Geraint

Interested to see a brass niju habaki? All the best

Hi James. The habaki is a true niju example, it might have been soldered shut but soaking in some warm water might free up the two parts. They are a great piece of work as many habaki are. I don't think the marks are any from of signature but others may know more. As far as the tsuba goes, take your time and if possible show it to someone knowledgeable, the unusual shape hitsu ana is interesting. Have a look at this, http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/11481-yamagane-tsuba/ You can look up "kiku zukashi tsuba" and find many examples to compare it with. All the best.

Hi James. (Please add your name to your posts so we know who we are talking with) Franco is probably correct in his assessment but a picture of the whole tang,and preferably the other way up, ie,the tip of the nakago pointing down, would be interesting. Your other point is slightly odd as almost all Japanese swords have the hilt covered in same or ray skin if you prefer. This is usually underneath the silk wrap. Also quite a high proportion of European swords and indeed many others have sharkskin as a hilt covering material. Your sword deserves a little tender care, have a look for sword care guidance at the top of the home page. (Had a look and can't find a direct link so try this one, http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/care.htm or bettter yet this one, http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Jap_Sword_Care.html) All the best

Welcome Emiliano. There is a thread for new member introductions in the General section but I'm sure no one will mind. I was in Firenze a couple of weeks ago, wish I had known you were there though the others in my party might not have been so keen. Good to have you on board, I hope you will enjoy the discussions. All the best.

Dear Bojan. Here it is. All the best

Hi Bojan. No problems with this one in fact I envy you! This was made as a wakizashi in this form so there is no issue about the hi running off or not as there would be if it was a repurposed naginata. Shigetaka seems to have made something of a speciality of this form of wakizashi. If you are interested I can send you an oshigata of one I have. Enjoy. All the best

Hi Sylvain. I don't think there is a problem, just shakudo that someone has over cleaned. If you are fortunate then time will be a great healer and you won't have anything to worry about. I bought a sword with a san mai tsuba that had been cleaned to a bright copper colour and after a year or two the shakudo has turned a lovely raven black, hopefully that will happen to your fuchi and kashira. All the best

Hi Bojan. Ed has summed it up nicely, there is not quite the degree of certainty that we might like surrounding this group. I have done a bit of digging as I have two blades, one I think shodai and the other nidai. Would love to see some pictures of yours. Meanwhile have a look here for some more information. http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/K14093_W8260_PUP_E.htm Ed is also right that sugata can help, generally speaking if you see Kanbun sugata then it is nidai and shodai tends to have a less controlled and regular hamon from what I have seen. All the best.

Hi Paul. Congrats on your treasure. I'm not sure that, "getting the blood pumping", is a good reference when you have just cut yourself on it though. Enjoy!. All the best.

Dear All. Just one to share, mumei blade, Meiji I think but Kogarasumaru sugata, rather slim and elegant. Enjoy!

Thibault, It's not much to look at but I will see if I can dig it out. All the best

With regard to the Vietnamese example, my very first Japanese sword was, and is, a koto Mino katana with an iron tsuba carefully remounted as a Burmese dha. I have no idea of the history but I suspect that it whether it was captured and repurposed in Burma either during or just after the war. I will try and get some pictures if anyone is interested. (Perhaps not, just remembered the mounts are in the locker under the armour.) All the best.

Dear All. Are we not getting carried away here? Is this not simply a copper tsuba with katakiribori of a type quite often seen that someone has decided to pretty up as Brian suggested? Hence my suggestion of silver plating solution, removing the silver plate would be tricky and all you would have is a copper tsuba which could then be repatinated if you thought it was worth it. Solid silver tsuba are found but this isn't one of them Delighted to be wrong on this one but.........check this one out. http://www.nihonto.us/RED%20COPPER%20TIGER%20&%20BAMBOO%20TSUBA.htm All the best

This would do it. http://www.kernowcraft.com/products/silversmithing-and-tools/sundries/item/silver-solution-c125

Hi Andrew. A lot depends on what you want in your sword. This is a shinshinto katana, in polish and with koshirae; so far so good. If the koshirae is original to the sword with perhaps a new tsuka, same and a rebind then not a problem. However if the koshirae is all new even if it uses antique fitttings, not so good at least from my point of view. Don't read anything into the fuchi and kashira having Tokugawa mon, there are a lot of these around and it does not add significance to the sword. You don't mention sizes so I assume that the sword is indeed katana length but as I am sure you know the value if it were shorter than this would be much less. So you have a genuine Japanese sword in pretty good condition, signed and in koshirae. You don't mention price so it is hard to say. If you want something to hang on your wall, fine. If you want to start a collection then this is better than most for a first time sword but a lot depends on the price. Whatever you decide enjoy! All the best.

Dear Klaus. Lots of worries on this one, walk away, walk away quickly! I don't think the habaki has anything to do with the sword, the area around it looks worrying as do the signs of fire scale and the damage to the edge of the nakago. I would be looking for signs of an added nakago but as the sword is out of polish anyway I would be throwing this one back. I'm sure others will add thoughts. All the best

Hi James. The third kanji up would be the fune part of Osafune. You are right, once you start to recognise the basic kanji it does get a little easier. All the best.

Hi Flemming. Check out this link, you will find it useful. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/kanji/nengo.htm All the best

Hi Darius. Can't help with the mei I fear. No doubt others will. There is no connection between the mei on kogatana and the mei on the sword in most cases. The habaki is a Kaga style but I don't think the sword is necessarily from Kaga. Have a look at this. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/habaki.html I don't think the tsuba is saying anything apart from maybe, "I'm tired!" All the best

Hi Frank. Welcome, (just for forms sake add your name to your posts so we know who we are talking to please.) I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there is nothing about this sword that is Japanese. If it came home in 1949 then it is possibly a locally made copy. There are several web sites that will show shingunto as they should be and if you look at these you will soon see the signs that this one isn't. This does not mean that it is of no value to you and your family, simply that it wasn't what you thought it might be. If you are interested have a look at this site. http://www.guntoartswords.com/or have a browse through the sites under Links at the top of the page. All the best

Ah Darcy. Truly it is said, "He who converses with tengu speaks to the breeze". (But thank you for trying.) All the best.

Dear Mike. Have a look at this, http://www.nihonto.com/abtartuchigatanakoshirae.html If you are going for this style then plain and simple is the way to go. Any search for Tensho koshirae wil yield many results but as always not all are to be taken seriously. Enjoy.

Jean. I think this was what Nakahara intended to focus on. John, I do like the fittings, what are the rest of them like and, second question, is the sword ubu? The nakago looks quite clean to me from what I can see in your picture. All the best.

Gentlemen, We are getting confused over nothing. John, you quote from page 61 which is a section devoted to considering sori, here Nakahara is making the point that sori should be judged by looking at the whole sword. If you look at pages 13 - 16 you will see that he uses the conventional definitions of length for blades though he perhaps holds to them somewhat less rigidly than the current collector market does. For what it's worth I don't think anyone would classify this as a kodachi, but that's another debate. All the best

Hi John and welcome. The good news is that you have found the right place, the bad news is that from your images this gives every indication of being a cast copy of a tsuba. As such I'm afraid any attribution is a waste of time, this is essentially reproduction. Have a close look inside the edges of the cutouts, it looks very much as though there are what I would call flash, sharp edgers where the two halves of the mould have leaked a little during the casting process. Original tsuba are not cast unless by a group called kagamishi who used the techniques for casting mirrors to produce tsuba, this is not one of those. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Keep looking. All the best.