Curran

For your kitchen, to prop up a table, or some sort of door/curtain pull?

Steve and Tim both nailed it out of the park. As Tim said, *most* of the later generations paper to "Kodai Hoan". A "Hoan" paper implies fairly early in the school, just as Ko-Akasaka generally means first 3 generations of Akasaka. Hizen tsuba also employed acid etching, but the iron and execution tend to be noticeably different. No yakite or other surface melting affect.

Wow Morita-san. You Rock the Translation Section. You and Markus Sesko are our Saints of Translation. Thank you. I realized that I asked this question 5 years ago. I did not realize that I had owned this set for over 5 years and asked this question long ago. Apologies for bothering you 2 times. Thank you again. This time, I document it.

The kashira has the classic crepe texture which is considered by some to be a kantei point for Jochiku. It is outside my Higo and Owari interests, but Jochiku is Jochiku. Perhaps this is the only one I will ever own, but great to study it and grok Jochiku better for it.

I'll share this much. I don't like how Google seems to pick up my images, and I've come across a few of them being shown in other forums by people claiming they own the piece. The other side of the fuchi is a temple entryway painting, where Jochiku signed his name on the painting.

IN honor of Cicadageddon and respects to Mark, I saw this one for Sale. https://www.kusanaginosya.com/SHOP/74.html "Nara ?-masa saku" Being likely a Nara artist, I am sure the suaka is a nice deep color.

Better pics of the 3rd and 4th character.

Ah, 如 意 can also be read "Ruyi" as in religious scepter: https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Ruyi_(scepter) And: modern Japanese usage, the loanword nyoi 如意 "as desired; as [one] wishes" means "ease; comfort; freedom" or "(Buddhist) priest's staff". A few Buddhist temples in Japan are named with Nyoi. Nyoi-ji 如意寺, a Tendai temple in Kobe, and a Shingon temple in Kyōtango, Kyoto Nyoirin-ji 如意輪寺, a Pure Land Buddhism temple in Yoshino, Nara, famous for a Nyoi-rin image by En no Gyōja Besides temples, some other proper names include Nyoigatake 如意ケ嶽 "as-desired peak" is located near Kyoto, and the site of a 1509 AD battle, the Nyoi-gatake no Tatakai 如意ケ嶽の戦い Nyoi-jizai 如意自在 "as-desired carefree, completely free and unconstrained" is the name of a yōkai spirit in Toriyama Sekien's 1781 AD Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro Nyoi no Watashi 如意の渡し "as-desired crossing" is a ferry on the Oyabe River in Toyama Prefecture So 如 意 (?) 足 might be a place name. Or 如 意 can mean "As one desires" and 足 can mean "foot". So this might be a Foot Fetish thing???? [joke]

So far we have " 如 意 (?) 足" "Nioi (?) soku". I am assuming this is a Buddhist or Zen Buddhist phrase, but I have not been able to find a match via Google. I will try for a better photo of that 3rd character.

3rd try... what the heck. Flips it every time.

oops. That posted upside-down. Trying again. Hmmmm.... It is going in one way, but seems to be flipping when posting to NMB.

This is a Murakami Jochiku that received TH last year. It is signed with his personal name on the other side of the fuchi. The shrine gong (with pull) is inlaid with writing, very difficult for my naked eye to see. Conjecture from a knowledgeable friend is that it is a shrine dedication. Anyone willing to venture a reading on it? It is beyond my level.

Impressive! Having fitted boxes and shifuku made in Japan is quite expensive. Mailing and agent fees have risen a good bit after the Pandemic. I don't think people realize how much expense that tacks on to an item. For it to be cost effective, I only do so about every 2 years: usually with one or two friends joining in. If sending to shinsa in Japan, best to have the boxes made then. As I get more to the high TH and low Juyo end of the spectrum, most come with papers, fitted box, and shifuku. Heaven knows when I will have more fitted boxes made, though I have two good ones out of the woodwork in the last year that will eventually need a higher end box.

Like sands of the hourglass, My intent is 2/3rds humor and 1/3rd serious. Piers was far more poignant. I cannot match that.

Juyo papers and what looks like a modern Tanobe-san sayagaki? It might be crazy to put it on Yahoo!Japan, or it might catch a Russian bidder.

That is a good primer. I've been at this a long time and collect mostly Higo or Owari schools, but sometimes something totally away from those groups will artistically or philosophically connects with me. It doesn't matter what -school- it is. If I like it that much, I buy n keep it. Thus I have a Saotome, Ko-Nara, and two Ko-Akasaka owned for many years now. I love the Ko-Nara far above its financial value. NBTHK papers are nice, but at some point you eventually take off the training wheels. Also, NBTHK tosogu opinions aren't what they once were. The time and expense of getting them has risen at least +50% in the last few years, and the opinions a bit more slapdash than those from 1983-2013 reference frame.

Time for 2024 dose of zen. Still need to get to Japan and Australia. Discussing with the wife.

This is exactly what I do, using bluetape over paper bands done in spiral and counter spiral binding. Then some cotton binding around this while it sets. I don't want too much direct pressure in any one area. I ended up steaming and using the dental floss trick until I could get enough purchase to ***slowly*** split it with a large [wedge-like] flatblade knife we own. I had to be careful, as I have seen other people have the wood split unevenly. Striking the tsuka on the nakago ana side up would make sense in many cases. This particular tsuka has a ridiculously thick horn ring around the nakago ana section, so I preferred to work from the other end and see if I could split it and wiggle out the sections without damaging the very thick horn ring. Thank you gentlemen for the input. Tomorrow we will see if my 2nd attempt is a better fit.

Perhaps best to give it a rub-down, now and then, with some undyed flannel. Over time, you'd be surprised how much that can help a tsuba. These little art objects don't get handled as much as they once did when in use and resting against someone's kimono.

Very good first purchase. Is the red from light fresh rust (you can probably halt or fix with a brush at this point), or did someone paint or lacquer it red? My memory says the school is from Kyushu, but I would have to find it again either in the Nihonto Koza or Torigoye. I still owe another member here some Goto references...., so I am hoping someone else can nail it first. One of our Italian members has a great database of NBTHK school attributions. It is definitely better than my first tsuba purchase back in 1992.

Ah yes. Thank you- this is a very good idea- provided there is a enough suction. I don't have access to the lab grade hoovers of years past. I can seal the menuki opening tightly and give it a try. If this doesn't work, then @Brian steam'o'rama it will be. For a tosogu collector, this is a rare problem for me.

Backstory: From a local collector, I inherited a decent shinto echizen blade. Shirasaya was a mess and the patina on the copper habaki was cleaned or stripped. I split the shirasaya parts with the old dental floss trick, and reglued with rice glue. This is the 3rd or 4th time I have had to do this in the last 25 years. It came out well. Perhaps too well. Handle [tsuka] section is too tight. AND.... during trying to loosen it, I got a piece of fine-grit sandpaper wedged inside the handle [tsuka] section. I need to resplit the tsuka section of the shirasaya, but the rice glue job is too tight. Anyone have working knowledge of how I can soften up the rice-glue to resplit the shirasaya handle? Microwave??? I wanted to get advice here before experimenting with anything new.

He has been around for a long time. Knowledgeable enough and fair. I have had at least two exceptional buys from him over the past decade.

Indeed, the show was Great. It surprised significantly on the upside. Mark did a phenomenal job. Even the taxi service was surprisingly good if you had access to an I-phone. I regret that I only spent 1 day there. It was my first show in 5 years. Next year, I will be back. Thank you Mark.

Thank you. The old ones get en-vogue for a while, but currently seem out of vogue. I thought it would sell fast at that price, but only not too serious tire-kickers. Things like Shingen tsuba, which you couldn't give away 5 years ago, currently seem to be very en-vogue.