Geraint

Slip of the key board Brian? My experience of shakudo is that it's copper colour before patination, no? All the best.

Dear Geoff. I feel you may be assuming that the numbered blade and saya are the same sword as the original post. They seem, rather to be random images of a different sword posted by Cliff and not the same sword as the one that Brian was working with. I'm sure that Cliff had his reasons for posting these but for the life of me I can't work out what they are. All the best.

Well, this just keeps getting better and better! What a lovely outcome and what a great koshirae! Congratulations! All the best.

Dear Gary. Just to add to what has already been said, there are several ways of applying gold to tosogu and the answer to your question really depends on which one we are talking about. There are also particular ways of using the techniques which sometimes intentionally give the impression of wear to add to the quality of the design. Add to that the concept that wear can be an indicator of age and treasured as such. In either of these two cases 'restoring' the gold would be disastrous. Of course there are also tosogu which have just had a hard life and need/deserve expert restoration, if you have a specific example in mind then share some photographs and I am sure you will get the answers you need. All the best.

Dear Barrett. Forgive me, I am not quite sure what you are asking. As the sword is Juyo and has an oshigata one would assume that the hamon in the oshigata is a good representation of the features of the sword. The images on the web site are limited and they do not show clearly the detail of the hamon under the hadori polish, but then again there is not a lot to see for this particular sword. If you are contemplating a purchase at this level then I am sure the dealer would be happy to supply extra images for you. If I have missed the point of your question then please do elucidate. All the best.

Bargain! Grab it quick. Wangata tsuba, unusual koshirae, probably late but interesting none the less. All the best.

Dear Dale. I think your questions answer themselves, though the examples I have seen have been stunning. Indeed some of them were the very first Japanese works of art that made a profound impression on me as a child when I saw them in our local museum. Major auction houses tend to catalogue these in a different section to the tsuba they list so for most people I would suggest they are a different class of item. All the best.

Dear Bob. I believe the motif in number 104 is wasp and antlers, I have seen a similar design before. Both very nice tsuba! All the best.

Dear Bob. I think the bird is a shirasagi, or white heron. If so then the crest is intended to be just that. Have a look here, https://passiondujapon.com/en/blogs/actu-novembre/shirasagi-no-mai All the best.

Dear Glenn. Well you know that it's been shortened, right? If it had a mei that looks like it will have gone along with the original nakago. Narrow shinogi ji and overall shape, I would start with sue koto and work from there. We don't have a useful photograph of the kissaki which is a shame. Tsuba is one of the regular designs for Echizen Kinai saku and it seem to have a kogai where you might expect a kodzuka. Nice saya. Any use? All the best.

Enlarging the image I think Michael is right, the point section looks gone. All the best.

Just an observation, that is a nice saya with soritsuno........ All the best.

Dear Michael. Have look here, http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/shaping.html Just below the photograph is an illustration of kissaki which shows what your sword appears to be like. All the best.

Dear Michael. With respect to Dan I think this is the effect observed when there is a raised or high shinogi. All the best.

Trust me, this is only the beginning! It is a fascinating subject and one which can all too easily become, if not an obsession, then at least a lifelong interest. I stumbled across my first Japanese sword when I was about fourteen, still have it and still have the interest. All the best.

Hi Mark. Better pictures as mentioned in the other thread might give us some chance of getting this to at least a time period. In the end, if you really want to know more then you will have to go down the route of professional restoration and what is called shinsa, a panel of Japanese experts inspect the sword and attribute it, (if you are very fortunate!), to a specific smith. In the case of your sword they are likely to only give a confirmation of the smith and the period in which it was made. Take it slow, time is on your side and you have started on a journey with no end so enjoy the ride. All the best.

Hi Mark. Just to add to what I have posted on the other thread, there are a few smiths signing Shigemasa, mostly around 1500 to 1600. In this field as in all the arts there is the possibility of a false signature but I think it less likely in this case. Can you do a photograph of the whole blade straight on, one of the tip and one of the whole tang? Tat might help us pin it down a little for you but whatever happens it is a sword made quite some time ago. All the best.

Dear Mark. As Dan says this one seems to read Shigemasa and it is not a WWII sword but rather earlier. It is in civil mounts which have been adapted for use in the war by the addition of a loo for the tassel and a ring to the scabbard to suspend the sword from, it may have originally had a leather combat cover. The fittings are quite nice and the condition of the blade looks fairly good given it's history since the war. Resist the urge to clean anything, just keep the blade lightly oiled. If you measure from the tip to the notch on the back of the blade where the metal collar sits what length do you get? All the best.

Dear George. To take this back to the original thread if I may, your seller, whom I don't know and as far as I remember have never dealt with, has very magnanimously stated that he will take the sword back so that remains your option but there are some things to think about going forward. It is not my intention to criticise anybody or to stir up anything but here are some thoughts. Major UK auction houses refuse to allow their normal conditions of sale to apply to Japanese swords; they recognise that they don't have the expertise to guarantee what they say. In other words if you buy a sword they have described as Koto and Japanese shinsa ascribes it to Shinto you have no come back. If you turned up and said that a few people on an internet forum had said that it was Shinto I suspect you would be met with polite disbelief. You asked for some opinions and you got them. When I posted earlier I did not come off the fence but offered some thought for study, however I think we are all far too quick to run to, 'it tapers and it's straight it must be Kanbun Shinto'. For what it's worth, which is as little as every other opinion presented here, I think your sword is Koto. You bought the sword from Ebay if I understand the thread correctly. There is a whole heap of advice on this board about not doing that but going for polished and papered blades from known sellers and that has much to recommend it but the lure of discovery is too great and tales of treasures out of the woodwork keep us all going. However this means that you had time to look at the sword, out of polish though it is and in photographs whose quality I don't know. You took a flier and as I suggested I can see why you might. But that's the point, you took a risk. Good for you! A lot of the fun to be had is taking that risk when you think you see something worth pursuing and getting the result you want when it does turn out to be an early Kamakura blade and goes Juyo. Your money, (not a great deal of it but believe me I appreciate how hard that can be to come by sometimes), your risk. The only way you will ever know if this paid off is by sending it for polish and shinsa. Worst case scenario, I am completely off my trolley and you have a papered, suriage Kanbun Shinto sword. If that happens then you will probably not break even if you sell it straight away, or maybe not even if you keep it for thirty years. But that's not how a gamble works is it? What if it does turn out to be Kamakura but with a fatal flaw? Then you've lost everything. Expecting every gamble to pay off is also a completely unreasonable way to enjoy a hobby, a vast number of people seem to enjoy rambling all over a bit of country whacking a very small ball with a metal stick, they pay thousands of dollars/pounds/currency of choice to do so. Very few of them make any money out of it. They spend a ton of money on something they enjoy, they don't anticipate a monetary return. (If my wife is reading this then, don't worry Darling, of course my collection is different and when I die you will be able to sell it for much more than I ever paid for them!) If you go the polish and shinsa route and it turns out poorly then at the very least you have rescued an historical artefact. Is that not something you would enjoy? Whatever happens to my small collection I have had such a great time collecting and learning, sharing with others, and it's been cheaper than golf! Sorry! Ramble over. Of course it's your sword, your deal and your choice. All the best.

Dear George. I don't think you should be embarrassed about your inability to tell the period of this blade, after all we have guesses ranging from n early tachi through Kanbun Shinto. (I might have missed it but I don't think anyone has suggested Shinshinto revival yet!) As it's out of polish and you can't see any of the indicators of hamon or boshi that makes the job worse. Bazza raised some interesting points about the slightly unnatural shape to the nakago which are worth looking into. The process of suriage is sometimes done very well and sometimes less so. The mune line on this sword does seem to dip toward the ha, don't you think? Making assumptions about the original sugata based on what now remains of the nakago is tricky. Was the nakago shape altered when suriage was carried out? If not then you would expect to see a nakago of pretty much consistent width over it's length and the proportions of the hira ji and shinogi ji remaining the same. The fact that the habaki fits simply means that it was made for the sword after surige, we have no way of telling how much after. Again, Bazza draws attention to the nagasa and suggests that the original length is worth factoring in to your deliberations. Kanbun Shinto swords are typically around 70cms. I have to disagree with Alex regarding the fumbari, ironically I was going to link to a page which defines it only to find that it is the same page that he linked to regarding the kissaki form. Just scroll down a bit. Fumbari is a specific narrowing just above the machi, not an overall tapering of the blade, as such it disappears when suriage is performed. You have taken a gamble with this one and I can see why you were tempted. The only degree of certainty you are going to get now is polish and shinsa. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. All the best.

Dear Gary. Welcome to NMB! That looks suspiciously like one of the certificates issued by a certain seller based in Brighton, don't pay any attention to it as a source of reliable information. Much better to listen to what you hear from some of the guys here. If the nagasa is 355 then it is definitely a ko wakizashi. Any chance of some images of the rest of it? All the best.

Dear Dale. I'm afraid I would go the other way on this from Marcos. European style mounting so calling it a guard would be appropriate, returning to tsuba with the advent of Japanese style mounting of the Shin and Kai gunto. All the best.

Dear Michael. As always it is you who have the sword in hand and we are working from photographs. Here are two points to consider. You are adamant that the sword is suriage but why? One image we don't have is of the nakago without the habaki but from what we see here suriage is not evident to my eye. Your diagram of the sori measurement still has the tape running from nakago jiri to kissaki whereas it should run from the mune machi to kissaki, as per Stephen's post on your other sword. Would that change things? As regards the fit in the shirasaya, does the nakago fit well apart from the small gap? In your image of the whole shirasaya both parts seem to align well, if this is the case wit the blade in place then it is most likely the right shirasaya. The habaki appears to fit the blade well but sometimes the habaki can become a little damaged where it fits the machi, bruised a little, and this can result in the ort of gap you illustrate. Just as an aside, Shinto Kashu swords tend to have a distinctive nakago jiri, have you come across this yet? Keep up the good work and enjoy the journey! All the best.

Dear Robert. I have to agree with Gwyn and Brian, this is at best a modern reproduction of a Shingunto, a WWII army sword. The shaping of the blade, the exaggerated pattern in the steel, the detail of the fittings, the way the hilt is wrapped, all confirm this. Not to worry, stick around and find out more. All the best.

Dear Michael. Congratulations on your first sword. First of all a reality check. Do you seriously think that having purchased a library, travelled to a sword show, bought your first blade and allowed yourself to be photographed studying it intently you are not obsessed? It's too late, my friend! You may have to hold back a little with baby on the way but it's never gonnna go away now! The type of sori is hard to see in most blades in hand, the diagram Stephen linked to will help and so will looking at lots of swords where there is an accurate description. As this is a Shinto Takada sword torii sori would be expected. Minor point but it matters, this is a TAKADA sword not Takeda, they are often dismissed as functional not artistic but that is a whole can of worms I'm not getting into. It does, however, make information a little harder to find. I hate to add to your library list but if you do not have them might I recommend the volumes Art and the Sword, published by JSS/US? I'm sure Grey could sort you out with these. In particular Vol. 4 has a lengthy essay on Kyushu Shinto. Excellent information and wonderful oshigata, (and just to confound my earlier statement I note that there is a sword by Yukinaga which is described as having shallow koshi sori). Enjoy! All the best.