Geraint

Dear Alain. How wonderful to have an attributable armour like this, thank you for sharing it. Interesting to see a very functional Etchu zunari, the lack of sode and the very large pierced plate at the shoulders of the kote. All the best.

Dear Bruce, The text suggest that this is a koshirae in the making and that the maker has just swapped out the kabutogane for the chicken. Though I must say that I like the idea of a kabutogane cover, "The universal tachi, just wear your tachi around town during the day but when you want to spice it up for that special event just slip our kabutogane cover chicken head on it and away you go!" All the best.

Dear All. I hate to disagree with John but I think the 'Japan' logo has all the hallmarks, (forgive the pun), of being stamped. Not too difficult given that it is in the softer part of the blade and would not have needed heat. I have not seen it's like before on a sword but it reminds me of the export/import marks on other goods. All the best.

Dear Nick. If you go to the top of the page and click on FAQsystem there is a list of recommended books under the Buying and Selling heading. The first two would certainly be my go to suggestion. Enjoy! All the best.

Ah! OK. In that case you have done well in buying a papered sword as a first piece. It will lead you down a research route. As you investigate Soshu swords you will start to realise that swords have characteristics associated with the region of production, the school of swordsmiths and the time of their making. Origami or papers are issued by a number of groups who authenticate swords based on a great deal of knowledge. There are several types of origami and their credibility depends on who is in the group. Usually NBTHK are the go to standard but NTHK are well regarded. The papers your sword has are from an earlier time when the head of the NTHK was well known and respected. So much to learn and so much to enjoy on your journey, take it slow and feel free to ask questions. There is a wealth of expertise and study here to help you. All the best.

Dear Nick. I can't add to your attribution to a generation but the older NTHK papers have a yusaku stamp which seems to have the double border, this means a rating of 70 - 74 points. Apologies if you knew that already. All the best.

Dear Bob. With regard to no. 136, I am sure that you will already have seen this but just in case....http://www.shibuiswords.com/nobuie6.htm Keep'em coming! All the best.

Dear Jean. Thank you for your concern, I have long passed the stage of crouching over my work but I do find that I have to get closer to it than I once did. He doesn't look a happy chappy does he? All the best.

Finally got around to mounting and framing this pair for the sword room. I particularly relate to the tsuba shi, bit of a self portrait! All the best.

Dear Volker. I only have a couple of these but here are some thoughts. As a craftsman when I look at your photographs I jump to the assumption that the fuchi is in fact a separate piece which is silver soldered to the D guard. This does not make it any the less rare but it does mean that the whole assembly is not made from one piece. I am also intrigued by the square hole in the guard. If that is for a latch then it is also an unusual placement, or should I say one that I have not noted. Looking forward to what others can add to this one. All the best.

Dear Ben. Truly it is said, "Do not seek a breakthrough for mist clears but slowly". If you have the opportunity then see swords with someone who knows more than you, look at websites which feature good descriptions of swords and try to see what they describe, exercise much patience and then one day you will get one right. Just to make you laugh I once spent hours on one of mine which I was certain was koshi sori when in koshirae and couldn't see it when the blade was bare. Took me a long time to work out that the habaki was shaped to generate the apparent koshi sori and the blade was tori sori. Felt a complete fool. Keep it up! All the best.

Dear Sunny, Tenmei 1781 - 1788. You can do the rest. Look up Japanese Nengo for a chart with the periods and kanji. All the best. P.S. Don't tease, show us the sword!

Dear Tom. Well this is certainly more than a standard WWII sword. From your photographs it is a civilian mounted sword, which conforms to what ray and Brian suggested. It has been equipped with a combat cover for use in the war. You have obviously done some research as you mention that the blade is sharpened to the ha machi, this would be the case because the blade is machi okuri, i.e. the notches have been moved up the blade to shorten it somewhat without changing the overall shape of the nakago. What this does confirm is that the blade is traditionally made and not a Showato. Grey's advice comes into play here, go slow and ask before doing anything. At the moment you have an out of polish civil sword with a combat cover. By the way it also has a nice niju habaki. If and when you decide that you want to go for proper polish then please ask again, an amateur polish can easily ruin a sword and members here will be able to steer you in the right direction. I find the tuba interesting but some more photographs might help us with that one. All the best and above all enjoy the journey!

Dear Bob. Assuming your pictures are transposed, the Kanayama tsuba is in the form of a cartwheel or kuruma. There is an episode in the Tale Of Genji to which it refers but we will have to wait for George to pin it down. As to the other, well the shape of the ryohitsu and the sepps dai, alignment of the initial drilling around the mimi, not to mention the poor quality of the piercing of the rays......... All the best.

Dear Joe. Don't worry, it's all a bit confusing to start with and we often forget what that feels like. Your blade is a tanto, a blade of less than 30cms from the tip,(kissaki), to the notch on the back where the habaki, (blade collar), sits. It is in a form called hira zukuri which means that the sides are almost flat, usually Japanese swords have a shinogi, a ridge line running along the blade on both sides. The tang, (nakago), has a signature, (mei,) which reads, Soshu no ju Mashiro, that means Masahiro, (the smith's name) living in Soshu, (the name of an area in Japan). The blade is in shirasaya, (plain wooden mounts), and has an integral habaki, (we know that one now). Most swords have a separate metal habaki. Kirill mentions a Soshu like hamon, that's the pattern of the hardened edge which you can see clearly on the one in the link. Swords are a bit like wine, they have regional variations and each maker adds their own flavour to the work He also points out that the mei, is quite possibly a forgery. This is known as gimei and is much more common than we would all like. Many people only collect swords in traditional Japanese polish with certificates of authentication. You have a way to go before we start getting into that but as Kirill also suggests the shape and size of your sword indicates that it might have been made sometime around 1550 to 1600. Go slow, enjoy the journey and keep looking! All the best.

Dear Joe. Yes, this is a real Japanese tanto. It is in shirasaya, the usual way of keeping a blade when it is out of it's mounts. It is signed Soshu ju Masahiro which is a well known name. However many forgeries exist in that a blade by someone else might well have a famous name added. Soshu swords are highly prized and yours has seen the passing of some years judging by the very much reduced shape just above the nakago or tang. It might easily be several hundred years old. You can compare it to another example here and note the differences. http://sanmei.com/contents/media/A24639_W3214C_PUP_E.html Do nothing to this at the moment except a little light oil and don't clean anything. For what you paid this was an absolute bargain and it might be your introduction to the wonderful world of Japanese swords. Congratulations! All the best.

Dear Harry. Well it's a sweet little tanto. Anything with a three kanji mei is hard to narrow down but from the sugata and nakago I would say that Shinshinto is a good starting point. Hawley doesn't get you very far, he lists several Kanehiro working in the Shinto and Shinshinto period but there are no clues to narrow this one down, without province or title you can take your pick. Hopefully one of us has a papered tanto whose mei matches exactly and then you will know. All the best.

Sounds like a result Brian, a naginata and a couple of yari in mounts! Do we get to see the yari too? All the best.

Dear Dave. Forgive me if I misunderstand you. The marks on the nakago we are referring to are the diagonal, deep marks. Usually nakago are finished with finer file marks over the whole nakago, not just these. Cutting tests are recorded with an inscription stating what test were done and who by, the strokes referenced in your link are the type of cuts made during the test. There is no connection with the marks on the nakago on this sword. All the best.

Dear Gareth. On the plus side you have a really nice katana in good condition, polish not withstanding, in nice koshirae. Silver foiled habaki, nice shi shi fittings and attractive saya. Well done! One significant drawback, this might ruin you for collecting WWII swords. All the best, Celt to Celt.

Dear Quinn. It is very common to find a number of smiths using the same name, sometimes with different kanji. For example Hawley lists three Mitsunaga signing with the kanji on the sword in the original post and about 15 more signing with another kanji for naga. All the best.

Dear Peter. From your pictures it is clear that this wakizashi should have an implement called a kogai here, not a kozuka. You are right, this one does not fit, best keep it separate. As regards a replacement, these are not standard parts and fitting new one would be quite tricky. If you notice there are almost what looks like two spaces, the larger would be where the kurikata fits, the smaller would be a little piece that forms and protects the mouth of the kogai slot. These are often made of horn and its loss has probably contributed to the slight splitting of the saya. As to why someone would stuff an obviously oversized kozuka into the kogai slot, well, sometimes by accident; parts get mixed up and whoever puts them back together doesn't know what goes where, sometimes a collector or dealer will spot a nice kogai and sell it off and then stick something in it's place to make the whole thing look more complete. One more observation, the lower end of the nakago seems to have some fire scale on it, this is not a good sign and might men that the blade has been in a fire at some point which would remove the hardened edge. All the best.

Dear Piers. Sweet tosu but to go back to Ian's yari tanto for a moment. Given the relatively small size of the blade I am pretty sure that this started life as a yari but with a modest tang length. The mei is cut high up the nakago because the tang is wider there. I believe the current nakago ana was added when the yari was mounted in this koshirae which accounts for the slight off set in placing. The mekugi ana is very near the fuchi because the straight yari nakago fitting into the curved tanto koshirae soon places the metal outside the centre line of the tsuka, any further away from the fuchi and it would be in danger of missing! This example demonstrates both the high mei and someone wrestling with the nakago ana alignment problem, in this case an off set mekugi ana and a copper insert to bring it into position to fit the tsuka. All the best.

Dear Kenny. Have no concerns about the tsuka, it looks great! All the best.

Dear All. One here by Mishina Yoshiaki. All the best.