Mark S.

Trying to figure out theme of this tsuba. Snow on bamboo? Bamboo and another flower? Or another plant I haven’t thought of? I liked the fine cut out work of this one. A rather thin tsuba. Also trying to figure out what the ‘stain’ is on the front. Picture and lighting make it stand out more than it shows in hand. Old tape or sticker? A ‘cleaner’ spilled on it? I don’t expect a diagnosis by picture, but knew your good eyes would spot it, so I figured I might as well address it. Thanks all

Mine signed Choshu Tomotsugu Same theme with obvious style differences.

I’m freely willing to admit I could be wrong about mei condition… it just seems thin and weak IMHO…

Unfortunately so many things wrong…. looks buffed to oblivion with polishing wheel. Newly drilled ana (as in looks like yesterday) to make it fit cobbled koshirae. Mei looks done with Dremel. Machi-okura and messed up older blade.

My advice is if that are the only pics they have that you pass. No way to tell anything about condition of blade, hamon and boshi condition, nakago condition, etc. There are LOTS of blades.

Fixed it for you.

When you are in a position to buy pretty much anything you want at this level, the only question left to be answered is “why” this particular blade speaks to you above all others. I don’t mean to say this in a rude way, but I would wait until you can tell us the answer to that question instead of asking our opinion. The NBTHK Juyo has already answered the quality/originality/importance questions… only thing left is “why” you want it.

I purchased a naginata-naoshi a while back. Not a top of the line item or anything. Their description and pictures were pretty fair (make sure to really check though) and the purchase/shipping went off without a hitch. I would say no hidden gems, but if you know what you want, you should be ok.

Really well done!

Completely agree with the above and would only add, how well can you make the tea in the bowl (sometimes trickier than you think) and how much will your guest enjoy the bowl in context of the rest of the tea ceremony.

The habaki and tsuba were a one piece shirasaya mounting. I believe the shirasaya is a more modern piece made by Mike Virgadamo.

A couple more I picked up over the years…

Purchased from Stephen

Thank you so much Piers. So, putting together some pieces of research info and other on-line info… Terukado is said to be from the Zenjo school and also has references to the Seki Yoshisada school (he also worked in Kuwana and Edo). I would assume that means he received his early training in the Zenjo school, but was actively working in the Seki Yoshisada school when he made this blade? I would also assume this part of the mei is in relation to the school and not an individual that Terukado worked with on this blade? After some more searching, I have also found some references that Zenjo and Yoshisada use the same characters, so could this also mean the Zenjo Ha and Yoshisada Ha are actually one in the same but have been referenced as two different schools/lines depending on who (and how) the kanji are translated?

Trying to add to my knowledge base… One side reads: Tanba no Kami Fujiwara Terukado The other side reads: Oite Seki Yoshisada saku XX. Can someone help me with the last character which I know I should know and I’m sure I will be embarrassed (not the first and the not last time). Attached are nakago and NBTHK Hozon Thank you!

Last year Woody Hall gave a polishing demonstration at the Vegas Show. When he finally got down into that position, first word that popped into my head was… “Nope!”

Snicker… snicker… Brian said “mamori”…

What follows is a bit of a thread back in 2014 that I found, which is why I brought this subject up. Main portion was Darcy’s response to a question: “Question for everyone: Has there ever been a high quality shinogi zukuri tanto?” Darcy: I haven't. I asked Bob Benson about this too and he gave the thumbs down. Any tanto with a shinogi that is acceptable seems to be either moroha-zukuri, osoraku-zukuri or some other derivative. The yokote is bad news on a tanto. It's a curious thing about why it's so abhorrent. But it just looks like sin on its face. Since form follows function it would appear then to make the argument for the tanto as primarily a stabbing weapon, and that the yokote exists to manufacture a kissaki, which exists to top off a cutting instrument. Which is not of course breaking new ground for anyone here, but just interesting that it logically follows from something so simple.

Best of luck working on this one… steady as she goes! Really like the design. Looking forward to future updates.

Currently on EBay, there is a mumei tanto length blade for sale that has a shinogi line as well as yokote. As has been discussed on NMB in the past this ‘usually’ (nihonto rule - never say never or ‘always’) indicates a tanto fashioned from the end of a katana or wakizashi and wasn’t intended this way… and is considered a bit of a nihonto faux pas as tanto were not ‘made’ in this form. What is interesting is that it has NBTHK Hozon paper. Just for discussion sake, do you believe the reasoning they papered it was just as in the case of a naginata-naoshi or a yari cut down and mounted as a tanto? Based on previous discussions I was able to find, it just seems tanto with shinogi and yokote seems to be a more ‘egregious’ modification? https://www.ebay.com...r=artemis&media=COPY If this belongs in the General Discussion area, please feel free to move.

Just another bit of advice that you can take or leave… In January, there will be a sword show in Las Vegas and I see by your profile that you live in Vegas. Maybe hold off on purchases until then, go to the show, and get a good look at a large number and wide variety of blades in person and in hand. You will also be able to ask questions and learn a lot. You will also get a good feel for what your $$$ can get you. Go to the Show / Event section of the NMB to get more info on that show.

I’m sure there are many reasons blades were not re-submitted and they have been discussed here many times. While not every green paper is ‘bad’, they are however not ‘recognized’ by the NBTHK. I do not believe they will give you any advice or information based on the old papers, because in their eyes those papers no longer ‘exist’. The only process I am aware of is a fresh submittal for brand new papers. You are basically starting over. Now… my personal opinion is that if you have white or green papers confirming a mei of a lower profile smith, or a mumei blade attributed to a lower ranked school/smith, I would be pretty comfortable trusting it as a good place to start my study to see if the blade fits characteristics of the smith/school. Any ‘big name’ attributions should be looked at with a skeptical eye. My recommendation is to study more so you don’t have to rely solely on papers for your judgements… or to at least have some more knowledge if you’re going to gamble.