ROKUJURO

Not easy to read for me but might be TOMOMITSU. The blade looks indeed KOTO. A little tired though, which after a few hundred years is not surprizing.

Indeed! HIRADO?

Rohan, that is of course correct. But in this case, it is not a "feeling" of your senses rather than a response of a tool on the steel. In this context, you could call the stone a "sensory device".

Mason, this is of course nonsense and only used for the lack of a better word. It is certainly not meant in a technical way. You will find other technical terms like "dense" for the steel in HIGO TSUBA, but it is only meant in a descriptive way. One cannot see or feel hardness or density.

You are (almost) correct Calabrese, in the description (which I should have read before writing....) the SUGATA is mentioned: UNOKUBI-ZUKURI (鵜首造):

The pictures are not very good. The blade may indeed be HIRA-ZUKURI, but the wide BOHI may give a wrong impression of a SHINOGI.

Ubay, you posted in the wrong place. We have a special translation section, but I am afraid you will not get a more positive reply there.....

HIMEMATSU?

Chandler, I understood your post completely. This may be YOSHINDO-SENSEI's way to do it, but as I wrote, technically, it is not necessary to "soften" the steel for a new hardening process. It is not a "better" way, but causes scaling.

Thank you Dirk, that sounds much more reasonable! What can we learn from that? Good translations can only be made with some competence in the subject!

Mark, Chandler, this is a complete misunderstanding! Clay-coating of a blade (= TSUCHI OKI) is usually done one side after the other prior to quenching - I did not say 'hardening' was done side after side! I tried to explain why a HAMON usually is not perfectly symmetrical on both sides. Re-hardening (= SAI HA) can indeed be done, but as a side-effect, long blades can show a stronger SORI afterwards because of the martendsite expansion. Repeated hardening also results in a material loss as some superdial steel is oxidized into scale. Of course there is no "softening" (or normalizing) of the steel necessaray prior to a second hardening unless the blade has to be worked on, e.g. straightening it. Heating it up to yellow heat (= 1.150°C) would not only damage the blade but also be useless as the hardening is completely gone already at 750°C.

Thank you John, very interesting! But as I wrote above, traditionally made TSUBA do not contain carbon in a useful amount, so this method might not work. I have tested damaged TSUBA (19th century) for their carbon content, and it was Zero with my method. With the TATARA method, a wide range of iron-carbon alloys is produced. That goes from cast iron with more than 3 % of carbon down to pure iron without carbon - and every percentage inbetween.

I would not exclude that completely. There might have been single occasions where this was done for reasons we don't know..

Deanna, as far as I know, the smith only makes one MEKUGI-ANA in a location that is most likely correct in his experience. In many cases, the TSUKA can be adapted to this. If it does not fit, there are two ways: Either the blade is brought back to the TOSHO to make a second MEKUGI-ANA, or the TSUKA maker does this himself, keeping the dimensions as close as possible. In early times, MEKUGI-ANA were always punched. So if the blade was already finished, but a second MEKUGI-ANA was needed, it was wrapped in some fabric or rags. This was then soaked in water to make sure only the NAKAGO was heated up, preventing the blade from loosing its hardness.

Dale, when you look at these later added signatures, you will find that they are not cut deeply. If you are careful, you can work on cast iron without breaking it. It is not really hard but brittle at the same time, depending on the force applied. I will try and post samples of this process in the near future. On the other side, it is only little work to anneal/temper a finished cast TSUBA, especially in an industrial production line.

It is frightening how good these reproductions can be! With modern silicone forming and die casting technology, it is not as much work as it used to be with the "lost mold" process, so they can indeed flood the market.

Paul, if you used a non-reflecting dark background for better contrast and light from the side, I would perhaps be able to help. With these photos, I can only guess MUNENAGA (?)

Thank you Dirk, for the extensive information! However, I have questions concerning some lines in the text: .....Around 1975 (Showa 50), he began considering creating the base metal for tsuba by blowing iron sand. Prior to that, he experimented with Western iron and collected reclaimed iron from the Edo period, which he then commissioned a swordsmith to roll into sheet form for his tsuba crafts..... What could the author (who wrote that? Is it a translation?) have meant by "blowing iron sand"? Perhaps processing in a blast furnace? And "rolling steel into sheet form" cannot be done in a forge! I suspect that either the writer did not know what he was talking about, or the translation was done incorrectly.

Steven, it is a school/tradition that signed their KATANA with TACHI MEI.....

Mark, there is no clay application for the tempering (= YAKIMODOSHI). This is only done before hardening (= YAKIIRE). What you call "temper line" is in fact the hardening line (= HAMON). Generally, clay application is mostly done with one side of the blade at a time (there are videos on that on YouTube). In this case the HAMON may not be symmetrical on both sides. However, some smiths took great care in producing almost "mirrored" HAMON. Japanese nouns do not have a plural form, so it is always TANTO (not Tantos)

And for your statement Jacques.

Thank you Piers, Uwe was friendly enough to translate that for me from the TSUBA's description that came from the TOKUGAWA museum. I think this is just another 'picture' this design might be called (....TSUBA theme is called “残雪” (ZANSETSU = remaining snow ). I can easily understand it, but it seems it is not frequently seen so.

Does not look to be of (traditional) Japanese origin to me, but I may be wrong as so often....

Jay, it is a difficult task to judge a TSUBA from images alone, but as you have it in hand, you may be able to get a relevant assessment. If you imagine how the carving on TSUBA of this style are made, you will find that the tools used leave typical traces. In your case, the chisels (= TAGANE) used to cut the design of mountains and water (SANSUI) will leave a smooth surface in the lines. Now when you use a magnification glass you can judge by yourself if these grooves have a "sandy" surface (which would be a hint towards cast technique) or if they look cut by a sharp tool. As the TSUBA does not look 'old' from its general appearance, you could exclude corrosion/rust having caused a rough surface. All openings in a TSUBA can be reworked and smoothed-out after the production, so in case one does not find traces for cast technique there, this does not mean so much. But in my experience, the design cut with TAGANE is never reworked so looking carefully at how the TSUBA was actually made will teach you a lot about its origin and age. The small gold (or brass) embellishments can be applied on a cast TSUBA blank and are no evidence for a hand-forged TSUBA. THIS THREAD BELONGS IN THE TOSOGU SECTION!

Ah, this is good to know as it changes the view!