ROKUJURO

Yaga the blade master (there are not many of these around), is there a reason why you posted this in the military section?

So a NI MAI construction with brass! This is not difficult to solder or to fuse (= MOKUMEGANE technique) together, but all in all, it must have been a heck of work to complete! Very extravagant! Thank you Piers for showing!

There seems to be some kind of gold (?) decoration (?) on the other side.

Congratulations, and all the best for the three of you! All other projects can wait!

Not with these photos.

Hi Mark! Welcome to the NMB forum! Your TSUBA is interesting and looks quite unusual to me. Is it magnetic?

Well, then you should absolutely get into contact with our Ray Singer (who commented above) as he is located in Florida as far as I know.

I agree, it is not a SUSHI knife nor a SOSHU knife! Joel, some details let me believe this could be an older (400 years +) sword that should be seen by an expert. Perhaps you find an NMB member near you to give you some hands-on advice. In the meantime keep it away from moisture and children. There is no 'light restoration'. Having it polished in Japan or by a traditionally trained polisher will cost about $ 1.500.-- I believe. As you have no rust on the blade, this is not urgent if you can keep it that way. Get informed here on the board about this complex world of Japanese swords!

Ian, looking at the NANAKO-JI, I think it is a bit "random". The general appearance puts more weight on the decoration rather than on the basic work, so I would not exclude the possibility that this one is a better quality NAGOYA-MONO item from the end of the 19th century. More good images might prove me wrong, as so often.

Might represent an ink stone?

I liked that one:

This thread should be in the TOSOGU section I think.

Simon, probably not, but not often seen and so possibly interesting for some collectors.

Ryan, it is certainly not bronze, but as I suspected, a soft copper alloy. As sheet metal, it was easy to work with. The decoration was either made in a press-mold or with UCHI DASHI technique. Whatsoever, an interesting item!

Rob, nothing you could do but praying that the corrosion has come to a stop. Thinking of your old car: How do you remove rust? By spraying with clear varnish? No, you take your angle-grinder and scrub it off before starting any preservation measures of the bare metal! Would you like to do the same with you TOSOGU? I hope not....

As you will see often with iron TOSOGU, they are exposed to the touch of bare hands. The base metal corrodes heavily, and silver, gold, and the soft metals remain (or fall off one day). This cannot be restored, I am afraid.

Smith is YOSHI X (KATSU ?). In this case, the lighting in the image and the way the MEI is chiselled do not go together well.

Lou, you may offer them here as well.

Rob, I am not an expert on these, and I am only looking at images, but considering the patina of what is now the NAKAGO, and the shape, I think it might be KOTO indeed. But in this condition (in addition to the damaged edge, it has been ground/sandpapered, and I don't see the HAMON in the KISSAKI) the age does not play a role in hindsight to value (if you are thinking of that). As you can see yourself, the TOSOGU have seen better days and are gone now.

No, I don't think the holes were for the chopsticks after three individuals have finished their meal, eating from one bowl. When comparing this to a MOKKO GATA TSUBA with INOME in the "corners", I think the holes could well have been simply decorative and not functional.

That was a good and impressive old one, I believe! But it is too romantic to see the chips and nicks as battle damage. Usually, this was done when uneducated people (= read GAIJIN) "played" SAMURAI battle with it! I hope you can have it restored properly!

All good things come together!

Is it magnetic? In the pictures, it looks like copper, so probably not armour, but decoration.

Who would deliberately spoil a nice wall with such a bad imitation? Michael, if you compare to an original, you will find no detail looking remotely Japanese or authentic. The handle wrap was made in a wrong technique (it was easy to remove, wasn't it?), the SAME strip is much too narrow. The HABAKI is just thin sheet-metal, the blade is possibly "iron damascus". The "TSUBA" is a cast mess and not remotely close to authentic ones. Weapons like this are probably produced in India, Bangladesh, or Pakistan in thousands. If the loss of $ 100 do not hurt you, I would like to suggest you buy some good books on Japanese swords. This would give you an idea about the real stuff, and help you buying the next (hopefully authentic) sword!

In the video, it looks as if they have strung the bows on the wrong side and in addition to that, positioned them upside-down.