Toryu2020

I think we are confusing Shinto with Shin-shinto if we are talking about modern steels, Western imported steels were a fad at the beginning of the Edo period, and while some argue that the low carbon content made them ideal for heavily carved tsuba the steel was not very good for sword-making. Yasutsugu seems to have used it sparingly in his swords as a kind of novelty, it was never the bulk of the material used to make up a sword. Rather than "new" methods of sword-maing Masahide was arguing for a return to the older methods and with more local flavor. Hence we see many of his students reviving long dormant schools upon returning to their homelands; Dotanuki and Enju to name two. Fukko, a return to the righteous ways of the past, was a popular idea at the time in politics. In the art of sword-making Masahide was arguing for the same thing, in the highly literate Japanese society of the times his ideas would have spread where perhaps even his book and his students did not reach. The country was ripe for revolutions. As for why these dates? Fukunaga gives 1772 to 1912 as the dates for the Shinshinto period, because it was in Taisho 3 nen that Hon'Ami Koson first made the distinction between the Shinto and Shinshinto eras in a publication. The argument was that it was Masahide's call to return to the sword-making of the past that caused the changes and so it should start roughly from the time he began making swords. An old timeline published by the NBTHK some 40 years ago gives Kyoho 3 (1803) as the date when Masahide made his clarion call... -t

I agree Dave but I can also see that they do not want to have a bunch of books bought in, there are maybe several ways they could have split these up; by subject, by author, by era. If youre not careful making up the lots you get stuck with a lot of modern books and not so rare stuff. Also it would take a whole weekend to auction them all in lots of four or five. Since this was the private library of a gentlemen, I think they are hoping some other gentlemen will want to keep it whole for himself. I note that the many reference works on Chinese art that were in this library are not on offer - I suppose we can expect to see those in some future auction... -t

We talk a lot about the importance of books and research on this forum, I would like to point out that there is a tremendous library of books being auctioned here as well. The bulk of these were the personal library of John Yumoto, collected over 50 years study. There are some awesome books here with nearly every important work represented. Will be interesting to see if the book buyers come out... -t

Thats pretty special Grey - nice find! -t

Tiaan - You have the opportunity to use any name you want, do you have a nickname? An art name? An aesthetic goal that can be rendered in a single word? Many Japanese and Chinese artists retird from the world, took vows or became lay-priests and took the name if their hermitage EG; Sekishusai,Hakuryushi, Kanzan or Suiken. Stay away from translation and stick to the heart! -t

Clearly for a yari-naoshi tanto, A shame the is no blade... -t

Jon - A beautiful piece. Cant tell you much other than i love it! Would love to see more pictures. -t

Well, once again they have taken one of the most exciting stories in history and managed to remove all the drama from it. Would love to see more of the forensics, almost cringed my face off listening to how they dumbed everything down to "Emperor vs Shogun", "the battle of the gorges", "The battle of Kamakura beach." Interesting cameo by Yamamura Tsunahiro. Love this story and loved walking the streets in the footsteps of this history... -t

a few things that caught my eye...

Didn't have time to take a lot of snaps - very busy in the shinsa room One of our customers lost his sword bag in the shinsa room - probably packed into another persons bag/box by mistake - below is pictured a very similar item - do contact us if you arrived home with an extra bag... -t

Allan - Do you have the kanji for your titles? Do you know which Abe we might be looking for? Would love to help but need more info...

Fukunaga Suiken on the origins and early years of the NTHK - http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/NTHK.htm -t @shinsa in San Francisco...

All - Online registrations for the 2013 West Coast Shinsa have now closed - If you are coming to the Taikai and you have swords for submission come see us in the shinsa room Friday after 1100 and we will see if we can squeeze you in. Looking forward to seeing everyone there! -t

Of course seeing the "ten", Ho now seems more likely. -t

My thinking was Shunan 秀南 but i wanted to consider a title for the image before positing any name... -t

David - Could we also see a picture of the whole painting? -t

Mr Hughes - I should be interested to know about how much having a "window" polished would cost? I have a sword that I consider might be a good candidate for this treatment. any help appreciated, -t

The Taisei Bukan - a whos who of great houses lists in one handy book the mon, yarijirushi, haori and even sail designs of the major Samurai families - All Daimyo listed have at least two mon in combination, some three. Hatamoto and other important persons are listed with only one. This combination is not found in my 1864 edition. In fact the second of the two mon, the one on the left does not appear at all. To me the kogai appears late, so I would say this is either a very minor family or no family at all and just a design element. It is always good to see mon in combination as single mon are even more disrememorable as to their associations... -t

Ron et al - You may find some additional tidbits to add to your article here...http://tinyurl.com/28t2xnl -t

Taima Hon'Ami Bun Saburo suriage kore Not I think all that difficult remembering that kinzogan is either going to be a cutting test or an attribution... -t

Right you are John and place of manufacture could give us some clues to that, but again we'd only be guessing at it... -t

Alex - The short answer is no. But if you are guessing, it is possible to make an educated guess. Obviously it could not have been shorter than the nakago is now. Can you hold the nakago in both hands or with only one hand? If before Tensho then most likely the tsuka would be within the norm for other swords from the same time and place. Do you know the era? Place of manufacture? You could in theory reverse engineer such a thing but given that the original was dressed out according to the tastes of the owner or to the requirements of his lord it would only be a guess... -t Pics of the sword in question might render better guesses :-)

A final head up - Reservation confirmations going out this week, if you want to guarantee a slot on a particular day now is the time to get your reservations in. All the info is on our website; http://www.toryu-mon.com Of course anyone may PM me or send an email with any questions - gearing up for a big show... -t

Terrific Link, thanks for that Malcolm. -t

and wonderful little tsuba BTW -t