DirkO

Also see: http://www.touken.or.jp/english/shinsa_fees.html

Here's a papered example of 1867 - I'm not saying gimei or shoshin, Sadakazu was often faked. There are a lot of similarities, but also some differences.

Brian, a little nuance if I may. While museums or shrines aren't the best place to preserve swords, simply by the lack of means, they are one of the primary reasons one goes into collecting. So without museums and other public exhibitions, there would be far less collectors and this hobby/obsession (whichever applies) of ours would cease to exist quite quickly.

Hi Alan, I agree with Bill - Kyo-Tamba 4th generation. Here's a quick comparison from some papered 4th generation I have on file.

If it looks too cheap, it's usually for a good reason. This one is a very clear gimei....

I know the eagle to be Tokubetsu Juyo. But I agree those Jinbei tsuba are top of the line. I usually don't bother trying to find out all the levels of papers, but a lot of tsuba, koshirae and swords were indeed Juyo. The level of items on those meetings really is baffling. The nanako of the Ishiguro was the finest I've ever seen, so incredibly small and consistent. Impossible to photograph, although I just take mobile pictures. They're intended to give an idea of the items there, nothing more!

The first meeting of the year of the ape was well attended with around 25 attendees. I tried to make some more detailed notes than usual, but it might be I got some names wrong - if so, my apologies. It started with a minute of silence in remembrance of Michael Hagenbusch. His passing away was such a great loss for the club and he will he dearly missed but also fondly remembered. We had some top fittings related to the year of ape, brought along by Mr Eschbaum: - F/K by Omori Teruhide with playfull trained monkeys to ward of evil - Tsuba with monkey colony by Ishiguro Masayoshi From the same schools we also got to enjoy - Futatokoro mono with peony theme: kozuka by Omori Teruhide and kogai by his son - Mitokoro mono by Ishiguro Masatsune - very special mei seeing it mentions the nanako artist seperately. Next topic was Higo Shimizu fittings and koshirae. There was an excellent explanation by Prof Kremers. We got to know where Nobunaga utsushi koshirae got their name. Not from Oda Nobunaga, but from a wakizashi koshirae where the wakizashi was by a smith called Nobunaga. He also pointed out the typical traits and features of those Nobunaga utsushi koshirae, being same covered saya, brown leather wrapping at the handle, yamamichi kashira, leather fuchi (lacquered), ichimai and Higo tsuba with large sukashi. On display were a lot of fine Higo Shimizu fittings as well as 9 koshirae (although 1 was a Satsuma koshirae, brought along to point out how different they were compared to Higo koshirae). Prof Kremers also talked about the different styles in Shimizu tsuba and the wabi-cha influence on them. Had enough? Not really - we didn't have any swords yet! Although there wasn't a clear sword theme this time, members were encouraged to bring along swords for kantei. And they didn't disappoint - at all! 1. Sanekage tanto 2. Hosho (late kamakura) 3. KoHoki SIGNED Yasutsuna (orakeshi mei) - mid HEIAN! 4. Naginata naoshi Ukai Unju - around 1360 5. Yamato Shikake - early Nambokucho 6. Hizen Tadahiro nidai wakizashi 7. Enju - late kamakura The owners explained the kanteipoints for their items which is always very educational. All in all a great meeting and a big thanks to the members for bringing such wonderfull items to learn from.

It's a modern reproduction I'm afraid, not a real tsuba.

Hi Jean, Yes, he used 2 kao throughout his career - yours being the more common later one. You can find a lot of examples of that one. The one discussed is his much rarer earlier kao.

Sayagaki is trying to be Koson, but I don't think it's his kao. Compare it to these: This doesn't mean it's not a nice blade, just that you have to look past the sayagaki.

Here's my generic Goto Sanbaso - mounted on an aikuchi tanto koshirae (about 3cm each) - the detail is really incredible!

RIP Herr Hagenbusch - I'll fondly remember the few times we really had a chance to talk at the Bonn meetings. His kantei explanations were always something special. As already mentioned, he would talk unprepared about each kantei bid and tell them where they went wrong, but always in a very educational manner. A true gentleman and a scolar of the highest level, one of very few who actually did their sword studies in Japan at the museum.

Back to the OP: I think we have to keep in mind that the papers are stating something is "worth preserving". Is a newly made sword of a living smith worth preserving? Not really, I can order a new one tomorrow. Once the smith dies, the number of swords by him suddenly is limited and as such, we need to preserve them. Seeing for modern smiths there are usually quite some of swords extant, NBTHK focusses on the better ones (ie, flawless, typical work,...) For older smiths there are less extant works, and so the rules are less stringent.

Just a quick review on the book - although the translation isn't 100% perfect at least there is one and it's actually quite good! It's built up out of chapters: 1 - KoBizen Mono 2 - Ichimonji School 3 - Osafune School (Kamakura) 4 - Osafune School (Nambokucho) 5 - Kozori Mono 6 - Osafune School (Muromachi) I'm glad to see they finally made an effort for the Kozori school, seeing it's usually a bit overlooked and underestimated. The book is a nice size hardcover and very pleasant to leaf through. Very nice picture quality, you can really assess the hada. Most of them are also accompagnied by an oshigata. There's an English introduction by Taeko Watanabe and translated by Piers D. - a short 1 page glossary and an English list of all 73 items portrayed. All in all a quality publication, although some minor details got lost in editing (read earlier posts)

Yes, it was a very nice meeting where members got to bring their own swords, not a real theme. The tsuba part was Edo Sukashi by Prof Kremers. Sadly I had to leave early due to conflicting appointments, but allow me to add some more pictures!

Here's a side by side of your signature compared to the 1st 6 generations (papered authenticated examples). All the signatures are saying the same thing, but see how each has their own little peculiarities? I'm sorry to say that the signature on your blade, doesn't even come close to these. You can always send it to Japan for authentication papers, I'll gladly be proven wrong!

No this is in my opinion Osaka-Tamba 3rd generation, but then again, that is my blade :-) (currently being polished) Yours doesn't match any of the Kyo-Tamba smiths I have on file. I don't think the mei is correct, but I'll have a look through my books when I get home.

The Hon'ami papers are fake. Doesn't even come near normal Hon'ami Koson papers. However, this can't be blamed on Tsuruta-san, people sometimes regard these papers as being a nice add on, nothing more. Compared to real examples:

If I'm correct fittings shinsa is this month and combined Hozon+TH is next month. For the exact dates I suggest you contact Paul Martin, he'll know.

Not really Henk, as Grey said we should keep our opinions to ourselves. Because if you post something, it might hurt the sale price. If you have remarks about something for sale, it's best to PM the seller and let him decide, period.

What do you mean "not perfect" - Nothing wrong with "gold inalay" :-) I even had to look up 'redolent' - didn't know that was an actual word! I understand your frustration, but nevertheless it seems like a very worthwhile publication.

Didn't know that, Geraint - thanks! I stand corrected.

German Volvo? Those will indeed be hard to find. Swedish Volvo on the other hand.... ????????????

http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/links.html

Congrats John! Good thing too - I was really torn over this one, but I've already gone over budget with some other purchases recently :-) Thanks for putting me out of my misery!