Toryu2020

For the story of super high-end tsuba and fittings look here; https://nihonto.com/nakai-koshirae/

Conversely - Japanese Armor-makers for the Samurai says; 家則 Hitachi 1532-1554 A skilled maker The genealogy of the Saotome lists Ienori as the brother of the founder Nobuyasu. Since the existence of Nobuyasu cannot be confirmed, this relationship is questionable but Ienori would appear to be one of the first members of the Saotome group. 家則 Hitachi 1789-1800 A skilled maker There were probably two Saotome working during the late Edo period using the name Ienori. Surviving examples of the workmanship of this Ienori reveal two distinct styles of workmanship.

The Shin-Katchushi Meikan lists two Ienori; 家則 and 家儀 家則 Ienori - late Edo Hitachi The Kokon Kajimei Hayamidashi lists Ienori as the son of Ieyoshi and lists him as the 14th generation. Helmets are done in the Saotome style with a gentle taste. He also made tsuba signing "Joshu Ju Saotome Ienori" and these are Late-Edo works around Kansei. An old book lists "Ienori Joshu Saotome Katchushi Tenbun Goro" Howeverthis is a different person from the man who signed "Joshu Ju Saotome Ienori" and Sasama Sensei says we don't have any evidence of an Ienori in the Momoyama or early Edo period.

Brian - Which kanji are we using for Ienori? -t

Sungashi hairu - suganashi is in the hamon

Adam - in many cases student work can be hard to find, it may help to look for works by his teacher, then you can compare to see how close he came to the work of the master...

George I believe that last line is read: ”Tame Hori Sukeaki tsukuru kore” or at the request of Hori Sukeaki made this. I would seriously consider a polish and shirasaya for this one… https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flegacy.toryu-mon.com%2FArchives%2FEntries%2F2010%2F10%2F31_Enju_Kunihide.html&data=05|02|thelm%40visa.com|fe5fa249a65345b07b1208dcff6d1d3d|38305e12e15d4ee888b9c4db1c477d76|0|0|638666091326559551|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D|0|||&sdata=hfML3LWanPbyuXcntB4ZnDDkdi1FzSUilui%2BSO067t0%3D&reserved=0

The default is NO. There are plenty of shinken available for an authentic feel/practice. Iaido practice and repeated cleanings will affect a polish, limiting the number of polishes increases the life of the sword...

Suggest you go to the Martial Arts shops (Budogu-ya) they may have something like these... －鍔職人が作る現代新作鍔（オーダーメイドもできます）－　日本刀の明倫産業

If naginata-naoshi then all or part of the signature would be gone. This is ubu and I agree Soshu ju Fuyuhiro.

Thank you

Would love to see better pictures of the signature...

Sam - If Kantei is of interest don't forget the NCJSC has regular monthly Kantei sessions on ZOOM - we're on the west coast so broadcast in PST. I encourage everyone to join us. -tch

Large plain iron papered as Muromachi Tosho

Kencho sama - A permit is required for art objects of a certain value - this is one time I went over budget a little...

Well if they made a mistake and have to resubmit that makes sense. I'm waiting on a tsuba and we are looking at two months according to the seller. A long standing dealer BTW.

Not sure what you want to create from your D-guard. I would leave it as is and save your money for something period appropriate but is it Perry's time you're interested in or WWII?

That is of course the tiller and not a cross, same idea was discussed in the JSSUS newsletter years ago...

Old green papers are as you were told unreliable. That being said this is not a smith prone to fakes, I would rest easy that this is authentic. Looking forward to more pictures, and please don't lay a freshly polished blade on a bare table top - too many chances for a scratch... -t

Not an alchemist - he is playing a drum...

As stated above, the list of Jutetsu was simply a device to help you in kantei, to help you remember the better known smiths with similar attributes. Consider the difficulty of a craftsman moving all his tools to Kamakura across a wartorn country for a short apprenticeship? Consider the smiths of a generation before who moved to Kamakura, they moved and they stayed. The theory I always like was that smiths were influenced by Masamune's work not by the man himself. The armies of the Ashikaga travelled all over Japan carrying their Soshu swords with them. If they needed some polish or repair there was an opportunity for the local smiths to see and absorb the Soshu style. Ashikaga went all the way to Kyushu where he spent some time and this would account even for the influence on Sa. It wasnt like the Edo period when you could take a year off and go study with some distant teacher... -t

no opinion either way, just love this tsuba, an excellent presentation of the theme - Toryu-mon.

濃州 Noshu as in Noshudo purveyor of iaito.

芋洗い Most likely Sato-imo - Google imo-arai and check images it is indeed a real thing...

A friend in Japan made these for an art project...