Ed Harbulak

I once owned a custom made Emura blade that was signed tachi me: Toshu Chounsai Emura saku. That is: made by Chounsai Emura of Tosa and on the other side of the nakago: Ojite tomioka Shi Motome, meaning in accordance with the request of Mr. Tomioka. Apparently Emura either came from or was living in Tosa at the time and made the sword on special order for Mr. Tomioka. The yasuri were sujikai with kesho in the normal manner, sloping down to the right. Since it was a custom made blade, I have to assume the yasuri where done by Emura himself which suggests he was right handed, or at least followed normal convention. I would suspect that if the yasuri run in the opposite direction, the work was NOT done by Emura himself. Therefore, the yasuri might be an easy way to know if the blade was made by Emura or one of his students. I believe an oshigata of this blade can still be found on Dr. Stein's site in the discussion about Emura. Hope this helps.

Hi Alex, If you read the English translation in Fujishiro for page 120 of the Japanese text, it says the signature of your last photo is that of Tosa no Kami Tadayoshi who is thought to be the younger brother of the Shodai Tadayoshi. I guess I never noticed his method of writing Hizen before, but of all the Tadayoshi, Tadahiro mei I've seen in for example Roger Robertshaw's book on the School of Tadayoshi, the "zen" kanji has the 8th stroke on the far right rather than where it belongs. I do recall that some of the other smiths in the Tadayoshi school didn't always follow the same writing method as the mainline Tadayoshi and Tadahiro smiths. But, as always, especially when it comes to nihonto, there are exceptions. I guess Tosa no Kami Tadayoshi is one of those exceptions. Anyway, thanks for pointing out the difference.

Hi Isidoro and Alex, I should have given a more detailed explanation as to why the "zen" kanji in Hizen makes the Tadayoshi mei on Isidoro's blade wrong or gimei. The 8th stroke in "zen", that's the short line just to the left of the far right vertical stroke is actually located to the right, or outside edge, of the far right vertical slope in genuine Tadayoshi/Tadahiro signatures. On Isidoro's blade, that stroke should be on the far right, outside edge of the "zen" kanji if it's a genuine mainline Tadayoshi/Tadahiro signature. Alex, the way the mainline Tadayoshi school wrote "zen" is correctly shown in the middle photo you included below Isidoro's blade. However, the final photograph, if it's of a Tadayoshi mainline smith, is correctly written in Japanese, but wrong compared to the way the Tadayoshi school wrote it. That means the photograph of the third mei, if it's from a mainline Tadayoshi smith is also gimei. Writing Hizen the way it's shown in textbooks is NOT the way the Tadayoshi school wrote it. The "zen" kanji is one of the quickest ways to differentiate between a genuine and gimei Tadayoshi or Tadahiro signature as it's the character that seems to be most often wrong on gimei blades. Of course "zen" can be written correctly the way the Tadayoshi school wrote it and still be gimei, so the entire mei as well as the workmanship of the blade has to be considered. In the case of Isidoro's blade, not only is the "zen" kanji wrong for the school, but the rest of the mei is very poorly written compared to genuine Tadayoshi school signatures.

I'm sorry Isidro, but the mei on your Tadayoshi is most certainly gimei. The easiest way to know is to look at the second character "zen" in Hizen. That is NOT the way the Tadayoshi/Tadahiro school wrote that particular kanji.

It also looks like the Hamachi is just ahead of the habaki, if the thin black line I see is indeed the hamachi. Take the habaki off and see how it matches up with the machi. It sure isn't Japanese whatever it is.

Hi Tony, I used to own this blade and don't believe it was made by the famous Bungo Yukihira so probably isn't a gimei of him. My own research led me to think it was either one of the Naminohira smiths from Satsuma who worked in the Yamato tradition and signed Yukihira or else a Yamato smith. There were several smiths who used the Yukihira name even into the 1800's, so consider one of them rather than Bungo Yukihira. As for the ura, I showed it to a couple other collectors who are fluent in Japanese and the only character they could make out was the one legible kanji which means city. I'd also like to know what the omote side says. Good luck,

You are correct Brian, the rust at this point is quite stable, dry and pretty much inactive. I removed all the loose rust when I bought the sword years ago using a stiff brush, then oiled it to prevent any further damage. While it looks bad, at least the mei can be read and as I told Patrick in a PM, my only suggestion would be to perhaps see if Nobufusa's son who was/is also a sword smith, might be able to re-file the nakago and re-sign his father's name with an indication that the blade's mei was restored by the maker's son.

Patrick, I used to own this sword and know a bit about its history. I purchased it at a gun show a number of years ago from the dealer who had just recently purchased it from the vet who had been the navigator on the general's plane. I examined the nakago before buying the sword and because of the degree of rust I was convinced it was an older, probably Shinto blade in military mounts. The blade itself was in quite decent condition and had apparently been well taken care of. Since I thought it was a much older blade and quite likely better than a showato, I purchased it. Due to the rusted nakago I had trouble reading the mei although I could see it was there. I showed the sword to Japanese collector I knew who was also at the same show and with a careful examination of the mei he discovered the mei was that of a gendai smith, namely Nobufusa. Because the blade was in decent condition, I had it lightly polished and put into shirasaya. I made a silver habaki for it rather than use the original habaki with the shirasaya. I left the rust on the nakago the way it was and personally I won't do a thing to it, just leave it as is. It's a part of this blades history and was something that happened to the sword during the war in the Pacific. I suspect that salt water had gotten in contact with the nakago at some time during the war and that caused the severe degree of rust on the tang. While unsightly on such a young blade, the mei is legible and it is a well made blade by a good maker. My advice is to leave it as is. Anything you try to do to the nakago will only make matters worse. It is what it is and can still be enjoyed as is. Take good care of it and appreciate its history. Ed Harbulak

While there may not be anything wrong with the blade, how about the mei? I'm no expert on kanji, but the Yasu character looks a bit strange to me. Better double and triple check if you plan to bid on this item.

If you compare the kanji for Zen, in Hizen, the Zen in the katana mei is written differently than the Zen on the wak. The way Zen is written on the katana is the correct official Japanese way of writing Zen, but is NOT the way the Tadayoshi Tadahiro school wrote Zen. The katana is obviously gimei based on that one Kanji as well as the mei being on the wrong side of the nakago for a katana from this school. That just leaves the wakizashi to be examine more closely to see if it is gimei or not. Good luck,

Bill, I hunt with BLACK powder muzzle loading guns and personally I wouldn't even think of firing this "childs" pistol without a complete inspection by someone who really knows what they are doing. The fact that you are asking what powder charge to use in a .28 cal. barrel tells me you don't know enough about these kinds of guns to be shooting it. First of all, to use anything but BLACK powder is asking for the barrel to burst with a good chance of shrapnel flying every which way, including your way. By the way, BLACK powder is not modern nitrocellulose based powder as used in modern firearms which is only black in color. You also, at least at this point, don't know what condition the barrel bore is in, whether it is rifled or smooth, and the list goes on. Don't injure your self or someone standing nearby by firing this gun unless you really know what you are doing and don't have to ask anyone for the correct answers. I'm being rather harsh with my reply, but I'd hate to see you or anyone get hurt. Good luck.

I wrote an article about it in the JSS/US Newsletter back in late 2010 or early 2011, but can't find my copy right now. There's an oshigata in the article which is the best I can do at this point as I don't have a good digital camera.

The reason I asked the question was because I have a shinshinto tanto signed Iwamura Minamoto Kiyotaka who I can't find any record of. I did find two other shinshinto smiths who also signed Kiyotaka, one was Iwabe Kiyotaka and another who signed Suo (no) Ju Minamoto Kiyotaka. I found an oshigata for Suo Kiyotaka and the kanji in his mei is totally different than the mei on my blade so they are obviously two different people based on their writing style. Since these three Kiyotaka smiths are all from the shinshinto period, I wonder if perhaps Iwamaura Minamoto Kiyotaka worked at the very end of the shinshinto period just before wearing swords was forbidden and thus never made enough blades to get noticed and included in the literature. In any case, my original question about shinsa results for unrecorded smiths seems to have been answered. Thanks.

Can a flawlessly made nihonto made and signed by an unrecorded smith be sent through shinsa and receive kanteisho? If it can, what would be the point since being by an unrecorded smith there's little to no chance it can be gimei and with no recorded oshigata there wouldn't be any way to check the validity of the mei. I suppose shinsa could attest to the quality of the blade, but if it's in polish the quality would be self evident to anyone who knows what they are looking at. Have any of the members had any experience with putting a blade by an unrecorded smith through shinsa? Ed Harbulak

Part 4, page 204 of John Slough's book "An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths 1868 - 1945" provides a detailed description with photographs describing how to draw an oshigata. This should give the beginner a good introduction to drawing oshigata, especially since many people already have a copy of this book. Give it a try, it's a little difficult at first, but like most things, a little practice will take you a long way. Good luck. Ed Harbulak

The show started out slowly on Friday because many of the dealers arrive by air which these days isn't quite as reliable or on time as it used to be. Still, things picked up quite a bit later on Friday and Saturday was a very active day. I saw quite a number of outsiders walk in who obviously had never been to a sword show before but brought swords they wanted information on or were budding collectors interested in buying, looking for information as well as enjoying seeing so many good swords and fittings. Mark had obtained a 20% discount for food in the hotel dinning area for show attendees who ate at the hotel which was a very nice gesture. I also saw him giving an interview to a reporter from a local Chicago Japanese news paper. Good publicity never hurts and will help next years show even more. Unfortunately, I had to leave early Saturday afternoon, but not before I bought a sword and a few other things. There was still plenty of activity going on when I was leaving. It reminded me in many ways of the great Chicago shows of ten or more years ago. I'm sure next year's show will be even better. The show was well worth attending. Ed Harbulak

I own a kai gunto that is signed Hoki (no) Ju Maeda Yoshi(Gi)Teru Saku and is dated A day in August, 1944. Yoshiteru is listed on p.170 of Gendai Toko Meikan, p. 771 of Toko Taikan and is Hawley YOS-1710. According to my hopefully correct translation of Gendai Toko Meikan and information I found some time ago on Aoi Arts web site when one of his blades was offered for sale, his real name is Maeda Kitaro, born May 3, 1902 in tottori prefecture. He learned to forge swords under the Maeda Tadayoshi clan and during the war forged about 200 swords under exclusive contract as a smith to the navy base at Miho. After WWII he made a fresh start in 1972 and got his sword smith's license at age 67. It would seem he did not work as a smith for the years right after WWII until perhaps after he retired and then studied to get his license. At age 67, perhaps making swords was then more of a hobby than a business for him. While working for the navy, he entered 7 blades in the 1944 Teiten Shinsakuto Exhibit and also entered the 1945 Army Gunto Sword Exhibit. The sword I have appears to be a well forged gendaito although being in WWII polish makes it harder to see all the details. There are no stamps of any kind on the nakago. The sword is in kai gunto mounts so it would seem that there might also have been people at or near the naval base making mountings for the blades Yoshiteru made. Were there other smiths also located at the Miho naval base? I have no idea. I also don't know where they obtained tamahagane or if they perhaps made their own. There is obviously a lot we still don't know about WWII Japanese swords, particularly naval blades, so this is a good topic to investigate. I hope this little bit helps. Ed Harbulak

I use 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove the oil from my blades and there's no rust to date. I find 99% alcohol in the local drug stores although I avoid the more dilute varieties also found there. Being a retired chemist and concerned about my own blades, I have tested 99% isopropyl alcohol for the presense of water and did not get a positive test for water in 99% rubbing alcohol. If one is really worried about using even 99% (or 100%) alcohol to remove the old oil from a sword, then use a water displacing oil like WD40 when re-oiling the blade. Ed Harbulak

Brian, I'm afraid you made a common mistake when you rewraped the tsuka of your sword. It's also the mistake I see on Chinese fake swords all the time. Where you crossed the ito, you have all the cross overs going in the same direction. The Japanese alternate the crossings. Look at the pictures of a genuine Japanese sword to see how it should be done. I won't fault you for temporarily using cotton ito since you are going to have the tsuka professionally wraped. For a first try, the neatness isn't too bad, the Chinese fakes are much worse, but you still have a ways to go. Good luck on future attempts. Ed

About 10 or more years ago at one of the Chicago sword shows, there was a meibutsu room with a number of fine blades on display. One of those was a star stamped blade that had recnetly been papered by the NBTHK. I don't remember who the maker was, but I do remember hearing comments that seeing a papered star stamped blade pretty much verified that in general star stamped blades are traditionally made Japanese swords. Perhaps that was the blade you had papered Chris and later sold. Perhaps others memers of this formum remember the maker of that star stamped blade. I've owned three over the years and was convinced they were traditionally made just by examining the workmanship. Ed Harbulak

The Japanese obviously know the significance of the Showa as well as Seki stamps on swords since they initiated the use of those stamps in the first place. If you try to send a sword with a Showa or Seki stamp to Japan for shinsa or polish, it will not be allowed into the country simply because it is NOT a traditionally made blade, no matter how well it was made or looks. It is after all a sword that was originally manufactured in Japan and if the Japanese don't consider it a traditional blade, it isn't. So unless you have more information than the Japanese, we have to believe what the Japanese tell us. Only star stamped blades are considered traditionally made and permitted to enter Japan for shinsa or polish. Your sword may be well made, but it isn't fully traditionally made. As suggested read what Fuller and Gregory have to say about WWII era swords with stamps. Ed Harbualk

It would seem gendaito can also be shorter than "normal". I have a Yasukuni blade by Yasumitsu that is only 57.9 cm. or 1.911 shaku in length. No doubt it's a custom made blade for a shorter officier who did not want a standard length or longer sword. Exceptions seem to be the norm when it comes to Nihonto. Perhaps the best course of actioin is to just enjoy the blades we own and not worry too much about how long a given blade is. Ed

Look at the picture on page 69 of Fuller and Gregory's book "Japanes Military and civil Swords and Dirks" for a photo of soldiers with swords slung over their backs. I once owned a WWII era shingunto that had a ring attached to the tip end of the scabbard that only made sense if it was intended to be the lower attachement for a sling allowing the sword to be carried on the back. It probably didn't take long for an officer or NCO to figure out that it was a lot easier and less troublesome to carry the sword over his back rather than suspended from his belt. This method of carry works with a rifle so using the same method to carry a sword is rather obvious. Ed

The pictures are of such poor quality that I really can't tell much about the blade or fittings. It may very well be a genuine Nihonto, but it's been very, very badly abused. Even the fakes look better than this poor blade. It appears that someone has ground the blade so that this particular habaki would fit and at the same time they ground the nakago until it no longer bears any resemblance to what it might have looked like originally. In addition, the kisaki has been horibly modified by grinding which might suggest that the tip of the blade had been broken and someone tried to repair it. So while there's some question in my mind about the blade being a fake, it is definitely and absolutely worthless in this condition. Sorry. Ed

The Nagamitsu I had that was missing the leather combat cover, also had the double push button catch. However, it had the normal, fully bound tsuka. So, if you didn't want to have the tsuka covered in leather, you could have the tsuka bound using with the proper late war fittings, often without menuki, and have a leather combat cover made just for the saya. At least it's a possibility that would probably be easier to accomplish rather than finding a metal scabbard and a wood liner that would fit the blade. Good luck in either case. Ed Harbulak