Markus

Hi Mariusz, Yes, it´s an origami issued by Shibata Mitsuo. The attribution reads:

The mei reads "Kamo-shison Sankôdô - Josui" [kaô]. 賀茂氏孫山光堂　如水 Not sure about the "shison" (氏孫) which "should" mean "descendant" (from the Kamo family), but the signature belongs to the female artist Josui, who was a student of Jochiku. Shoshin or not is another question.

Fujita (藤田).

I agree with Carlo (and of course Mr. Mishina), because Japan has a so rich repertoire on puppets in each quality class, many of them carrying swords. Most of them are of course not real swords and wooden or lacquer substitutes but It is very likely that there were some high quality dolls for the high society (served as presents and so on) where no expenses were spared and so, a real blade was commissioned too. Just some thoughts from my side.

Yes, you´re right: Fujiwara.

I think the term has not a clear definition and we should bear in mind the connotation - as Koichi-san stated correctly - that a ô-danbira or danbira stands just for a wide/broad blade, because the term "wakizashi" was yet not in use. So using this term is in my opinion a kind of getting out of the way not to use an uncommon term for that time and on the other hand, don´t go down to the last detail, i.e. describing the sword in its function "uchigatana", "koshigatana" and the like. If I had to make a description, I would probably read as follows: "Describing a wide/broad bare blade, usually in hira-zukuri, which measures from about the length of a sunnobi-tantô up to an ô-wakizashi."

I know this term from the descriptions of Shôsô´in blades, where 15 unmounted blades (musô-tô, ç„¡è˜åˆ€) in hira-zukuri (one of them in kiriha-zukuri) measuring about 1,5 shaku (54,5 cm) are described as "ô-dabira" (大ã ã³ã‚‰). As Koichi-san stated, they are very similar to Nanbokuchô ô-wakizashi in hira-zukuri and the like and rather not applied on tantô.

Sorry, my words were too inaccurate. The yasurime are of course not Kongobei and Mino as you stated. I just meant that the writing style of the character "Mori" reminds me on those used by Kongobei smiths, and not that this assumption has anything to do with the blade itself.

Still unsure but I bear in mind the similar weak, tight burt sweeping writing style of the character "mori" in the mei of the Kongobei school, like Morishige or Morimitsu.

Another guess Could also be a badly written "Kanemori" 兼盛

Yes, the written characters on the nakago look like 完 and æ — to me. I just cited how Suzuzki Takuo stated them in his "Sakutô no dentô-gihô", trying to bring more info to solve this problem. Also the Tokubetsu-hozon papers of this ken write "å®Œæ —" in the quotation of the mei. @Jacques Seems that Hisamichi was particularly fond of this kind of steel I made a quick search for the spelling, and I think it should read "Shiso". (http://www.city.shiso.lg.jp/) Present-day Shiso City is located what was once Harima Province. Although it would be interesting why Kataoka read it as "Sôkura". In my opinion, it is likely that the characters for this location could be written either with å®ç²Ÿ or å®Œæ — in those days.

My final interpretation/try for this one is: 生éœå®ç²Ÿéµé€ 之 "nama-gitae Shiso-gane tsukuru kore" Whereas "nama-gitae" (lit. "purely forged") refers IMHO to that fact that the forging was done just by the use of Shiso-gane.

There is a slightly other interpretation of the 3rd and 4th kanji mentioned in "Sakutô no dentô-gihô" (作刀ã®ä¼çµ±æŠ€æ³•, page 3-34): å®ç²Ÿ Which read as "Shiso". A brief translation of the text (it refers to a ken by Ômi no Kami Hisamichi) reads: "He made swords just by the use of high-quality steel which came from Shiso district of Harima province. For tantô, ken, or yari, inserting a shingane is not absolutely necessary. This ken was made from so-called ´Shiso-gane´, which is steel of the supremest quality and which he proudly states via the signature."

FYI: This kozuka depicts the fleeing oni Shôshitsuki (æ·ç–¾é¬¼) after he had stolen the ash of the cremated Buddha. Often, the god Idaten (韋駄天) is depicted too, pursuing the oni even into the clouds.

Ah, enlightenment on this case! Thank you for the final correction. å´©å­—ã®é”人 訂正ã«ã‚ã‚ŠãŒã¨ã†ã”ã–ã„ã¾ã—ãŸã€‚

I think the missing xx might read just "sakana-bori" (魚彫), i.e. "is good at carving fish [motifs]" Sorry for poking my nose into everything

Probably "Enohisa / Kôkyû" (江久)

Hi together, The term in brackets reads just "haki-omote" (佩ã表). The one after the date is - as Piers stated - "Hirado-kei" (平戸系, "Hirado lineage") Markus

This is what I see: I think, together with the fact that there is the tag, we can agree that the mei on the sword should correspond to the tag. IMHO, the finishing of the nakago (that means the slightly rounded edges, as well as the jiri) and the "tight" meiburi is very typical for Showa. And of course, I am not 100 % sure.

Although almost illegible, the mei reads just as the tag "Maeda Hiromichi". IMHO a Shôwa-like meiburi and nakago...

Almost. Heisei 19 = 2007 (1989+19-1, the first year counts too)

Hi Rick, The papers state the motif as "tôryû-mon" (ç™»é¾é–€), which means about "the gateway to success". It derives from a legend which says that a carp who is able to ascend (tô, noboru ç™») the rapids of Lóng-mén (é¾é–€, jap. pronunciation "tôryû") - at the middle course of the Yellow River - turns into a dragon.

For those who wanted always to know: the art-historical background of Super Mario Bros. http://www.aoi-art.com/fittings/550-599/05571.html Sorry, I couldn´t restrain...

Hi Piers, My guess would be "Masahiro" (政広), but if the sôsho is not conscientiously written - like here or maybe like always - it could be nearly anything.

Here some additional pics of nanako-tagane which were also used for tôsôgu (to omou). The lower right one creates a "kikkô"-pattern (亀甲文) but cames also under "nanako-tagane".