Markus

We must distinguish between the oldest physical manuscript copy and the oldest content. The oldest manuscript copy of the Ki'ami Bon Mei Zukushi is from the early Muromachi period.

Looking forward, and thx to you and the JAS Team! 🎄

Hi Barrie, Please send me an email to markus.sesko@gmail.com to confirm your mailing address. I had placed the order for Volume 3 for all who had prepaid a while back. Apologies that your copy apparently did not arrive. Upon confirmation, I will have Lulu print and ship another copy to your place right away.

The oshigata of this blade, Jūyō Shinsa 49, just as a reference.

In regards of the upcoming Dai Tōken Ichi (DTI), I was asked by a few readers if I can do another 50% off eBook sale, which I happily comply with ☺️ https://markussesko.com/2025/10/21/dti-ebook-super-sale-2/

Basically, it boils down from my standard (non-translation related) consultation fee of $125/h. Has to make sense for both parties. For example, I would never dare to charge, let's say, $5k for a huge collection of objects, but which likely will only reel in $15k at the end of the day, that's not economically reasonable. It really depends on the breakdown @Hoshi posted earlier.

I have done this several times in the past as a paid professional service for higher-end collections. That is, collectors were paying for the flight, two nights in a nearby hotel, with a prior discussion about number of objects and desired level of detail so that I was able to give a rough quote in advance. Pictures, and as many notes as possible taken on the ground, then compiled a folder or booklet of the collection back home, including rough estimates, comparables, etc., from past auctions and other sales, for example.

The cited part is from a comment, not from my article.

To be honest, I don't know 😇 I have moved away much from the metallurgical/making view in the Japanese arms and armor world over the last years. Would love to dig back in, but I am lacking the metallurgical education on the one hand, and on the other hand, also wouldn't have the time to do so if I wanted, so I want to leave that aspect to others. Edit: A friend of mine visited Ian last year and said he was doing alright.

@Brian Are you referring to my article or to Ian's comment to it Dan quoted here?

Readind romanji instead of romaji (rōmaji), its already a red flag. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/301873/why-is-romaji-so-frequently-spelt-as-romanji

These books are not related to my own online Gokaden series, they are translations of Tanobe Sensei's books on the same topic, as Brano pointed out. Bizen I (Osafune School) has been translated by me and submitted, and I think the publisher Me no Me has it scheduled for spring of 2026. I am meeting with them in Japan in two months and discuss the future volumes, based on the way Tanobe Sensei is comfortable with continuing writing them (and has made progress so far).

Almost looks like a very stylized arrangement of traditional Chinese polearms to me...

I think that the mystery is actually easier to solve as I think I have found the entry in question: "In addition, Kôzan oshigata has a record of a blade having a date in the Enkei (延慶) era (1308)" The entry just references "a date in the era," but then only gives the starting year of that era, 1308, not the actual year the blade is dated with. If the entry is amended as follows, everything makes sense: "In addition, Kôzan oshigata has a record of a blade having a date in the Enkei (延慶) era (1308–1311)"

I also tend towards Kanezumi (兼住). Have to admit, when I first saw the signature, I had a hunch towards Kanekaze (兼風) as there is a very similar cursive way to write the KAZE character. However, I don't have a WWII era Kanekaze smith in my records, only later knife makers using that name. There is always the possibility of rare (Kanekaze) knife/blacksmiths making some swords at that time as that did happen, but, Occam's razor, I tend towards Kanezumi.