Curran

Bullpuppy, Wrong section. See page #294. Also more on pg. #299 Shinshinto. I cannot see what your papers say. I am assuming "Sukesada" or "Sukehira". They worked both in Soshu style and that of Oei Bizen. I enjoy Oei Bizen very much, so I often take a look at Yokoyama swords. Point scores are just a 'helpful indicator'. 75 is very good. Assuming 50% of blades failed shinsa (probably higher in this shinsa), then it is sort of a pyramid scale from 70pts for passing kanteisho to 80pts being a possible Juyo candidate. Some blades are marginally passed with scores in the 60s. The reasons can vary. Just for convenience sake, conceptualize that of the 50 that pass out of a pool of 100: You have 4.5 with scores below 70; then 9 with 70pts, 8 with 71pts, 7 with 72 pts, 6 with 73pts, 5 with 74pts, 4 with 75pts, 3 with 76pts, 2 with 77pts, 1 with 78pts, and 0.5 with 80pts (yes, we skipped 79 because I've never seen a 79 score to date) that is a Yusho (NTHK equiv of Juyo). If you approach it this way, then you could feel that the NTHK felt your sword was in the top 6 to top 10% of the ones they saw at the shinsa. This is very good. Remember the point score is just there as a rough indicator. My own feelings were that the quality of swords submitted was lower than I'd seen before. However, the quality of the fittings submitted was much higher than I'd seen before. Quite a few published items, and some big names- though I do not think anything was felt to be Yushu level. The judges were extremely hard- but some great collections made it to the fittings table. You should be happy with your results, though maybe you were expecting Koto Bizen results. Do not sneeze at Yokoyama. It is not Bungo. We save those for Milt. Curran

Nobody, Thank you for posting those links. I read the first one with help of a translator program and could also translate enough of the rough spots to get the heart of the ideas. I can definitely see the roots of the rumors. The question is "how accurate is the article?", as news sources in the USA are ofen far behind other public sources for insight and accuracy. Speaking from my own empirical observations, I've had concerns about the NBTHK for 3 years now, but nothing like this. I have seen swords go Juyo that I did not think go Juyo, but in the scheme of things Juyo is only a halfway point on a 5 step ladder valuation system. I thought Darcy was entirely right in his arguements about "statistical mining of the pool" and that as the best swords from the 1960s had long since Juyo'ed- the standard for Juyo would creep down a bit to meet the supply. So those that went Juyo in recent years that I would not have thought go Juyo are simply "low-end Juyo". There are $20,000 Juyo and then there are $200,000 Juyo. After seeing a 3rd gen Nobukuni O-tanto with recent Juyo papers on a Japanese dealer's website, I was even considering submitting my practically identical one for a roll of the dice at a Juyo shinsa, hoping mine would squeak across the line to Juyo. The article makes it seem the Agency for Cultural Affairs may be grinding an axe for the NBTHK. It sounds like there is more than some evidence of impropriety at the NBTHK, yet that some out there are trying to fan the smoke into flames. Given the importance of the sword in Japanese history and culture, I doubt the magnitude of scandal is so great that the NBTHK loses its tax-exempt status. How much is the Agency for Cultural Affairs just banging the drum to have their way? Will the politicians pull its teeth or encourage the Agency to bite? I doubt there is enough public support for the politicos to do that, so most likely we will see some sort of NBTHK sacrificial lamb if they cannot pin it all on the recently dead guys. In a macro sense- I doubt the NBTHK Japan will come out with any direct statement for some time, until it is most politically advantageous to do so. I know it has gotten overly trite in my ears, but the phrase "keep it simple" is good. Don't buy the damn papers. Buy the item. NBTHK papers are just an opinion. There is no financial guarantee there. I do believe in them, and I do paper many of my items for 3rd party credibility- though Hozon is usually good enough for my satisfaction. Juyo is a much greater assurance than Hozon, but sooner or later you must develop your own confidence. Nobody- thanks for the links. Curran

Ed, It sounds like you have started off very well, and the advice Rich, Peter, and Milt has given you is rock solid. I cannot add much. Go slow. Books are a good investment. The Torigoye book is cheap from the Northern California Club. Being largely a photocopied paperback, it costs peanuts compared to most books. It may give you some brainache at first, but you will find yourself going back to it for years. The Haynes Catalogs (#1 to #10) are good. I used them to help identify a rare tsuba today. They may be something you want to look at later. In the long run, you will want to pick them up. Perhaps not yet, as at a beginning point they are a bit expensive compared to other books you don't have yet. The irony is that I just realized today that I have 2 copies of Vol. #6. The Haynes Index is something entirely different. Eventually you will want that as invaluable, but there are a lot of other books that will help you build a basic foundation first. As I believe Rich said... do a lot of soul searching to learn what appeals to you. Even then, you will find your tastes change a bit over time. At 45, you are in the young end of the pool, so you have decades to decide what you like. I force myself to keep a small collection so that I need think about every piece. When something comes in, something has to go out. That sort of philosophy works for me. Try and make it to Tampa. Paying the annual fee for the Florida Token Kai gets you into the show free (I hope that is still true!), and is about the same as 3day admission to the show. Don't be afraid to walk up to someone and start asking questions. Some of us are kooks, but many are good people. If you get a kook, politely bow out and simply go to someone else. Eventually you will run into Peter or me or one of the other guys who are happy to jabber about tsuba and fittings for hours on end. Curran

There is an Owari Den tsuba book (aka. Big Blue Book) that has the silhouette drawing of 39 or 40 Yagyu tsuba design. There is also the Japanese Swords in European Collections (written in German and English) that has a section showing a number of good Yagyu tsuba. Curran

Cool. I look forward to it. There is a storm forming now that I am a little concerned may become a Wilma part 2. We'll see in about 36 hours. I believe you are several hours away by car. If you feel like it, boat to our dock. We're on a bay only about 1000ft from the Intercostal Water Way, but we only have about 5 to 6 ft of depth. Not sure that is enough for your boat. Curran

Kyo sukashi basically means "Kyoto" sukashi. Kyo being short for Kyoto in this instance. Sukashi just being the openwork (null space) style. Kyo sukashi usually refers to the open work sukashi tsuba of a certain "aesthetic sense" associated with the refinement of Kyoto. Some of them are truely elegant. I don't know if Bob Benson attribution is 100% correct, but it is relatively close enough. You aren't missing much in Florida currently. Too much rain. Luckily no hurricanes so far- *knock on wood* (is that just an American saying, or internationally recognized?). Curran

Mike, My pleasure to help. I've been too busy recently to keep up with the NMB as much as I'd like, but felt I could help on this one. Hope I'm right on all of it. I do have one minor correction: My post should read "Higo or Edo HIGO production". In shortest version: Higo style having gained in popularity in Edo (Tokyo) and being a bit far from Higo, artisans (some from Higo and some local joes) set up in Edo to mimick the style for sale locally. Their work is known as "Edo Higo". With tsuba it seems often possible to distinguish Edo Higo from Higo with a fair degree of confidence. With kozuka, I doubt I could say what is Higo vs Edo Higo. Curran

Mike, Just off the top of my head quick thoughts: Higo style rain or water/river dragon . The kozuka being iron is nice. Ones in decent condition seem to be more and more difficult to find, given than the majority of soft metal ones and the nature of iron kozuka to deteriorate if not cared for more than the soft metal ones need. Often the iron ones are Higo or related product. So I'd hazard a guess yours is probably a Higo product or Edo I'd guess mid to late Edo. I'm not much into kozuka, so take my thoughts as novice. Hope it helps. Curran

Nigel, See if this one fits the bill: http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/hb ... _tsuba.htm Curran