Robert Mormile

Fellow NMB Members: Sword Return Report - Here is another one. (I wonder what it was...) http://archive.kare11.com/news/article/ ... ears-later Thank you. Robert

(I am not making a judgment call on religion, just illustrating a point.) Biblical scholars (those that study physical evidence) believe that Jesus was born in April. Religious followers believe Jesus was born in December. The sword in Japan is more than just an object used as a weapon. The realms of religion, history, folklore and myth must come into play. To adherents of anything other than the forensic mindset, the scientific method is simply not important. Robert

Mr. Morita: Thanks very much for your help. I wish these kaji would add furigana! (just kidding) I sincerely appreciate it. Robert

George: Thanks for the feedback. I didn’t think to look in the Nihonto Meikan, I will check it tonight. What I am curious about is if they use the 境 character for Sakai. Robert

Fellow Members: One final apology. As you can see, the photos of a photo of a photo. The original format of the photos were 2M. I resized them down to about 300k but for some reason could not upload them. The NMB interface said that they were 0 pixels x 0 pixels. In order to load the photos onto NMB I took photos of my computer screen. If anyone would like the higher resolution 2M photos just send me a PM. Thank you. Robert

One more photo.

Fellow Members: A friend of mine produced these poor images. This sword is still in the hands of the son of the veteran who brought it home from the war. I believe the signature reads: Sakai Jyu Kanefuji Saku (境住兼藤作) I personally held the sword about 10 years ago. What I can remember is that the nakago has a fair bit of sori and the blade overall is rather koshi-zori. The hamon is suguha and there is ji-nie. Nagasa is about 26 inches. Army mounts. As we can see, the nakago is marked with a star. The blade is dated July of 1942. This smith has received Hozon Papers from the NBTHK in the past: http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/10114.html My questions are: Is he listed in some kind of gendaito taikan? Is the fact that his gendaito work is uncommon make it more or less desirable to collectors? Can anyone provide additional information on this smith? Thanks for your collective input. Sincerely, Robert

Jeremy: You are quite welcome. About 20 years ago I found a sword with a name and rather complete address in a small town in northern Japan. The family was still at the same address. After a chat with the town hall, I contacted the family with an offer to give the sword back but the descendants were not interested in any way. Good luck with your search for information about the soldier. Robert

Jeremy: The photograph / writing is upside-down. The characters are 和田良一 or Wada Ryoichi (Mr. Ryoichi Wada). It is likely the name of the man who carried / carried the sword. Robert

Brian: There were two smiths named Tadayoshi from Kaga in the early Edo Period. Many Fujishima (Kaga) smiths have that identical temperline. Photos of the entire blade and a better photo of the nakago and mei would be helpful. Robert

Indeed. Here is one I snapped in Kyoto a couple months ago. Robert

Strange, looks like: 傍谷画 Just can't place it right now. Robert

Bernard: The style is distinctly Japanese. It is signed so, perhaps a chu-ban print, or part of an o-ban but not a surimono. (you can see the key marks on the lower right corner and guide on the lower center edge.) The short answer on the survivability question is “fire”. Towns where prints were made, like Edo, were densely packets with small wooden homes. When there was a fire, it spread quickly. Fire-fighting was futile. Also, when prints lost their appeal, the woodblock was either reused or burned as fuel. There might have been made 40 impressions of a print that was not popular. Popular prints might have been reprinted 3 times (120 copies) before having to be recut, in a sense restored. How many images of this print exist can’t be known. Just for the sake of curiosity, you should print the signature and title section. Robert

Lee: You had it mostly right. It is: Hokkyo Iga (no) Kami Nyudo Minamoto Kikuhira Robert

Lee: The first two characters are 法橋. Japanese pronunciation is ほっきょう. English pronunciation is Hokkyo. Robert

Seems to be something especially beautiful about one-third; perhaps related to π. Leonardo da Vinci played around with 3.14 quite a bit… Pi is an irrational number and 1/3 is “off-center”. Our system of counting is based on the number 10 and 3.14 is roughly one-third. Robert

A few armchair observations… *I am not a tosogu specialist. To me it seems be a very unusual combination of components. I see both higher quality kodogu and otherwise. The habaki and iron namban fuchi-kashira as well as the silver capping on the saya seem to be higher quality but, to me I believe there was a restoration when the menuki and kozuka were added. Perhaps the original silver menuki and the kozuka were lost and replaced with the current versions. We can see the difference in color of the two same, how poorly the menuki fit on the tsuka and the glue residue. Very slapdash. Although we don’t have measurements, the proportions of the blade seem rather slender and I wonder if this was a child’s sword that had been re-outfitted. Either that or the saya is exceedingly wide. Does that tiny habaki really fit snuggly into that wide saya or was this thing just put together? Robert

Looks like: 貞冶六年二月 February of the sixth year of the Joji Era (1368) Joji Era – 1362-1368 Robert

See this link for an answer and enjoy: http://nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/view ... 5&p=146728 Robert

Yes, Trotter-sama and it is for this reason that I recognized that supreme greatness of the gendaito many years ago and set out with the hopes of spreading the gospel according to gendaito throughout the world! :>; Although I have bought and sold many since the late 80’s I do hope that the trend catches on… All I am saying is, that Darcy has the finest gendaito (that Gassan Sadakatsu) on the internet that is currently for sale. (a complement) Best wishes, Robert P.S. What's next Nihonto versus Wadcutter? :lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIDWG9Zn8j8

Yes, I have heard them referred to as san by others. Robert

I am required to speak Japanese each day for work and have taken on a methodology that works for me quite will. When speaking English I use Mr. or Dr., when appropriate. I really try to avoid using san or sensei anywhere in English; these words are not English. There are all sorts of situations that get uncomfortable and start to sound rather awkward when you start adding and subtracting these words in English. Other than god, “sama” is almost exclusively used for customers. In Japanese, I have heard sensei used for those with a Ph.D. / M.D. and teachers. I would disagree with Arnold with respect to not calling a grade school teacher sensei. It is not only the person but the position that is honored. Parents are entrusting the education of their young children to the teacher and education is as sacred religion in Japan. I address Mr. Fujishiro as 藤代先生 (Fujishiro-sensei) because although he is not my teacher, he is a teacher. Most master craftmen in Japan have students and I have heard them called sensei by their students and by others. Robert

Interesting. I have heard “katsumushi” forever but it doesn’t appear in any dictionaries. I even looked in a 古語事典 (kogojiten) where many early or outdated words could be found and can’t find 勝虫 anywhere. I looked under kachimushi, katsumushi and tombo as well… Perhaps it is only a colloquialism? Robert

Great idea for a post Darcy; thanks for introducing it. It is interesting to read how different all of our answers are. I guess for the Gendaito collectors the Gassan Sadakatsu on your site is just about as good as it gets. In my case… In my dreams: Sanjo Munechika tachi in original koshirae (hey, we are dreaming right?) Someday realistic: Fukuoka Ichimonji Tachi Robert

Henry: I am fairly certain that these were the ladies at the Raku Museum. Nothing like trying to breath in that atmosphere of wabi-sabi with someone screaming “Look! A red one!” “Look! this one has a rabbit on it!” I was more disappointed with the museum officials who timidly witnessed the atrocity. The collection can be viewed in 45 minutes, they should just prohibit loud talking inside the three exhibition halls. Best of luck at the Ido exhibition. Robert