Geraint

Hi Jordy. I will answer with more thoughts when I have more time but Shigetaka is an interest of mine so would love to see some more of the sword. First three generations are supposed to have used the title Harima Daijo. Echizen ju on the other side of the nakago is usual. Not sure about the question on cutting tests, obviously without a mei to this effect then one can speculate but it is meaningless. Clearly not all swords were tested in this way. More later.

David, really sorry that things have gone so badly for you. I would be happy to help but geography is against us as I'm far south west. Why don't you contact Ian via his website? I know that he offers swords on consignment and I am sure he could offer you sound advice. http://nihonto.org.uk/index.html Hope this is of some help.

And very nice it is, Roland.

Hi Terry. Given your intention to learn from this one and comparing it to the example tsuba you might have a look at where the missing inlays have come from, two sections at least in the figure and I think the bull, you might even be able to detect the undercutting of the edges where the bull was. All the best.

Hi Grev. Can't help you with the mei but I have heard the subject described as south sea islander pulling a branch of coral. A related example here, http://www.flyingcranesantiques.com/bro ... 3_top.html Given the value of coral and the size of the branch you would expect them to be looking happy though I can't say the same for your guy. All the best.

Medar, I'm not quite clear on your question. We are suggesting that this blade was made in Europe and either exported as a bare blade to be mounted up somewhere or taken over to the Far East as a sword,perhaps a hanger, and remounted there. I am suggesting that none of it at all was made in Japan but given your information about it that it somehow found it's way there at a later date. Is it unique? Well I have not seen one exactly like it but that means very little. Just to keep you excited check out this link for an almost identical VOC blade. http://www.swordsantiqueweapons.com/s1326_full.html You're going to like this one.

Hello M (?) Some thoughts for you to consider about your sword: The VOC blade could easily have been made in Europe as a trade item or it could have been captured and remounted. Either case indicates that blades have always been expensive and highly prized. (This swapping around is quite common, in India there is even a group of swords called firanghi which means foreigner because they have European blades. There are examples of blades made in Solingen in Germany which are mounted as talwar and so on.) The Buddhist emblems are therefor not a contradiction. The sword may look at first glance like a Japanese sword but it clearly is not, the story of it being in a Japanese family for a long time is not disproved by this, it may well have been a trophy from some other time. Your swordsmiths may have been out of their depth here, when you described them as Japanese swordsmiths do you mean that or were they smiths who made Japanese style swords? There are some features of the mountings that look a little like very early Japanese mountings, the sharp retaining hook and some other things. As it is not Japanese do not attempt to remove the hilt, that is something usually fairly easily done on a Japanese sword by removing one peg and slipping off the hilt mountings, this won't be the case on your sword and removing the hilt may result in some serious damage. In any case what we look for by studying the tang won't apply here so there is no point in attempting it. While this is a forum devoted to the study of Japanese swords, and as a result we tend to be a bit sniffy about anything else, this one may have quite a history if indeed it has spent some time in the family of the Japanese officer. Of course it may have been a foreign curio picked up out of interest by the officers great, great grandad but the idea of it being captured spoils of war is much more romantic and if you enjoy the journey then research Japanese pirates, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wokou Perhaps the sword was brought back by the Japanese equivalent of Long John Silver! In any event this is a fascinating piece and worth researching. (Having mocked a fellow collector for picking up what I thought was a junk copy of a Japaneses sword I had to eat my words when he sold it as it was a very rare Korean weapon and was eagerly fought over by buyers!) You might find this link interesting though I cannot say if your sword is a match, just a thought. http://www.ashokaarts.com/shop/search?q ... rchSold=on Enjoy your research, it would be amazing to prove the pirate theory. All the best.

Hi Martin, Above the images is an attached file, click on that. Al the best

I'd venture ko kinko?

Hi James. The term for the wood blade is tsunagi and i suspect the term for koshirae with tsunagi is just that. Be interesting to see if anyone knows anything else about this. All the best. And Brian beat me to it.

Brandon. First steps. There may well be someone in your area who can have a look at your sword but until there is another shinsa in the US run by either the NBTHK or the NTHK then no one can do that for you; be cautious of anyone who says that they can. Anyone who is able to help will be looking for typical workmanship of this smith, a good starting point for you either through web based research where you are looking for papered examples by this smith, or by buying the books and working out what you are looking for. The likely conclusion will be either that they think it is a good candidate for shinsa, which does not mean that it will pass, or that they think it is gimei, in which case you will probably go on hoping and wondering if it is the real deal. Take it easy, you won't find out everything at once and when you start out on the Nihonto journey almost all you think you know will change over time. This is a fascinating area of study but there is soooooo much to learn....... Just remember it is a hobby and one that your girlfriend might come to share with you but I think most girlfriends/wives/partners tolerate our obsession with a bemused air. Have fun.

Dear Darcy. That is truly beautiful blade and a very informative article, not least because of the light it throws on the naginata/nagamaki issue. I'm viewing it on Chrome and on your slideshow the only way of moving images is using the keyboard keys, the on screen icons don't function for me. Not sure if that's the kind of thing you needed to know......? In any event thank you, that was a lovely start to my day. All the best.

Interesting observation. I have it in mind that I have seen a tsuba with an illustration of a bear in a cave being hunted by a Dutchman with a tanegashima. Haven't succeeded in locating the image yet but it does underscore the scarcity of the subject. If I find it I will post the reference. All the best.

Clearly a very rare mounting from the original handachi or half tachi, (also known as nidai tachi meaning two long), which was in fact a sword split along its entire length so that one could become two at a moments notice. If only you could find the other halkf of the fuchi and the two pieces of the wari kashira, what a treasure that would be.

Thank you for the pictures Chris, and Thomas thank you for the link to your article which is very informative. Two reasons for my interest; the first is that some years ago a good friend lent me an Hamabe sword to do an oshigata, it was in the JSS/US journal but I can't recall exactly when. I will attach it. From my notes it is signed by Kunitake who I managed to trace as one of the pupils of Takenaka Kunihiko who was a pupil of Toshiyuki, the third generation. All this was done with what I had available at the time and may well need correction now. The second reason is that I have a shinshinto katana by a later generation Inshu Kanesaki and information on the school seems hard to come by though the two schools appear to have connections with each other down the years. Enjoy.

Hi Chriso. Would love to see some pictures of the Inaba sword as I have an interest in them. The tsuba is certainly genuine in that it is Japanese, not reproduction. Looking at the surface it seems that the rust on the seppa dai is much shallower than the rest of the tsuba, could be that this area was protected by the seppa but the fact that there seems little rust inside the two piercings suggests that perhaps this was made at the same time as your sword but deliberately finished to look much older. I had the same suggestion made about a tsuba from a sword from the same province and age as yours which is what made me think of it. What is the rest of the koshirae like? Have fun.

Hi Scott, Your local antique dealer is not the person to go to unless they are specialising in Nihinto. It is a very specific field and general antique dealers can not be expected to give you any idea. Would you for example expect them to be able to give you an accurate judgement on the value of that little picture you have which is signed by Degas? Share some images of the whole thing here and see what people suggest. All the best.

Hi Kyle. There are sword inscriptions that record the fact that a blade was made by a smith and then shortened by another but as yours simply has the signature then that is unlikely. Much more likely that it is gimei with a signature added simply to enhance the value of the sword. This does not mean that the sword is without value of itself, sometimes mei are removed and the sword then submitted for papers however this is probably not a course of action you should consider with this one. Enjoy it for what it is and what it can teach you. All the best.

Hi Marcello. I assume that from your question that from the images you have judged that the mune is flat? From your reading you may also have assumed that this might mean the blade is very early? I suspect that when you get the blade in hand you will find an iori mune, the most common type. You should also question whether tanto are available form the Heian jidai. This does not mean that you the tanto is not interesting, when you have it in hand some better images will help. All the best.

His previous attempts at crocheting kabuto having fallen flat Puts a whole new spin on tatami kabuto.........

Ah well, there you go. Just turned it up in JSS/US Vol.26 number 6. An article by Phillip M Goody, "Kai Gunto, Its Introduction and Rationale" "With the outbreak of the Sino - Japanese war in 1937, however, Officers (sic) of the Special Naval Landing Forces suggested that the sword be changed to a Japanese style swords so that it could be used effectively as a weapon. This suggestion had in fact already been made at the time of the North China incident, but met with a cool response as the landing forces at that time were not engaged in a large amount of hand-to-hand fighting and the change was not deemed necessary. The complaint about the existing Kyu-gunto style was that the hilt was swollen in the middle and the binding on the handle wound downwards, like a vine, from top to bottom. Apparently this made the sword have a tendency to tilt to either the right or the left when cutting down with either one, or two hands and also gave it a tendency to tilt when swung above the head. It was difficult to grip the hilt with both hands because of the western style hand guard. In other words when it came to using the sword in actual fighting, the western style sabre was clumsy." And a little later n the article, "At the time of this change," (from Kyu to Kaigunto), "the Navy submitted a paper to the Japanese cabinet concerning the motivation for changing to a Japanese style tachi. An excerpt is as follows, " Existing official long sword is not appropriate for practical usage..." While this argues for the introduction of what we know as the Kaigunto it also suggests that officers were using the kyugunto and finding it wanting.

Hi Josh. For most kyugunto , as with shingunto and kaigunto, the size of the tsuka means that a traditional nakago does not need to be altered. However for some of the parade sabres they certainly do. If you go to this site, http://www.japanesesword.com/ and go to Sold Items on the menu to the left then scroll down to the one that starts with, "Rare Murata-to," and have a look at the images you will see an example. I have to say the finish on this one makes it look as though it was made from the very first to go into parade sabre mounts but others have their nakago modified to suit. In my earlier reply I suggested that the information I was looking for was in one of Fuller and Gregory's books but I have been unable to find it. When I come across it I will let you know. All the best.

I can only add my thanks and I am glad to be able to do so on this thread. For all the years I have been clicking on the site and returning to it again and again. Very many thanks for a job well done. All the best.

Hi Tobias. Making a good tsuka looks easy but the subtlety of shaping is trickier to achieve than you might think. Making everything fit well and achieve harmony with the rest of the koshirae is an interesting challenge. 1 I have seen both tsuka split on the centre line and some with the split off set as you describe, the second might be stronger but Given everything else that will go to strengthen the completed tsuka I would doubt it. 2 Once you have inlaid the nakago into the tsuka, whichever method you chose, with the tsuka open you can mark and drill the mekugi hole on one half, then when you have glued up the tsuka complete the drilling. (I think that has been mentioned in another thread recently). 3 We have a saying, "Why spoil the ship for a hap'eth of tar?" Meaning if you are going to go to all that trouble surely a bit of rice isn't going to hurt? Modern glues are not good for shirasaya or koshirae because they tend to promote rusting. Once you have made your tsuka you are going to have to fit same and carry out tsuka maki, you are into a whole world of interesting times here but there is a book by Thomas Buck on Tsuka Maki which would certainly be worth buying. If you have a go you will probably develop a whole new level of respect for the craftsmen who do this work and start looking at tsuka in much more detail. Have fun.

Hi Kurt, Probably as many reasons as there are mekugi ana! For a start there is the issue of suriage which was done to make it possible for someone to continue using a blade when the style of use had changed, eg from cavalry to infantry. Then there is the short samurai who wanted to use his tall father's blade, then there are instances where daimyo wanted to have a particular sword shortened to use as part of a daisho simply because they could and so on. Given all that there are still blades where the adjustment is so slight as to seem a waste of time, sometimes even mekugi ana that overlap each other. I suspect that sometimes this was done to make a blade seem older than it really is, sometimes in shinsakuto when an utsushi mono is being attempted the number of mekugi ana will be copied as well. Functional positioning also counts when swords are shortened and I think that in the case of tanto blades it is often a matter of making the koshirae look right. Remembering that we are concerned to preserve the blade in its current condition your process is what would achieve that. A different attitude to the blade would lead to diffferent actions. I am sure that there are also blades which have been swopped out of mounts and the ana then drilled through just to make the koshirae fit, shudder! I am also sure that others will chime in on this one. All the best.