Geraint

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.

Hi Josh. As I am sure you already know there are parade versions of most sword types for wear in such situations. Also at the outbreak of WWI British officers swords were sent to the armourers to be sharpened for combat so, although it seems ridiculous given what we know now about how that war developed, there was certainly an expectation that they would be used. All preamble really, I have read that part of the reason why the shingunto koshirae was introduced was that the kyugunto was found to be difficult to use in combat, the clear inference being that they had seen active service. If you have it have a read of the early chapters of Fuller and Gregory. All the best

Hi John. Tsuba number three is assigned to Hirata but the body of the tsuba reminds me of the work of Hirado Kunishige, the carving of the shachi and the Namaban feel. I have no idea if there is a connection. viz. number 68 in the Thuault book.

Only one face showing for number three but Hirado? There is a kozuka in 100 Kozuka with stylistic similarities by Hirado Kunishige.

Hi Phil, Check out this thread, viewtopic.php?f=50&t=17553 Ain't this place wonderful?

Hi Bruno, No help with the kanji but a link to another one piece example for your interest. http://www.aoijapan.com/kozuka-kogatana ... i-unsigned I really like yours. All the best

Surely Hoshu and not Bungo..........

Interesting thread with so much involved. Dealers and auctioneers are often keen to identify a piece as from such and such a collection, the implication being that it has passed the scrutiny of a well respected collector and therefore must be good. The real issue is that objects work for us at many levels: an anonymous sword connects us to samurai culture at some level which intrigues most people and I imagine that most of us would have some opinion about it's quality judged by our inspection of the sword. If you knew that it had been owned by a named figure in Japanese history would you not find that appealing? Some years ago I showed my sister an object which I had acquired, interesting of itself but unremarkable. While she was holding it I told her who it had belonged to and her reaction changed immediately, she nearly dropped it. Direct connection with an historical figure certainly gets you that buzz. On another tack there was a very well known forger in the UK, (Sean Greenhalgh if you want to explore). A great deal of his success was based on the fact that he would find very old auction catalogues, look for pieces that had disappeared over the years, fake them and then turn up at a museum to ask if they were worth anything or not. The curators, experts in their field, recognised what they assumed were lost masterpieces and went mad for them. Provenance.

Thanks Robert. Signed in the hi on this one too. All the best.

Dear Martin. I am sorry if the title of the post mislead you, there was no intent to ask a question, merely to point out that this seemed unusual to me and to see if others had come across anything similar. I know that one or two people collect ko gatana and shared it for interest only. All the best.

Just for interest, a little something that I have just acquired. Not come across this before and then digging around in some old auction catalogues I found a similar one listed in a Glending sale from 1962, this time by Nobukuni Yoshimasa. The mei on mine is Nobukuni Mitsumasa, cf, Art and the Sword, Vol. 4, page 9. I would love to see any others if you have them. Enjoy.

Morning Denis. Looking forward to seeing it. I suppose the answer is to some extent obvious, forgive me. Front, side, back and top as well as inside the brim and a shot of where the shikoro attaches to the helmet from inside would be a good start. Mei if it has one. Can't believe that this answer will help much but, hey, ho! And Ian beat me to it with the authoritative view.) All the best.

Following Matt's offer I have one or two if you would like them Dennis. PM me if so. All the best.

Hi Rick. As no one else has stepped in, the lower image is of a late pressing, hence the thin and uniform edge. These were manufactured in some quantity and you find them on swords but also applied to a variety of decorative objects made for the Western market around the turn of the century, sorry that's 19th/20th century. I found a cigarette box once with about twenty of them fastened by thin pins soldered to the back . You also more rarely find genuine menuki, sometimes by master craftsmen, applied to higher status objects. Probably made of brass which is blackened on the face to resemble shakudo. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. All the best.

From memory there is a sword in the Boston Museum catalogue with a similar copper extension, I beleive the suggestion was that it would make a short nakago less likely to snap the tsuka in action when a longer tsuka had been used..........

Dear.......(sorry, no name) You are right, it is a copy of something that already exists, just not a very good copy. Compare the standard of workmanship with the naval dirk you already have, the differences should be clear. All the best.

I like the way that the tendrils continue over the seppa dai in low relief, I haven't noted that before on a Namban tsuba. All the best.

Hi Mark. Not quite right. Malcolm's post says that the kiri mon on your fuchi is used by many families. Don't get too hung up on the significance of the fuchi, assigning the sword to a family on this basis won't work. We are all keen to see more of the sword because it is the blade itself that will be the interesting bit. All the best.

Dear All. Some years ago one of the major London auction houses had a lot which consisted of several yari in a stand. The stand had been made of wood and for each yari shaft a pair of tsuba had been drilled in just this way and screwed to the stand to hold the yari shaft............. I will try to find the catalogue and scan the image for you. All the best.

Dear Mark. What you seem to have is a civilian mounted katana that has been converted for military use. The fuchi has nothing to do with rank, nor are they oak leaves. The menuki looks as if it might be a grain of millet. It is quite possible to find katana converted for field use though not common, sometimes a sarute is pierced through the end of the tsuka to allow the attachment of a tassel. This means that your tsuba hunt will probably be easier as you could use almost any type. All the best.