Toryu2020

Roger - its clear you have a nice blade by Ryumon Nobuyoshi with a sayagaki by Tanobe Sensei of the NBTHK - the photos are a little small, having trouble enlarging them enough to read. Might help if you can post closer up pictures. Of Course there is sure to be someone on here who can translate this for you. -t

Kicking around in my parts drawer for years - a little worse for the wear and tear...

Jason - The Gokaden are "Traditions", really methods of construction and how a blade presents itself. They developed in specific places so share the place-names from whence they came. However as has been stated a smith can learn a smithing style and then go practice in a completely different part of the country. In most cases the "DNA" of the original style is still there even when the smith tries something new. Like the way an artist mixes his paints, he does it the way he was taught probably without much thought but the discerning eye can see the "DNA". In Kantei we assign quality first, then age, then tradition. If you can do this you are a long way to identifying a sword-maker based solely on the workmanship. In Koto "Bizen-den" often but not always means you are looking for someone making swords in the Bizen tradition who resides in Bizen. This is where it is helpful to know the many "Schools" within Bizen - the schools developed over time so if you have correctly identified the age of the piece you have pared your many choices down to just the few schools working in that tradition in that place. This works for all traditions. The closer you are to the original place the stronger the influence of the tradition. (This is why it is good to know the Kuni/Kaido) In Shinto times there developed the Shinto Tokuden and several regional styles but most smiths were inspired by works of the past. If you can identify which tradition the smith was aiming for, say Yamato, you can then eliminate all the other smiths working at the time who did NOT do Yamato inspired work. Kunikane was not in the lineage of Hosho but was inspired by their work. Knowing which styles inspired individual Shinto smiths helps you to get to the correct answer... -tch

During our time in Japan we lived in Zaimokuza one of the locations where the heads were found is now the second most popular McDonalds in the whole country... -t

A complete package - very nice...

By extension we need to start collecting these old spades so swordsmiths can turn them back into swords...

John - Which generation do you suppose this is? If we're talking about THE Kagemitsu, there were no shinogi-zukuri wakizashi produced during his time. If we are talking about a Kodachi then all features of a full blown Tachi would be present - I do not see the profile of a Tachi here. At best you're looking at some later Kagemitsu - more likely a false signature meant to deceive. Its still a 12 inch razor, if you're practiced and everyone is wearing silk it will do the job... -t

Cool!

真田六文銭 Rokumonsen - Six mon coins, usually associated with the Sanada family. -t

Fred is not able to operate the shop right now - his son is doing his best but when I spoke to him last week he admitted he has a huge backlog of emails and orders he is trying to get thru. He promises he is going to try to respond to everyone. -t

Cool piece. -t

Details here - www.nthkamerica.com There is mail in service available! Feel free to email us with any questions, -t

Very nice piece... -t

Wolfmanreid - The NTHK is indeed coming to San Francisco in August. We confirmed everything with the hotel just last Thursday. We have to wait until we have a critical mass before assigning time-slots and mailing out confirmations. That will happen much closer to the event itself. In the meantime if anyone has questions about the Shinsa feel free to email me or send me a PM via this forum... -t toryu@toryu-mon.com www.nthkamerica.com

Here is a student of Soten - I think there is a qualitative difference between this and the example from the OP (and the many examples that come up). I am not sure many people have seen a real Soten. The airy-ness of the piece, the quality of the plate, the very fine detail all need to be seen, masterworks stand out and the many copies do not compare... -t https://www.nihonto.com/juyo-tsuba-by-nomura-kanenori-野村包教/

David T - There are few restrictions for carrying a sword in San Mateo County - Bring it in a bag or gun case and you can walk right into the hotel and show room. The hotel staff are well aware of our idiosyncrasies by now... -t

Jimmy Hayashi - fully trained and licensed Japanese Sword Polisher. Harunaka Hoshino - Fake ninja, fake swordsman, fake kantei, fake polisher... -t

PSA - and with all due respect to Dave M To anyone reading this forum, please, please, please do not send anyone, even your worst enemy to Harunaka Hoshino. He is a known fraud and is responsible for the theft and destruction of Japanese swords. He is the only person ever to have his membership revoked in the history of the Northern California Japanese Sword Club. David - I have to agree with those that assess this as a severely damaged blade. There will be people who can clean it up and maybe make it more presentable but I don't think Jimmy is the guy. In fact I would be very reluctant to show him such a blade without first having passed it before others. As Dave M says there will be many knowledgeable people at the San Francisco show and honest opinions are readily had. And for anyone who is wondering, yes there will be a San Francisco Sword Show this year! It is our hope that everyone who needs it will have the vaccine by August and travel will be easier for everyone - even if we are still under restrictions we will do whatever it takes to provide safe, social distanced, sword shopping. All the information is online now; www.ncjsc.org please make your reservations, we hope to see you all there. David - you have a neat inheritance there, not an "art sword" perhaps but a neat sword nonetheless. -t Thomas C Helm President - Northern California Japanese Sword Club www.ncjsc.org www.toryu-mon.com

Fred - There were five artists using this name from early Edo to Bakumatsu. If we were looking at an object we might help you zero in on the right timeframe... -t

水府　水戸　- Suifu (Capitol of Mi) meaning Mito. Seat of one of the three Tokugawa families, present day Ibaragi-ken. -t

George - My main point is that before 1868 few people if anyone outfitted a sword based on their birth year and gave that as the reason or we would of heard of this in the literature. I never heard this as a reason from any of my teachers, that the animals of the Junishi were auspicious, yes, but never "oh this guy must have been born in the year of the dragon..." Where is your evidence for this? The idea that samurai would shun the accumulation of wealth is an Edo Tokugawa period idea, I don't dispute that there were wealthy samurai I only assert that frugality was an ideal among the Buke. Your supposition that this was made for a presentation tango for a samurai child born in the year of the rat is no more valid than my conclusion given the evidence we have but I do know which is more likely... -t

George I think you have helped make my point in an odd way. Daikoku is the subject of the habaki not "I'm a rat and proud of it!" - I'll admit that symbols of Daikoku were used on samurai goods. However the rat IS a symbol of Daikoku and not usually symbolic of "the year of the rat". I say again otherwise we would see many more items, samurai or merchant, depicting sheep. After all sheep year people are proud warriors too. In the absence of other evidence, I feel we have to see this as a symbol of Daikoku, and we can surmise that it was on a merchant sword since in the Edo period, when it was most likely made it was Buke custom for boys to shun money and accounting as being unmanly. You don't have to agree this is just how I see it. -t

George - I beg to differ. If this were the case we would see piles of chickens, sheep, cows and snakes on old discarded habaki. They simply do not exist. The rat in Japanese art, especially kodogu, is recognized as a harbinger of material wealth. A very un-Samurai aspiration... -t

The polish is not good, I don't see tiredness but I also don't see the cracks and hakobore he mentions. Theres no papers, just a registration card. Walk away, save your money, stop looking at ebay... -t

Since the rat is a companion to Daikoku it is a symbol of wealth - most likely this would have been on a merchants sword and therefore not being drawn often enough to wear down the carving on the habaki... -t