Alex A

I lean towards nihonto with a dodgy polish. Is that oil residue on the blade?. Koshirae makes me suspicious.

Interesting Bazza, why do you say that?, I suspect it could well be down to the lighting in my photos.

Best I can come up with is maybe early Edo maybe, tsuba not one of my strong points either. 71mm x 71 mm diameter Thickness 2.5 mm at seppa- dai 3.5mm at the rim.

True Stephen has some nice katana sized wave fuchi kashira ending soon in the for sale section, be nice with a wave tsuba. You have the menuki for it PS, always check the size is right, measure twice, buy once.

In hindsight, bit unsure about wave tsuba, as you said you have a "kingfisher" kashira, don't think they are seabirds lol Fun aint it Might need a re-shuffle

Hi Kurt, all down to personal preference. If you plan a koshirae with no Kozuka/Kogai, then personally I wouldn't bother with a tsuba with Hitsu-ana. Make sure you get measurements of nakago-ana, you don't want to be having to file an antique tsuba to make it fit your nakago. A wave theme tsuba sounds good. As much as it can be a waste of money (not see a return), I would advice using decent fittings for a decent sword. Poor fittings on a decent sword may actually put some future buyers off, some may consider a new shirasaya to be a necessary replacement. If you already have shirasaya don't be tempted to use that for the new saya. A good learning experience.

Steven, as mentioned above its easy to make costly mistakes as an enthusiastic beginner. My first sword I paid twice as much as it was worth, although I didn't realize that until I was a bit more educated through books and talking here. Do I blame the dealer?, no, I blame myself for being IMPULSIVE, UNEDUCATED and NAIVE, amongst other things It is a risky hobby and can be stressful when making purchases, I'm a bag of nerves when the postman arrives, a bit like Christmas, but sometimes with unexpected surprises Great fun, highs and hopefully few lows, education cuts down on the lows, lows are an education, be careful.

Hi Steven. This is only my opinion and please don't take this the wrong way. This is the 2nd koshirae (I think) you have asked about, please remember that these sellers are trying to make a living and may not want their items scrutinized by everyone on the NMB. If I were you I would hang on for a while until you yourself can work out the true value and know exactly what your buying. Seems like your rushing to buy something, we have all done that, and one or two or more, regretted it. Just my opinion, again. Best.

Kam, no feathers are a ruffling just opinions.

This.

Hi Kam Horses for courses, I never said that the koshirae was a bad deal, just gave an opinion as to why its not to my taste. The first thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was the lack of tsuba. Although there are always exceptions, an EDO koshirae of this type (wakizashi or katana) with jazzy saya in AIKUCHI style is just not my cup of tea, this look I prefer on Uchigatana from the Koto period, were in my opinion the look should stay. I cant help wondering if the creator of this koshirae flogged the tsuba or simply didn't have one, but who knows, and guessing games I don't like. Nowadays if I see a sword for sale with a modern tsuka I'm automatically suspicious, is it a modern assembly by Mr fixit or is it an original koshirae with a re-wrap?. Ive done a full koshirae in the past and whilst the craftsmanship was excellent its always niggled me, its my creation, not antique, as no age, a fake so to speak. Original ANTIQUE koshirae/tsuka in GOOD condition should be left alone or repaired, when messed with, for me they loose their appeal. As mentioned though, all down to personal taste, no right or wrong rules, just differing opinions. Early here, hope ive made sense, late for work again

Hi Steven, maybe worth having a look through the dealers in the links section, Aoi art etc etc

As well done as the tsuka appears, it all adds up to be just another modern assembly, without age, which is a minus for a koshirae without a sword. Personally, if looking for just a koshirae, try and find an old assembly with some age to it (with tsuba) that all fits together well and has decent matching fittings, More appealing and easier re-sell, just my humble opinion, and opinions differ when it comes to these issues.

X2 but good luck Chris. I do wish we could all get on, a small community, and would be good to have ALL the guys in the know sharing their Knowledge here on NMB.

Kurt, in regards to what I was saying, you might find this article interesting. http://www.nihonto.com/abtartuchigatanakoshirae.html Average Samurai would have owned average fittings, ive added some pics of pre-Edo fittings (some good stuff in there too). Look at the simple fuchi and plain horn kashira (not surprising there is not many of those left ). From the Momoyama period things started to get flashy, there was of course more wealthy samurai pre-Edo that could afford better, Ko-Goto, etc. Good stuff was likely to get kept, bad stuff obviously not so likely. Curran, be great to see those if you get the time. I was looking for a very plain, simple yamegane fuchi for a tensho koshirae (solid enough) like the one in the picture with the red saya, short in height at 6mm. Knowing my luck theres probably a bucket load being sold from Japan now. You may find similar Edo, but always have some kind of decoration and usually around 38mm, not 40mm, necessary for a late Muromachi clunker.

Hi Denis, i tried out a peg from another sword and it works well. so just need to sort a new peg. Cheers all for your replies, appreciated.

The tosogu is marketed as Edo period because its Edo period The Koto period ended with the Sengoku, not a time for an emphasis on tosogu quality, so most was utilitarian and simply got binned, lost in battle or eventually may have been upgraded for more attractive fittings during the Edo period. I remember looking for a specific koto fuchi a few years ago, I described it as looking for the holy grail back then , rare and was told they usually stay in Japan. I never seen one for sale in a year of searching and eventually had to get one made, all fun.

Usually pretty fast, think they are shut Mondays. Is it still on the sales page?. No guarantee until you hear from them, sometimes the odd item on the sales page is already sold, happened to me the other day with a tanto. I usually ask them to put an item on hold whilst we discuss it.

Jean, you catch me at a bad time, just off for a beer but I see what your getting at, very rougly, late Muromachi swords, are you saying they have had new ito at one time or another? Yes, that is the case, but old now

Fair enough Jean, but once messed with they loose that certain antique feel. Recently bought the Tokyo uchigatana book (cheers Jussi for the recommendation, 3 available in the entire world!), turned me into a conservation campaigner . A few pics from this excellent book, the black and white photo shows a koshirae on its last legs, but worthy of a place in the Museum, not something I could take on though. Imagine any of these with new ito....

Hi Thomas, I totally agree. My attitudes changed, years ago I would have probably wanted to fully restore the tsuka but I suppose that's what new folk to the hobby do, monkey about (as you say) with stuff that should well be left alone. Ive added a few pics of the koshirae, the saya is in really good condition, the fuchi kashirae are matching and pretty decent. The menuki look like old yamegane, moon and sun. There is also a kozuka, fits well, not a work of art and I don't know when that might have come into the equation, but all in all decent antique koshirae and worth preserving, has a nice antique feel to it. As for the missing ito next to the kashira, I'm unsure why this would have happened, most of the ware seems lower down the tsuka. I was at an arms fair last year and noticed a sword with the kashira hanging off. I had to rush off but noticed this sword on the way way out. Automatically thought shinshinto, a long sword with very long tsuka. The tsuka was really well done, had a nice antique look, pity about the kashira and a pity I never got a chance to have a look at the sword, kick myself over that. I'm sure someone once mentioned why tsuka loose the kashira, I cannot remember. The good news is one of the expert guys got back to me last night. He told me the tsuka was in good antique condition, should be preserved and as long as I don't handle it then it should last, I suppose that's were Daves idea might come into play, but a bit skint so that goes on the back burner for a while. He said he can repair the faults and make it visually better, so Ive sent him some clearer pics to look at and il get a price. I wont be handling the sword with the tsuka from now on. Cheers gents, appreciate your comments

This. I learn fast when I have a deep interest in an aspect of this hobby, usually when spending hard earned money is involved. When not in that mode, I'm just reading, information tends to get lost. Everyone's different, we all learn different ways I suppose.

Cheers Barry appreciated, be good to hear an expert opinion, I might just get back to you for his details. Got a few good recommendations now. Cheers guys.

Recently acquired a sword, the seller suggested I get the Tsuka restored as there were a few issues, a very small piece of ito missing, some chipped samegawa. I'm very reluctant to mess with it, whilst is a bit tatty in places, its part of its history, the last Edo Koshirae that was made for it. On the whole though, its still holding up a fight and as some life left in it. I don't plan on picking the sword up with the tsuka, so it will last, just take the tsuka off carefully whilst its still in the saya. Whilst I don't mind new tsuka when necessary, I prefer antique The only small issue I have is the small 5mm piece of ito missing. Thoughts on this for an idea..... Find some ito to match (5mm), cut a piece (accurately with a sharp knife)to match were the ito is missing and glue it in place. Whilst its sounds a bit daft, in reality it will look better, less noticeable. Thoughts please.

Hi Chris, ive read about that, if the peg don't fix it, I might just try that, beats searching for suitable seppa.