JAL

Hi all, And here my favourite tsuba: Akasaka signed . Akasaka – Hikojūrō saku 4th generation/shodai Tadatoki with traditional eight planked bridge design. Hozon tosogu papers. best regards, John L.

Hello all, I was not sure whether there is continued interest to post here, but I thought I’d share my favourite kozuka. Hirata shippo Mt Fuji with Tokubetsu Hozon. Very colorful as you can see. best regards, John L.

Hi all, Mon on my Naval kyu gunto. Maru ni katabami crest I believe. The kyu gunto contains a papered dated Eiroku 5 Bizen no kuni ju osafune Tadamitsu blade. Best regards, John L.

Dear all, Still following the discussions with interest. If there were a way to have it go through shinsa without having to remove the (gi)mei, then maybe yes. If in the current state with the (gi)mei NBTHK or NTHK would simply declare it gimei unless the mei is removed, then we all need to have our own thoughts and hopefully pleasure in discussing what it might be, because then I will not send it for shinsa. I will not remove the mei, at least that is my current state of mind. Regards John Lapre

Dear all, I hope this will work out. I am not a photo expert but tried some pictures with more detail. Not close to the quality usually posted over here. I hope the links will work Regards John Lapre Detail hataraki http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1573/ESrooz.jpg Detail hataraki http://imageshack.com/a/img673/3277/aPoNIW.jpg Mei detail http://imageshack.com/a/img905/4160/JxjgBM.jpg Ha machi, is it machi okuri? Maybe not? http://imageshack.com/a/img540/750/wCk1G2.jpg

Dear all, This is my very first post. As a short intro, my name is John Lapre and I have been a "silent" nihonto collector for many years. Silent meaning that I for instance did not post here, but followed the many interesting discussions. I thought I now needed to reply in this thread: Thanks to Kunitaro-san I am the owner of this nice tanto. I own a number of signed Soshu blades (Hiromasa, Masahiro, Chikahiro (this latter is an interesting one by the way) from different periods and if I compare this tanto in hand with these, then the quality of the hataraki and the ji-nie is excellent. My Soshu Masahiro has some similar traits. For this tanto, I was triggered by the quality and not by the mei. For as long as I will own this tanto I will not have the mei removed, but enjoy the workmanship and maybe gain more knowledge. In hand the tanto looks great and is very healthy, and it looks really Soshu-den looking at the quality of the nie. I am lucky to own a juyo Senjuin Yoshimitsu and the nie-utsuri on that tanto has similarities as well. So, in hand it is still not crystal-clear what the tanto really represents (Sa school seems different though), but Soshu-den prior to Muromachi represents a good possibility based on the deki of the blade and my (non-expert) comparisons with other blades in hand. I am interested to learn more from the members on the board and hear their thoughts, not so much whether the mei should stay on (as I said I will keep it on), but more thoughts about the school etc. Regards, John Lapre