Geraint

Hi Eric. What you call Linden and I call Lime, Tilia Vulgaris from memory, makes a reasonable substitute for Honoki. You want to select a nice clear piece, it is very easy to work and a joy to carve. If you don't have "The Craft of the Japanese Sword", by Kapp and Yoshihara it is well worth investing before you start work. Looking forward to seeing the results. All the best.

Dear Eric. I was using the term koshirae to refer to the whole mounts of a sword as opposed to shirasaya. Brian is right silver is seldom used, though I do have a wkizashi with solid silver habaki. Silver and gold foil jackets are often used for swords in shirasaya as are copper. All the best.

Hi Eric. Assuming that you refer to koshirae then the vast majority are copper, they may be silver or gold plated, silver, gold or shakudo foiled but the base material is copper. I have read of a saying that goes, "Gold for koto, silver for shinto," but I can't recall where. Early habaki were also made of iron, I have only seen one that had been converted into a netsuke. I have also very rarely seen shakudo habaki with inlay and there are some scarce variations. Hope this is what you were looking for. All the best.

Hi Peter, And also the time of course. All the best.

Hi Hamish. I can't help with the sword bag but what a find! Interesting that the mon is the same as the blossom decoration on the sword. Fuller and Gregory ('96) assert that the plum blossom is found on swords, "associated with Manchukoan and Chinese Republican and Nationalist swords and dirks but not used on Japanese military swords." They warn that it is easily confused with a double cherry blossom but from what I can see yours is not the later. The blade is in kogarasumaru sugata which is out of the ordinary. Again, Fuller and Gregory describe them as rare and speculate that they are associated with Imperial Guard or household swords as wellas gensui to. They also note that they are usually found with habaki. As with almost everything there are exceptions to this and the sparse engraving on the backstrap suggest that this is not the case for yours. I attach, (or at least I think I do?) an image of a kyugunto with a kogarsaumaru blade, also with a silver foil habaki, but clearly not belonging to a high ranking officer. Perhaps it is the case that a well to do family commissioned your sword for one of their own and added special features to the standard pattern. Whatever the case yours is a very nice find. All the best.

Dear Jason. "No offense intended but UK standards are a complete joke as far as I'm concerned. It seems to be drastically overpriced for anything of remote quality on one hand and a lot of ignorance whereby a decent nihonto can be next to a generic showato and be equally priced on the other. But enough venting about my disdain for the UK sword market," Well I suppose that if you are buying from a general militaria dealer who has no specific knowledge of Nihonto then you might well find a genuine sword next to a run of the mill shingunto, and if you know what you are doing you might make a good buy. On the other hand if you were to look at the website of a well known dealer you might fall off your perch at the prices asked. However Peter's advice was sound and based on his experience as a collector which was surely what you were asking for. Probably too late to suggest his now but if you are not clear about what flaws would make the blade valueless then some research is in order. Let us know how this turns out. All the best.

Hi Barry. "I was suggesting using the 3D tang as the template for the habaki." Interesting to see the first try at this technique, as I am sure you know the habaki is hammered to fit the nakago and so the model would have to be metal and robust enough to allow this. That technology exists but at the home printer level almost all the models use thermoplastic as the print medium at the moment. There are on line facilities where you can send your file and they will print your design in a variety of metals, that might be a way to go at the moment. Check out this one: http://www.shapeways.com Perhaps worth looking at this one too; http://3dprint.com/35139/fuel3d-scanify-3d-scanner It is really starting to look affordable now........ All the best.

Hi Stephen. Must be either someone who was prepared to give it quite a clout or perhaps the wrong habaki? Saw one once in museum where the habaki would slide up to the hamachi and then keep on going til it fell off at the kissaki. either way possible to remove and make a new one. Have fun

And for a very spiffy example see here: http://www.sho-shin.com/mat5.htm

Alltogether a really nice package, just needing some TLC with a new horn kurikata. The koshirae is lovely and the blade too. http://www.legacyswords.com/fs_ant_daito44.htm Nice one Brian! May I ask, does the inside of the habaki and the outside conform to the shape of the blade or does the outside adjust the shape to make it symmetrical? All the best.

Hi Jeffrey. the points I was hinting at are these: The butterfly is a motif used in Japanese art in many ways and is not limited to any particular region, while a reference to an allegiance might be made using the design of a tsuba not all Satsuma swords would have the cross mon, just as not all butterflies are Taira. You might well be right that the tsuba does not belong with the koshirae but porbably not for the reasons we are discussing. A poor fit, odd numbers of seppa and so forth often do indicate that a good tsuba has been swapped out and replaced with something else but the rather rigid association that you seem to be drawing between one design and a clan is probably not a good way to think about koshirae. A picture of the koshirae would be nice, any chance? All the best.

Be interesting to see what makes you say that it was mismatched. Is there some clear indication that it doesn't belong to the koshirae or is it just that you assume the butterfly to be exclusively Taira? Curious to see the whole thing. Completely agree with Brian on the proposed treatment. All the best

Nice find Hamish. I agree with Grey, the tsuba looks interesting, of an early form designed to accept two o seppa fitting around the raised piercings. Enjoy.

Wow! Nick I love these, what a treat to see them. I love the nakago sugata. I'm sure you have already seen this but here is a tanto by him. http://www.kanshoan.com/english/swords/h46_enshin.html All the best

Hi Arnold. I have seen a few menuki depicting these over the years but can't recall other fittings. In fact, http://www.aoijapan.com/menuki-mumeiunsigned-harness Got the makings of a set here. All the best

Hi Peter. No one seems keen to comment so here goes. You are right, tanegashima on sword fittings seem rare, I can recall one tsuba and a few fuchi that I have seen. Your eyesight must be good to see that as a tanegashima, given the blurred detail. No disrespect to Pablo but I note that he does not mention the tsuba in his description of the sword and while I am conscious that it is too easy to call "cast" from a photo the quality, or lack of it, of this tsuba and the feeling of the seppa dai make me wonder. If I can remember where I saw the others I will scan them for you later. All the best.

Hi Stephen. It is correctly identified as a lead dresser, used by plumbers when working sheet lead to shape for roofing purposes. If it is Lignum it would be a beut, most these days are beech and very light for the purpose. If used to remove tsuka then you wouldn't need to worry about taking out the mekugi first! All the best.

Apologies, delivery arrived and I was rushing. :D

Hi Giuseppe. For a lengthy discussion see here. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8618&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=fist

Dear Klaus, There is a saying in this country about putting a broom in a certain place which is usually a protest against too much work. Modesty suggests that I let you work that one out for yourself. All the best.

Bryan. The sword is papered and offered by a respected dealer, the description states that the boshi is all there. In one image it does look as thought he boshi runs out, which would be a problem but in the case of this seller you would be quite safe. The line you mention appears to be the yokote, which defines the length of the boshi, the polish above this line is treated differently on any sword polished properly. The sugata is unusual but not beyond the bounds of possibility, indeed some would really appreciate this. The way in which the reply from the dealer in question was worded does sound abrupt, but then perhaps as the images clearly delineate the kissaki he may have thought you were asking ill informed questions and hence recommended that you study a little more before investing quite a serious sum of money in such a blade. It is of course your money and your call, if you like the blade and feel it would repay study then you could easily buy this one. If you don't like it or have any doubts then walk away. Either way have fun and enjoy the learning curve.

Hi Jonas. Late to the party but here goes. The tsuka is not of any value as is so perhaps time to regard it as scrap. Hot air will only work if the glue/gunk is going to soften with heat and many things won't. Might be worth trying wrapping the tsuka in a damp rag for a while, protect the blade and tsuba of course. If the glue is animal based chances are this will soften and then you can start by peeling off the same. It should be possible to see a seam in the edge of the tsuka which might be possible to split. Careful but have fun. I do hope for your sake that after all this the results will be exciting. All the best.

Hi Brain. I think they look gorgeous! However, though I can't speak for the ones inside the case I think you might find you have a problem with the two on top unless you keep them safely in shirasaya. All I can tell you is that it wouldn't work where I am. Love the ken by the way. All the best.

Right so far, there are several variations on the way the kuni kanji s used. What two characters are likely to precede the mei on the kogatana? All the best.

John is giving it away a bit at a time :D I think I can make the mei on the tsuba read Kunihiro, not an uncommon mei on a plain iron tsuba like this. Al ltthe best