SteveM

Yes the two top pictures are memorial stones commemorating the town and place of his birth. The top right stone is apparently marking the place of his house, although it says the owner of the existing house had apparently been absent for some time, and the whole place was now overgrown with weeds. The picture on the bottom right is a gravesite, but it also says there are three known gravesites for Saneo, so I guess it would be more proper to call it a memorial stone. The pic on the bottom left is a stone lantern that was erected outside of his house when Saneo was 28.

Gave up on the egg-shell koshirae (for now), and instead got a hold of a cracker of a sharkskin wakizashi saya with inro-style ribbing at the top. In excellent condition, with no cracks and a kozuka space opposite the kurigata. Attaching pics for the koshirae fans out there.

Koichi-san, Did you think it was significant that the person used 「三めぐり」, rather than 「見めぐり」, which contains the kanji one would expect to see in this poem? I read this as a kind of pun, replacing "God responsible for the fields" with "God from Mimeguri Shrine". (三囲神社). Or, maybe not a pun, but a kind of invocation of this god. SteveM (getting back into this after a long hiatus away from swords and tosogu) 　

Hello Malcom, You are talking about this here > http://w1.avis.ne.jp/~i-junko/zenbun.htm right? I couldn't find anything in English. Its short enough that I thought I might have a go at it, but its a bit heavy going since a lot of the words and word endings are using forms that aren't used anymore. Intriguing though... SteveM

I agree that we should avoid pointless restoration. If the same is good and serviceable, no need to throw it away. I'd be careful about mind-reading the original owner's intentions. For all we know this could be a 3rd or 4th or 5th generation koshirae for this blade. (It could also be 3rd or 4th generation same as well). The original creator could well have wanted his blade to be fitted with the most garish koshirae imaginable. The previous owners could have been dying for a flashier set of f/k, but simply didn't have the cash. It could well be a koshirae that is an amalgam of parts collected over a few hundred years, and that it once had even more austere (or even more flashy) furnishings. It would be impossible to say at this point. I do think that if the previous owner were striving for subtlety, he probably wouldn't have chosen the mottled lacquer with the pauwlonia crest, and with the kurikara fittings on both sides of the saya. Its a loverly old saya, and needs a bit of care, so I would say to look at it objectively and find some kind of balance between what makes sense for the blade, and what you will be happy with. In any event, preserve where possible and if there is intrinsic value in the thing being preserved. As far as same skin and ito, and even the core wood... I wouldn't lose any sleep if it turns out these things need to be replaced.

I'd say the tsuka is a write-off. To restore it you would need new shark/ray skin, and new ito. I would look into new fuchi/kashira as the ones on this piece look pretty bland. Its probably a JPY 50,000 restore job on the tsuka (excluding any new fittings). The restorers might just throw the whole tsuka away and make a new one from scratch, keeping the boar fittings. You would, however, end up with a nice display piece. If its a Rai blade, or other decent blade, its most definitely worth getting nice fittings and restoring the saya (I quite like the saya with the pauwlonia crest... I hope that can be restored. I think the exposed wood bits can be repaired and re-lacquered, but it might not match the mottled lacquering of the rest of the saya. Still, I think it can be greatly improved from its current state). If its a junker blade, and you just want to restore it for sentimental reasons, it would be a labor-of-love kind of thing, wherein the cost of repairing the blade and the saya would end up being dearer than buying another antique sword altogether... but it could end up being a very nice family treasure. Maybe not a museum piece, but something to enjoy for a long time.

Hi Joe, This is definitely a question for the sword experts. Figuring out which generation of Yasuhiro this might be is a level of expertise that is way beyond me. But I think if you want to know which Yasuhiro this is, you would probably have to get pics closer to the sword to show some of the details of the blade. If you google Bichu Yasuhiro you can find a few Yasuhiro swords on the internet, and that might help also. Seems to be a fairly highly regarded name. SteveM

Maybe its someone related to this smith (Kanemoto from Noshu)? http://lll.pro.tok2.com/sword/sdata69/gi401b.htm SteveM

Sorry Tim, not a lot to go on from this one. Its in the same Sosho style and equally as undecipherable (to me anyway...). The other print had a few standard kanji that gave some clues, but this one is too obscure. Even the poet's name is tough ？風亭？？　 （侍？、待？）. The print itself is interesting enough - a tachi and a crow over a backdrop of maybe plum blossoms. Wonder what its about? Sorry couldn't be of any help this time.

Another reason might be: even if the blade is a kanbun shinto, I don't think that style of blade is particularly popular with collectors. So I don't think you would find a lot of collectors who would hand over $1000 bucks for an unsigned kanbun shinto wakizashi (which may have questionable provenance). For reference, Sokendo just had their annual Golden Week sale, and in addition to the very high end pieces they also had about 20 blades in their "cheapo" section. Cheapo for Sokendo means anything from about 150,000 to maybe 500,000 yen. But for that you can usually get an authentic nihonto in a koshirae (...the koshirae might be in need of some attention). SteveM

Here 'tis I think maybe the same smith that created the sword here http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/09112.html

I don't know how that series came to be called "Four Clans" in English, but since this is how the art world is referring to the set I think I can live with it. In addition to the two catalogues I was looking at yesterday, the "Four Clans" appellation can also be seen on a number of websites like the one I linked to above, as well as http://www.merlindailey.com/GalleryPages/Surimono.htm, and http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/katsushika-hokusai-1760-1849-ojeb8v9x9u-112-m-80dy7s8zav. I just wish I could find something that talks about the poem in the picture. SteveM

Hello Tim, Did a bit more searching around. The series is called "Four Clans of Japan" (Shisei No Uchi). I still don't know anything about the poem - other than the bits and pieces above. I did see a copy of this same piece available at the following site (GBP 180), which may help decide whether or not the piece you were looking at was fairly priced. The site below lists the print as "after Hokusai", but I looked at two Hokusai catalogues today and they both said that this series is indeed by Hokusai - the signature is in the bottom left, and is an alternative name used by Hokusai during this period in his life (just before he started printing the famous "Views of Mt. Fuji" series). http://www.degener.com/surimono.htm SteveM

Here Tis Steve M

I have admired that whale kozuka on Aoi Art for some time. Not a classic beauty, but I thought it had a mysterious, rare quality to it. I like the squid, ray, shark kozuka as well. Maybe one reason we don't see a greater variety of animals is the limitations imposed on artisans concerning "acceptable" motifs (i.e. the 12 animals of Chinese zodiac calendar, family crests, other seasonal motifs, etc..).

Hello Nigel, Are you talking about the mon that you have in your icon/avatar? If so, you should be able to find fittings and other antiques with this motif in it. If I'm not mistaken this is one of the more common crests - apparently associated with a number of Japanese last names. I have seen items with this crest before. I will keep on the lookout. Steve M.