Jussi Ekholm

I got inspired at lot by this post and decided to spend good time with my books. Here are the earliest longish ones (almost 2x the width) I found and then first true o-kissaki swords that are attributed to late Kamakura. Jūyō Bunkazai tachi by Moriie - sakihaba 2,2 cm - kissaki 3,9 cm (Mid Kamakura) Kokuhō tachi by Bizen Saburō Kunimune - sakihaba 2,1 cm - kissaki 3,8 cm (Mid Kamakura) Tokubetsu Jūyō katana by Yoshioka Ichimonji - sakihaba 2,3 cm - kissaki 5,4 cm (Late Kamakura) Tokubetsu Jūyō katana by Norishige - sakihaba 2,4 cm - kissaki 5,7 cm (Late Kamakura) Tokubetsu Jūyō katana by Masamune - sakihaba 2,6 cm - kissaki 5,4 cm (Late Kamakura) Jūyō Bunkazai katana by Masamune (Ikeda Masamune) - sakihaba 2,5 cm - kissaki 5,2 cm (Late Kamakura) Of course when Nanbokuchō kicks in the really big ones are starting to appear but these should all be from Kamakura.

It is not a NBTHK paper but a paper issued by Toen-sha that was fronted by Murakami Kosuke. The mei for the Wakizashi is Harumitsu 春光 and the attribution is to Mito (水戸). The date in paper is Shōwa 51 which is 1976.

As I consider myself as a book collector I think I might be a wrong person to answer. I thought you have a good price on the Fujishiros One major problem is the availability of the books. It is a rare occasion to find books that I am after in Europe. I think I've purchased about 50 books from mostly Japan & US within the last 12 months and the shipping costs are really high but there is no way around that as pretty much just sellers in Japan & Grey have the books I am after. I treat some of the rare books bit like Jūyō items I suppose. It is a bit special occasion for me if I go to them. Then basic books I can just grab whenever I feel like it and search through them. However now that I think about it the more specific books I've gotten the less I've been using some great general reference works. I don't think I've popped my Connoisseurs open in few years, same for Facts & Fundamentals and I guess my Book version of Sesko Smith Index has been unopened for few years too, yet I use the e-book almost daily basis. Now that I've gotten more and more books I've understood that my need for various Meikan has been reduced a lot. I have thousands of different swords in various books and I can fairly easily find what I am looking for. I still have the Meikan trio from Markus which are great books but my book collection has outgrown them. I think all collectors should have some from of reference books for mei, something like Fujishiro set, Meikan set by Markus etc.

Well I was doing some research at Cultural Heritage Database and Agency for Cultural Affairs websites. Then I stumbled what I suppose are yearly realized purchases by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. As they are a government body they might be required to list the info out in the open for all to see? There was data for 10 years Heisei 20 to Heisei 29. I hope I am understanding it right, if not please correct me. You can find the information behind this link: http://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/kokuyuzaisan/bunkazai/ there are PDF files for each year below the listing that feature some info about the items & bad quality picture. 2009 Jūyō Bunkazai - Kagemitsu Tachi (dated 1322) - 70M Yen - This sword passed Tokubetsu Jūyō in session 2 (1973) and I believe this was appointed as Bunkazai in 1979. Jūyō Bijutsuhin - Ko-Bizen Tomonari Tachi - 30M Yen 2010 Jūyō Bunkazai - Tegai Kanenaga Tachi - 57M Yen Jūyō Bunkazai - Hoki Yasutsuna Tachi - 74M Yen 2013 Jūyō Bunkazai - Aoe Moritsugu Tachi & Koshirae - 56M Yen - This sword was by the information from Nihontō Kōza in Uesugi family and had the name Hannya no Tachi. 2014 Jūyō Bunkazai - Norishige Tachi - 66M Yen 2015 Jūyō Bunkazai - Hankei Katana - 53M Yen 2016 Jūyō Bunkazai - Masatsune Tachi - 81M Yen Jūyō Bunkazai - Kanro Toshinaga Ken (dated 1360) - 32M Yen Jūyō Bunkazai - Nanki Shigekuni Katana - 67M Yen Jūyō Bunkazai - Awataguchi Yoshimitsu Tanto - 83M Yen - Meito Hakata Tōshirō 2017 Jūyō Bunkazai - Moriie Tachi (dated 1279) - 68M Yen Jūyō Bunkazai - Motoshige Wakizashi - 40M Yen

To be honest if I look at the swords just by measurements assuming they are shortened I would immidiately think Nanbokuchō for both the Tokka & Aoi offerings. The shape & size are fitting for shortened blade from that period, I have documented measurements of a good bunch of them now. I am not experienced enough to make conclusions about just the details on the blade but something like Enju or Rai that Ray & Paul mentioned earlier might be plausible guesses. I think the interesting question would be if it is typical enough as a Tadayoshi sword that it would get Shodai Tadayoshi attribution again on the new try at shinsa, or would the attribution change to an older one?

They are different variations of the same character 正. I'm linking a picture that might be of assistance. Unfortunately I don't know anything about new smiths so I can't help in regards of the smith in question. Here are few links for Hattori Masahiro swords with same mei style as yours: You'll probably find more if you search with 服部正廣 even though simplified characters are often used in indexes etc. Sometimes it is still good to search with old format. https://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/e185566540/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26628-translation-identification-assistance-please/

Here are the old naoshi with elaborate horimono that I have in my books. Unfortunately I don't have documented yet any old naginata with elaborate horimono. 1st Meibutsu Honebami Tōshirō 2nd Nobukuni from Jūyō 12 3rd Chikakage from Jūyō 17 4th Tanshū Kunimitsu from Jūyō 19 5th picture is Senjuin mei 千手院 from Jūyō 16. As Ray said earlier it is very rare. So far I have documented just 6 swords that bear the 3 character Senjuin mei.

I think Wake and Nitta are quite interesting and schools that have very limited information on them. Shigenori and Shigesuke are the only Wake smiths I've encountered yet but there are few other Wake smiths listed in indexes so far I have not yet seen a signed (or even unsigned attributed) sword from other than the 2 famous smiths.

I have been following this topic with great interest. Lots of valuable advice have been given by board members. What intrigues me most is the fact that Darcy and Ray posted before the sword that passed Jūyō 18 session. Now that I got home and could check the page from 18 book, I must say they are really close. And would be dated relatively close to each other. Of course I haven't studied enough Masayuki mei to say anything definitive but like has been said before me the shape is promising in my mind. Would it be possible that you would measure the sword? From the bump where the blade starts a straight line to the tip, and from the same point straight line towards the bottom of the tang. And if you could measure the width of the sword at the base of the blade in front of habaki from cutting edge to the backside. It is great that you have decided to contact NBTHK-EU. I am sure our members can assist you further with this sword and give you other assistance as well.

Are you perhaps thinking about Junkei ( 順慶 )?

I do agree that it most likely is Keichō but that predates this smith by c. 250 years. So it really doesn't make sense to me even if gimei...

I might be stepping into ants nest with this one, and I am not qualified to recommend anyone. Like was suggested above contacting NBTHK-EU is a good way to go and they can be of assistance. However could it be possible to create of a list of craftsmen in various fields who have had traditional training (from whom), awards from Japan (from which organization), etc.? I know for polishing training & awards Andrew Ickeringill (AUS) - Completed traditional training (and a member in here) Massimo Rossi (ITA) - Has gotten multiple Nyusen awards from NBTHK Anthony Norman (UK) - Has gotten Nyusen from NBSK

I think like Kirill with regards to sayagaki, that previous owner might have hoped for more favourable attribution. So far I have documented 5 signed swords for Echizen Nobunaga. Unfortunately I have skipped over the mumei Asago-Taima swords.

I do think it was this tachi by Moromitsu that sparked the original post. http://www.nihontocraft.com/Bizen_Moromitsu_Tachi.htmlThis was the one I thought immidiately when reading the OP and there are not too many signed & dated tachi at that price with NTHK papers for sale at the moment. There is of course lots of theoretical and hypothetical discussion but I was referring to this particular sword.

I'd put my guess of the year to 慶応元年 (1865). I haven't seen enough mei examples by this smith to know if that is how he always writes that era. However that would fit in the range of his known working period.

Nick do you have pictures of the whole sword?

Seems like it was a splendid event. Regarding the etiquette I've always thought like the old phrase "When in Rome do as the Roman's do". Adapting to various things is a good thing and you can pick up bits from here and there. Keeping an open mind is a good thing. I must say even though I'm a nurse and have used various types of gloves at different places I've never thought of using them when handling swords. I must say I like that idea a lot compared to cotton gloves. Well the actual enviromental impact of a sword group using gloves like these is miniscule, so many get disposed daily in hospitals, elder care homes, etc. daily.

This article by Ian is great for starting out and beginning to learn translating mei. For those starting out do not be discouraged, it will be difficult at first. It is a slow but very rewarding (if you are into things like this) process. Just keep practicing and do repetition after repetition, there are thousands of swords online and in books that you can use for practicing. It is good to start out with easier signatures and advance to more difficult ones later.

From the few out of focus pictures the blade seems quite nice. But lot better pictures of the blade and the signature would be needed to say anything of value. The reason for offset mei is most likely that there was not enough room in the tang originally. This happens often with long signatures. I believe this has originally had a short nakago that was popular during the era and it has later been machi okuri by a large margin. There is a lot of variance even in authentic Yosozaemon asking prices. Top items go for top dollars and good ones for good prices. You can type 備前国住長船与三左衛門尉祐定 in google and see Japanese dealers for examples and comparison mei.

Here is where it gets slightly tricky as attributions are not sometimes really easy to understand. I thought the sword you have was an early Muromachi katana and attribution was Bizen Tsuneie. While it is true that 1st generation Tsuneie is written down as Ōan period smith, most of the works attributed / signed Tsuneie date to Muromachi period. I have 7 signed Tsuneie swords that date to early Muromachi in my database (I have skipped mumei for this smith as they continue onwards to 1500's), the dates range from 1426 to 1451. I know there is a mention in Seskos of a sword dated 1408 but I have not yet encountered that one. Of course the opinion of Bob Benson also weighs a lot and he has had this sword in hand. Having specific school does not indicate specific age in case of some schools. Which makes things bit complicated as schools can span through multiple eras. You must also study the specific sword and make your opinion where do you put the sword and what the attributing body has had in mind when giving the attribution, as for example NBTHK does not usually specify era on their basic attributions. Unless you are really lucky finding a worthwhile Kamakura blade for 2000$'s will not happen easily. I think the key word properly shaped for the period will reduce options a lot.

As I believe I know the swords as there are not too many contenders that fit the criteria. Here is bit of an analysis about this tachi, just a personal opinion which may or may not be correct. I think the asking price is reasonable and I believe the sword would achieve Tokubetsu Hozon papers from NBTHK. Even though this smith has relatively high Fujishiro ranking I don't think he is being considered amongst the top smiths of his era. It is of course positive that the sword is ubu but as NBTHK has been getting tighter in their Jūyō passes I'd think Tokubetsu Hozon would/could be where this one stops. As I looked at my books many Jūyō sessions that have featured tachi by this smiths have been the ones where lots of items passed, 14,19,20,23,24,25 (I do have a gap in there from 28 to 41 currently, and I just checked the first 25 and last pass) last tachi to pass Jūyō by this smith seems to be in session 56. The sword seems to be in good condition as far as I can see from the pictures. I feel it might be bit rude to say but for me the sword seems quite average. Even though the shape gets compliments in the sales ad I personally don't like that sugata, short, little curvature and narrow in width. Note that this is just a personal thing and there are Jūyō tachi by this smith with quite similar sugata. But it is a good sword, just not one for me. It's all relative, as I don't like the particular sword too much I wouldn't buy it even if it had NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon and I would have the money for it. But I do feel the price might be right for the right buyer. I think even that it sounds negative the advice that Chris gave earlier about "mid-range" being a minefield is a good one. I don't generally think it as a negative because it is telling the buyers to be on their toes. Spending 5k-20k on a luxury item is a lot of money for lot of us. It is really important to understand the market when stepping in here. Of course eventually when I have enough funds saved again I am going to step in this exact minefield, and possibly step on a mine, but I don't care too much if I like that one. When money is no object you can always go higher and higher but for some of the regular folks low and mid tier items are the reality with occasional chance for a high end. I think you need to just buy well in that particular budget. Good thing for this is tracking interesting items in different ranges. I've been doing that for years and years. I can always find some (what I consider good) deals in below 500k Yen, 1M Yen, 2M Yen, 3M+ Yen brackets on items that I personally like. There are so many swords up for sale at any given moment, it's just picking what you like the most. However Japanese sword market is a difficult one to grasp and there are lots of pricing decisions I do not yet understand...

My guess is the Ryōkai Yoshizane as suggested above but I'd give wider dating range of 1400's. I think the signature is 了戒能真作 Ryokai being above the ana. I believe nakago is original length and perhaps a slight machi okuri, impossible to say from the one picture (for some reason pics in the eBay sale don't show up for me). Here is a papered tachi from the same Yoshizane line for reference, https://web.archive.org/web/20121022025221/http:/www.nipponto.co.jp:80/swords/KT120079.htm

I've noticed the most important thing to me recently has been the shape when looking at the sword. I must immidiately like the shape as that is the number 1 priority for me, school, condition, signature everything comes afterwards. I'm in nothing at all train too as it seems I do not have finances for any purchases in a long while. There seems to be few that catch my attention usually when they pop up for sale, works by Hōjū and big suriage swords from Sa school.

I think correct form would be one Markus used in his listing 東竜斎 - Tōryūsai. The Hozon paper actually states, mumei (kaō) (Tōryūsai school) - 無銘 (花押) (東竜斎派)

Michael is correct than in the first 10 sessions den was used very often. And also the recognized kinzogan is always (from what I've seen so far) a direct attribution. Here are few remarks when comparing this to many other Shinsa before session 20. - There are lots of non-blade items passing - Lot of Nobukuni - Lot of Naoe Shizu - Multiple Uda - Multiple Mihara - Multiple Naminohira - "Weaker" Bizen attributions are more numerous than earlier (Yoshii, Omiya, etc.) - Top Osafune or Sōden-Bizen works are few in number - Muromachi smiths got many passes I am not really well versed in Shintō swords to say much about them but for example there are 6 Sukenao passing in single session here. As for the den prefix, here are first 10. But I think also you'll have to consider to what attribution the den is given to. S1 5 mumei blades, 2 kinzogan = direct, 3 den S2 11 mumei blades, 1 kinzogan, 5 direct, 5 den S3 7 mumei blades, 2 direct, 5 den S4 15 mumei blades, 1 shumei = direct, 3 direct, 11 den S5 21 mumei blades 1 kinzogan, 10 direct, 10 den S6 33 mumei blades, 1, shuso = direct, 2 kinzogan, 15 direct, 15 den S7 36 mumei blades, 3 kinzogan, 1 kinpun = direct, 8 direct, 24 den S8 47 mumei blades, 1 shumei, 1 kinzogan, 2 kinpun, 19 direct, 24 den S9 41 mumei blades, 1 shumei, 4 kinzogan, 1 kinpun, 19 direct, 16 den S10 81 mumei blades, 2 shumei, 6 kinzogan, 30 direct, 43 den