Gasam

Heyas, My avatar is the "Kanku" symbol of Kyokushin Karate (i train in it), but I have noticed the form also appearing in some tsubas. Here is one: http://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-round-shape-iron-tsuba

Heya, I like the ones that have been mounted :-) But maybe the unmounted ones have better value when selling? Who can tell? If they are identical, can they have been made as a daisho set? but then one should maybe be smaller than the other? Anyhow, post a pic of the one you do get eventually :-)

pm sent :-)

Ahhh, my mistake... should have looked further into it before posting.

Hey all, new(ish) like me and old-timers alike, Lets hear it for the lucky prize draw! Get your stakes in, ´tis nearing the draw methinks :-) Good items to be won. Some might even say tarts...

Heyas, The nakago.... as has been mentioned....why oh why did someone do that to this blade....Obviously knowingly as they were fitting it to "new" tsuka instead of fitting new tsuka to it... just to save a buck I guess. Now its ruined.... Edit: I do not know ebay well, but seems that same bidder bid this item up even if no other bidder put in higher bid, like 5-6 times in a row...same bidder outbidded him/herself. What bafoonery!

Thank you for posting this article again good sir! So much to learn.... :-)

Hi all, Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and knowledge. The blade was traditionally made I think, hada can be seen, hamon and boshi is present, mei is present (but no papering) , I think is a 36-37 cm ordinary wakizashi mounted in boys koshirae. I will study it further, it will be fun :-) Thanks again :-)

Hi again George, Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I had no idea what half those things were, but suspected they were toys. Im happy I found this piece. Not the best of stuff perhaps, but a piece of history none the less :-) Thanks again :-)

more pics

Heyas all, Please allow me to post some pictures of what I at present believe to be a boys blade. It is a short-ish Wakisashi of 36,8 cm nagasa. If that qualifies as a ko-wakizashi I do not know. Picked it up today, and I have never seen before (albeit in my limited experience) a set where koshirae is matching so. (decoration on saya comes again i fuchikashira and to some degree in tsuba etc). I think that makes the koshirae very interesting, but please discuss :-) Pleased to find a unbroken hamon, boshi is either hakikake og flame, must check further. Signature appears to be kiyomitsu, no papering. Fuchikashira is silver ? Menuki appears to be shishi-dogs. Habaki is copper silver foiled double. Needs a bit of touch up polish, but I will keep it as is I think. Previous owner came in handling blade with hands, so it has beeen treated less than optimal. But all features visible. Fair bit of pictures coming now in several posts. Hope you find them interesting.

Hi again, Huh, maybe it is indeed :-) As I recall it is also the motif on the fuchi. Perhaps that is why I thought it must be something distinctively more samurai-like, although as a wakizashi it could have been a toy merchants sword perhaps. Ah well, kite it is!

Heyas, First off sorry for the tiny picture, cannot get better from the internet im afraid. But it is good enough that someone who knows can tell: what is it that is depicted on the saya? It must be a Japanese item, a thing, of some kind. I thought it must be a kite at first, but it does not make sense the more I look at it... Anyone have a clue? Thanks as always :-)

Hi again, Mr Paul Martin has an interesting theory about the yasutsugu kanji and aoi mon, and I quote with his kind permission: "Given my experience with Japanese craftsmen, I am wondering if it is possible that a generation of the Yasutsugu school provided an iron blank tsuba for the artisan to carve. Just a thought." This makes sense to me. Swordsmith supplying high quality iron blank for tsuba artist. In such a situation, you might want to "brand" the tsuba as it were on the back side, if you have a reputation for high quality iron works or such...

Heyas, Someone more knowledgeable than me will correct this if wrong, but I do not think it is an old blade or saya. This was clearly made to make someone believe it was a tanto of Japanese origin in my humble opinion. As such, the rust on the nakago will be artificially added, and the leather on the saya would be artificially aged too (or maybe it is just old leather wrapped around there). Also the shape of the saya would be a figment of the imagination of the maker, (again in my humble opinion, I might be wrong), although Aoi-Art had a wakizashi mounted in kind-of such a saya a while ago. It is good that you did not fall for the fake. Many would. I remember when I first started looking at nihonto. I was stunned that all the tanto were without the "tanto point" I was sure they were meant to have. I would potentially be an easy target for such a fake. Luckily I googled a lot and studied the nmb. Later books as well. Now, any kind of tanto point-like kissaki raises warnings.

Hi, I use the international bank transfer system. It hsa worked without flaw for me. Have not checked exchange rates so carefully though, maybe I should.

Hi again Michael, They are indeed very much alike those two tsuba. Getting happier with the purchase by the day :-) I have to admit i never foresaw how interested I would become in tsuba/tosogu. I always looked at blades only. Ah well, new things to learn, new things to collect :-)

Hi, i am unsure of wether strips were used or not. I have to admit my first thought upon seeing it was "hey, those are strips", but that I think was because I did not expect the walls of the cutouts to be so flat and deep. They could just as well be cutouts, but the thickness of the walls are freakishly even throughout... I also expected it to be very rusty, in fact it is not so much so. But there is dirt in the openings and light rust. Might take a soft (not metal) pipe cleaner-like brush to it, but for now leave as is figuring out what, if anything , I should do to clean it lightly. Not to comfortable cleaning the inside walls

Hi, This nice article has tons of info about the Yasutsugu school of swordmakers, complete with signature references for different generations etc. A very nicely done piece of research this , imo. http://www.nihonto.com/abtartyasutsugu.html

pic2, srgb color profile helped. Slightly out of focus but they are not too bad... ca 0.3 cm thick, 8,2 diameter.

Tsuba arrived, less rust irl than on sellers pics. This one will be fun to study :-)

Picture 2 I find that the photos are rather dull looking in browser compared to my image editing app (lightroom). I think If i attached srgb color profile they would look better, havent the time now... If you dl to comp and open in Windows/macos/whatever they should look better.

Picture 1

Hi, The tsuba has arrived. I was wholly unprepared for it to look and feel as good as it does, completely different than the photos or the images in my mind. Color is black, deepish. Measurements, ca 7,9 cm high, 7,5 cm wide, 0.4 cm thick (maybe a tad thicker, using tape measure, must get sliding measure). It looks an even thickness over the Whole, from rim to center. What this does is that the walls of the cutouts are not rounded as I thought, but rather deep and flattened like gift wrapping chord (if that makes any sense). Posting some pictures now. Now its just a matter of hoping for shoshin :-)

Hi again Michael, Yes, I think this is an interesting buy, and as it turns out, it could have some value if not gimei :-) It will be very fun to study this tsuba. Pictures and measurements will be posted in not too long I hope. "Height" stated by seller: 7.7 cm. The width seems slightly less as it is not completely round (or does not appear so in sellers pictures). Thickness not stated.