ROKUJURO

You certainly mean BOHI. But as we soon have Christmas, this can happen. BO HO HO HO!

Quite nice blade Hector! I like the shape! I would not exactly call it HITATSURA, but nevertheless an attractive HAMON with TOBIYAKI and ICHIMAI BOSHI as far as I can see.

Mike, nice KOZUKA, unfortunately the iron front has some rust which should be dealt with competently. You say the back is SHAKUDO (not Sakudo), so a picture of that (dark background please!) would be nice. That's not a mouse but a rat (NEZUMI) on the front, a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, and the start of the Zodiac cycle. The technique of the KOZUKA (the KOGATANA blade is missing?) reminds me of NARA school, but as it seems to be a later EDO item, techniques and motifs were often shared among schools and traditions, so it may well have been made by other artists. The photos are not good enough to see what the rat is eager to eat. Maybe plums hung up on a string for drying? Just a guess.

The signature reads BISHU OSAFUNE JU, but I can't make out the smith in these photos. Try a dark, non-reflecting background, a dark room and spotlights. All photos tip-upwards, especially NAKAGO. Always use cut-outs so very little background is to be seen. The TSUKA (= handle) of the second sword is not Japanese. If you have not seen many authentic Japanese swords in very good condition from close, you will not know what a sword should look like. How then will you polish a blade? Unless you see red rust which should be dealt with, these blades need a competent hand, not just made "shiny". With better photos, we can probably help you to preserve the value of these swords.

Hector, that is not entirely correct. He can produce a certain style of HAMON and HATARAKI by his experience, but not all small details. It can be compared with the outcome of a ceramic glaze on a stoneware CHAWAN in a wood-fired kiln. Potters call this "controlled coincidence". In your SOSHU blade, the HAMON and all activities look controlled and deliberate to me. I wished it was mine!

The authentic KAGAMI (鏡)-SHI TSUBA were cast frome soft-metal (often brass-like copper alloys), but your second example is looking more like iron to me (certainly not cast in EDO JIDAI but much later ). With the right (= modern) casting technology, casting iron is much less expensive than copper alloys.

Yes, exactly! A nice one!

Well, the blade might be a repurposed broken-off piece of a longer blade. Look at the thickness of the NAKAGO. It does not seem to be one of those newly made tourist TANTO blades in my opinion, but we are only looking at photos for a guess.

Hi LK;, Yes, it should NEVER touch hard ground like floor tiles. Otherwise, it looks like a traditional Japanese sword, but the photos are not good. Especially all NAKAGO (= tang) photos should be oriented tip-upwards, so the MEI (= signature) could be read. Plain, dark background is important for good contrast, light from the side. Please sign all posts with a first name and an initial so we could address you politely. It is a rule here. You can add your name to your profile.

In the TSUBA forging workshop I held for NMB members this summer, there was an opportunity to make a simple irom TSUBA (old iron dating from about 1880) with traditional tools and techniques. It proved to be a real challenge for the beginners in the forge, but nonetheless the results were very good. These were very basic TSUBA of the TÔSHÔ style, and comparing high-end work from renowned Japanese masters is a completely different galaxy, their work demanding the highest respect.

Looks a bit like worm-eaten....

That may well be. My thoughts are that newbies might take these late reproductions for the real thing, and I would not like that.

It is stable in this condition. If you want it to look differently, it will have to be polished, but the HAMON is as it is; you cannot make the HATARAKI disappear completely.

MIchael, I only cited the TOROKUSHO as it named the blade correctly within the actual regulations of the NBTHK. As I stated, I know that the NAGASA of a TANTO could vary in former times, but I think when a blade is sold today, we should follow the accepted dimensions. But personally, I am not hurt by any other denomination you might choose.

Justin, that is not NAGASA! How long is the blade without NAKAGO?

Calabrese, unfortunately, there is no "absolute". I am only looking at images, but my impression is these TSUBA are newly made (= 10 years or so) for sale to unsuspecting collectors/buyers. They do not look like MEIJI JIDAI products to me. Unused, no traces of hand-tools, obviously made for "bling" only. Sometimes the decoration is even on the SEPPA-DAI, which is very rare in Japanese TSUBA, and if it's done, it is made flat so as not to interfere with the SEPPA. As I tried to explain, these new ones lack the TSUBA function in my eyes. I cannot say where they are made, but I don't think they are made in Japan. Do you know the black Walter Compton collection catalogue from about the late 1970s? There you find spectacular late 19th century TSUBA in high quality, very ornate (not my taste) and very well made. But they are real TSUBA! You will certainly ask experts for their respective opinion on these modern TSUBA, and I am very curious about the outcome! Maybe I am wrong?

Calabrese, you missed the second part of my reply: Good Japanese TSUBA always have a practical side; they are not just fancy or flashy. Well, most of them.... I don't know if other nations besides China are actually attempting to make TSUBA for sale. But looking at these modern creations, I simply can't imagine them mounted on a sword while even the most ornate MEIJI era TSUBA will keep that functional aspect. Well, most of them; I have seen exeptions. Perhaps it is only my personal feeling.....

It is not Japanese quality and design in my opinion. Good Japanese TSUBA always have a practical side; they are not just fancy or flashy. Well, most of them....

Tyler, the photo is upside-down. If you could make some other ones, correctly oriented, plain dark background, dark room, with spotlight, and showing the full blade without HABAKI, and details like NAKAGO, KISSAKI, HAMON and MACHI, we get a clearer idea of what you have.

Tyler, traditionally working polishers (mostly living in Japan, but very few in the U.S.) usually do not polish military blades, but there are some self-taught craftsmen who do it, as fa as I know. I believe there is no appraisal system for non-traditional (military) blades. As you have the signature and the smith, you know when he worked, although the production of the blade might have been a cooperation among several workers. There are even swords which were signed by a man who did just that without working otherwise on blades. Maybe your interest will switch to traditional hand-made blades one day......?

Lewis, it could well have been used and seen as a TANTO in past times, but with today's market regulations, it is a WAKIZASHI as the TOROKUSHO says.

Salvatore, as you can see on the TOROKUSHO, it is a WAKIZASHI (TANTO have a max. length of 303 mm). The KOSHIRAE looks new, and the photos of the blade are not telling much. Perhaps try with a dark, non-reflecting background in a dark room, using s spotlight. All NAKAGO photos vertically tip-upwards.

At first glance not a TACHI and not a Japanese sword.

Colin, I absolutely share your opinion, and in addition, I will say that they are not carved but press molded, and not made in Japan. In fact, they are not in any category of TSUBA. Did anyeone see these kind of "TSUBA" 10 years ago?

NBS: Is that the famous Norwegian Button Society?