Dave R

Myself, if given warning enough, I intend to gift a few items to friends and sell the rest. The money to then go on riotous expenditure to make my last months enjoyable and memorable. My Brother (God bless) insisted on having his "Wake" while he was alive and in a state to enjoy it......I intend to do the same. On another note, I believe many people and institutions only really value what they have paid for. Personal gifts being the exception.

Is it lacquer, or resin? A photo might be an idea here. If resin isopropil might shift it. It might even be cosmoline.

Hiya, regarding "rightful owners" bear in mind that non traditional blades are illegal in Japan and would not be allowed to return. Enjoy the family heirloom for what it is without worry.

I went to the most upmarket spectacles/sunglasses shop I could find in Leeds and bought my microfibre cloth there, at a very reasonable price and a decent size, 37cm X 37cm. A good camera shop would probably have similar. 99.5% Isopropyl alcohol I got via Ebay.

I was rather amused by the article linked, and lets face it most of us knew these things were bubbles bound to burst one day. Regarding Nihonto, hmmm... Having been a collector of arms and armour for the last 50 years I believe that the top of the market will always reward the informed buyer. However increasing rarity of items no longer made (antiques and vintage) and an expanding collector base have brought about price increases in every area of the field....you just have to wait! Once upon a time no serious collector bought anything made after 1815, small swords, flintlocks and Napoleonic uniforms. Oriental weapons were treated as interior decoration, holes drilled through the piece to screw it on the wall. Go round an antique Arms Fair now, swords I bought for £1.50 now fetch £250.00, percussion shotguns that dealers literally threw on a bonfire to sell the metal as scrap ( I knew dealers who did this ) now fetch hundreds and even thousands. Nihonto collectors and Antique Arms collectors are not the same beast by any means, but in my experience yesterdays "tat" has a nasty habit of working it's way up in value as the best is removed from the market and it is all that is left.

Many thanks to everyone for their contributions. I think that this is going somewhere useful..... There look to be a lot of sword related performances in Japanese tradition, (unsurprisingly) and the above Ladies are just one aspect of such.

You have a replacement Tsuka there, and I think it not an "in Country" job. Any chance of a better picture of the fittings?

Greetings all. I am not sure whether this post is best here or at the Izakaya, but as it concerns Katana I have put it here. Has anyone ever heard of the "Katana Odori" 刀踊り a traditional dance done by Geisha. All the photo's I have found show the same pattern kimono, and the same props of a Tenugui, a Katana and a Shikuhachi. I suspect it is linked to an episode in Japanese history and tradition.... possibly originally a woman masquerading as a Boy. I suspect the answer to what it is will also explain many or all those pictures of "Samurai" Women in armour and/or carrying blades. Thanks in advance for your attention and input on this subject. Dave R

There is a Tanto in the Royal Armouries Leeds which is made from a re-tempered and polished German Hangar.

Greetings all again. I bought this Tsuba a few weeks ago, and it was sold to me as a "blank"...... but it is signed! The Tsuba is heavy and as you can see fairly plain and I can see why the vendor thought as he did. Having done some digging around on the 'net I am inclined to think it late, probably Showa, I am hoping that someone will recognise the signature, or even identify it as a product code or similar. I have taken a variety of pictures in different light, other methods such as chalking or taking a rubbing having produced no better results than as follows. Many thanks in advance to people for their time and attention. Dave R.

A shotgun job? Could be a real blade and real mounts but not started life together, and the blade ground to fit the mounts and scabbard/saya. This would explain the lack of a mekugi, the mekugi-ana would not match up. The copper habaki is a good sign as the Chinese fakes tend to go for brass which can be cast, copper has to be hand made. With the current price of a complete Gunto, I think you did ok on the deal.

I am posting this here rather than the military section as this was not made as a Gunto piece, though it is 20th century in date. I am wondering if anyone can give me some idea of which end of the century it was made, as in pre and during WWII or post WWII. I believe the menuki to be older and certainly better quality than the fuchi-kashira. Total length of the tsuka is 24.5 centimetres. I am also wondering if the motif of Kiri is of significance, or just a general patriotic theme? Dave R

It looks like one of those Showa oddities from the Chinese theatre of war...... There seem to have been more than a few of these carried by Japanese officers.

My "worst" purchase was two "Bronze Age arrowheads" from China, I won the auction at a low price and shipping was free. When they arrived they were huge, the maker( forger) had done everything right except, mixing up centimetres and inches so these things were 2.5 times bigger than they should have been. No great loss and I made a profit on resale to people who found them as amusing as I did, one was bought to illustrate a lecture on the very subject of not confusing inches with cent...... Generally I have more regrets over what I sold in time of need rather than what I bought in times of plenty!

In the end it largely boils down to "what did you pay for it". Sometimes it's worth taking the punt, provided it did not cost too much. The gamblers golden rule is not to bet more than you can afford to lose.

Kyu Gunto in combat..... I have been collecting pictures of Gunto in the field as research into how many of then were reusing Nihonto, and what modifications were made for field use.

Expedient and cheap certainly, but it is fairly standard on all of these swords, so a lot of it was made. My questions are, is it hemp or cotton, what was its original colour and was it purpose made as Ito or was it originally made for some other use. Looking at a few examples it looks to be cotton, having a shorter "staple" and a softer feel than linen or hemp, and although it is now universally brown protected areas show as green or blue. If it is a purpose made Ito it is unusually thin and plain. It is always folded over double when used as Ito, but is a tape or braid with selvages rather than cut cloth strip as has been suggested. It is also woven in a twill pattern on many/all the samples I have seen. One idea I have had is that it might have been an edging tape like sashahiri, but it is not quite right for that. Ideas anyone?

Well, here we are again... and still worrying away at this topic. Yesterday I picked up two tsuka, both described as "Satsuma" and both very similar but with what I believe are crucial differences from each other and from the norm of "rebellion" swords. Both are bound in that same ito we see all the time but one has the standard Hineri Maki, and the other in that varient of Katata Maki we know and love . I believe that the Hineri Maki example is not a Rebellion" hilt, having decent menuki and Hineri Maki. I believe the second is from a "Rebellion" sword on the basis of Katata Maki, and having menuki that are in fact the rovings from the back of tobacco pouch menuki. What I would like to know is what is being used for Ito on both of these, and why, as it is nothing like what is seen on most Tsuka. I will content myself now with posting photo's and letting people mull over them .

I wonder if this has been an "okashi-to", in which case it is not unknown for the nakago to be glued with lacquer into the tsuka!

Neutron scanning is turning up some interesting things!

Lovely and interesting pieces. Thanks for posting these.

"The executive order issued on July 18, Shôhô 正保 2 (1645 AD) only prohibited the commoners wearing swords over 1.8 Shaku 尺 (54.54 cm)." I am told (someone will correct me I am sure) that the law applied to swords worn, what you kept in the house was your business.... Discuss!

I think the court reference was more to do with the Shoguns court in Edo rather than the Imperial court in Kyoto.

Interesting. Some nice piccies coming on here, and I am learning a lot more about koshirae :D . So does anyone know if there are any rules about Saya mounts, rank and/or sword length, other than those quoted below! Gabriel writes that "Edo court daisho koshirae were originally defined as having certain characteristics—black horn kashira, shakudo fittings, ro-iro saya, etc. In that context, the wakizashi saya did have a round end to contrast with the flat end of the katana saya, a trend which certainly became fashionable in general." Which gives us one reason for the difference, and hints that the exceptions are for stuff not worn at court.

It is more of a personal observation than anything else, but to date all the shorter Wakizashi Saya I have seen have had flat ends, and the longer ones rounded ends. I would not call it a "rule" just an observation. Just as most Uchigatana type Katana have flat ends, the obvious exceptions being Handachi and Toppai mounted pieces. Also most (to date all) Tanto Saya I have seen have rounded ends, possibly indicating status as a secondary weapon to the Katana. I have no investment of status or money in this observation/theory so no have problems with different opinions on the subject..... Discuss! Just had a peruse of the examples above, and yes lots of Diasho with flat ended saya to the Wakizashi.... so next question, why so many rounded ends, and are there any Chonin Wakizashi out there with rounded Saya?