ROKUJURO

Please sign all posts at least with your real first name plus an initial as is the rule here. KINMICHI worked in KYOTO; you may get some information on the genuity of the MEI if you look for MISHINA school. The NINJA of IGA province do not add much to the value of the sword!

The TSUBA with a SANSUI theme does not look like TEMPO in my eyes. It seems to be cast. On the MENUKI I seem to see a duck but might indeed be both cormorants. As the TSUKA-ITO is quite loose, you might push it a little aside to see more of the MENUKI.

Although the NAKAGO has been wire brushed (which is a very bad damage), I do not see hints for a late manufacture. Instead, the MEKUGI ANA looks KOTO to me, but maybe just the pictures. Chris, you wrote: Someone wants to sell an "old" Wakizashi. Seems, someone wants to buy one....What is it that you are attracted to in this case? Is it the price? It might be difficult to really enjoy this WAKIZASHI in this poor condition, but it will not be cheap or worthwhile to get it properly restored. TSUBA seems to be worthless, KO GATANA the same, so think about that. By the way, there is no MINO period!

Chris, thank you and welcome on board!

Vajo, please sign all your posts with at least your real first name and an initial as is the rule here. I don't see any HIRAGANA on the NAKAGO. Charles, as far as Japanese genuity is concerned, I would not want to venture a guess on the basis of photos of a part of a NAKAGO alone. The YASURI ME is sloppily executed as well as the MEI and the MEKUGI ANA, the brass HABAKI seems simple but o.k. The structure in the YAKIBA is strange and not typical. This together with the absence of any patination could all be hints to a recently (<80 years) and hastily made blade, but as Chinese fakes are getting better, I would not even exclude this possibility. More good photos are needed for a better judgement, in my opinion.

'Damascus' HADA, thin brass HABAKI, MUNE MACHI and HA MACHI not on the same level, KISSAKI shape doubtful, NAKAGO JIRI not in one of the traditional shapes, MEI chiselled questionably - to me this looks like an 'artificially aged' (= rusted) fake.

Brian, I had the same GOOGLE malware warning again as reported some time ago. I cannot produce a screenshot (it is all red and I cannot copy), but they say the attackers are on zctmnvhdae.ddnsking.com I can only get to the NMB site when I agree to go to a 'potentially dangerous site'.

Garry, you should not feel accused personally (and there is nothing to forgive), but I wanted to express my regrets that there is a tendency to see things related to Japanese arts and crafts much too easy. When I read that you restored 'a completely ruined KATANA' for Christmas, I asked myself what you might know (or not know) about it and the techniques involved. And I remembered the lack of patience in many Westerners when these difficult tasks are to be executed. Quite often there is no understanding that no short term restoration will be accepted by the specialists - the work is only finished when it's finished! And of course none of the crafts and skills can be learned in the internet or from books! If everyone interested would take the time to look closely at swords, handle and compare some carefully and patiently, go to sword club sessions and exhibitions, read a lot in good books, not very many Chinese (or other Asian) copies would be bought inadvertantly!

Sergei, size is definitely not a KANTEI point in this case! But you have to consider that SASANO SENSEI's samples are a collection of exceptional and outstanding KANAYAMA TSUBA and not your standard ones which were smaller. For most collectors the bigger ones are probably more attractive. At least, this is what I was told.

Curran, if it was indeed a KANAYAMA TSUBA it would probably be in the range of the larger ones, don't you think? I have the impression that many are only about 68 to 72 mm in diameter, and SHIBUI SWORDS/Elliott Long notes:.....Most Kanayama tsuba are relatively small but thick..... .

Sergei, circles and horizontal bars are common design features in OWARI TSUBA. Yours seems to be quite large for this school. If you could get it papered, it would be a very valuable item.

Iain, normally you would not expect a TSUGI NAKAGO without a signature (until it is a decoration repair). In this case it might just be a linear corrosion. By the way: It is HABAKI, not Habakai.

I am always stunned with the way some people (in the West) deal with traditional, approved, and reliable techniques. 'The Japanese do it this way, I know, but there must be a shortcut to save time and efforts!' For me the first step is to learn and to understand, then I can try and practice. Most of the time all this goes together, so it's not always the brain that learns but the hands as well. Japanese craftsmen are certainly no magicians, but they have a lot of experience and continuity in their respective crafts, and often I am kind of awestruck when I see what can be done by well trained hands and with a certain feeling and respect for the materials used. I feel it would be a loss not to value these traditional techniques for what they are. The least is that they produce a very high quality that has been tested over centuries under realistic conditions.

Mike, it is your decision and your money so nobody can decide for you. But as far as it is possible to form an opinion after the photos alone, it looks like a genuine blade to me with some deep WARE (openings, welding issues) in the SHINOGI-JI, but in otherwise decent condition. The MEI is indeed what you were told but I have no comparison nor competence to comment on SHOSHIN or GIMEI. A full size photo of the TSUBA would have been nice. The NAKAGO-ANA has suffered a very bad treatment with a rasp, it seems. That may lead to the assumption that this 'ensemble' was put together from parts that were at hand. But again, depending on what you want and what the price was, the package as a whole might be o.k.

Iain, we have quite a number of posts about cast TSUBA here on NMB, so there is much to read. Concerning OWARI TSUBA, I recommend this article as a first read: http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/owari.htm I hope you did not pay much for this item; as you will find out, cast TSUBA were not meant for use on a weapon but were just souvenirs for tourists. As tourism started by the end of MEJI JIDAI, you can assume the earliest production after that time up to today. I bought such a TSUBA for about 800.-- Yen in 1979. P.S. TSUBA are shown with the 'edge' up except TACHI TSUBA

Steven, I have been looking at your photos quite a while. The design of a temple bell is not so unusual, but the way this TSUBA was made looks special to me. The inner part looks as if it was from an old corroded piece of iron which was then brought back to life with an iron FUKURIN and two SHAKUDO inserts. Maybe an old TSUBA has been used, who knows?

Look http://nbsk-jp.main.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2cff81e511ed2e07efbfe5a7abedd96f.pdf for the 2015 NBSK results.

Jean And that makes it probably louder as there is a "Black roar saya". This item description was probably made in a haste which adds to the generally quite bad English.

Florian, the blade rests well preserved in its SHIRA-SAYA in the TANSU. The shaft with the TSUNAGI and the lacquered SAYA are upright in a stand in a corner of the room so there is little risk to fall over it. My personal suggestion, unless you prefer to store it horizontally in a rack under the ceiling/above your head if you want to be prepared (used to be a traditional way in Japan's war times). .

Kemlos please sign all your posts with your real first name plus an initial, as is the rule here. Even with your photos being badly out of focus, it is very likely that your relative purchased this sword not long ago. All parts seem to be the typical look-alike copies we know from experience and which you can find here on NMB as bad examples made to deceive non-informed buyers. Better photos may allow a final judgement, but even the 'blood-stained Japanese flag' is often known to be a fake, just to help selling the sword.

This form of a quiver is called SHIKO

Stephen, as far as the (not perfect) photo allows an opinion, I don't think this TSUBA is cast. A very nicely fitting subject as a plus.

Pinmaster, welcome to the NMB! It is a rule here to sign every post with your real first name plus an initial, so we can address you politely.

Grant, we don't oil our blades, we keep them dry. Oil is no real help if you live in a humid climate unless you drown your blade in it. As far as your TSUBA is concerned, I will have a closer look at it in one hundred thousand years. I will mark the date in my calendar and bring one of my own TSUBA for comparison....