Bugyotsuji

Of course you could say, and many do, that a wakizashi is a good way to enter the field. You can often find excellent work by a good smith but in a relatively affordable package. If the blade itself is everything to you, find something in shirasaya. When you feel more confident, or when your slice of bitcoin has gained tremendously in value, you can branch out into longer or shorter. Bobby above mentions why older people in Japan might be collecting tanto. Certainly it was traditional for households to have a last symbolic tanto. And I too have found myself gravitating towards tanto, my 'collection' now down to one last koto wakizashi, plus one koto tanto and three shinto/shinshinto tanto. All with koshirae, and all bar one papered.

Ran this by a Japanese kinko artisan today, who looked it up in one of his books. He reckons the reading could be Hironori or Kojo, though the photo of the list he posted has it sandwiched between Hirosuke and Hirotsune, so if it follows the J alphabet, it should indeed be read 'Hironori'. 「二字に銘した鐔がある。江戸時代後期」 "Tsuba with two-kanji mei is known, the latter part of Edo", it says. So with all those references, and the NBTHK paperwork, I reckon this metalworker really did exist!

天龍子... as it's suriage and cut off here after Tenryushi JEB, they suggest in brackets that it is probably Masataka. (正隆) Good question. Was it cut down to fit into a military scabbard???

Bruno, many thanks for the message, and Brian who sent me the same listing. That does indeed look like it, and the reading Hironori fits perfectly into the jigsaw puzzle. (Hadn’t occurred to me.) The name is listed in my Japanese Kinko book, but with no reading, and no further information. Warm fuzzy feelings. Many thanks to both of you.

If it’s a flood, would it be a tsunami?

Just to report that some months back I sold this on. Catch and release indeed. Reading this thread again just now, I wish I had taken out and saved the little bashin, though…

Talking of Haynes, is there any information there Bruno on 廣乗　広乗 Hirojo, probably Gotō group? I have a signed and papered Kozuka, but little to no information.

A long blade can be a wonderful thing, but with a Tantō you can get some of the Smith’s finest work concentrated in one place, a sort of cameo, with no repetition.

The throat guard (tare) probably qualifies for the name 'itamono', and yes, relatively speaking it was a cheaper and easier construction, made up of four single solid metal sheets or plates. (At least this is the impression I have formed in conversation with people, but I'd be happy to be corrected.)

Yes, just found the photos from 2013. Named blade, the “Kuki Masamune”. On display at Hayashibara Museum of Art, Okayama.

Also tantō were only made in certain eras, e.g. not much during the Edo Period when wakizashi were more common. More likely made when they were functional. There’s a Masamune tantō in the Hayashibara Museum of Art that allegedly cost more than a million US, if my memory serves me.

Both Kiri and Fuji are in blossom everywhere right now. Although the flowers are similar in colour and style, from a distance, the leaves are very different. Fuji, wisteria has rows of slim oval leaves, but Kiri paulownia leaves are each wide and multi-lobed. Fuji is a vine, somehow endlessly associated with the powerful Fujiwara family, whereas Kiri is a tree with Shogunate and imperial connections.

TJ Happyzebra seems to have some good ideas on how to approach this, and I can understand the desire to start with a blade in hand, almost any blade. And before even that, he/she has decided to consult here first. Owning a blade, with the responsibilities involved, certainly helps to focus the mind, and with that anchor you can then build a frame of reference around it, discovering useful sources of information concerning its various relevant aspects. Two or three blades down the road and some of these larger frames can start to interlink, creating the outlines of a Japanese sword universe inside your cranium. That first blade may suffer some indignities in the hands of a newcomer though!!! Good luck and happy hunting!

南條元長 Nanjo Motonaga (?)

Incidentally, wisteria (Fuji, 藤) in bloom yesterday at Achi Jinja in Kurashiki.

Some of the first Tanegashima reflected ornamentation from Goa and south-east Asia, but most of that was soon lost, Japanese taste tending towards simplicity and minimalism. There was a later school of gunnery called the Namban-Ryu (Barbarian school) or Tanegashima-Ryu which emphasized the strange and ornate, giving an 'overseas' feeling to remind people or the roots or origins of these things. I did see a gun in a cabinet in the exhibition rooms at Nagashino, where the great battle is commemorated, which had an ornate serpentine somewhat like yours Dale, but this was very rare here.) Sakai 'merchant' guns were the most flashily ornate, but the serpentines on even these were plain and smooth. Chinese guns on the other hand were more traditionally more elaborate, and I think they liked to see a strong connection with mythical birds, dragons etc. PS Back in Europe I do have an example of a matchlock hand mortar; the serpentine looks like a squirrel(?) head.

Yesterday I was helping the local branch of the NBTHK set up a display in Kurashiki's Achi Jinja. On the top of a small hill, a simply beautiful spot at any time of year, but this week the wisteria are in full bloom, making it extra special. It was a small exhibition room, but we had 400 visitors yesterday alone, of whom perhaps 100 from overseas. Had long chats about Japanese blades with a German lady, a Scottish couple, an Australian couple, some French people and a half-German half-British guy named Dominic! (Exhibition continues today, Sunday). There was an unsigned Unju naginata naoshi Katana 薙刀直し刀 of around 1360 AD on display, but with no kaeri. Long 'Bo-utsuri'. I asked if that last kanji should be read '-to' or '-gatana'. "With a hard 'k', Katana" they said. (The caption did not indicate when the conversion from naginata to katana might have taken place, but they must have judged it worth saving.) Photos follow... and… and…

https://kojodan.jp/castle/82/memo/1884.html In 2005, to mark the opening of the newly-built Bitchu Yagura corner tower at Tsuyama Castle, we were invited to dress in full bushi armo(u)r and fire broadsides over the city from the remaining castle walls. The finale in front of the assembled suited and seated dignitaries was for our leader to fire the 100-Monme hand cannon. We were not sure what would happen as it hadn't been fired for centuries, and I now suspect that he had added extra blackpowder in order to impress. Well, when the thing went off with a sizzle, a whoosh and a BOOM!!!.... it blew the wigs off the dignitaries, and they swallowed their dentures. Afterwards I noticed that he had a bleeding hand. Despite binding his left hand to the stock, the Ozutsu had kicked back, the pan/lid tearing open a gash on his right thumb.

Can't imagine it would make a difference. The plug is not an intrinsic part of the blade. Incidentally, I saw a gold plug the other day which caught my attention. It could have been either solid gold or possibly gilt, gold on copper.(?)

No, I mean that this particular description (the wording) is not on any of Jussi’s lists. Naginata-naoshi-gatana

薙刀直し刀　it says on that page!

I have one really looooooong Yari with a very small Sankaku 🔺三角 blade.

Thomas above said something that caught my eye. “I suppose I am the soul of my collection.” This is probably true for me too. I have several ‘collections’ of things, mostly of what I like, with no conscious philosophy behind, things that resonate with me, or call me. Generally background education and artistic sensibility help funnel or channel the inflow of these. As to Nihontō specifically, there is admittedly a little more of the brain involved, shaped by what I have ingested over the years, but not enough yet. This must come from lack of serious study and lack of funds. Serendipity is part of it: a slow way to collect, but gentler on the bank. I am still able to forget, not constantly on the boil. Each of the few blades I have is a pleasure to recall whenever I happen think of them. Actually, I do not even think of them as a ‘collection’.

Ended up watching the whole thing, DL. LOL. Many thanks!