Geraint

Hi Bob. I'm thinking that would be sosho....? Whoever got this one did well I think, from the photographs on the site. All the best

Hi Ian. Glad this turned out better than we all feared. All the best.

I agree with Brian, black horn is the way to go. Would like to see this one. All the best.

Dear Hamish. As in Kamiyoshi, Hirata Hikozo, Jingo? I think Higo school is a bit of a generalisation with too much variation between them to class as one thing. All the best.

Hi Guido. 20 years, but the blink of an eye in this hobby! All the best.

If you have not seen this link it might be useful. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba/tsubaid.htm All the best.

Well there you are, I just messaged you with the same offer. How good is NMB! All the best.

Dear Thibault. Not too difficult to do yourself if you have the tools. A thin leaf of spring steel and a brass rivet are all that is needed. Failing that it might be worth asking here: http://www.guntoartswords.com/ All the best

While most of these are pretty bad there is a range of quality with the best being superbly carved. These are not at that level but they are better than average. Have a look at the blade of the second sword, surely a true Nihonto. All the best.

Looking again, (Isn't it frustrating sometimes, having to do all this without the thing in hand?) I wonder if the line is in fact an accumulation of dirt around the location of the seppa. Worth some gentle attention with some bone to see if it yields. All the best. Geraint

Hi Ron. I think Brian is right about the seppa outline. Have a look at this one on Grey's site, http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/holbrook-tsuba/h353-saotome-tsuba Perhaps an early plate with added work. I really like it by the way. All the best.

Dear Steve. Forgive me if I am stating the obvious but this is a nice package. Pierced tsuba with a company mark, the full set of seppa, family mon on the kabuto gane and what seems to be a sword remounted in a combat saya. While this may not be the most fabulous sword in terms of Nihonto it is a very attractive package as an example of the sort of history you are interested in. All the best.

Hi Jason. Gama senin with a toad. Nice example here, http://art.thewalters.org/detail/35169/tsuba-with-the-chinese-immortal-gama-sennin/ You have to look at the back to find his toad. All the best.

Hi Ryan. The very long kerakubi does suggest Muromachi jidai. The images are not really clear enough to see what you are buying and then of course there are the issues about polishing. To compare have a look at this one, http://www.aoijapan.com/yari-mumei-unsigned-3 Once you set polishing costs against the purchase price you will have an idea about what you want to bid. Have fun.

Hi Axel. If you click on this link and scroll down you will find two more. http://www.aoijapan.com/fittings/tsukaothers You might find the comparison between them in terms of quality and price informative. All the best.

Dear Eric. I fear your translation may be an uphill struggle. From the images you provide the blade shows signs of being non Japanese. Best guess would be that it is a Chinese copy. Have a look at the quality of the tang on Japanese swords, ignore the signature for the moment, just look at the accuracy and quality of finish on genuine examples and you will see what I mean. For very good photographs have a look at some on this site; http://www.aoijapan.com/ Sorry to be the bearer of bad news for you. All the best.

Barry? And just to say that no attempt to polish the blade would be a good idea in any sense. No, no no.

Dear John. No answers but some thoughts. First, small yari on very short poles are usually called kago yari and reputed to have been for use in palanquin. There is a wealth of documentary evidence for naginata in use on the battlefield and surviving early naginata. I suspect that the tradition for them being women's weapons is an Edo development and even then not entirely the case. I have formed the opinion that the rather short and sharply curved blade with an enlarged tip, (Tomoe sugata?) is intended as a weapon for women but there are some quite late naginata, shinshinto, that were clearly never intended for this given their size. I suspect that for women the shaft would be a little shorter and possibly allow for their use indoors in certain buildings. I also recall a reference to polearms mounted over the door in a preserved samurai home. There is the Knutsen book available on polearms. It has much to say from a practical aspect regarding their use but is sometimes frustratingly short on the information that one would like. All the best.

Seems that someone did well on these two.

Looking forward to hearing how this one turns out Stephen! All the best

Hi Bruno. That is a really interesting tsuba. From your images it appears to be a shinchu plate with the Hoo bird inset into it and a fukurin, also in iron. Is that right? Not something I have seen before. Thanks for sharing it with us. All the best.

Hi Dennis. The feature you illustrate is to do with he cross section of the blade and is the result of a raised shinogi. Where the planes of the shinogi ji are parallel to each other this feature would be absent, where it is evident it reflects to fact that the back of the blade is thinner than the shinogi ji. This can be a point used to indicate the school or tradition of the swordsmith. For an extract see here. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zPyswmGDBFkC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=raised+shinogi+schools&source=bl&ots=976zrb6SQc&sig=Z_6uq37CrDUg75pjWw7ocgJaoYI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P6j-VL_KE5PvaJqYgZgL&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=raised%20shinogi%20schools&f=false Sorry about the length, Wow, neat! An extremely lengthy web address shortens automatically! All the best

Presumably a wife who does not read NMB?

Josh. If that was me all you would be hearing would be the patter of my little tiny feet as I rushed to the bank to get the cash. Enjoy! All the best.

Hi Jason. Curious to know what makes you say that the tsuka is incorrectly wrapped. Care to share? All the best