DTM72

For display purposes only, has anyone ever mounted a yari on a bamboo pole? If so, any pictures available? I have found limited information on takeyari (竹槍).

Just watched that one last night. Great movie and good storyline.

Many thanks to you Dr. Shuttleworth! I am leaning more towards Godai. The few things I read about Rokudai is that his hamon had sugu-yakidashi. My particular example does not have yakidashi. That may be a moot point since the nakago is suriage. I would happily pull you a pint of Guinness if I could.

I have just about everything figured out. Maybe I just gave up on the easy stuff. Help with the red circle please? Feel free to double check what I have. Question about the attribution, I have found 3 Hichibejo Sukesada. SUK814 worked during Tenmon 1532-1555. This is probably too early for this katana, and there is no mention of "Takaki" on the kantaisho, so I can probably rule this one out. Next is SUK879. He worked during Kanei 1621-1644 as well as SUK887. I would like to say mine is SUK887, but we can argue that later. With both possible smiths working during Kanei, there no other Sukesada's (much less Hichibejo Sukesada) until Kanbun 1661-1673, the NTHK gave a timeframe of Manreki 1655-1658. Is there a hidden Hichibejo Sukesada working during Manreki that I am not finding? Many thanks in advance to all.

To further elaborate on my first post, and to second what tbone said, it does appear to be authentic, and there are no red-flags indicating it is a knock-off. More (detailed) pics are key to more information. All the best...

Thanks for chiming-in Mark. The weather in Charleston is still comfortable in October and November...even December. I ride motorcycles year round and have even gone on the jet-ski on New Years day. As much as I would love to have a venue at or very near Charleston harbor, but that is a 20 minute drive from the airport. There are many other venues near the airport that I could arrange. My dream would be to hold the event at Patriots Point on-board the USS Yorktown carrier. Expensive venue, but can be done. Breeze Airways is a new airline that has direct flights to Charleston and is very cheap, but their origin cities are limited. I appreciate your support Mark, and thank you for being the biggest supporter of my addiction. I highly enjoy the katana and monster yari.

This has the appearance of a WWII machine made gunto. From the pictures provided, it is difficult to really tell you much more. To give you a more accurate answer, we need close-up pics of the blade body, the blade tip, and pics of the nakago (tang of the sword) under the handle. Sorry I can't help you more.

No one else has any questions, comments, concerns, .02 cents?

Quoted from George Trotter Posted July 12, 2011 This Kanenami has been noted a good number of times in the last 20 years...always? in navy mounts. He usually signs simply in nijimei, but on occasion as I-NA-BA Kanenami = Inaba Kanenami. While fairly well known as a maker of showato as we have seen a few of his works...we can still say he is "unknown" as the modern gunto makers for the navy are nowhere near as well recorded as the makers of gunto for the army. I would say his family name is Inaba, but his personal name is unknown...probably worked within the Seki system. Hope this helps

Examples for comparison.

Mark Jones and Grey Doffin are both great to work with. I have bought many from them.

Thank you for your input Mike!

I am getting to know Mark and Gray very well. I spent alot of time with Mark in Florida at the Orlando show. I would love to have Mark and Gray exhibit, or even run the show. I know from experience that putting on shows is alot of work. I would be willing to do all the leg work of arranging things, since I live here. You have a wealth of knowledge Barry. Come be a guest teacher, I mean speaker. <-- See what I did there.

I am trying to gage interest in a Nihonto/Military Antiques show in Charleston, SC. I used to live in the Midwest and regularly attended the Chicago Token-Kai, the Louisville Show of Shows/National Gun Day, and the Pittsburg MAX Show. I was also a member of the Ohio Valley Military Society, that held the various OVMS shows across the midwest. Now that I'm down in Charleston, I am missing the exposure to those shows. If I could gather the interest from sellers, I'm sure the interested buyers would not be a problem. I have chatted with other collectors in South Carolina, North Carolina and parts of Georgia that would enjoy a Charleston venue to buy, sell and trade Nihonto and Military antiques. I have had tables many times at the Show of Shows Military Antiques show, and many local gun shows. I have multiple venues capable of hosting such an event and can make a decision based upon the amount of exhibitors interested. I would also like to hear from those interested in attending too. It goes without saying that security of the venue will be provided, as well as insurance. If I were rich, I would host the event for free, but want to keep the cost as low as possible for the exhibitors and the attendees. I honestly don't care if I lose money on this event, as long as it is good for the exhibitors and the attendees. Nothing happens if you wait on others to do everything. I am taking the initiative to get things rolling. I will also hand it off to someone better qualified, if need be. What time of year works best for everyone? Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer? NOTE!!! Summer in Charleston is HOT!!!. October and November is still decent with temps in the 60's during the day. Hotel attached to the venue or within walking distance? Or does that even matter? Exhibitors, speak-up if interested! Attendees, speak-up if interested! This is an open discussion. This show is for the exhibitors to make money and the attendees to find the things that are not normally found here in the southeast. As an exhibitor, tell me what you like about other shows, that you would like to see at this one. Tell me also the things you don't like. Attendees, tell me and the exhibitors what you really want to see at the event, and things you would rather not see. Charleston is a very scenic and historic town. Charleston was one of the original 13 colonies, a key city during the revolutionary war, and the site of the first shot of the civil war. A very historic town for our historic Nihonto. I promise to help exhibitors and attendees alike, enjoy their time here. I can be your personal concierge for your needs while visiting the area. Let the conversations begin!

Not a problem...wishing you the best with your sale. Nice blade at a nice price.

kanmuri-otoshi. Very similar to unokubi zukuri in that it tapers towards the mune...but it also has the area to the rear that is a short section like a shinogi zukuri with a groove.

I found a very similar yari for sale at Yakiba. The proportions are very similar. Finding one mounted answers my question as to if it was actually pole mounted, or used in a different way. https://yakiba.com/yari-kunihiro/

Kai Gunto in Canada

I find boshi to be the most difficult to photograph. Yours turned out well.

For reference, the blue ruler is 12" (33 cm) long and 1" (2.54cm) wide.

Hard to tell from the pictures, but the nakago is a brownish black, and the mekugi-ana is punched. I would guess early Edo period. Could it possibly be late Muromachi period?

Came home from work today and it was here, waiting on me. So the actual nagasa is 9" (22.8cm) the overall length is 24.5" (62.2cm) the width across the wide flat is 1.5" (3.8cm) the nakago is 11/16" (17.5mm) square, at the largest point and is 14.5" (36.8cm long) That is going to be a huge pole to mount that monster!