Curran

Yes and yes in support of Christian and David's post. I prefer Owari To Mikawa No Tanko by Sugawara to the German publication "Ausgewählte Japanische Kunstschwerter" But the book is very hard to find these days. It will be one of the last books I ever sell, and it has an excellent section on Norisuke (personal favorite) that I think is better than the Nagoya NBTHK book specifically on Norisuke.

Your trip is much envied. I appreciate it 10x over for your documentation and sharing. I may follow in your footsteps next year, though not sure if to beg Piers hospitality or make my way with my own limited Japanese.

Yep... Absolutely interesting to me. Thanks for posting that Eric. I'm hell on my platinum wedding band, so switched to a simple stainless steel one that holds up better. Yet the functional steel it is plain jane. I enjoyed the meteorite rings and wonder how they'd hold up to the abuse I put on rings. I also loved their comment about magnets and the meteor ring. I admit it was fun to watch the post docs (PhDs) to turn on one of the big old MRI machines back in 1992-1993 and see things react in the clean room. Watches and rings.... bang zip right across the room.

Interesting thread revived by Ken. @ Eric, have any pictures of the ring?

F-ugly one that you linked to in Japan. However, as regards Nishigaki tsuba, the kozuka or kogai opening can be and often is worked into the design. Attached is an image of a Nishigaki Kampei. Please notice the kogai ana is partially shaped by the flower on the river. Kampei was the slightly younger brother of the Nidai Nishigaki "Kanshiro". He and is brother worked together for many years and only died a few years apart. His work is usually signed on the back, whereas his brother's work is rarely signed.

Clive, I do not know much about Bakumatsu horimono, as my horimono interest has always been in much earlier blades. In 2000 or so, I purchased the Horimono Taikan book from CHris Bowen. It is an excellent book that I do not have here at this office apartment- too large, so it is back at the house in Florida. The book is extensive and can be incredibly detailed on some subjects. If you have access to this book, it might have some rewarding information regarding Bakumatsu horimono. I purchased a sword a few years later and looked up the horimono in the book. It turned out to be one of the 4 examples in the book of that particular dedication. Excellent resource.

Ono, or close. Not Hoan.

now that is just evil. ~Dr. Evil looks over the control panel to determine which chair you are in and to find the right button.

Chris, If I find another example of the Porcini tsuba, you will laugh. I am sure they are meant to be another type of mushroom, but the design looks like an Italian contadini's dream. Marius, To see it as a squirrel makes more sense, but I have seen too many very old paintings where the rendering of a 'fox' looks too much like a squirrel. I don't have an answer. Maybe Ford is right and "Occam's Razor" = it is a squirrel. But BaZZa <-> Robert Haynes are right about confusion with this possibly being a fox or even a nine-tailed fox. I don't have the answer. I don't know enough Japanese mythology or legends to understand it. Hence why I call for Guido or someone like Morita-san to give an opinion. The only other thing to note is that the animal or 9 tailed fox is over water. Maybe this is just the design, or maybe it refers to a legend. Per the 9 tailed fox wikipedia reference; "In 1113, a samurai called Sakabe Yukitsuna (坂部行綱) with no children picked up an abandoned baby girl Mizukume (藻女, girl of algae) which was actually the nine-tailed fox transformed, and raised her for 17 years. At the age of 18 she changed her name to Tamamo-no-Mae". Girl of algae? Was she plucked from the sea like sea-weed? Or from the sea shore? Does this design refer to this? Or maybe it is just a tsuba design of a squirrel on the sea.

Squirrel was my first thought, but I came to question it. Are squirrels indigenous to Japan or were they introduced later, like corn and many other things? Though it looks like a squirrel to my eyes, I have seen earlier rendering of foxes in Korean paintings and earlier Japanese metalwork that look more like Squirrels. The Korean Gumio (Gumiho, or 9 tailed fox) often looks like a friggin squirrel to my eyes. I don't know if the Japanese also have the Gumio / Gumiho in their mythology? Guido or any other Japan guru know?

The first two I think are by the same hand. Different though. Waves are longer on one than on other. Some other differences. I don't think cast. The third is rather different. Wave crests positive out of the plate rather than into it. Also, some much more different waves. It is difficult to tell how similar the fox is on each. I see differences, but am not sure they are simply not wear on the fox. Having seen 'fox' menuki on a few occasions, I too believe this may be a fox. Is the fox inset onto or into the plate, or is it carved as part of the plate? ___________________________________ The fox being a messenger of Inari, is it too far a logic jump to wonder if these tsuba might denote messengers or messenger status? See this on the man's hip, and know right away his role / status. That is just a thought question.

Christian, There is the old old_old saying that things "happen in 3s". To my surprise, this also happens with tsuba. Maybe Mariuszk never sees another of these? He has pulled off a "hat trick" (3 goals in one game). I will continue looking for my particular Ono mushroom design tsuba. I call it the Porcini tsuba.

Late Edo tsuba: three relatively matching, is not uncommon. Three near matching 'ko-kinko'... very rare. ______________________________________________________________________ My experience over the years is that I see a design I like and see a near twin maybe a few months later. I decide that I like it and will buy the next one I see. Then I never see another.... There is an Ono tsuba design of mushrooms.... I saw 3 in 8 months. I tried to grab the 3rd one, but someone bought it before me. I am waiting 4 or 5 years to see another of these. Also, the same with a certain ko-akasaka design. Years ago saw one on a website, another at a show, and a third in a book. Never seen another.... tried to buy the one at the show...but it was expensive and by the time I came back with the cash... it was gone.

Thank you. Finer grain than most american oak I know, beautiful color with age, light weight (at least on the kake) and strong. Interesting.

Partial non sequitor here: what is the wood used in this gun stock? The sword kake I have is dated and location of manufacture on the bottom to 1753. The wood grain and color looks near identical to this gun stock.

Ease up guys.

It is a very traditional bonji. It is one of the first carved, and probably will be one of the last carved when the last Japanese sword is made some day in the distant future.

Read Paul's reply first. He has much more tact and elegance than that of which I am normally capable. ~At 6am with no coffee, I wrote the most restrained reply I could.~

At your current level of study, advice is to buy something papered. If you live in the North America, advice also is to do it from an American source. Wait for the right item, and then haggle until you are happy with the deal. Otherwise, you are really pissing forward into a strong wind. Customs issues, brutal currency rate, and ebay pillow promises of what something is/isn't? I think the previous thread was correct, but see it is gone now. A ware or two in a koto blade is fairly common, but that is irrelevant here. If you are determined to piss into the wind, please let us stand way back now. If you persist in this, I don't think you will be around very long.

Welcome Alton, There seems to be quite an active group in Hawaii, or at least a few members on the NMB from Hawaii plus Bob Benson and his student Woody H.

Ford is very right about the tsuba being different. Most notable is positive waves on one being raised, while on the other they carve into the plate. The yamagane sanmai construction is a bit of a logic mystery. _____________________________________________________________ To return to the original thread, I too see a sanmai style tsuba.

Tre ja vu?? http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e126994319 My experience with such things is the cosmos shows us two or three within 6 months, then we never see another. There are two Ono and one Ko-Akasaka designs that I have had this experience and am still waiting several years for the next one, having let the previous two or three go...

Mariusz, One of these tsuba came up for sale recently in Japan. I was trying to remember where I'd seen it before. I don't think it was as clean as your example, but still a ringer.

BaZZa, I believe I've seen this a few times. The sets I've seen are bound in red. They really don't come up that often, and I didn't remember it was a 5 vol set. I thought it was more like 3 vol? A Reverend in the Philadelphia area showed me his copy along with a bunch of arrowheads he had polished by a (semi-) amateur friend.

Ed and Morita-san, thank you for posting the images. At best, I have an old old old version of Adobe Photoshop and have a slow time of even the most minor photowork. Ed, I agree I instinctively like the Jingo most. I'd love to have a kinko example. I have 2 iron examples from this school. Good Jingo often look and feel phenomenally better in person, but Ginza Choshuya's pictures do this one justice. I was trying to decide if I think this is 3rd or 4th Gen work. I have this 4th gen monster (photos). The iron feels like depleted unranium, and is extremely distinct feel (texture) like ferrous velvet. ***Kantei point would be the unusual shape of nakago ana both at the top and bottom.