Katsujinken

Indeed!

This is a wonderful shakudo kozuka depicting waves and a ladle [hatō hishaku no zu kozuka (波濤柄杓図小柄)]. The condition is excellent.

The NBTHK attributes the kozuka to Den Kenjō (伝顕乗). Kenjo was the 7th of the Gotō main line generation (1586-1663).

Price: $2500 USD + the cost of insured shipping and PayPal. Reasonable offers considered!

If I sell the kozuka here I will donate some proceeds to the board, with pleasure!

Please don't hesitate to ask questions. Thanks for looking!

Caveat emptor! :-)

Yokoyama Kozuke daijo Sukesada, was the No1 Sukesada of the Shinto period.

Right, hence my skepticism.

This wakizashi is signed Yokoyama Kôzuke no Daijô Sukesada (横山上野大掾藤原祐定) and I believe the ura nakago is "Bishu Osafune Junin".

So, what do we think of the mei? It doesn't look terrible to me, but I am not nearly the expert many of you are. The rest of blade appears to hit kantei points (suguha, dense itame, deep sori for a wakizashi, etc.), although I can't tell if it shows mizukage.

I'm going to assume this is gimei unless a strong chorus of experts says otherwise.

High resolution photo: https://wetransfer.com/downloads/3bb886ea583fc62d8c93e182fca302b220200711183353/c21f50

Thanks all. :-)

I guess I'm not going through the right attics!

I think it certainly helps when the attics are Japanese! :-P

Thanks to both of you. 

First looks like Bishu Osafune .... to me

Cut after Osafune, where the actual swordsmith name would have been

Ah of course!

Oh and another photo of a different nakago just arrived.

I must admit I'm stumped on this first signature. I think the first two characters are 伊州... but even that might be wrong.

And it definitely looks like when this was shortened they just lopped it off right in the middle of the signature.

What do you think?

I'll share other photos as I receive them.

I saw this when it was in New York and enjoyed it very much.

Was there any chance of saving it in the first place?

 

Thanks

No.

Wow, this is so fantastic. Thank you so much!

The writing on the ink sticks are just brands of ink. One of the brands (金不換 - Kinfukan) is still around.

The other one comes from Anhui province in China.

 

The last one (looks like a seal) says

横一氏　

Yokoichi (Mr.)

All three of those photos of the ink stick are of one ink stick, so perhaps this one was made for that company in China. A special order with a seal, maybe? In any case, I love these little details. Thanks for the help.

Wow, wizardry. Many thanks. :-)

With thanks to Kelly Schmidt, this beautiful suzuri-bako arrived today from Japan. I know it is dated Meiji 40 (1907), but the rest is beyond me. Anyone want to take a crack?

Gyaku menuki are a very common choice among kenjutsuka, and every Japanese shop (like Tozando) or production sword manufacturer (like Evolution or MAS) know exactly what one needs when this is mentioned.

The Motohara blades are the best production swords on the market right now, in my opinion. Jason, the owner, trains in Toyama Ryu and is a great guy.

And Ken, I appreciate that you want people to be safe, but literally every time a thread like this comes up you jump in to tell the person to talk to their sensei, don’t use shinken, etc. Respectfully, sometimes your tone comes off as patronizing because you appear to assume that 1) the person isn’t studying a style in which shinken are actually required; and 2) the person isn’t experienced or smart enough to have already considered your points to begin with.

Your heart is in the right place, and I know you are an experienced martial artist, but after a dozen of these threads I hope you’ll consider this feedback. There are lots of other experienced martial artists out there, too, and sometimes they might want advice on blades and not whether or not it’s appropriate for them to buy one.

I was sincerely hoping to go back this year, but given that the show is all about people from all over the US traveling to SF, and given how COVID cases are still growing alarmingly in many states (especially those who are “reopening” prematurely), I will have to sit out and hope for a better 2021.

Yep, Ken + Markus have the right recipe in my opinion. Was explaining this to some kohai in my dojo a few weeks ago. It’s a confusing issue for laypeople!

That’s a fine piece of history in surprisingly good condition. Take good care of it so that it can last another 600 years. :-)

Here’s another “gimei” Nobuie that’s currently in my collection if you want to compare: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29799-definitely-not-the-nobuie-but-what-do-you-think/?view=findpost&p=303252

I think it’s most likely later Myochin.

The garish polish on that blade was created to mislead – a caricature of Soshu, chikei, etc. – and the sayagaki is surely a forgery or shirasaya swap.

This was a fun one.