Peter Bleed

Ed, you have my sympathy. This is a challenging signature. Let me add my thanks to John. Is there a Nelson's number with that "tomo"? The usually functional lists of swordsmiths' titles did not show me this "Awa-no-kam'". Like I said, this is a challenging signature! Chris, I'd appreciate advice and recommendations about kanji software. Peter

Thanks for the amplification. I have never had any contact with swords that were surrendered by civilians to police. There must have been lots of them, but they seem far less common that swords turned in by serving officers. Those seem always to have been tied on wooden tags or cloth attachment. Does this tag mean that Japanese police were rounding up swords for the Occupation authorities? Peter

A group of healthy young Iowans. Thanks Steve. Peter

I do NOT think this is a surrender tag. It looks like some other kind of musuem/collection/sale lab'e. The only think I can read says "Japanese sword". There could have been lots od reasons for a lable ti be put on a sword between 1868 and 1946. Peter

Thanks to those who responded to my inquiry. I tend to look too tolerantly at odd stuff. There is no doubt that this blade is "dead". Whoever did that was outside polite Japanese sword culture up thru the the end of the Edo period. I have seen lots of Boshin era weaponry in and around Sendai. If we are to judge by Museum pieces, those guys carried buke-zukuri swords. But they were pressing stuff into to service - those wood barreled cannon and all. But I have never seen a working Edo era samurai sword without a tsuba. Could it be a merchant's sword? Maybe so, but judging by the vast supply of grubby sho-to that we see, crappy bukuzukuri wakizahis had to be available to merchants who needed to carry. I also don't think it is simply fair to say that these fitting "suck." Actually, the wood it is made of is that curly-grained stuff (the name of which escapes me) so that it might have been rather attractive - with kurikata and no tsuba. How odd. Maybe the take away is that we tend to collect the "normal" stuff, but that in Japanese swords as in so many other areas, there are always "odd things." Again, thanks. Peter

Mike, Thanks for posting these menuki. I have expressed some opinions about these fittings, but I feel like I am still learning. I still think this is a flashy Bakumatsu sword. BUT the suggestions that it was rigged out for the Yokohama-based foreigner trade is pretty interesting. The motif of the menuki does bring to mind classic icons of the Meiji era (stand-mounted armor and a birds head tachi). Technologically, tho, they look very much like so-called EZO fittings that we all assume are much older. I think all that junk you found beneath these menuki is stuff the fitter mixed up in the mastic to attach the menuki. Where is the seam in the same? Peter

Friends, I would like to beg the input of the NMB on a sword that just sold on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/350953416417?ss ... 1423.l2648 I sniffed around this sword because I thought/hoped/wondered if it might be a sword rigged up for or by Ainu. It has a rustic look that seems outside samurai sensitivity. But it does not have any of the clear and classic embellishments of Ainu cutlery. So I did not wade very far into the bidding. I wish the winner all the best. But I would also like to know who might have carried a sword like this. Any insights? Peter

Harry, Thank you so much. I had not seen this paper. It is interesting from several regards. I have mailed it to some of my forensic friends. I'm sure it will get wide ciculation. Peter

Well, Darn. I have only found 2 of the 3 copies of the Nebraska History that I thought I had. Both of those are NOW GONE. If I find the missing copy, I'll make it available. Peter

Well, gee. Checking any of the easily available books shows that it is clearly and simply a Type 8/19 Court Style Army Sword, also called the 1873 Dress Sword. It also appears to be an active auction so I am not sure that we should be discussing it. Peter

All the surfaces of this thing are slightly concave. This indicates that it was cast. As the metal (whatever it might be) cooled , it drew in. Look at all the surfaces. They are all slightly concave. Clear indication of casting Oh, I should also say that it looks like crap, too. Peter

This whole issue seems something like an albatross. It should go away. Years ago, in my youth, i came across a photo of the the interior of Chief Red Clouds cabin and saw that it showed a handachi hanging on one wall. Then i had shown to me a photo in the NCMP archive of an identfied Blackfoot in Alberta holding a Japanese sword, Further research showed that the Red Cloud photo was made in late 1890 and that a group of Japanese Army officers passed thru his community in about 1877 as they returned overland from the Philadelphia Bicentennial Exposition and decided to visited western forts (given the Indian fighting going on at that time, Little Bighorn and all that). While they were in the West, one US officer said something of them like, "They were nice enough fellows but they couldn't speak English so we didn't know how they liked their eggs." Could they have given Red cloud his sword? I have no idea. But I did put some feelers out to the Pine Ridge Dakota community. AND I DID GET A CALL(!!) saying that Red Cloud's sword had been found on the reservation (!!!). I made immediate calls - many of them. And got a nakago rubbing - which revealed a . . . . Koa Ishin blade. Looks like Indian GI's like souvenirs. Red Cloud's sword is still out there in South Dakota. The Blackfoot sword photo was undated as i recall, but (again as i recall) somehow I did discover that the missionary to the Alberta Blackfeet had spent time in Japan. I also published a little piece in Man at Arm that showed some Japanese blades that has been bought from native folks in Alaska. Those things all dated from the very early 1900's. I could go on, but the bottom line is that Japanese swords seem to have been in play on Japan's northern frontier. I doubt that the folks who would have been sent to Canada or Alaska, or California in the 19th century would have carried swords. I think it is more likely that after 1876, the world was awash in old Japanese arms. Lev Bogoras did collect a Japanese Armor from the Siberian Chukchi. And do I recall that another was collected from Omdurman? OK, enough of that. I have a couple (three 3!) copies of the Nebraska History issue that has my my piece on Japanese swords. I will mail these post paid to the first 3 peope who PM me that they will send $10 to Brian for the NBM. Peter

I agree with everybody. This is a nice find and a collectible sword. But I also think the work is - well - workmanlike. And stylistically, it is a show-off "carry piece" that had to impress people as the owner walked through town. If this guy had been a cowboy he would have had pearl handles on his Colt. Well, no, he probably would have carried a Smith or a Harrington-Richards Peter

Can anybody translate this? The answer is yes, but not me It says it is a funadansu (ships chest) and it looks like it is dated Meiji 8, which is what, 1875. Peter

Wow! Gabriel, you are dazzling! Wow! Peter

I think we did discuss the idea of printing habaki here on the Board. I have also chatted with a tech-savey pal who felt it should be possible. We discussed having a manipulable CAD habaki form that could be adjusted as needed. But we never pushed it ahead. A challenge I saw was the consistent problem for habakis - getting it over the thick irregularity of the nakago and then fitting snuggly at the machi. This WILL happen. Peter

Friends, Having said too much of too little value already, I probably should keep quiet. But I find this sword interesting and I am truly and deeply enjoying the discussion. I had been seeing this sword as a late development of the Namban style. A very urbane sword that seems related to so-called toppei koshirae. They have that flashy, streamlined look. I still think that the menuki are an interesting design and not formulaic hack work, altho I have to agree that the treatment on the tachi is pretty light. I also could not imagine what kind of a pedestal the armor was on so Ian's observation was very interesting, indeed. Peter

Gabriel said "Speaking humbly, I am of the opposite opinion of Peter – it looks like it was ordered by someone with questionable taste and a very low budget.' Sorry, Gabriel, you misunderstood me. I did NOT say it was "good" or "of high quality." I said it was flashy and probably costly to the guy who bought it. I think this sword was BLING BLNG, not art. It was an ornament that would look good on a "man about town. I think it is rather well crafted, but it is an ornament. It would not fit with formal wear. It would be out of place in a tea house. But I bet it would fit right in in Yoshiwara. Note too that it is a short. I doubt that this could be described as a "samurai sword." I do not think this makes it a "bad sword." It is simply a reflection of what was going on with swords at the end of the Edo period. It is not to Gariel's taste, and I can't blame him. I do not see this as "Yokohama docks" stuff of the Meiji era. But I have no idea what to make of the little brass knife. Letter opener? An interesting challenge, Mike. Let us know if there is a signature. Peter

Mike, This was a very flashy sword made for a stylish guy - with deep pockets. It is very shin-shinto at least on the outside. Buy this bad boy so we can see the nakago. Peter

I think these "old" Sadamunes deserve some curiosity - and mebbe even respect. At least I think that should to be approached as a reflection of early sword collecting. In either Bakumatsu or Meiji times - when information was not at all what it is today or even by the pre-War Showa era - there was a market for swords that fit into the right "famous" categories.That was when those systematic collections of the Goto generations were assembled, remember. In that context, every serious collector needed a Sadamune. Standards were not nearly as well informed as the Honami made them and disbelief was probably suspended. Who was going to call you a liar? It is no surprise that lots of Sadamunes were created. By today's standards they are obviously bad, but those guy didn't know as much as we do. Peter

Franco, You were being teased not insulted. You arebeing treated like a friend. I hope you will eventual see this as encouragement to separate what YOU feel from what matters in terms of sword history. I also encourage you to explore the concepts of "hade" and "sabi". Would you prefer tweed to silk? Is iron prettier than shakudo? Is the fact that you owned this sword an important part of its history? Let me close by saying that you have engendered an interestng discussion. Thanks! Peter

Jason, You have been given lots of good advice. Book, language, history, its all wonderful. But my addition - for what its worth - is meet other collectors! Discuss swords. Look at swords. Handle swords. See swords being sold and bought. Listen to what others have to say ( begin figuring out what to ignore). Wherever you are, this will be a challenge, but it will be much more productive (at least initially) than setting alone with a book and curiosity about the evolution of the Shoshu tradition. Oh, and welcome aboard! Peter

David, Thank you for posting yet another interesting, thought provoking message. You got me to get out some books I have not looked at for a while. I looked - closely - at your guard and googled to some new corners of the web. All of this was great fun. It flexed my understanding and expanded my view. Thank you. Assuming that you want reactions and that can give us more to think about, please let me say that I am challenged by this fitting. Peter

With a posted link and only a couple of words Chris has created an interesting discussion. After reading Henk-Jan's positive assessment, I looked at the images once again and more carefully. Indeed there are some interesting - even attractive objects here. The modern tsuka, for example, do explore same in interesting ways. Certainly anyone who has felt and seen same-kaya has to recognize that it has lots of aesthetic potential. And there is no question that the craft of blade forging blade is impressive so that the fantasy blades are very impressive. Both of these categories seem like developments of Japanese swords. These developments are like the American knife makers' blades that are basically colorful sculpture that with one margin or a corner that is sharp. These may be legitimate evolutions of Japanese sword making. But, I'm sorry, some of these items go too far. I see no reason to present an anime figure as sukashi-bori on a blade. There is a reason for a Fudo-miyo or a dragon, or bonji on a blade. But why put an anime nymph on a sword. If you want to chisel out a nymph, and and can find a market for it, go ahead and use horimono techniques, but I see no reason to do it on a blade. I do not see this as a reasonable extension of sword making. I also have to voice mild disagreement with Chris' assessment of the charm of the young women presented with these objects. These are nice looking kids, but padded metalic halter tops just don't get me thinking about swords. Peter

Well gee! I'd love a shodai Kunikane - at once both very "straight" and a nice sori. But as a fantasy, how about a mumei daito with a couple of serious kanteisho - one to "Sendai Kunikane" and the other to Yamato Hosho. Who could get tired of that? Peter