Toryu2020

I'm gonna guess Sadatsugu kitau kore 貞俊鍛之 For the Showa-to Tojiro saku 藤次郎作 For the knife Eishin with kao 影進 kao For the bow -t

"But what of Sakura-han? Sakura castle built by Chiba Suketane, was the base for the Kunô and Matsudaira families before being rebuilt by the Doi Family in 1610, when it was enlarged and improved upon. Not long after it changed hands again passing to several families until it was given in fief to the Hotta family in 1745. Not far from Sakura castle, there was a large smithy, Kajisaku, established by the Han early in the Edo period. The Kunitomo gunsmiths worked here as well as Fujieda Haruhiro among others. It seems that some Edo smiths may have traveled out here to work in what was a kind of forge for hire. Students of Masahide, like Masayoshi and Tadayoshi may also have rented workspace here and this may be the true origin of Tadayoshis’ Sakura connexion, though there are other theories." Excerpted from the article on Hosokawa Tadayoshi orignially published in Tô-Ron, now on my website...

You might look up info on the Tenshozan smiths, I believe he may have been one of these... -t

My guess would be 関善定尾吉時作　Seki Zenjo O Yoshitoki saku - Second generation... -t

http://www.soulsmithing.com/Blog/ A man with a heart of gold and a soul of steel! Personally can't wait to see what wonderful things come out of his efforts. Have always enjoyed his blog and wish him great success in hi enterprise. Thanks Barry for sharing very jealous that I myself have not been able to visit... -t

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html Some good info here... -t

Curtis - Remember this is a name and not a poem or a sentence. Look at other signatures of 8 or more characters and look for the kind of info contained therein. Most entry level books on swords will have examples, The Samurai Sword by Yumoto is a good start. You should not have to look at the spoilers and don't feel pressed for time, take your time and learn from the experience. I envy the position you are in. -t

Doesn't have to be time consuming - Start a new thread, call it "By Comparison" - post Jean's Yasumitsu and the eBay pretender. Let folks draw their own conclusions, add new photos as they come up. I think we had a good example of a dubious Naotane not too long ago. Might not be too hard to find those photos for comparison... -t

You know if I saw pictures of Jean's sword before looking at swords on eBay I would likely never buy anything for sale there. Brian - are you listening? Wouldn't it be nice to collect somewhere here comparison photos say of gimei/shoshin and papered examples like this next to dubious examples like the one from the listing/link? Right now if I want to see and compare examples I have to troll by smiths name - I think only a few examples would be needed and it could be titled "Look here before you eBay Baybay!" or something to that effect... -t

雷除　日出山但馬守藤原朝亞入道 Suspect this is a , should be able to figure it out with the detailed info he has given us... -t

Great Fun!

Ron - Your question brings up a question asked at a recent meeting of the NCJSC: it seems a number of these pieces were produced by the Jingo artists. Some fresh and untouched, others obviously distressed and obviously artificially aged. These may be seen even in the fine volumes by Ito, but I do not believe they are fully explained. Does anyone know why this theme was seemingly so popular and why the Jingo artists would heave done different versions? any help appreciated, -t

I am also inclined to believe they are all Showa-to If I had to say 5 and 8 do not seem to show nie (in the images) and so may be made in the era but not with 100% traditional materials or production. mho anyway... -t

Does anyone here know of Preben Nielsen or Sussi Porsborg or Denmark? Have you done business with either and what was your experience? any help appreciated, -t

Seems there is more than one angry anthropologist in the world! All kidding aside Peter makes an excellent point - 1876 represents a date of more significant change to swordmakers and users than 1868 - we have to ask why so many writers start the Gendai era with the latter date and we should wonder if someday the former or some other date will come to be seen as the true starting point of the "current" sword-making era... -t

Keep in mind, when it comes to dating the discipline or focus of the author (reference) has a lot to do with it. Historians are primarily interested in politics, so the changes in regime or government structure or power center are the events that mark changes in era. For archaeologists it may be the tools or pottery of the dominant culture. Weapons can fall into this. For Art histories it is the materials, styles, techniques, fads and fashions that may be key. For Anthropologists it is the changes in culture not necessarily tied to politics. So all of the above dates could be correct, and for sword nuts like us all of the criteria above could meet in one singular event like the Meiji Restoration or our dating could be unique to our study making no sense to people outside our discipline. If you really think about this and examine why sword books give the dates they do, you'll have a better understanding of the study and better be able to explain it to others who may see the timelines in sword books as flawed... This is how I think about it anyway, ( after being beat up by an Anthropologist) -t

Mark (Cuirassier) You shoulda stuck with this one, the characters are all clear and clearly defined. Any way you have your answer and indeed it looks to be a lucky find. I too would like to see more pictures... In regards to Fujiwara - so many smiths used the name you could hardly narrow down a search using that info. Now that you have your answer you should once again look at your references to compare what is on your sword with what you see in your books. -t

Geraint - Thank you for posting these, I am one who loves toppei koshirae and you have a very nice example. Nice swords in nice koshirae? Whats not to like!?! -t

I always recommend Sansom's History of Japan in 3 vol.s and Papinot's Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan is a must... -t

Very odd estimates, prices all over the place, it will be interesting to see where the Muramasa goes... -t

https://www.societyforasianart.org/prog ... nese-sword Folks - This will be an informal afternoon covering all aspects of the sword. As such it will be mostly introductory in nature so will be aimed at the beginner. However we do expect to have several Juyo level blades out for hands-on study as well as three tables of top quality koshirae and fittings. Should you plan to be in the city that day we would love to see you, -t

Adam - It is a very romantic notion that a sword desires to be used and to lock it up in a shirasaya to be venerated as a piece of art is somehow cruel. If anything the sword has earned its rest and should no longer suffer any abuse, especially if it has lasted some 700 years. I would say depending on the targets used and the skill of the user, as Kunitaro has pointed out, it is possible to use an older blade and not cause damage. However it is a very rare individual that does not cause wear and tear when using a sword for tameshigiri or even iai. Even if your draw and return are super precise, the regular use of uchiko and the contact with the oils of the hand will dull a polish. If only for iai practice the wear is minimal given the life of a sword but still it is wear and if we are the gurantors of the future of the blade we should first do no harm. It is for the very reasons above we do not recommend use of older blades for Iai practice. There are shinken and iaito available that will give the student the same experience without putting possibly important works at risk. mho -t

Ken - I think if you troll thru the New Member Introductions you'll see the personal histories posted. Always nice to check in there once in awhile and see who is joining up... -t

Ken - I would think what you need to do is research who his clients were. From there you should be able to piece together what the likely taste was of the area they came from and so know the likely rig that would have housed one of his works... -t

Alex - We have to remember that the real study of nihonto occurs in the mother tongue, there are terms, historical, archaeological, and otherwise that have been adapted by collectors and practitioners for their own use. The various types of tachi (Efu-dachi, Kenukigata-tachi, ito-maki-tachi) gave way to the koshi-gatana which originally was a term for the tanto, but came to mean that blade worn at the hip. In the Muromachi age this blade became shorter, the curve moved toward the tip and the nakago/tsuka became shorter as well for one-handed use. This blade, ideal for the quick draw, came to be known as the katate-uchi-gatana or as you have pointed out; single-handed striking sword. This name has been abbreviated to uchi-gatana and just katana. The blades themselves show similar profiles. Certainly persons of differing sizes, tastes and ages carried them into battle. How then do we know how they were worn and used? You would have to have the original koshirae to say for sure it was worn as a wakizashi or as a katana. Therefore in the modern study of swords, in the absence of other evidence like a koshirae, length is used to distinguish katana from wakizashi. hoping some of this makes sense... -t