DirkO

In your price range: http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/11150.html

I use Justsnipe.com - you get 5 free snipes per week which is a lot more than I ever use.

Some extra text from the same journal (issue 633, October 2009): ... same people doubt the existence of Sadamune, just as for Masamune. But in the Shinsatu Oorai, a book from the Nanbokucho period (the writer was suppose to be Sogan-hoshi, and hoshi means a priest) it is stated that recently working master sword smiths were Rai Kunitoshi, Kuniyuki, Shintogo (Kunimitsu), Tosaburou (Yukimitsu), Goronyudo(Masamune), and Masamune’s son Hikoshirou (Sadamune). In an early Muromachi book the Shakuso Oorai, the same comment is present. Also the book Sogo Daisoshi, written in Taiei 8 ( 1528), which was supposedly written by Ise Sadayori Sogo, Masamune and Sadamune’s names are listed, and later the book Tensho-hon and many other sword books listed these names.

FWIW: a little tip for the European collectors: I don't know if this applies to all your home countries, but if you use amazon.de (Germany) they usually have free shipping. I've used it on many occasions and especially if the books are quite heavy (as is in this case) it can save you a lot of money. You can easily order the English version on the German site and you can use your .co.uk or .com Amazon login just as easy on the German Amazon.

Albert Yamanaka - a direct student to Koson - writes that seeing the Hon'ami received 10% of the value on the origami, it was not against their own interest to exagerrate the value on the blade. A lot of blades with Koson origami were also given as a gift and as such, the higher the value, the more prestigious the gift. However, this only applies to the value of the blade and NOT to the maker of the blade. Origami, as opposed to Soejo, were only written by the head of the family. As was said before, the final decisions on attributions were made on the 3rd of the month during Hon'ami family gatherings, after which the origami were made. The meeting was held by the head of the family, who served as judge. After everyone had given their opinion, the judge made the final decision.

I know, Morita-sama, It's my western brain that keeps pointing me in the wrong direction! At least now the 2 first kanji 有之 make sense. Thanks for the correction.

Hi Eric, It seems a good match for the stamp on my origami. Also notice how the 'border' of the stamp stops at the exact same place...

Vielen Dank, Markus!!! It already took me hours just to get where I was, it never ceases to amaze me how good some of you are at this!

Hi Markus, Thanks for the corrections! At least I didn't get everything wrong :D Regarding those 2 kanji, there's a previous topic in which it in the end got translated as 鑑之. They first thought it to be the same kanji you propose (右之) but then changed it? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2885

Thanks a lot for the help, Markus! Still have some problems with 2-3-4 - I think I got 1 right now. 2nd attempt: 1. shimotsuki san hi Honami Koson (kao) (3rd day in november) 霜月 三 日 来阿 「花押」 2. Showa x x nen Hinoe Inu (1952? no zodiac date ending in Inu matches - 1st year of something) 昭和 貮拾 壹 年 戌 3. daikin shi sun hyaku go mai (value "at least" 350 gold coins? how does 子 translate?) 代金 子 参 百 五 拾枚 4. shoshin 正真 4a. sukekore o-suriage mumei ya (how does 右之 translate? this item? and what does 也 mean?) 右之 大磨上 無銘 也 4b. nagasa ni shaku san sun ichi bu yo (length over 2 shaku 3 sun 1 bu) 長 弐尺 参寸 壹分 余 5 Taima Kuniyuki 当麻 國行

Hi, I've recently come across a Honami Koson origami and I've tried my best at the translation. Can someone help me to fill in the blanks? 1. x gatsu san hi Honami Koson (kao) x 月 三 日 来阿 2. Showa x x nen Hinoe Inu (1947? not sure at all of the zodiac date) 昭和 x x 年 丙 戌 3. daikin shi? x hyaku go mai (value (at least?) x? 150 gold coins) 代金 子 x 百 五 拾枚 4. shoshin 正真 4a. kan kore o-suriage x mei o (most difficult part - can't read much into it, unsure about some kanji) 鑑之 大磨 x 銘 御 4b. nagasa ni shaku san sun x bu yo (length over 2 shaku 3 sun x bu) 長 弐尺 参寸 x分 余 5 Taima Kuniyuki 当麻 國行

Sūn Wùkōng together with Dà Yǔ - possibly at the moment he receives the Rúyì Jīngū Bàng ?

We touched this topic some years ago when talking about the use of bashin and kankyuto: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1444 Seeing bashin usually have inome cut out at the lower end of the handle, I imagine this could be used to string heads together, making the transport easier? Although this is just a bashin stab in the dark ...

When a mumei blade is papered to a swordsmith's name, does the attribution also date the work in the working span of that smith? Or do they just use the last working name? Let me explain by giving an example: If a mumei blade is attributed to Mutsu no Kami Daido, does this mean that they attribute it as a later work of him, seeing he only changed his name to Daido (or Omichi) after 1569? If they thought it to be an earlier work, would they have used the attribution Kanemichi?

Yep, thanks for clearing that up!

First two kanji puzzle me: 1st looks like 幸 yoshi? 2nd looks like 奥 oku ? Probably one of our resident guru's will help out :-)

Hi James, Yes, that's an option, but there's a better one. Use a bidding site like justsnipe.com. You set your maximum bid beforehand and they just bid in the last few seconds before the auction ends. This way you avoid bidding wars, it's an all or nothing bid.

For what it's worth: I did one for the Bizen Taikan and I would recommend Excel over Word, simply because then you can easily make an index which is sorted on page number and add an index sorted on smith name. Makes the index easier to work with afterwards.

Wouldn't it be logical/easiest to fake the "default" mei of a smith? The more you add to the mei (date, steel used, what have you) the easier it will be to spot the fake? Off course if the default mei of a smith would include a date, you'd obviously also want that on a gimei.

Who's Mia and why do you blame her? :D

守 Kami 大掾 Daijô 掾 Jô 介 Suke 1. Kami - Kami means Lord and would be seen in a mei that may read for example, Iga (no) Kami in your case would mean Lord of Iga province. Hawley’s lists Kami as the highest rank or title that a smith may possess. 2. Daijô - Daijô refers to a Second or Assistant Lord. Hawley’s lists Daijô as the Second highest rank or title that a smith may possess. Other titles are Jô and Suke. These are pretty much the same as far as rank goes and would rank as Third Lord or Second Assistant Lord. In the mid 16th century, it became common practice to add official and honorary titles to mei. These were usually in the form of Kami, Daijo and Suke for official titles and Fujiwara, Minamoto, Taira and others for honorary titles. These titles were sometimes handed out by Daimyo and other lords for services rendered, but it is also believed they were sometimes purchased, or given out as bribes. There is some conjecture as to their significance, some say they have varying degrees of importance, others think they aren't all that meaningfull. --- The above came from the excellent Kanji Pages by Richard Turner: http://www.jssus.org/nkp/common_kanji.html

To go back to the original topic, I came across this text which I found very fitting:

I agree, even today a good reference library is necessary to research your own blades. There is a lot of info on the internet, but there's even more info in books which isn't. I started out with the usual introductory books, but I find myself now leaning more towards reference books, who in their own right are very collectable (Teiryo Yoji, Showa Dai Meito Zufu,...)

Here's the post from 2 years ago about that 'coin' tsuba (like John I immediately recognised it :-) ): http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4608

Fukurokuju is not the name of the deer, it's the name of a deity closely related to Jurojin. Some say that Jurojin is Fukurokuju's grandson and that they inhabit the same body.