Toryu2020

Joe et al- The Toko Zenshu says; Kiyomitsu Yamaguchi (Ken) Kiyomitsu Okazaki Masaru Saku [Mei] Okafuji Masaru [given name] (recipient of the) Kokkô-in Kai-in Meiyo Sôshô award.

Jock et al - This may go without saying but I'll say it anyway. Polish does not equal preservation! Keep a blade clean and well oiled and it is preserved, nothing more needs to be done. Many fine blades have polishes that are 100 or more years old. There is a tendency to polish everything one finds. Great if you have the money but not always a necessity. It doesn't hurt to leave off the polish for some future generation if the blade can be appreciated as is. MHO... -t

I would agree Meiji export, They did a lot of this parquet (sp?) stuff in the Hakone area - not sure I have any useful information beyond that. Not my taste but certainly an eyeful! -t

Ray - Looks to be a boys day display doll. Hard to say what era this is from without seeing it up close and getting a good look at the materials used. The character will surely be some famous person from history but given the photos cannot really say. What is that at his back, a standard or some kind of weapon? Also the "bubble" seems a very Victorian kind of presentation as opposed to glass and plactic boxes that are more the norm. Not sure what that tells us though... -t

J - Don't pay too much attention to Steve he is always a little tongue-in-cheek. It is true the page is laid out in such a way that makes it unclear what exactly we were supposed to do with that link. Your sword may be very nice indeed but without the proper photos people will assume the worst and walk away. No one is saying you are evil, simply that evil people selling questionable swords have listed items with similar shortcomings in the listing. You asked for input, don't take it too much to heart, but you might consider correcting some of the things mentioned before re-listing your sword if that is your intention... -t

looks to be a prewar Juyo Bijitsuhin certificate, I'm a bit dubious of the condition of that sword... -t

George - Han-dachi originally appeared during the Muromachi period when there was a transition taking place from Tachi to katana. The sword was being worn more and more edge up when on foot, but edge down on horseback as it had always been. The handachi is a response to the need to be worn in either style. The placement of the kurikata, menuki and sometimes the other fittings were altered for a better presentation depending on which side was worn outward most of the time. I believe this is the first time we see swivels and kurikata on the mune side of a koshirae. In the Bakumatsu period the idea of a "return to the past" took hold of the popular imagination and along with talk of returning to the righteous government of old we see folks wanting to wear tachi in the style of their ancestors. Of course the majority were not riding around on horseback so the handachi again becomes popular and we see alot of Late-Edo mounts that were clearly set up as katana but with tachi mounts. Your example looks to be modern to my eye - the loop/swivel on the saya looks like it comes straight off of a naval mount - the other fittings are definitely tachi style fittings. Though it lacks a semeganamono I suppose you could call this a handachi koshirae but I am dubious about its age... -t

Autumn in Sekigahara? Definitely Showato, dirt and leaves can't hurt your sword unless you leave it there. Would hate to see you treat your other swords like this... -t

Stu - If I had to say I would venture that it is no more than 100 years old maybe 200. Tsuka and saya were used up with everyday wear and most of what we see is late Edo or Meiji work. The fittings do look like they could be older, but to my eye the wood is pretty fresh... -t

Keith et al - I'm inclined to say this is 20th century - the fittings are older but the weave, color and style of wrap suggests to me later work. Pre-war certainly but not much older. The key actually though is in the wood itself. Can you show us a photo of the wood under the fuchi and the inside of the handle? The true age will be readily apparent I believe... -t

First I would seek out the Samurai-Archives for a quick source of good information online - Next you might contrast the Bushido of the Kamakura Period with that of the Edo period and that of the Pacific War. The swords were different in shape and size, worn in different ways, and thought of very differently in the society of the times. A big idea perhaps but with a very few simple examples you could easily illustrate this idea - the hard part will be finding good examples of sword and armour from the earliest period... -t

Read below for a chance to get translation of another sort... "I just wanted to give a heads up to those coming over for the Dai- Tôken-Ichi at the end of the month. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NTHK. We will be holding the following event not far from the site of the DTI: The event is on Sunday, the 31st of October at the ANA Intercontinental Tokyo Hotel near Roppongi Itchôme station on the Namboku line; however, it should be a short taxi ride from the DTI. There will be a display of important swords from 2 until 4 and a dinner party from 4 until 6. The display is ¥5,000 and the dinner is also ¥5,000. We will also be giving everyone a copy of the first volume of the Yûshûtô Zuroku. If I know how many of you will be coming, I will try to toss in the translation. I hope some of you can make this. It should be fun. I will be at the DTI in the morning and anyone who wants to go can grab me and I will arrange transportation." on behalf of Gordon Robson robsongo@swu.ac.jp

As if there was not already enough to do... "I just wanted to give a heads up to those coming over for the Dai- Tôken-Ichi at the end of the month. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NTHK. We will be holding the following event not far from the site of the DTI: The event is on Sunday, the 31st of October at the ANA Intercontinental Tokyo Hotel near Roppongi Itchôme station on the Namboku line; however, it should be a short taxi ride from the DTI. There will be a display of important swords from 2 until 4 and a dinner party from 4 until 6. The display is ¥5,000 and the dinner is also ¥5,000. We will also be giving everyone a copy of the first volume of the Yûshûtô Zuroku. If I know how many of you will be coming, I will try to toss in the translation. I hope some of you can make this. It should be fun. I will be at the DTI in the morning and anyone who wants to go can grab me and I will arrange transportation." on behalf of Gordon Robson robsongo@swu.ac.jp

Skull and Bones and Flowers not a match? Natsu gusa wa tsuwamono dono ga yume no ato or The summer grasses, for brave young warriors the aftermath of dreams... -t

Ken - This has three drawers - the top drawer is for swords in koshirae - you may not be able to see it in the photo but the rack on the right where the kurikata and saeo would be is much larger than the one to the left which hold just the saya. The bottom drawers have racks that are equal in size both left and right slightly smaller than the top drawer, able to accommodate koshirae as you can see but clearly for shirasaya... Best of luck with your project, -t

It is my belief that many so called katanadansu are simply long-drawered storage boxes. A proper katanadansu has the fittings in the drawers. Many I have looked at show the shadows and staining where the fittings once were but these have been removed either by Japanese families who found better uses for the tansu or by Americans who couldn't figure out how to get their wine into the "racks." Took me 25 years of looking but I finally found this baby, a very late very rough piece of furniture but with all the fittings intact... -t

Heres a sketch of the doorman at my favorite sushi bar...

Ouch! Ford - I can see it working either way, however even in your photo the right thumb and index finger are more open, from the front if you had x-ray vision the bones would appear "flatter". As someone else pointed out there appear to be one or two bones missing. Now if you flip it, and imagine the left hand gripping a saya, not only would the hand be tighter around the saya, so that you are looking almost straight at the top of the fist, you can count the four bones of the index finger, and two bones for the thumb, and most important, the long bones in both the thumb and index finger appear exactly where you see them in the hand, no need for artistic interpretation. I suggest "Natsume Han-tamago" or "soft-boiled summer egg" which is the term in Tosa Eishin Ryu for the proper grip on the koiguchi... -t

"the original is actually signed on the ura..." The experts are not artists and artists may not be swordsmen; the grip shown with the right hand would not be correct in Kendo nor in any of the schools of Iaido I am familiar with (from my own limited experience). However given the original design and placement it would be correct for the left hand on the saya prior to the draw. I love this idea but I am highly dubious. I am looking very much forward to bouncing this off of some Japanese heads to see what kind of sound we get. Ford - do let us know when you've something like this up for sale. I like it in copper but love it in iron! Very nice work indeed, -t

Mighty big crabs you got there Ray! And speaking of menuki, we usually see the three crab combo in gold or shakudo copied from early kinko works. This is a very refreshing example, a single crab and of considerable size - I wonder if the one on the reverse gives any indication of being male or female? -t

In Japanese there is a practice called ate-ji - the use of kanji that can be read with the target sounding. Thus 中心 two common characters are seen as Chushin for most Japanese readers but as the first can be read "Naka" and the second "Go", among sword enthusiasts we see them as Nakago - and in fact this rendering has become the common kanji used. While it makes an odd sense these kanji may have been chosen simply because they "sounded" right. So then we can see 双子矢間 双児家魔 蓋後山 双子山 All these could be read futago-yama but only one may be an actual place name, the rest nonsense except sounded out they have the right sound. That may in fact be all that the maker was after with his use of the kanji in question. I wonder if the person was not someone unfamiliar with actual signatures of Norisuke and only sounded out the signature using these characters... -t

Barry - almost gives it an Umetada feeling, very nice. -t

Thanks Malcolm - I see Ian's take on this question, I wonder if anyone knows the origin of the Satsuma appellation... -tom

Or so we are told- Is there any evidence or original reference that identifies these swords as definitively made for/during the Satsuma Rebellion? Pieces I have seen are typically poor quality swords, with poor quality fittings very roughly made and usually lacquer that seems to have been a few coats shy of a full job. Some but not all are clearly Satsuma koshirae which is all I think these things are, just poor quality Satsuma koshirae. Hence my question - has anyone seen reference to these in Japanese sources? What are they called in Japanese and what is the rationale for assigning these to the rebellion specifically? -t

http://tinyurl.com/2chqd35 Don't overlook the sale at Bonham's - nicer armour... -t