DirkO

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/origami.htm There's some info at Steiner's great site :-) Is this what you mean ? (look at site for example of origami) NIHON TOSOGU BIJUTSUKAN ORIGAMI The NTB (Nihon Tosogu Bijutsukan) was an organization dealing primarily with sword fittings (tosogu or kodogu) - tsuba, fuchi/kashira, menuki and full koshirae. The NTB operated a museum, now closed, in Tokyo dedicated to the study and preservation of sword fittings. They also issued origami for swords. Even though the NTB is no longer functioning, its origami are still held in high esteem. The NTB rating system was: Bunka Shiryoo - "Cultural Item" Tokubetsu Bunka Shiryoo - "Worthy Cultural Item" Yushu Bunka-zai - "Important Cultural Item"

Sorry Guido, that wasn't my intention! I just thought they had good close-ups of the tang, so I thought I'd have a go at the translation...

domo arrigato gozaemasu !

Hi, I'm having some problems translating this mei + date : This is what I think I have : 備州長船 Bishu Osafune and then it goes a bit hazy. I'm guessing Nagamitsu ??? I'm also having problems with the jidai : I think it starts with 永 - Ei Date and month are easy :-) Any help please ?

Brian, it's my own hosting, so I'm 100% sure they'll stay up, I also have local copies, so no risk of losing them ! I'm also curious about those hinges ... seeing they can never open, why not just weld it to the rest ? And just like you I'm really looking forward to maybe learn the story behind this tsuba :-)

Ford, alas it's not my own tsuba, but if it were still for sale, I would definitely go for it :-) Also, this is the first time that I see that the ana are bordered by non opening hinges. Are these real functional hinges or just mockups ? @ Ted Tenold : I bow to your numismatic knowledge. All I wanted to show was how the coin would look in full effect. I also noticed a few differences. But although I could find that exact coin, the quality of those coins was a lot worse than these 2

Nah, it's one of my domains I use :-) There should come a nihontowebsite in time, with my own little collection and stuff, but I never seem to have time to really get stuck in All the good domainnames were taken, so genpuku.com seemed the most appropriate for a beginner like me However, if someone is in need of webspace to store docs or articles or pics, I'd be more than happy to offer hostspace for free. (I can go up to 500GB but I only use a fraction of that)

Once you told me it was Dutch, being Belgian, I easily tracked it down. I'll give you an English resumé. First of all, let me tell you that the state these coins are still in, is pretty good ! They were made between 1681-1691 in the Dutch town of Utrecht. It's from an area in Holland called Gelderland. Due to it's specific inscriptions, this is an early piece. Writing on one side 'CONCORDIA:RESPARVÆ:CRESC UNT' (small things grow through unity) Writing on the other side : 'MO:NO:ARG:ORD:GEL:ET:COMZVT' : new silver coin from the state Gelderland and the count of Zutphen Material: silver (0,583) Weight: 4,71 gr Here's the whole thing (newer piece, so other writing on 1 end) :

Hi, I came across this tsuba and I can only describe it as being made out of 2 western coinpieces with some Latin inscribed. The only part I can make out it is ... cresxxxx concordiXXX... From an old, semi-forgotten classical background, I think this would mean "emerge victorious" The obvious guess for the origin of these coins would be Spain or another Catholic seafaring nation. Does anyone of you know more about this kind of tsuba ? Was it commonly done ? (bigger, clear pic through following link) http://www.genpuku.com/PICS/tsuba/namban/ts015z.jpg Hozon Papers

I came across this on eBay and would think it to be gimei (and not just because it's a Norimitsu on Ebay). The mei doesn't match several shoshin mei I could find and it's located at the wrong place. Besides that, although the pics aren't really high res, I think I can't see the same level of workmanship I can see in the shoshin blades. For me this is just a lesson, so any comment is appreciated :-) http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~mugen_ed/EE48.html PS : This is just my own opinion ! I don't mean to offend anyone with it, not the seller, not the potential buyer nor someone's cat called Fluffy !!! For me it's educational!

The undertone totally escaped me, I walked right into that one

Wouldn't it need a polish and some saya fixing ? That would add to the price I guess...

I put in several bids on it, but also got sniped

Hmm at the bottom it says both koshirae and blade are accompagnied by a Daishoji Temple certificate ? Any idea what that might be ?

Nice list, especially the Sukehiro with the cutting test appeals to me - and very reasonably estimated at 5-7K€ Is there a way to see the prices realised after the auction ? (not now obviously, but will they be available online or something ?)

lol I was bidding on that one !!! Count yourself lucky my boss came in

Here's the direct link for you all : http://jssus.org/ijsl Great job Grey !!! I know every nihonto-afficionado will welcome something like this ! We all owe you and JSUSS a lot !

I thought wooden habaki were used as to not scratch the blade, whereas metallic ones -however carefully made- still can cause scratches.

Guido, I'm sure Nakamura-san didn't mean to offend. He picked up some info, heard some rumours and now he's looking to this forum to perhaps confirm or deny his thoughts. Just like it happens with my posts now and then, the emphasis in his words might be misplaced and mistook.

Some overal shots maybe ?

Thanks guys, that was the article I had in mind It was referenced somewhere else here on the forum as well.

If I'm not mistaken, den means that it has some additional traits on top of the expected traits for this smith. It was covered on this forum not so long ago, but I can't find where...

Or for our European friends it would be cheaper to send it to another EU country (which is free) If someone has trouble/objections using PayPal, then they can drop me a line. I can gather the money and use my PayPal to forward the integral amount to Brian.

He used to sell some stuff now and then, but lately the volume has increased dramatically. Probably some collectors are getting rid of their lesser treasures in order to raise some cash in these troubled times ?

First I thought this to be overcomplicated, but I must say, not a bad idea. You can create a new member group containing the people who paid, then open up a post for the raffle itself in a dedicated section, then after that a few price-exchange posts. This way, no outsider will be the wiser - that is, if you set your forum rights correctly