Curran

I second Mauro's opinion that it would get Kyo-kanagushi from an organization like the NBTHK.

At least as early as Goto Yujo, considered the founder of the Goto school. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goto_Yujo Probably earlier, but I don't know how much earlier.

@AlphaRaider yall back at you, from Atlanta. Your images are quite good, and the initial impression is of a Koto blade probably from one of the Bizen schools. Given that we are dealing with 800-900 years of works, the checklist of things to review can be quite long. Example: Things like the kissaki (angular area at the tip of the blade) can reveal a fair amount from very little data, and rule for/against certain schools. Just be patient and post photos. There is also a shinsa (knowledgeable panel of Japanese coming over for an evaluation process) in Chicago soon. My focus is far more on fittings, but it does look like you probably got yourself a very nice blade in trade.

Aizu Shoami

Umetada Myoju tsuba. 1.68 M yen An artist of significant skill, but also great cultural relevance and influence. To put it one way, he was a great experimenter with artwork at a pivotal time in Japanese history. Given that this one is only TH and 1.68M, imagine what price his many Juyo tsuba fetch. I wouldn't call this one a masterpiece, but that authentic signature is worth a large amount. Tea aesthetic, but not my cup of tea. It seems relative to this thread. If unsigned and mistaken for a ko-kinko, it would fetch significantly less.

Some nice comments so far. A recent example: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m1080865027 Very important name and signature. The aesthetics of this particular tsuba don't do much for me, though some of his other works do. That signature is a big part of the context of the value.

About 48 hours ago, I was just cleaning a counter and thought of Keith. He, Ted Tenold, and I just talking at great length at the Tampa Show that one year. I never again got to talk with him like that, and he passed right before everything went to hell in 2020. It does me some good to know others remember him three years later. I wish the best for his family.

Very happy with the two I wanted. I had a hard time not picking up that Akasaka too.

Yes. And not all works by a smith are created equal. Some of the most valuable shodai Shimizu (Jingo line) clock in above $100,000 - yet most of his non Juyo are in the $15`,000 or less category. The supply of these > $100,000 tsuba tends to be so limited that they almost always change hands privately. I never liked the idea that you needed connections and introductions to get access to such things, but that is how it works. Supply of Juyo level fittings is so much lower than Juyo level swords.

These are the two that I keep. -Old photo.

The one on Yahoo!Japan is not a Hikozo. Seppa dai is wrong. I didn't check the mimi, but it looks wrong too. The Den Hikozo is more interesting. I understand the reason for 'Den' on it. I like it, but don't love it. I won't be bidding.

Yes. There are many higher priced tsuba. Some get into the 6 figures rather easy.

Once upon a time I asked the National Gardening Association https://garden.org/ threads for help identifying the plant and flowers on a shodai Shimizu (Jingo). The wealth of information and response I got back is the only thing that has ever rivaled -possibly exceeded- NMB for depth of knowledge. Even as a former biologist, I was humbled with the response from the NGA crowd. It has been a while since I have logged on there, but you may get some surprising traction if you can take the time to post there and wait a little bit.

Here I was expecting a WWII pistol. That caught me a little off guard. @Bugyotsuji thanks for response. I didn't know the Japanese name for these. In one of the more recent Zatoichi films, one of the characters uses one of these pill-locks to discretely dispatch one or two other characters.

Still my favorite thread.

Many of these have museum numbers inside them and seem to have been fairly well preserved for a long time. I picked up 2 in my primary interest areas of Higo and Owari. I've got to stop there, but I keep waiting for someone to pick off JJ0002 = 4th or 5th gen Akasaka of good thickness and condition JJ0009 = usual and exceptional mokume gane signed Bushu Akasaka JJ0010 = Akasaka or Owari, great condition That is my honest personal opinion. The temptation is fairly strong, and I am glad someone picked off one of the other ones I was eyeing.

The living breathing database.

That is the one I was thinking about. I remember reading the UK Club notes and finding it an extremely interesting writeup. Also, the Han Bin Song collection was an interesting one. I did not remember that the one owned by Mr. Sinclair was by Ikkansai Shigetsugu. That makes me more eager to see it again, so I think I have to go digging through my older files.

This is what I was thinking before: https://eirakudo.shop/tosogu/menuki/detail/363556 Called "Shihode", which is described in one of my Goto books as a form of horse harness

Yes, I think so. Though I learned to ride when I was young, and family and my girlfriend had horses- I was never very fond of it. The past month I've been dealing with a lot of equestrians due to another interests, and I even picked up that horse saddle Bushu from Jimi-san. Bushu is totally outside my Owari - Higo interests, but I do seem to be more attuned to the equestrian and hawking pieces right now. I am regretting having sold a "hawk feeding basket" iron Higo tsuba (NBTHK Hozon). SwordGuyJoe put it up on eBay a number of years ago. I wish that one would pop up again. If anyone here has it- please PM me.

That was a nicely constructed post. Personally I always thought this was lotus root. The second picture of soy sauce, mirin, etc, with sesame seeds is such a classic long standing dish in Korean and western Japanese cooking that it never occurred to me it was anything other than lotus root. When sliced, it is very geometric. When boiled or simmered, it looks exactly as the Yamakichibei.

Hi Jimi-san, I also sent an email. There is one I like and one that maybe would be nice to own for a bit.

It could be abumi, but also more likely this tack here: https://eirakudo.shop/tosogu/menuki/detail/363556 I forget the name and the Japanese equestrian purpose, but Robert Hughes was good enough to explain it a while back on his Facebook feed. I need to look it up again.

Most likely it is Horse Tack.

Well, pretty much the market has been cornered by him, Tanobe-san, and Bill Miller here in Georgia. I'm not even that into Satsuma, but it took me a long time to get a higher level Satsuma tsuba. I've heard from Bill, Darcy, and two other collectors that Tanobe-san has some exceptional examples.