DirkO

Yoshiro tsuba

I used to own nr 1 - rare and nice suguta - clean signature - and an absolute steal at this price!

Markus Sesko is a translator and he did tremendous work for our collecting field: https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=markus+sesko&type=

Hi Wouter, The NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho is indeed an older paper but especially for kodogu, still quite regularly encountered. The other paper is NTK and not NTHK Please see http://www.shibuiswords.com/papers1.htm for more details about the NTK papers.

Hi Neil and welcome! There were several swordsmiths with that name - here's an extract from Markus Sesko's book:

Some additional info about him can be found here http://www.ncjsc.org/item_ichinomiya_tsunenao_FK.htm

Ichinomiya school? And taking an even wilder guess Banryuken Sadanaka, student of Ichinomiya Nagatsune.

Hi Alex - this will provide some more insight on that: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/7699-nicks-on-tsuba-mimi/

But he's easily reachable through mail or phone. Pm me if you need his contact details.

This article might prove helpful. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4063-yokoyama-kzuke-daijo-fujiwara-sukesada

Just missed out on it, I had my eyes on it from day one. Dated 1762, it's not by the Hon'ami, but by someone from the Onakatomi (ancient royal family) who accompanied his master to the shogun for two years and was allowed to make a copy of the original Hon'ami scrolls. He also states this advanced his studies greatly. You can also see the water stains he faithfully copied. Not a bad study item, and I'm disappointed I didn't get it, due to being on holiday with limited connectivity. A big thank you to Marcus for helping with the translation!

Nice piece! I have a Shodai returning from Japan after papers and polish, they made some very good pieces and their best work in my opinion was in suguha.

Hi, As some of you will already know, the NBTHK is moving to a new location. This has a certain impact on NBTHK related events like shinsa. Please see below extract for more info (taken from Token Bujitsu)

The meeting was well attended as usual – I think on average 25-30 people are present in every Bonn meeting. We had a lot of ground to cover, seeing there was a ‘special’ kantei. One of the members had a small talk about the cutting tests that were performed by Suishinsi Masahide (more info see http://www.nihontocraft.com/Suishinshi_Masahide.html ) The nihon-to for kantei were: 1. Shinano no Daijo Tadakuni – one of the members prepared a very nice write up on this blade, and although it might not be the biggest name, it was very interesting 2. Hizen Tadahiro – early Tadayoshi piece, where we could see that the konuka hada was still developing and not there yet, which was very eductational 3. Iga no Kami Kinmichi – Nihon Kaji Sosho – recently Markus did an interesting article about this title: https://markussesko.com/2016/05/19/an-interesting-gassaku/ 4. Ichimonji Sukezane – a signed Sukezane that is, one of only 13. Archetypical Ichimonji, and a beauty to behold! Seeing the first bit went on for quite some time and Mr Kremers was a bit pressed for time, he saw himself faced with the challenge of going over the 17 generations of Goto in under an hour! He succeeded admirably, and was even able to get across some of the more peculiar details. The link with earlier Mino was well established through examples. Except for the last 2 generations, all generations were present in one form or another. Obviously an hour wasn’t nearly enough for this topic, so I for one hope we will revisit it in the future.

Kamakura, Dated, zaimei, ubu and Tokubetsu Juyo? seems about right

pm sent

Yep, best to contact him via his website, so you can avoid eBay fees. http://www.bushiart.com/shop/default.asp?page=9&cid=70&pid=2385&img=TS2385.jpg&menuName=Tsuba

Could the 2nd to right on the first picture be Sato Kanzan in his mid 30's?

Did anyone already visit this museum? Do they perhaps have any publications overviewing their collection - except for the Menome issue? Seems it might be worthwhile. http://www.mori-shusui-museum.jp/en/

He uses a few different signatures: a sort of sosho-mei and his shudan giri-mei. I would propose ensō-ryū - 円相流 - but I'm quite certain he already gave this some carefull thought and came up with a more suitable name! ensō (円相 , "circle") is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.

Hi, Hate to be the one to tell you this, but it looks like a blatant Chinese fake. The tang is 100% artificial, as is the mei. Please have a look at the FAQ at the top on how to recognize a fake. Sorry I can't give you any better news. I suggest you enjoy it for what it is, a gift by some one who meant well.

Hi Bob, They all had very distinctive kao. Yours is trying to be Koson, with the emphasis on 'trying' I'm afraid. Also I think I can see the stamp on the back coming through, its location is wrong, it should be better aligned with the kao.

Hi Darius, eBay is what it is, an enormous platform for items of varying quality. This teaches us a few things: seeing there are a lot of people looking, chances of getting a bargain are very slim. And the less educated you are on a subject, the less likely you'll be to find a bargain. If it's not papered on eBay and you don't know your stuff, stay well away. There's a reason things don't go for a higher price - plain and simple - they're not worth it! And yes, the Japanese are trying to sell items on eBay for far more than they would ever hope to get in the domestic market (eg YahooJP). Reputations on eBay are a bit of a guideline, but can easily be faked. It's really a matter of treading very carefully, and if you do take that step, be prepared for it to be a let down.

The meeting was well attended with over 25 members present. After the yearly statutory meeting part was over, newly elected President Prof. Kremers talked about Hirata Hikozo tsuba. Being the very beginning of the Higo tradition, it was very informative to see where they got their inspiration (Ko-Shoami but also Kagamishi for some parts of the design). As always, the combined membership was able to come up with some very nice examples. A rare first generation Soten was also on display, to educate people about (very) good Soten and the difference with run of the mill Soten you usually encounter. After that, it was kantei-time. Difficult one this time, I have to say. There were 2 Kiyondo(one in masame, one in the more typical flamboyant style of his master, simply marvellous), a blade by Miyairi Yukihira,.... Noteworthy was also a nice Higo koshirae, fully en suite. Then after the kantei we got an extra treat. One of the members had brought along a Shizu Kaneuji (TJ) together with a very nice Rai Kuninaga. Let me conclude by saying that this is just a very limited representation of the meeting (if other members want to add things, please do so) In fact, the explanations are quite thorough and the Q&A usually has some very interesting questions and even more interesting answers!