Geraint

Hi Justin. From the look of the fittings your first guess is almost certainly correct, gold lacquer over horn. If you have the Boston Museum catalogue there are some spiffy gold koshirae and the difference is apparent. For the answer to your second question have a look at this, http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/3799-resin-glue-or-bitumen/ Nice looking koshirae and blade by the way. All the best.

Dear Sala. I am not sure that we will ever get to the bottom of this issue but I must admit I have always found them interesting. I agree that the quality of the two examples is not high and it may be that they have been assembled during the Meiji period to produce saleable weapons for the Gaijin. However very good quality examples exist such as this one, http://www.juwelier-strebel.de/asien-kunst/Japan/yari-naginata.htmland the one at the top of the page which is papered to quite a good smith. Are either of the two you illustrate signed? It may be a combination of some samurai choosing to have a favoured yari mounted this way and more latterly dealers having trouble selling polearms but finding a ready market for exotic wakizashi. All the best.

Hi Salvatori. The condition of the nakago is always dependent on how the sword has been looked after to an extent. I fell it is quite likely that the sword may be Meiji or Taisho as the finish and patina are commensurate with a Taisho blade that I have. Even shinshinto may have very clean nakago, have a look at this one on Ed's site, http://yakiba.com/Kat_Nobuhide_Takahashi.htm I am NOT suggesting that your sword is by this smith, simply noting that the condition of the nakago leaves quite a bit of room for yours to be pre war. Looking forward to seeing some images of the polished blade. All the best.

Dear Diego. What makes you think that your blade is strange? All the best.

Dear Guido. My mistake, skim reading I assumed that the later publications had revised the listings but on more careful reading note that they only assigned a notional value to each blade. All the best.

Dear Jason. Just to add that a copy of the listings with some points value is to be found at, http://www.jp-sword.com/ The rubric seems to suggest that while initially the ranking was based on cutting ability it latterly came to be more of a general ranking. All the best

Hi Ken. It is just the mei of the blade, sort of, "What's in this shirasaya? Oh yes, that one." All the best

An interesting tanto on Aoi Art at the moment. An unusual blade form for Mino den but have a look at the koshirae. http://www.aoijapan.com/tanto-noshu-seki-ju-kanesuke-saku Any thoughts? All the best

Great find Andi. I had seen this sword in a book on German arms and armour but had assumed that it was in the style of a Japanese sword, the caption did not indicate that it was in fact a nihonto in sheep's clothing. Thank you for posting. All the best.

I think the answer might be, "Two tsuba on a common design and probably from the same school" if I were the buyer or, "A fine daisho of kinko tsuba in precious shinchu, clearly by the same artist. The quality of the carving speaks for itself and the fact that work of this standard is unsigned suggests that they were commissioned by a Daimyo."

Hi Ken. My understanding is that koku and kuni are alternative readings and while we almost always use the kuni form in reading the mei certainly koku is used sometimes, vis this sword from Tsuruta san, http://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-bizen-koku-ju-osafune-kiyomitsu So not wrong at all. All the best.

Hi Philip. I think your sword is in fact much nicer than the one you linked to, certainly in better condition and all present and correct as far as the fittings go. It has a Seki stamp and of course the signature. A good start but beware, you are on the slippery path to collectormania! Enjoy. All the best.

Not sure that I follow you Peter. Surely the distinguishing feature of Murata-to is the method and material from which they are forged, how do zinc alloy blades come into this? All the best.

Lordy, lordy Piers. If that one doesn't put you flat on your back nothing will. I have a memory of seeing one fired from a kneeling position, is that likely? Thanks for sharing and look forward to seeing some pictures when you do fire it. All the best.

Thank you Jean.

Jean. That is a stunning koshirae! Out of curiosity what is the base material for the tsuba, may I ask? Diego, I think Guido is on the right lines for your sword, the fittings seem to be of a type quite often encountered as handachi mounts, it is a relatively simple task to acquire a pair of hangers and convert a handachi koshirae into a "tachi". This may or may not be what has happened to your sword, you have it in hand and will be able to see much more clearly than we can from images. I will attach a picture of one of mine to illustrate the thought. All the best.

Hi Klaus. It downloads a PDF with the article for me. Thanks Peter. All the best.

Dear Fleck. Looking at the tsuba images in your second post, examine the area at the bottom of the seppa dai, you can clearly see the seam from the casting. Looking at the seppa dai you will note a general blurring of the shape as well as characteristic scratches, irregular but more or less on the long axis of the oval. What you have is a low end koshirae, mostly Japanese parts though I have my doubts about the kodzuka. It looks to be assembled in Japan so not made up in the west but right at the bottom end of the market. Have a look at some of the koshirae for sale on dealers websites, this one is a good place to start,http://www.aoijapan.com/ You will soon see what wea re all talking about. All the best.

I agree with Thomas, a lovely set and seem to be a genuine pairing rather than an associated pair with similar designs as so often seen. All the best

Hi Isidro. Start looking for Tembo tsuba. Not sure when your blade was made but this might well be older. All the best.

Kubikiri? http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/unji.htm All the best.

Dear Ken. Do I understand you to mean that this is a reproduction?

Dear Cerjak. Just to add that the menuki represent dried fish and the tsuka maki is probably lacquered paper, not common but original. I don't think the fuchi is original at all and it is possible that a perfectly adequate iron tsuba has been jollied up with the added decoration though we can't see much from your images. We probably don't need to worry to much about gimei, either for or against but it seems possible that this was a wakizashi which has been shortened, losing part of it's original mei. We may only be missing one kanji so the smiths name is Kuni....... However the position of the mekugi ana and indeed the mei remain odd. If you are happy with it then great. All the best.

Dear Steve, Unfortunately not Satsuma age, that involves removing metal from the mune near the kissaki in order to preserve the hamon, yours seems to have involved removing large amounts of metal from the ha in the kissaki. All the best

Glad to be of help. All the best.