ROKUJURO

The cartwheel is perhaps quite common as design element in TSUBA.

As I said: it might be an old straw hat.

This is a nice one indeed! I don't own a TSUBA like that, but I have an old straw hat that looks similar.....

Might this fact just have been the reason that the smith did not want his MEI on the blade?

My congratulations and my admiration! You are simply the best! May I ask if the items were masked or did the jury know the respective makers? Many years ago, Gerd Knäpper, a German potter living in Japan, participated in a very famous all-Japan pottery competition. Without knowing the names of the potters, the jury chose his work as the best. This was an uproar in the world of Japanese ceramics - a GAIJIN on first place! I think that you also turned the world of KODOGU upside down!

I have looked it up on E-Bay and read the accompanying text. Even if it was not traditionally made, it might be a real bargain as a tank (although rusted) is included in the price......

I know these cast copies for more than 30 years when they were already on the market (the left one). A closer look shows that the person on the left TSUBA has not only lost her face but also her hand, being very ashamed because of this bad copy. In the original TSUBA face and hand were probably made of soft metal. As you are new in this field, things like these happen. My advice is to look at as many original TSUBA as you can. Buy books with good pictures and study them, and enjoy the workmanship of good original TSUBA.

If you have a close look at the NAKAGO you will see that the KANJI are not etched but chiselled. And yes, famous swordsmiths names were frequently used by others (with or without their permission) for different reasons.

Probably this stamp has nothing to do with the pot itself or it's production. I have seen stamps from the customs when items are cleared for export. You find them also on imported Chinese pots older than 100 years.

In museums and exhibitions I have seen long blades mounted with rather small and large size TSUBA, WAKIZASHI with larger TSUBA as well, but admittedly mostly with smaller TSUBA. People offering TSUBA for sale generally relate the respective sizes to the length of a blade, calling a smaller TSUBA a WAKIZASHI or TANTO TSUBA. As I have never heard of a rule, I am interested to read the comments of the well informed gentlemen here on this subject.

As far as I know leather spacers on a blade are not original parts. In this case the grease protected the SEPPA DAI from oxidizing and thus changed the appearance compared to the 'normal' way of mounting. On the other hand TSUBA often show a slightly different patina under the SEPPA when they have been in use on a sword. Just clean it regularly with a piece of dry cotton cloth and leave it alone. In only 100 years from now you will see the patina having improved. A good photo of the MENUKI would help to give a comment on these.

I will give it a try although I know that our native speakers here might laugh about GAIJIN pondering over so simple riddles! The name of the maker may be MASATSUNE, and the 'date' could just be ...made by 70 year old YUKI........(perhaps familiy name?). Besides all this: a very nice TSUBA!

It is probably not the son as he is not nearly as knowledgeable in the subject of TSUBA as his father. Instead, after SASANO SENSEI passed away, he was eager to sell TSUBA instead of keeping the collection together.

I am a smith and I know the usual processes. Normal horseshoes are made of iron, not steel. Because of the low iron content they cannot be hardened and so it is useless to quench them. When the iron is cooled down in water, there is no heavy hammering afterwards. Nevertheless, slag may form on the surface of a heated workpiece which is indeed hard, slightly metallic and dark gray in colour. It comes off in small and thin flakes, is not sticky at all and will definitely not be found on a NAKAGO or in a MEKUGI-ANA.

If I may quote the seller:....So i say nothing to mutch..... Nobody would seriously expect to find a Renoir or van Gogh at E-Bay - not as an unidentified find but with that famous name! Why would anyone believe that an obviously uninformed seller had a true MASAMUNE to offer at that price? Compare with real MASAMUNE blades and you have your answer.

The KATANA in the translation forum which I have been asking for help for (YOSHU no JU HIROMASA) was unpolished (HAMON not visible) and in WWII mounts. It was bought by an individual at a knife shop at € 13.800.--. At least it is Japanese, and the blade was made by a good smith....... I wonder if you could sell people an old car from the junk yard telling them it was a Ferrari. It seems to work with swords!

Vielen Dank, Klaus!

An almost true Picasso for only USD 100 is no bargain. In your case you have to decide if you really want to buy a sword which was made especially for betrayal. In fact it is not close to a Japanese sword, it has no historical value and you could never be proud of it nor show it to someone who is knowledgeable in this field.

This may have to do with the really bad photo quality.Try to get a better one!

Gentlemen, thank you a lot for these informations! I was on a wrong trail and would not have gone far with my trial!

I have seen door lock-plates and belt-buckles made from TSUBA......Sensitivity in dealing with objects of other cultures is rare....

Gentlemen, a friend has got a GUNTO blade with a signature which I cannot read completely; it may be KIYOMASA.

The TSUBA has nothing to do with the quality or value of the blade. Tiny amounts of gold do not increase the value of a TSUBA. We just have a thread on the value determination of Japanese arms. Have a look!

As far as I know these very lightweight SHIKO were mostly used for hunting. They could carry a limited number of arrows. The age is difficult to tell as they were in use up to the end of the 19th century. There were several types of quivers being used: standing quivers (looking like an armchair), similar but smaller versions called EBIRA (military and hunting), and the odd-looking UTSUBO - long closed quivers with a fur cover used by SAMURAI on horseback. Besides that there were closeds quivers for KYUDO called YAZUTSU or YATSUBO (just transport containers).

As I said, it is possible under special circumstances, and it works only when oxygen can be kept away from the heated surfaces. As the artist on TAGANEARTS explains:...Classical techniques were never meant to work material like this...... In making stainless MOKUME GANE or damascus steel, you only need to pile up the sheet metal and seal-weld it (electrically) from the sides so no air can reach the steel inside. Then you can weld the billet in the forge, but you have to grind the surfaces clean before folding again, and you have to repeat the electrical welding every time you make a new fold. It is a slow and labourious technique! I admire the artistic performance shown but I would not buy stainless steel KODOGU.