Ray Singer

Thank you Franco, the polish was done by Kuroda-san, a mukansa togishi. The activity in the ji was brought out beautifully, with bright chikei throughout the sword. My photos don't capture this at all. As for the yokote, this was present in the previous polish...

Curran, I think you are right about a third generation working prior to Oei. I went back through my papers and Tanobe's original letter (pre-polish) states that the sword was made in late Nambokucho and would be a work of either the second or third generation. It is interesting that the sayagaki seems to include the shodai as a possibility...

Hi Paul and Veli, Unfortunately I neglected to take photos of the nakago before leaving town this weekend but I will take some when I get back. The ken horimono is original. The two hi formed by the sides of the ken continue in parallel with the soe-bi, running deep into the nakago. The suriage is very old, at least mid-muromachi, and the nakago is well finished in kurijiri. You can actually see another example of this style of horimono in another posting in this forum... viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5678 What I am fairly certain is not original though is the short bo-hi in the ji. My feeling is that it was added to excise some kizu in the blade. Actually, this is the main reason I am not submitting for juyo. The sword is otherwise flawless and very healthy, however I am certain that this piece of ato-bori would keep the sword from passing... - Ray

Wow Stephen, you have an excellent memory . It was 1999, and the sword I found in Tampa was a shodai Hizen Masahiro. Unfortunately I had to sell that piece along with a few others to purchase a very special ju-to Enju tachi being offered by Bob Benson. I will post photos of the Enju later in the week. The next owner of the Masahiro had a nice Higo style koshirae made. It recently sold on Mike Yamazaki's website: http://www.ricecracker.com/japanese_swo ... a/sk16.htm

One of the forum members asked that I post photos of my Nobukuni. Tanobe placed this piece to late Nambokucho, and was not able to give the specific generation. Sayagaki with translation follows... 城劦信國 – Joshu (= Yamashiro no kuni) Nobukuni 但薙刀直無銘也初代與應永信國ノ閒ニ位置スル工而年代ハ南北朝末期也 地刃ノ出来宜敷殊ニ互乃目ノ刃取ノ形ニ其特色ヲ顕現シ候彫物モ巧技也 - However, it is a Naginata-naoshi without a mei. The smith is thought to be Nobukuni between the 1st generation and later one in Oei era, and the period is around late Nambokucho. The workmanship of the blade is good. Especially, the shape of its Gunome pattern clearly shows his characteristic. Also the carving is excellent.

Thanks Stephen, I will definitely get take some photos of the Nobukuni and upload later in the day. Brian's habaki is interesting in that the gold koke pattern overlays another pattern of straight yasurimei... Thank you Moriyama-san for the translation of Tanobe-san's sayagaki. This basically affirms his earlier letter about the sword... Best regards, Ray

I only had an hour to visit the show this past weekend and may have simply missed these pieces, but I did not see the Hasebe daito or the Suiryuken koshirae on display (both pictured in the catalog). Is the plan to exhibit these later in the show? - Ray

I need to share the beautiful habaki Brian Tschernega did for this piece... - Ray

Would greatly appreciate assistance translating the sayagaki on a Nobukuni naginatanaoshi in my collection. The sword was sent for Tokubetsu Hozon prior to polish and passed to Nobukuni, late Nambokuchi jidai. At the time, Tanobe-san sent a letter saying that it was difficult in its current polish to determine whether this was a work of the shodai or nidai. Please see the photo below of his sayagaki after polish was completed... Best regards, Ray

Interesting placement of the mei on this piece... https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/en/auct ... 1213703271 I assume that space was reserved on the nakago for an additional inscription, perhaps this was one of 2-3 pieces made for a special order. Thoughts? - Ray