Bugyotsuji

Very hard to make these out, Ron, for a couple of reasons, but I will start the ball rolling with 兼家 Kane-ie. Confidence rating, ...50%.

Ouch, yes! Having just missed out on something that I was actually prepared to buy, dang! I was on a hair trigger... a very dangerous place to be.

Thanks, Eric. I hope so too...

Should be working, deadline approaching, but just a small update. Not too long ago I had a chance to purchase a tanto in nice koshirae. A now-you-see-it-now-you-don't kind of auction setting. (I was saving to buy a second car, but when I boldly told her, the wife exploded, ...so I had a secret little down-payment stashed away.) Whenever this happens my friends usually laugh and warn me not to spend any further cash on it, such as a polish, and/or a tsunagi and shirasaya. Still, I like to add something positive to a blade if possible, but I usually end up letting the fish go on its merry way, taking a loss into the bargain. I always learn a little something, and with burnt fingers I take another long break. This time too I was reminded firmly that there is no point sending good money after bad. "And whatever you do, do NOT show it to your Sensei or the people at the local NBTHK meetings." Well, on Sunday I went to the monthly meeting and asked quietly about the possibility of getting a shirasaya made. To me it is a quiet, unpretentious blade, with little to see. This time, however, the reaction was quite strong. "Definitely spend money on this one!" my Sensei said. The Togishi had a look and he too was impressed. "A rare blade!" he commented. It's a mumei So-Shu Masahiro wakizashi (or sun-nobi tanto) of just over 30 cm. Second half of Namboku Cho. Tokubetsu hozon, NBTHK. They didn't even write 'den' before Masahiro. No photos as it's away at the Shirasaya-Shi. Just debating whether a gentle polish might bring up the hataraki, or more shingane. This time will it be a keeper? And the moral of the story is... well, wodja reckon?

Which world of artistry is this from? How about 柳一, Ryu-ichi.(?)

Maybe with zokumyo: Yokoyama Kozuke Daijo Shichibei no Jo Sukesada

Been there, got several t-shirts. Can’t give a better answer than Doug. Buying something you love with a guaranteed built-in future profit, is a hard double-act, but you can always aim for it. If you feel able to take the hits if and when they come, even better. Just don’t tell the wife, (until you hit a jackpot, and even then...).

Less decorative, less symbolic, more practical?

Call me simple, but I take Dee at face value. I get a sense of a warm and intelligent person with a sincere desire and ability to study and learn. That is enough for me. As to the papering game, it's time-consuming, assuming you can even make the slot, but only expensive if you get a positive result. And it could well be that the answer was here in our NMB discussions all along. Or there could be no final confirmation at all, this time around. Roll the dice! (?)

As Brian says above you see lots of these in Japan. They were used to pull thatch off a burning roof I believe, well, the longer ones certainly were. The shorter ones may have been more symbolic for a leader, carried pushed into the obi or belt. You get a variety of buzzard beaks (tobiguchi), including fakes, or real ones extra decorated offered for sale since most people do not know what they are. (I have a nice old example that looks pretty genuine to me, a solid wood shaft bound in iron.)

The NBTHK paperwork says it's an elephant, but the Baku is very similar in many aspects and easily mistaken, so no great surprise. The surprise for me was how quickly Brian spotted it! The Suki as it states on the kantei-sho, is a spade, or a kind of hand-plough. I nearly bought one at the antiques fair the other day. Made of wood, the blade edge has a typical iron surround. It is said that 'sukiyaki' was first made in early Edo by placing meat on one of these and cooking it not in the sacred kitchen but in the outside fire hole for the bath. 鋤 イラスト - 検索 画像 (Possibly the fuchi and kashira were not part of the same set originally.)

Agreed. I know that Baku are (bad) dream eaters, but what's the connection with the 鋤 suki spade? (Nice find!)

Your readings so far are correct, but I can't figure that out, unless the second Mei is for a cutting test or something? (There seems to be another kanji too, 国? top left.)

No, I mean the one in Tyler's first post above compared to the example shown earlier by Bruce above. (By the way, Masahide changed his name to Amahide in old age, I believe.)

The koku seals look quite different.

How sure are you, as a percentage? (PS I watched someone buying a fairly good-looking tanto with a Muramasa Mei yesterday for US $500.)

川島山本? Kawashima Yamamoto? The alignment is correct, Alex, but I cannot see much in that shot without spending some time enhancing it at this end. Can you take two or three shots at different angles and under differing lighting conditions? Thank you.

TAco you can use the word ‘blade’ which covers almost everything!

If you want to narrow it down. Some of the early western guns in the Bakumatsu.

I have no excuse. Just a quick look and that was it. :headbang: Something like this but I cannot yet find an exact match.

Interesting kozuka. One thing must be said though, that this is not a Tanegashima. It's probably a muzzle-loader, maybe even rifled, but a later percussion-cap gun, to be fired from the shoulder, possibly an imported gun with that decorative butt. Also the mechanism seems to be for a left-handed shooter, a rare object.

Interesting idea, Tim. Since the Kikusui story and subsequent mon involve both chrysanthemum and flowing water, I wonder if a (broken?) water wheel would support the convention equally by the suggestion of water? (Rusu moyo)

Nothing is over Nothing is over until the horizontally-challenged lady bursts into song.

There are so many moving-goalpost differing renderings of the characters for 金重 Kinju/Kaneshige presented above that there must be at least one authoritative work or study on this Mei out there, if not several. My feeling after reading through this entertaining and educational thread, is that the quality of the work itself must be the arbiter. If you enjoy the obvious quality of your blade, you have a fabulous study piece there Dee, at a bargain basement price. And remember too that many people seem to be happy to collect gimei pieces, that there is a market for them. Perhaps it is the inherent romantic or exciting possibilities that titillate the senses? Take courage! Congratulations!

At the bottom it says 'single hitsu', which must have been added later. We can imagine the shape of the original sea sponge cucumber a little (but not a lot) better without the cut-out. It's almost as if there are three shells, barnacles (?) but why do they have holes in them?