ROKUJURO

Hi Laura, welcome to the NMB forum. These plaques are looking like decorative items, MEIJI era or later, maybe for the tourist trade. They seem to be press-molded, the casing is probably made from a different alloy, perhaps nickel silver. I do not see typical SHIBUICHI colour, instead it might be SHAKUDO or blackened copper. The exact purpose will be difficult to guess; I have no clue. Cleaning should be done with great care! A soft brush or a moist cosmetic cotton pad should work in case there was really dirt on them. Any abrasive material (or rubbing) will damage the patina beyond repair. True SHAKUDO will somewhat "heal" its patina after a while, but not blackened copper.

New video:

Looks like an AINU knife to me.

Very sad to hear! I never met Richard, but I absolutely admired his photographic skills. My condolences to his family and friends!

It might be a SHODO box, a container for writing equipment, MEIJI era. From the looks of it, it could be made of lacquered leather or papier mâché, but you can guess that by its weight. You will certainly have tested with a magnet if it is thin iron? Right after the end of EDO era, many sword artisans were forced to look for other kinds of work, so an armourer might have been able to make this as well.

Don't feed the trolls!

To me, this is clearly not a BOKUTO or BOKKEN, but nice!

I think these are all modern, with more or less hand-finishing or polishing. Have you ever seen them appearing in older collections or on sale in auctions 10 years ago?

Or perhaps end of SHOWA?

If you mean the script then it is SOSHO. But I don't think it is SOSHO, it is just a bit sloppy. Let the experts in the translation section decide!.

Tony, what makes you believe the MEI is SHOSHIN? Could we please see the (naked) blade as well?

No Bruce, these are two different blades.

Very beautiful! I'm also thinking of TSUBAKI SANJURO....

John, these HANAIRE were not meant to hold water. As far as I know from more recent pieces, a container was made/soldered from tin or copper to fit into it. You can stand them upright (then they don't even need a closed bottom) or hang them on a nail. Many years ago I got my hands on big bamboo and made one myself for IKEBANA. I always dreamt of having a TOKONOMA..... Piers, your HANAIRE is nice! Is that a Camellia flower in it?

Piers, one of the small items shown in your last photos could also be such a "HANAIRE", made from the foot of a big bamboo, now interpreted in bone.

To me, they look like somewhat distorted interpretations of SEN no RIKYU's famous bamboo HANAIRE (one of them being called "ONJÔJI")

Yes, the smith name is an art name, often given by the master to his apprentice.

MENUKI look cast to me, FUCHI-GASHIRA set seems to have been made by etching technique. With just these photos, it is difficult to make a guess, but I think 19th century for both.

Stefano, it is SÔSHÔ/grass script. A bit difficult to read, even for Japanese!

It is a typical NINJA TSUBA. They could stand the TSUBA upright and hide behind it to not be seen. There is some literature about the "Invisible NINJA"! Secret lifted!

I cannot see the images. Please upload them here.

Correct, but even with differential quenching/hardening, these homogeneous modern industrial steels do not behave the same way as blades made in the traditional composite design. One of the reasons to follow the traditional way is that those old blades were (often, not at all times) battle tested which is difficult with recently made swords.

Well, you could make your own! It is a lot of work, but it is possible. It would be good to have a small team, though. I am willing to help with theoretical basics, if needed. Please sign all posts with a first name and an initial, so we could address you in a polite manner. It is a rule on NMB.

Very interesting! Still a traditional method of steel-making, but a bit different in the outcome, obviously. Could you please describe in short where and how the quality differs in these swords?

I think it is because the NBTHK wants to preserve traditional techniques in the first place. It is not so much about making many swords or using any material available. If everything was allowed, we would probably see titanium swords just because black iron sand can contain a small percentage of it.....