Promo

Re-read mail, my mistake: he referred to the book but the two blades were from his references. Sorry!

First of all, I mixed up the links earlier. I originally wanted to post this link showing a great summary of Yamada Gosaburo: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/7561/ Jussi, good tip. Markus came up with another Masayuki blade that has a cutting test and is shown in the book on the Masayuki/Kiyomaro exhibition - interestingly a Wakizashi, made a year prior to my blade (hence 1840), also in Naginata shape - and very interesting, NO name of the person who performed the cutting test. Plus no date - Markus confirmed that no separate date for a cutting test means it was performed when made. Small side note: would be cool to have both of them - a Masayuki daisho with blades in similar shape where both have cutting tests... But to get back, Markus also told me something I was not aware of (and forgive me if I'm using modern terms/non-nihonto/non-Japanese usual wording): Munetsugu seemed to not think the best of Kiyomaro, what might had resulted in the Yamada family being loyal to their "own" smith and not really worked with Kiyomaro. The lack of a name of the person who performed the cutting test therefore would make sense to me, at least for the first blade where they made a cutting test for Kiyomaro.

Sounds weird, but this also (to me) means promising! Jussi though managed to find another one. Seems now there are two! Jussi, as usual excellent archival assitance. You truly are a gift to this forum and all members here with all the excellent information you are able to provide. A big THANKS from my side again! Could you let me know why you think the cutting tests by Yamada Gosaburō were done at the same time or very close when the blade was made? I assume due to a lack of an additional date when it was performed, which might was thought to be not necessary when done when made? If that is the case, would you assume the same for my blade? Edit, found this site here with an excellent and full review of the life of Yamada Yoshitoshi/Yamada Gosaburō: https://www.nihonto.com/koyama-munetsugu-固山宗次/ This one is also interesting in that the blade shown has also a cutting test performed by Yamada Yoshitoshi/Yamada Gosaburō, that one however with a date. If the ones that Jussi mentioned of being done when the Munetsugu blades were originally manufactured have no date for the cutting test on them, I then should clearly assume the cutting test on my blade was done when made. Going a bit further by assuming this is the case, would this indicate my blade was in the possession of the Yamada family/purchased by the Yamada family? If yes, are there any documentation on the Yamada family and their sales which possibly could contain additional information?

I just realized that (to my understanding) Tokubetsu Hozon also means the cutting test signature is authentic. So far the discussion was mainly on the smith. Can anyone educate me on this? I've seen where this cut is done, but is the proper translation really "Golden Wild Goose"? And any history on Yamada Gosaburō that is worth mentioning? Plus maybe a bit tougher to answer, how common/uncommon are cutting tests in combination with Masayuki/Kiyomaro blades? Pulling the translation I was given from the very beginning of this thread:

John & Chris, thanks for the compliments! Christopher, don't worry - Oshigata and professional pictures were already "ordered". They finally are something to then share in here too. Michael, the blade is already polished. It was sent to Japan, Tanobe confirmed signature being authentic, then submitted to NBHTK Shinsa where it was also confirmed original, but papers will only be issued to blade in polish. Therefore it got a double gold habaki, shirasaya and was polished by Saito, submitted again for December shinsa where the result now was Tokubetsu Hozon paper achieved. So all done. Not sure if I should submit it to Juyo though, would mean another year in Japan.

Some time since the last update ... today I got informed that the result notification of the NBTHK Shinsa came in, it achieved Tokubetsu Hozon.

Last four pictures I could not attach to the previous post.

I've tried a few more shots to show some details, they are attached. Do they help identifying the smith?

I might be attracted by the items where I don't know what I'll be getting, at least that is how I may explain the purchase of the attached shown blade to myself. I did not get a picture of the tang (because the seller didn't know how to disassemble the blade) prior to buying it, but I had hoped for the best, still I was a bit disappointed to see it was unmarked. But since I nevertheless like it and the price was not too high I still don't feel bad for having bought it. A friend suggested this Katana might had been made around 1920 - I suppose he is correct, not only because he knows way more than I do, but also because it is quite obvious it isn't too old. Still it seems to have a nice hamon and be of a certain quality. Yet I'll need to properly clean it and hopefully be able to make a few more pictures that show more details of the blade. Looking forward to any comments on it!

The tachi I had obtained earlier this year spent his life since 1945 in a shirasaya inside a wooden box - it still had some rust pittings. So I guess storing it inside a shirasaya does not protect a blade from rust, especially since you wouldn't see rust that soon if you just store it this way (you don't take all your blades out of shirasaya daily, do you?!). Therefore assuming a blade is in shirasaya then again in a permanently closed bag for conservation I think it will be tough to check if it requires some additional care. So I would assume if I displayed a bare blade I would see it more often and therefore also oil and care more often and easier, plus if nothing can touch it aside of the air, it depends on the air where you live and how you live - or do I understand this wrongly?

But given he has “normal“ humidity and not lives close to the sea there is nothing wrong with storing a blade outside the shirasaya?

So despite him putting the blade in a glass cabinet and therefore protected from anything that could come through the air (well, aside of light) it still is recommended to store it within the shirasaya?! What if you display just the bare blade right next to the koshirae? This way its not on the blade but both are visible.

Thanks for the compliments, feels like home if people here are happy with me and not envious of what I had stumbled upon like it happened elsewhere. I'm myself highly looking forward to post pictures of the blade once I have it back! And Tom Darling, no worries, there are not plans from my side to sell it - I'm keen myself to hold it in hands. Yes, Darcy is aware of this blade, in fact he even contacted me when I originally had posted here. He also offered to do the work, but since that would had meant that I'd had to consign the blade finally with him for sale, I decided to use someone else. Despite following recommendations by more experienced persons than myself I prefer to always have full control over it, plus I would never let myself get in the situation to be forced to part with something.

Thank you for this evaluation! I didn't pay much for them and thought they would be good to start with. I've found time to do better pictures of all three, now with the new camera and not mobile phone. They are attached, maybe they would allow telling more. Geraint, it looks much more worn and seems to have digs and dents. Do you see this differently? Curious to learn on this! The dimensions are: Dragon Tsuba: 85 mm height, 79 mm width Round one: 85 mm height, 85 mm width small one: 67 mm height, 63 mm width

Sorry for the wrong wording and posting them upside down! Truly a beginner mistake that should not had happened. Since I could not edit the starting post any more please find attached the images now 180° turned.

From a seller in Germany I got these three Tsubas, he had bought them many years ago on a trip to Asia. One is remarkably smaller than the other two. The largest one shows heavy signs of usage/damage, the condition of the other two however is nice. For being a full beginner I'd appreciate any feedback on these three, what the themes are called and if they are something special or common. THANKS!

All I can add is playing a bit around more in Photoshop with the pictures, to make yours look picture look like the one in the book and put them side to side. If this is of any help, see attachment.

Adam, at this point I do not want to speak on any investments from my side. I do not know the final costs myself (yet), I do not know what the value is when fully restored and papered, I'm only following what I'm being recommended to do by experts, so why discuss something like this? I have received help from this forum and several members in particular, by giving feedback to the current status and additional information I got I try to give some of this help back. That is the reason why I keep this thread alive. So even if the numbers Michael quoted are correct, wouldn't that be my problem what I'm investing in a hobby and as long as I'm happy with it, all should be fine? And finally, it is a bit weird if not rude for you to assume I would only do this for financial benefit and that you are sure it will be put on the market. Several times within this thread I made it clear that a) I can afford all of what so far was done plus b) I don't have the financial need to sell this item and I'm looking forward to the day I'll get it back. While my background surely is not the same of a person who dedicated centuries of his life to the study and collecting of Nihonto, I still can appreciate workmanship and give it a warm and good home as long as I am happy and pleased with it.

Hi Geraint, I did get to see a few snapshots, but since they are of rather poor quality and additional aren't mine (hence no rights to do anything with them at all) I will not post them here. To my amateur eyes the polish looks great, but who am I to give evaluations on nihonto. Re koshirae, as you can see with the first images the "koshirae" consisted of tsuka, habaki and tsuba. Neither of the three were sent to Japan since the tsuka is missing parts and badly damaged, the tsuba is not very special and not in best condition either. Plus the habaki was anyway already replaced by a double gold habaki.

Short update: the blade finished polish (by Saito Tsukasa, a Mukansa polisher), now carries a double gold habaki and has a new shirasaya. It will now go to NBTHK for papering again.

Thanks to all who had replied after my post. Attached a picture from above with markup. Note how perfectly smooth the surface in this area is, the first and very few file streaks become visible at height of first hole. Wouldn't this be a sign that it formerly was polished in this area and the blade originally was much longer? Secondly, I marked (or at least tried to mark) the line I was able to see .. it seems to extend back. Or do I see something wrong? I'll be shipping the blade out for evaluation tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get feedback soon and of course will share it in here. Finally and just to have it mentioned: it would had been easier if some in here had told me what to do to make a possible hamon visible. If it hadn't been for Kevin who told me what I should do, I would had put the blade aside as it is and made it a time capsule again. A bit frustrating for a beginner to only be told what it could be, but not what is needed to be able to find out more on it. I'm not here to only get opinions for free and sell at a profit (btw just to have it mentioned again and make it very clear: I'll not be selling!) based on the information I was given. I appreciate the opinions, but my goal is to learn based on an own blade, for maybe in a few decades to be able to tell this myself. PS: Tom Darling, while I did understand most of the posts in here, I honestly have no clue at all what you want to tell me (or others) with your single line posts. Maybe you could get a bit more in detail because I'm not a native speaker either and I'm not sure if you sometimes are being sarcastic or if your posts are directed at me or others. Thanks!

Chris and Paul, many thanks for your replies and all the others as well. I already spoke today with a knowledgeable person where I'll send the Tachi to (without having to ship it far away; I somehow do not feel comfortable knowing items of mine on another continent) where I'll hopefully get in-hand expert opinions. In the meantime I'd want to express big thanks to the neverending patience of Kevin who had been so helpful in educating me on all the terms, plus explaining what some in here meant. Based on his feedback I also took the big LED torch from my trunk and played around in a total black room. It seems there is nioi. As well as it looks like the hamon goes into the tang. But who am I to assess, attached some pictorial results of the outcome. Maybe I also recognized it wrong, but to me it appears as if it originally was polished up until at least the first hole, note the smooth surface, no file streaks at all. Please all forgive so much enthusiasm and so many newbie questions!

Disappointing, but understandable. This however means as someone only having limited to no personal contact among Nihonto collectors this basically tells me to put it aside and leave it as it is. Final notice then, just to have it mentioned in here as well: the blade seems to have been polished quite several times since it is much thicker at the rear (7,95mm at the thickest part) than just in front of the habaki (7,24mm). Hope the attached pictures show what I mean. This might also be interesting in context with the picture that I've posted on the previous page. It also has a clear step in the tang looking at it from the side. I'm re-attaching this picture as well.

I maybe should be the one to not speak on this, but could the Tachi be what Markus Sesko calls on his website "itame mixed with masame"? Playing around with the mobile phone I captured the attached shots which should show more details.

I've wiped off some rust with oil and clothing, I think that bit that is on it is only superficial and if I was to clean it a bit more I'm sure only a few darker spots will be left. Same thing that over the years I perfected with firearms. I don't really think it needs a good polish, most is still visible, a touch up should be fine since it has no rust that goes into the blade. Plus I've played around a bit more with the DSLR, quite unsatisfying if the mobile phone shows the grain better than a professional camera. Attached some results. And yes, the picture showing the blade from both sides were taken not from perfect middle at 90 degree, hence it looks weird that the holes are not mirrored. Fault of the photographer, sorry. Only wanted to illustrate the shape of the blade with this picture, I hope it does.