obiwanknabbe

Hello everyone! If the admins will permit it, I am helping a dear friend sell a very interesting sword. Some of you may know Kazuhiro-sama of the NY nihonto collectors society. He has come into possession of the blade listed below, but he now finds himself in poor health, so I am assisting where I can. Offered for sale is a Oku Yamatonokami Tairano Ason Motohira Category: Katana Era: Edo Kanse （1790 February） Produce place: Satuma (Kagoshima prefecture) NBTHK Ceritificate: Juyo Token Length 71.2 cm Hamon Notare with gunome Jigane Koitame Sayagaki done by Tanobe Yukihiro Sensei. The asking price is $48,000 USD. To help save his energy, I will act as intermediary for the beginning of any interactions, questions, or negotiations. If someone wishes to make a purchase, I will put you directly in touch with my friend so that any final sale arrangements can be made. Please note that I do not have this blade in my possession, but if more pictures are requested, I will do my best to get them for you. Please know It may take some time.

Hey everyone, thanks so much for the information! Am i correct that this is Natori Shunsen? From what i see, he mostly did portraits, but was known to do some landscapes right around this time period. I cant seem to find another example posted anywhere for comparison. can anyone suggest some resources?

just incase this didnt post correctly

Hello all, i recently came into possession of a lovely not so little ( over 7ft long top to bottom) painting that i think is an original.. I will stress think. the paper is pretty old and it appears to be hand painted.. I would love to know what this says if anyone can help. Am I correct that this was made in 1924? Is the artist Hisashi Harizumida Hisashi Sugita? I could not find anything about him. if the admins think this should be in the Izakaya, please let me know and i will repost it. Best regards Kurt

Hey everyone! Ive been out of the collecting phase for a bit but was in one of those antique malls and spotted these sitting in a case of random Asian items. Nice Iron Dai Sho set with a small gold inlay on the Mei. Im pretty sure these are both signed Seiryuken Eiju in sosho script though i think (just a hunch) that there may be more that one smiths hand at work between the 2 of them. Smaller seems.... tighter.. for lack of a better work. Both are in fantastic condition. No dings or scratches. Definitely not cast. . Tiny bit of surface rust on the larger one near the Mei. Anyone have some thoughts about these. Thanks in advance!

Here ya go.. One Mano Masayasu

Brian, As far as i can tell, there are no other Masayasu wartime smiths (other than his students) . I checked the gendai and showa databases, there are no other Masayasu smiths listed. .. Aspects of the mei are consistent with known examples... especially the "yasu". The 45* angle to the Yasuri mie is consistent with Nakirishi Mei.. Soshin examples seem to always be horizontal and with the noted punch mark at the bottom of the nakago. As I already have a Soshin example, im thinking it may be interesting to have one made by a student as well.

Brian, Unless i am mistaken, which i very well could be, It is my understanding that Masayasu (and his students) only made Gendaito. Slough only lists medium grade Gendaito being attributed to his work.. I do wish there was some more detailed information available about this particular maker and the shop that he ran. There does appear to be Hamon. The turn back on the boshi is fairly well pronounced. What i meant was that I could not see hada or hamon up close in the picture, as there is no close up shot, not that it was not there to be seen.

To revive this topic, I have the opportunity to pick up another blade Signed Masa Yasu, though it appears to be Nakirishi mei. It also only has a 2 kanji Mei. Blade is in good polish in wartime mount with no apparent issues. Cant see the hada or hamon up close but pretty sure its Gendaito.. no stamps.. Crumbling leather cover over wood saya. Seller is asking 1495.00. USD.. Is that about market for Nakirishi Mei or is it a bargain?

I'll weigh in here as i am actually a student of Ninjutsu..I can't validate anything about the man in the above video other than that he runs the "ninja" museum in Iga but I study Genbukan Ninjutsu under the seal of Shoto Tanemura (https://genbukan.org/home/masters/267-2/) and call tell you definitively that Shuriken are 100% real. They came in all different sizes as they had varied uses. Some were used as hand weapons, some used for distraction, some could be used for climbing. The needle type mentioned above are called Bo-Shuriken. Most were never really used as you see them in the movies as lethal one shot throwing weapon. It could be done, but was more of a secondary consideration. As for ninja being peasants, yes sometimes they were, but more often than not, they were actually samurai. I put out a request through my teacher to see if i can get a picture of some of the ancestral pieces Tanemura Sensei may have in his possession so that we can study them.

That is certainly a fake.. Take a moment to read the info in the link provided.. It shows you may of the tell tale signs. http://jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html Kurt

Well, radishes were used in the process of making tsuba... Other than that? I do recall reading (needing citation) that many samurai would have themes or designs on their swords that were a bit of an inside joke or a reference to a story/poem.. Hard to say . Nice piece though.

Having paid almost nothing for it i would think it's worth the cost of a polish and shirasaya regardless, if it's healthy enough to take one that is. Wish i could trip over a score like this. Nice find.

want.. many things.. can afford.. meh... not so much.. 1) Would love to get my hands on a presentation Matetsu tachi.. 2) Clean.. pre 1600s Hitatsura Nagamaki katana.. 3) Kogarasu Katana. (there was a gassan school one that belonged to the emperor Hirohito's brother on Ninoto.ca a few years back that haunts my dreams)

I don't recall "sword shows" perse, but i do remember when i was younger (mid 1990s), the Tri State Gun show would come to long island NY every year or so, and there were swords on every table for 150 bucks.. Pre internet, no one knew much about them or what they were worth... Time machine please!!

My mantetsu was almost a loss.. not so much defaced as played with hard and put away wet... Still need a proper saya made but it was still better than the pile of rust that was the original.

I have trouble imagining the amount of time it would have taken to do this with hand tools. Pretty darn amazing!

Im seeing other characters on the blade in the 2nd picture... are those painted or in the steel?

The style of Hamon in no way determines whether the blade is traditionally made or not.. That is unless it's simply polished on such as seen on stainless steel blades or reproductions, but then again this is more to do with how the blade was made, and not the hamon determining the method of production. Kurt K

I am working on getting better/more complete picks.. the boshi/kissaki looked ok.. no issues. the overall shape does get slender towards the end. quite a bit of taper.. not sure if its a product of many polishes or if it was the original shape. kurt k

This is a sword that a friend of mine has come into possession of.. You thoughts are welcome as she would like to learn more about it.. I did not take these pictures so its all we have to work with. Im pretty sure its Hoshu takata ju fujiwara muneyuki. MUN781 1648 or so.. the date pic is really blurry so im trying to get another one.. i could not see any hada..the habaki is a lost cause . It looks to have been polished quite a few times... the hamon is still wide enough... it May have one last polish left in it.. She was considering restoration and remounting as it was a gift and wishes to honor it as much as possible.. she is aware of the costs. If anyone has any further info about this smith it would be greatly appreciated Thanks in advance Kurt K

got my daisho box today.. worked out perfectly.. Thanks!!!

Here is mine.. think it reads spring 1940... 356

Lots to process here.. thank you very much for sharing .. Now im off to not sleep and think about swords.. Which is most every night anyway. I have been working on a new blade and some of these thoughts have crossed my minds as well. I suppose, on some level, those of us who work steel all feel similarly about it.. hum... to it then. Kurt K