Dear Bjorn. They are, I think, uncommon to find for a variety of reasons. Compare here, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-2079026 They appear sometimes in prints of samurai in armour. All the nest.

Dear All. two or three to add. Signed Echizen Kinai, nice shakudo plug. Similar design, Bushu? No idea on this one, been with me for years. All the best.

Dear Robyn. This is a veru thpughtful gift which I am certain will be much appreeciated. Piers has given you a good lead on the second, for the first I would lable it as a copy of the famous Shimizu Jingo design, see here, https://markussesko.com/2014/02/02/tsuba-with-the-bird-of-prey-catching-a-monkey-motif/ If you have any interest beyond this Christmas then spend some time browsing here, Bob has a good eye and you will learn a lot from what he has shared. All the best.

And one more to look at, https://www.sanmei.com/contents/en-us/p2288_Katana-unsgined-Niji-KUNITOSHI.html All the best.

Dear All. Scroll to the end of page 2 on this thread and there is a leather covered daisho, For the koshirae in the original post I suppose the test would be does it have a kurikata on the other face? If no then I think it's aleather covered tachi, if it has a kurikata then handachi with removaeable ashi. I favour the former idea as the kurikata, if present would be a pain when worn as a tachi. I suspect that given the condition this is a Shinshinto copy of an early koshirae, compare here for a more elaborate version, https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20802/lot/394/ Any chance of a better image Uwe? All the best.

Dear Uwe. For what it's worth I think this is a perfectly acceptable rig, leather wrapped handachi koshirae with removable hangers.Of course we are only going from one image but do some looking around leather wrapped koshirae and see what you think. All the best.

I hesitate to suggest this but have you considered Kanayama? Have a look here. http://www.tsubacollector.com/3.html All the best.

Fabuluos to see such work from a young maker! Please give him my congratulations. All the best.