Curran

Most of his koshirae are added or retrofitted koshirae. Far from original. It is quite the cottage industry, as more non-Japanese pour into the market for this high grade relatively low cost art form. Many of the newer generation of foreign buyers want that koshirae, even if they are slapped together. Cary Condell would make them tastefully, ensuring your Juyo NOrishige had the koshirae to match. Some of the lower end Japanese dealers... a bit more slapdash. In recent years, most swords under 10k will now come with [koshirae]. Let us call it lipstick on old dames.

Hi Tom, I believe top one you shared listed as "Higo" is originally a Ko-Shoami design seen on the Nobunaga koshirae? Correct me if I am wrong.- Later on it would become a standard of the Higo schools, especially with H. Nakane making many of that design often with some silver around the edge. Supposedly Hosokawa commissioned the shodai Kanshiro to make 6 of them for his generals. I had one consigned through me about 8 years ago and wish I had bought it. The attribution to Kanshiro and the fact that there were 6 of them is all per the NBTHK. I wouldn't have known if it were not for the knowledge dropped on me then. I am not sure I would consider that one a namako design, and guess I should see if I have records of the NBTHK papers to be sure. Along the Hayashi-Kamiyoshi lines of Higo, I've owned a few of this namako variety. I have a Hayashi Tohachi one that is like a blinged out version of the originals, but my favorite one is a plain jane iron one I picked up from a friend a few years ago. It looks very much like the original ones supposedly by M. Musashi, but is not as thick as the M. Musashi ones. As you know, a very well regarded collector in your neck of the USA has a few of the originals... as if they were that easy to own one, yet alone own a few of them. That is beyond my level.

I had reason to do business with samurai shokai (サムライ商会) recently. While he is gruff due to language limitations, it was an incredibly smooth efficient transaction where he even warned me about the ivory component on a shirasaya and how we could avoid the customer issues associated with ivory. If reason arises, I'll gladly do business with him. He isn't Mr. Warm-n-Fuzzy, but my experience with him was very positive. Curran

"Japanese WW2 Sword, taken by my grandfather, from dead Japanese soldier in the Philippines. " With post WW2 silver cat-scratch habaki. I thought those were more a product of the 1990s-2000s (?)

If it works out, I will. It might be a while though.

For many years the NBTHK accepted the "1970s" green papers (most are from the 1970s, not all) as a ticket giving you a discount on modern papers. After 20-25 years of this, they seem to have said no more. Probably it was about 8 years ago, when there seems to have been a significant changing of the guard behind the doors at the NBTHK. I'm surprised the NBTHK kept or lost your green papers. --> I have an important tsuba out of the woodwork with old green papers. I think the signature 98% correct and better than some in the Wakayama references the NBTHK relies on so heavily. I'd like to present the green papers with other evidence, but do not wish to lose them. A color photocopy and scan might be in order. Green papers are not considered 'valid' anymore, but have a certain gamblers element to them. The very old base white paper have/had practically no value. Some newbies think they (green and white) are valid papers. Some more advanced collectors think they have 0 (zero) worth. In practice, my opinion is that (green papers) are somewhere in between. You have to do your own research. Two of my "Favorite 10" are old mumei pieces that came with green papers that were best effort opinions in the early 1970s. Since then, they've done much better TH to specific makers of great reputation. One of them I will give a shot at Juyo shina next year or the following, though odds of passing are low since not signed. Conversely, something green paper with Somin, Soyo, Omori Teruhide, Yamakichibei, Nobuiye or other such bigger names is unlikely to paper that way in the modern era. Could happen, but it probably won't.

My apologies. I think my tone was overly harsh. My current work at university is largely scolding professors about financial and resource management. That tone I have to use with them seems to have crept into my NMB posts.

Forgive me Piers, but I must disagree with that one. It is akin to comparing an original 19th century Tiffany lamp to the Tiffany & Co. products of the 21st century. Ko-Mino and Mino are clearly related, but Edo era Mino work is largely a sellout departure from the Ko-Mino works that were on par with Ko-Goto. It took me 17 years of actively looking to manage to buy a non Juyo Ko-Mino tsuba. There is a reason so many of the Ko-Mino pieces are Juyo, and I doubt the later Mino ones have many or any Juyo. Same line, but the craftmanship certainly declined into volume over top quality.

I believed I looked at this one on Yahoo!Japan the other day. Old green papers (1970s) that paper these to "Mino". Not "Ko Mino". Big value difference. Otherwise, I didn't see anything wrong with this auction. Just some up-selling to call these Ko-Mino (roughly pre-1600) when they are Edo Mino.

AH. I was too slapdash. Marishiten and warriors. That is interesting. Wild boars or warthogs are my family emblem, plus the emblem of the graduate school the wife and I attended. Guido also was fond of the theme. I love to see them in art, from the cinghiale of Italy to the inoshisshi of Japan.

I hope the first weekend in November. Closer to USA Thanksgiving is a problem for some of us, or at least me.

It says, "IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE!" _________________________________________ Is that not the Buddhist Heart Sutra? I didn't look too close, but it looks rather familiar. Have I seen it before? Yes, on Norisuke tsuba. A collector in NY has a katana sized one. I'd like to own that one.

$50? I thought it a good price. I have 2 copies of the better books like this one. I agree with Franco. - Before Nagayama, I would recommend The Craft of the Japanese Sword as a good primer for Month #1. If serious, you will eventually own both.

Great answer by John. I liked Kunitomo and Hazama tsuba for years, though few outside of Japan seem to appreciate them. Sahari inlay is neither iron nor exactly soft metal. A 3rd category of session, and a lonely one - but I liked them.

Geraint- I have to admit I totally failed to realize that the ana was within the seppa dai area. I've seen only one exception, (classified as toppei) where the mechanism was like the above toppei, but it was 2 pin levers front and back that locked inside the brass piece around the koiguchi of the saya. Even that was more of a 'catch' than a clip system. It did not lock tight like the toppei tanto koshirae, nor as I think the WW2 ones do. So now I am a little stumped. I can imagine reasons to do it, but I don't recall seeing an intact koshirae with this thin little slot ana being of some use.

That concerned me too, as I thought WW2 swords had a larger clipping mechanism. I know little of WW2 koshirae. Tsuba were being given these side ana as soon as toppei koshirae entered the scene in the later half of the 1800s. Attached is an image of a toppei koshirae made c.1860-1865 for a yoroi doshi. See clipping mechanism.

As David said: WW2 added clip ana, which may have necessitated the re-pickling of the shakudo. Over the years, I've learned the repickling is more common than I would have imagined. It must be tricky though, as even a very capable professional has shown me some of his 'oops' jobs.

Yes, basically this and also, interests or focus changes. I've sort of maxed out Higo tsuba collecting short of getting into the Juyo ones, which is a big price jump. I've found myself focusing more on higher end pre-Momoyama tsuba from early tachi tsuba, ko-tosho, to the best ko-kinko I can find. For each one in, out must go a Higo tsuba. Sometimes I or a dealer upload old photos, rather than bother to take new photos.

It feels more like a late Edo Futogoya Norisuke school hommage to the earlier Yamakichibei style tsuba. The Futogoya largely became the restoration specialist for central Japan. Something happened to the family sword koshirae: ask them to may a piece that was in keeping with the original. The gold plug filled hitsuana are a little on the large side, but maybe that was in keeping with something else. This is a tsuba where it is hard to say with precision: it is A, or it is B. Just not enough evidence. If you sent it in for NBTHK papers 3 times, you'd probably get at least 2 different answers.

There are several by him. The "Gold" one probably late 1970s or early 1980s, then the larger "Silver" edition in the 1990s with the much better photography. There are other books too, but probably the Silver is most pertinent to your interests. Amongst the ko-tosho, this one has become decently priced as the US$ has gotten stronger: https://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-mumeiunsignedko-tosho-2/ There are other more high brow and thus considerably more expensive ones. It sort of depends what qualities of ko-tosho and ko-katchushi interest you. I am a bit of a latecomer to them, despite having been collecting a long time.

Yes, as Tom said "Tosogu Classroom" is another favorite. It is hard to believe I forgot to mention that one. Probably I presumed Tom and mentioned it. Please remember ko-tosho and ko-katchushi were produced in a decentralized way and by artists whose primary work of swords and armor were quite different than sword guards. This is to say that the decentralized nature of production means a wide variety of material and specifications. While there are some trends in periods along the long long timeline, there is a lot of variation. Studying ko-tosho and ko-katchushi is often more about appreciating the ageing process of iron and the wear patterns developed over many centuries. Thus, it is hard to write a definitive textbook about them when there are so many exceptions. Still, Sasano did quite the job.

Aoi Arts? Tsuruta-san has been around forever. He was old even when I was young. Their physical presence has almost always been next to the NBTHK, old site and then the new location. Because of the Pandemic, I have not yet visited them in their new location. Perhaps due to their location, many or most of their items have NBTHK papers. The attributions of items with NBTHK papers is fairly accurate, but the tsuba themselves tend to be 'beater' examples with a few nice ones popping up now and then. Aoi Arts' pricing can be erratic (high and low), relative to the condition. Don't try and infer too much from their prices.

I'd agree that most museum attributions cannot be trusted. Even the Boston Museum collection has some issues and attributions that were best guesses. 2 exceptions: [1] The Tokyo National Museum Tsuba book is an exception. [2] Also, Markus Sesko is at the New York Met these days. Most anything he has reviewed will be correct or very close to it. There is also a private museum website that is good, but I am forgetting the name right now.

This tsuba was mine for many years, before I sold it in 2013 or 2014. According to the Japanese owner from whom I bought it, the character is a Tale of the Genji reference. I never verified that claim, but was told something similar by another Japanese authority.

Good to hear from you Ron. I was going to answer, but Jussi hit it out of the ballpark while I was typing. Thank you Jussi. Very well done.