Ted Tenold

I didn't speak with him about it, and I don't know if Bob did or not either. My inclusion of Clive's quote wasn't meant to dispute or refute his information. I have great respect for him, his knowledge, experience, and accomplishiments. I included it in the interest of compare and contrast when there exist examples that fall outside the contemporarily accepted norm. As Dr. Compton wrote, "...the variations are infinite and the generalizations are full of exception". I've personally experienced encountering information in a tangible signed example that surprised the decendants of a line of smiths, and answered some previously unanswered questions. The borders in this field are constantly examined and challenged and especially in Gendaito when more information comes to light, more examples are put into better polish, and previously unknown makers are discovered. No worries Mike! As the proverb goes; "No fish live in pure water". If we waited for any publication to be perfect, I think we'd have darned few things to read. :lol: The publication for the Gendai exhibit was intended as an informal one. Bob and I put the whole thing together in about six weeks. Even after we both went over it a couple times, I found a few small errors that I'll fix in the future. My pleasure to share where I can. We're all students standing on the shoulders of the giants before us, or even among us. I'm happy to be involved in such a wonderful art among some great folks.

Hi Mike, Indeed a wonderful sword, and exemplary work of Shigetsugu. I want to thank you again for sharing it for the NBTHK American Branch exhibit. The American Branch was able to exhibit several different works of Shigetsugu which provided an excellent opportunity to see his skill and diversity in both tanto and daito of different styles and at different ages. The Bizen Tanto with sakachoji utsuri was made in Taisho. One small correction that I'd like to add though; Okimasa married Shigetsugu's daughter and thus was his son-in-law, not his brother-in-law. Just in case you get any questions on that part. Good luck! The piece you're after must really be something if you're willing to part with this one! Take Care, Ted

George is correct. Be careful with bamboo. I grew several types in my backyard when I lived in California. Bamboo has hundreds of different types but there are two basic type of root systems; running and clumping. Although both will effectively spread via rhizomes, the "running" is the nightmarish invasive type that is associated with taking over everything, lifting foundations, etc.. The clumping types just take a great deal longer and are easier to control by hand. Both can be limited in their spread by containering them underground to hinder rhizomes from running out, but need to be heavy walled, deep, with a rim that stands proud of the soil surface, and plants still well maintained. Once planted, it takes a while to get started, but once it does, it can grow at an amazing rate. If you're not a commited gardener, be ready to become one. If you don't want to be one, be prepared to become a neighborhood pariah to all those around you.

Jacques, Please explain to us how this statement is true since Curran's linked example ( http://katananokura.jp/SHOP/1208-K02.html ) at 70.4 cm is Juyo Token and Katanamei.

Here is another excellent signed and dated Oei Bizen example. While comparing tanto works to diato works can be a bit disconnected as they can vary so greatly even by the same smith, this one is a great example of both a sugu hamon from one member of the "Oei no Sanmitsu", and the vibrance of Bizen Oei hada can be seen. Note the short kaeri it also has. http://www.nihonto.ca/morimitsu/index.html

Brian, You're buying things on emotion and rationalizing your purchase to yourself with flawed logic. All the posts you've put up on this piece (and others before it) read more like you're trying to convince yourself rather than others. So don't get angry when folks don't like what you buy. It's not their obligation to like it, so post at your own risk. Perhaps it had sentimental value to someone in the past which would explain efforts to polish and put it in shirasaya. But sentimental value equates to a value added factor of ZERO when marked to market. Although others have contracted Nihonto fever and recovered completely, it's your disease now; take your medicine as directed.

Ken, Perhaps you should inquire with Robert Hughes. His board name (and business name) is Keichodo. He has arranged many very nice koshirae by contemporary craftsman in Japan. It will help to have the kodogu you want first, and with the robust shapes common to Kiyomaru, just acquiring the sizes that will appropriately accomodate a big sword is the first big challenge. It's not common knowledge that the really high end kodogu and koshirae makers often had a sort of "blueprint" created prior to commencement. These were similar to a fitting makers "sketch book" or pattern book. I've seen a rare couple of these and have a copy of one or two around somewhere. In any event, the size of the blade will dictate the minimum suitable dimensions of kodogu. The style, metal, theme, workmanship and price create an exponential formula that makes finding suitable antiques a big challenge. This is where contemporary makers like Ford excel and are so crucial in that they can create some very lovely works in the appropriate size. As goes with anything else in this field, you have to be prepared to pay for what you want and need. These larger shaped blades make mounting them more expensive in many ways other than just fittings too, as they require more gold for shakudo or foil on a habaki, more time for labor, larger sizes of honoki for the foundations, more lacquer space, larger samegawa, etc. Just food for thought.

Mariusz, The papers are NTHK instead of NBTHK. The second column on the left next to the red chops is where it states the period.

I am happy to be participating with Darcy in the photography. There are some small variables in price if the swords have complex geometry (such as the Gassan Sadakatsu on his site), have extensive horimono, etc.. The photo package will include all the styles of images seen in the examples on Darcy's site. Contact me by email if you have questions regarding this service. I also concur that Richard George is an excellent contact for his photographic skills, and has some very innovative approaches to kodogu photography that are wonderful.

Brian, Intervention is the act of a friend...

Pete, That's how you get to the Ministry of Magic now. The toilets are too busy with Olympic Tourists.

This may have been an effort to seal the grain so that oil would not saturate the wood fiber, or perhaps an effort to keep grit and contaminates from collecting too. I think it can be catagorized as an interesting addition with little applicable practicality. Also not enough gold wieght in the leaf to be appreciable "portable wealth".

Marcello, FYI, this shape is called "wan gata" or "bowl shaped". You may find other images and info searching by that term.

Soshu ju Masahiro

Thanks Guido! Some Prozac and a couple therapy sessions... I'll be good as new!! :lol:

Ah, wrong yomi on Yatsushiro on my part.

Omote: Higo (no) Kuni Hachidai (no) Ju Kanemitsu (to) Kanetsugu Gassaku Jointly made by eighth generation residents of Higo province, Kanemitsu and Kanetsugu. Ura: Heisei Ni Ju Ni Nen Yon Gatsu Kichi Jitsu. A fortunate day in April, 2010

The NBTHK/American Branch also has paypal available now. http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Membership.htm Thanks to Brian and everyone for their support of all these organizations!

Hi Peter, Though I haven't personally seen such a rig, it's a very interesting variation. I doubt it would be practical for a pilot as slinging across the back where parachute harness and discomfort during flight. No pilot (well, except maybe Kamikaze) would want anything interfering with chute gear. The sling also seems dangerous in a cockpit filled with crucial levers, pedals, control cables, pulleys, etc. especially when one considers combat maneuvering. George's story about it being slung across the back of a jungle foot soldier seems much more practical. The whole thing being covered in leather not only keeps the glare away in darkness, (perhaps another reason for lack of menuki?) but also prevents the clink clank of metal fittings while on patrol. Across the back also prevents it from snagging on growth as it would at the waist. Just thoughts.... Quite interesting piece though!

It's not rewriting history books that matters. It's the content that is rewritten that matters. As an example; http://www.aolnews.com/2010/03/12/texas ... -standard/ So I have to wonder, if someone were to have what they believed to be an unrecorded Masamune and threw caution to the wind, "risking" to submit it to shinsa to only have it returned with the attribution "Den Mokusa", how would (or should) one feel about that based on this theory? We're all standing on the shoulders of giants in this endevour, and lacking a time machine, contrary and controversial ideas need to have a exponentially greater amount of solid data to overcome the "heresy" factor of countering hundreds of years of established history.

For clarity...from Bob's site; Robert Benson is one of a small number of American experts on Japanese sword polishing. He studied sword polishing & appraisal under three top teachers, including Koke Ono, a " living treasure" in Japan and at that time was head sword polisher for the National Museum in Tokyo. In 1967, Benson polished a naginata and entered the annual polishing competition sponsored by Nippon Bijitsu Token Hozon Kyokai ( The Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords). His sword took the Dorokusho, ( Diligent Endeavor Award), an honor never before granted a foreigner. The Japanese recognized him as being the first non- Japanese to have studied sword polishing and first non-Japanese to have been honored by the National Museum with a certificate recognizing him as a polisher of distinction. Since then he has been restoring swords for both Japanese and American collectors . Since retiring from the Air force in 1977 he has continued his studies of the Nihonto full time.

Tom speaks the truth. This man *rocks* in lacquer. He attended the San Francisco Show a few years ago and brought a couple of his works. One was a fantastic tanto in lacquer. Some folks at the show had a hard time believing it wasn't a real sword. Even the patina on the nakago looked right. I'd love to own a copy of them myself. He also had a famous daito with him, a copy of aNagamitsu if I remember correctly and it even had utsuri. His work is....Wow!

It depends a little bit on what you want. Ono-san favors working in jukachoji, and is reknown for his copies of the famous Meito, "Yamatorige". One of those will set you back about $65,000 USD last time I checked and that was before the USD/Yen exchange tanked hard. That particular sword copy is very difficult to recreate and he practices meticulously quality control in his work. Any small flaw that he encounters will be enough for him to destroy the blade and start completely from scratch again. He mentioned that one commission took him seven attempts before he acheived what he felt was an acceptable result. Ono-san is one of the nicest and humblest people I've ever met also. Every work I've ever seen by him is flawless. While by definition that blade was intended and used for Iai, I think it's reasonable to say it is by Ono-san which isn't the same as an Iaito by a lesser ranked smith. He also doesn't make these swords all the time to survive in the craft. He doesn't have to. Although the polish does not illustrate it, and it's not as flamboyant as his normal creations, in hand it's clearly superior, and not the general perception of an Iaito.

One of the strangest things I've seen. The Fudo looks like it came from Endor province.

I think this is a good subject and would like to see the discussion carry. Although I hope not to poke the Hornet's nest, I would like to present points of consideration; There is an clear difference in both steel appearance and forging characteristics between the Koto and subsequent Shinto periods. We do know that foreign steels began their major integration at about the same time. Is it reasonable to presume that foreign forging methods and materials may also have been concurrently introduced and integrated ? I can't seem to find it at the moment, but the NBTHK discussed the subject of some contemporary smiths using steels other than Tamahagane during production. These alternative sources were being implemented as a measure of "flavoring" to promote attractive aesthetic elements to the end result . If I remember correctly, one of the steels mentioned was Swedish Steel, which has a reputation in the industry for being very pure. How would this be clearly isolated and or identified when it blended with pure Japanese steel? How could/would it affect the reading? The only time I've ever seen borax employed in the forging process was to attach the handle to the plate (teko) prior to stacking the tamahagane fragments on top of it. I believe borax and other fluxing agents have a place in the forge, but they neither extremely rare, nor a wholesale application. Like everything else, it's a tool with a specific task, utilized within a particular criteria, to achieve a desired result. I remember reading a very old story translated for me by a friend in Japan when I was researching Shikkake Norinaga. In the story, Norinaga was described as using rice hulls instead of pine charcoal for fuel during heating of the blade. While we can challenge the validity of the story as just a story, it is very curious that it was mentioned as a major part of the story and we must consider that there may be some measure truth to it. Who among the sword community has heard of such an alternative. While the processes are generally the same, the details, materials, and methods can vary in ways that leave visial traces in the individual works that may be unexplainable anomolies in elemental examinations. While interesting, I tend to think the data that such a test yeilds will be of limited value in the context of "kantei". Like most things in science, the answer to one question leads to three more questions. In light of the lack of any period "control" specimens of absolute known composition, origin, working methods, etc., data will be somewhat blurred by those details that cannot be absolutely established. We can't ask a smith from Keicho what he used. Heck, Suishinshi Masahide was exploring the craft for answers he didn't even have, and 200 more years have elapsed since. We're still grasping for answers of origin dates, developmental dawnings, and whether there were one or two generations of a particular smith, and now we're going to identify if, and what kind, of flux was used? Again, all very interesting, but even if one particular smiths work is uniformly tested, the data should be examined and held in the context it is; subjective.