Bugyotsuji

Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone. I will pass on the link to this thread. It will be hard to replace him as he was the de-facto go-to tsukamaki Shi for Osafuné, Bizen. I remember Hashimoto Kun once saying that he orders in ‘himo’ (string), but once it’s strung it is called ‘ito’ (string, thread). The very same material. Perhaps the difference is in the tension, and corresponding thread thickness when strung.(?)

Oh and I found these of his from five years ago in the camera memory. (Repeated spaced clicks will make these shots grow bigger and bigger.)

I remember some years ago a group of us went for a bite to eat at Yoshinoya after the local sword NBTHK meeting. He mentioned he had started a paper round from 3:00 am each morning, to supplement his income. Some of his work

That looks like my Alma Mater, but they’ve sure done it up swell.

Just recently he went to Tokyo with other artisans for the NBTHK awards ceremony and fell ill during the celebrations afterwards. He never made it home. Tsukamaki-Shi Hashimoto Kun from the workshops at Osafuné was the humblest, kindest person you could imagine. He didn’t say much, but his eyes shone with respect and honesty. I simply wish to record his short life and eternal passing here. He leaves his young wife Ai San. (Last summer he restrung the hilt of a wakizashi for me, and it was even better than I had expected. Everyone had high hopes for him. Such a sad affair for all.) Awarded 14 prizes. This he did for me.

Awwww.... bars on the windows, no fair, even white ones!

Once they’ve contacted each other to check, it’s easier and safer for them all to fall into line, eliminate any doubt, and say “No” more clearly than before.

All shots upside down, but looks like Bizen Kuni Ju Osafuné Sukesada. IIRC Nice presentation!

Nothing to brag about, so facts and figures it is. At 56? when visiting a well-known sword shop in Japan. (Fin) *Additional notes. Daringly bought a cheap, mumei wakizashi in black lacquer koshirae as a starter piece. Carried it home guiltily and hid it from the wife, taking it out occasionally to stare at it, expecting some miracle to occur. When nothing happened, a week later I took it back to the shop, disappointed, also shocked at the realization that a sword is for life, not just for Christmas. Well, you don't just 'own' it, there is responsibility to maintain it in the same condition, and there are those future generations somehow involved, waiting their turn. So as they say in Japan, 泣き面に蜂 naki tsura ni hachi, (when the kid is bawling its eyes out, a wasp comes along and stings him on the face) the store paid me less to take it back. A customer in the shop assured me that the loss was just 'school fees' and the opportunity to upgrade. I knew I would need to know something about Nihonto first, so I joined the NBTHK. All of the above were sobering lessons I learnt from the brief process of buying and selling my first real, traditional Japanese blade.

Looks like the very same one.

Check out the usagi 兎 rabbit Kamon family crests here: 兎家紋 - 検索 画像 (bing.com)

My immediate thought on looking at the soft metals was modern, but it could be over-polished. There are some really nice details in the chisel work though.

Seriously though, you could run a ‘fake’ auction here and see what people would actually offer for it. Might get more accuracy that way! (If it were for sale, of course, which we know it isn’t.) PS I like the unusual way the dragonflies are done.

Would you take $50 for it?

Thank you Brian. *I have run out of tokens today so cannot like your post. This has been a hard month for me. With Ford, three acquaintances have left on eternal voyages, one a young Tsukamaki-Shi artisan from Osafune. *Later. Now I can.

I didn’t react because there is an element of truth in it. I am probably not yet a pure collector, as there is also a hoarder aspect to my collecting, although the ‘to boost self-esteem’ comment did cause me to do a little double-take! If I find something nice I like to post it, and of course I’m happy to get positive reactions. Naturally I also give plenty of upvotes to things others post if they please me. I suppose Gollum is the consummate hoarder… “My precioussss!”

Very nice! And loving the note. (When the time is right, perhaps we could have a thread dedicated to his work.)

On the other hand, you could spend all your spare cash on cigarettes and alcohol, and/or on soft drugs. End up with... a colorful character perhaps, with strong views on the world, but a decrepit body. Now, which would a wife prefer?

Wakidaté

They won't let the pair go at that price, probably not even ten times that.

Guilty on all charges, M'Lud.... About 20 years ago, someone gave me a box of around 20 starter tsuba, with a representative of this, that and the other thing. Having gone through various phases, adding anything that came along, and having owned perhaps 100~150 at one time or another, I may finally be reaching a garden paradise, with shishi running among the peonies, a place where certain tsuba which really appeal to me begin to shine out from the rest. I could gladly downsize now. Has my tsuba eye been opened?

Not signed, so anyone’s guess as to region. Tanto tsuba, iron, with soft metalwork honzōgan inlays. Mimi up close.

The registration card says it’s a katana, 63.3 cm long, and registered with the Niigata Board of Education.

I can imagine the OP’s funky tsuba used on a funky ivory-like Tantō koshirae. Whether for the tourist trade, or as a practical Ainu tool I would not know. And whether that slice of tusk was made into a tsuba immediately, or repurposed at a much later date, I would hesitate to judge.

Of course other marine ivories were often carved to look like narwhal as it was considered a valuable material. Here is a walrus ivory Netsuké. And the ‘crushed ice’ secret is in the design!