lonely panet

thank you kindly Morita, I did think the last charictor was SAKU but didn't want to look silly once again, thankyou I can now look to see when it was hopefully made regards Hamish

Thanks Stu, ill keep my eye open for both next time I head to town. regards Hamish

what about kuniie yoshihara?? trained son good smiths like ono yoshimitsu, and his two sons and all are makansa ranked the think. kotani yasunori but only because I have one regards hamish

thankyou for both of your input, tsuba are a bit of a weak point for me. the Umetada school, from what I read in some books are known to have this odd shape to there edges of the tsuba, but from what I can gather it was only in the early Shinto period that they had that style. Did they continue this up till the late edo? I thought the class of work was pretty good (to me) why dosent this school have a better reputation?, or is this piece one of there better examples? I enjoy sakashi tsubas from akasaka and shoami schools but the prices on some of them are a bit high for what I see. please correct me if I have committed a sin by saying that Regards Hamish

Thanks for your help, now that you point the metal around the nakago ana, I can see that it has been die cut. thanks for pointing that out, I was really only looking at the edge of the tsuba for activity. The surface rust is constant and evan all over the surface of the metal, do you think it is natural?? The reason I am trying to age the other side is that I have a edo wakizashi koshare that was used during ww2 and the tsuba would look better on it, compared to the one thats already on it. Thankyou again Jean regards Hamish

Thank your for your reply, its good to finally have a idea of the school. I normally collect gunto but when found the piece I decided to buy it. it may have cost me abit to much for a late edo tsuba (AU $500) but I really liked the detail of the carving and the good ring it made when flicked. thanks again for replying so quickly regards Hamish

pt 2

Hello gentlemen, Iv had this tsuba for a few years now, it come with papers but never bothered with getting the papers translated because I just enjoyed the tsuba for what it was. I think its muromachi and maybe kamukura school, but I like it for its almost "rural" style and decoration, its almost razor thin too which just adds to its attractive qualities. Can I please ask for your ideas on this piece and what type of papers they are please. kind regards Hamish

pt 2

Hello gentlemen, here is a showa tsuba I have, that at some point somebody tried to clean one side of for some silly reason. the aged patina looked nice for a showa piece so why remove it??? look closely and it has some forging marks so, I don't think its a run of the mill pressed tsuba. Im thinking of trying to reproduce the patina on the cleaned side, does anyone have any ideas on how ?? also please feel free to openly discuss the item, im not offended easly regards Hamish

Hi, here is my most liked edo period tsuba. Im not really sure of the details, I was told it might be chikuzen?? If any one else can offer some more ideas of school that would be nice, but if not please just enjoy it, because I think its a really nice piece of art. regards Hamish

Greetings all, I know its nothing to do with nihonto but I have a cigarette case that has a stylized mei that has got me better of me. can any one help with it?? normally I have no problems with gunto mei's, which can be tricky but john sloughs book hasn't helped me yet regards Hamish

Hello gentlemen, here's some photos of my new tassel for a type 95 NCO sword. This tassel was only made for type 95's fitted with brass tsuba's and is in really nice condition too, and may thanks to my friend who passed it on to me at a really good price. does anybody have any tried and true products to help preserve the leather? regards Hamish

thank you all for your help, I had trouble with comparing this mei to the "kunemune" in john sloughs book. for a low rated smith his mei his his showto are very rough but i assume he was also employed as a nakirishmei specialist as he all so signed other meis for other smiths like IDO hidetoshi and his father FUKUMOTO amahide. but thank you again for your help. regards Hamish

Good eve gentlemen and possible ladies, if there are any that read this. problem..... I have a showato that im having trouble reading the mei no shu ju ? ? kane ? saku I've got john sloughs book and it hasnt helped me, if any body can help that would be awesome. regards Hamfish

Hello peaple, there is a company in Japan that still makes tassels to this day. I have been told that they are near perfict copys to a original's, I will try and post the web address for everyone. Regards Hamish

howdy gentlemen, Im have moved onto collecting showato blades and Im looking for any showato that were cut or broken in half during the occupation, Im looking for anything with stamps (ie, seki and showa). Also im in need of a leather barrel knot/ tassel mounted to the model 32 nco swords regards Hamish

good morning all, any blade with a showa stap is a showato blade. this means the blade was not made traditionally, made or it wasnt made by traditional materials like tamahagne. ie it may have been folded and have soft core and hard outer skin but the iron may have been imported or not made fro the traditional tatara. Regards Hamish

Thats one fine tanto, it makes me wonder when the Japanese say no notable swords were made in the sengoku period. I collect osafune kiyomitsu blades and there getting more expensive. be proud of that piece. Regards Hamish

Hello All, they look something simular to the manchura railway emblom, not quite sure but if you look throught the book SWORDS OF IMPERAL Japan the section on occupation swords will hopefully be of some help. Regards Hamish

thacongardulationst buy the pic's show is a fantastic gendai, i have a yusakuni gendai by kenzo yasunori and its not that good. congradulations, i hope it brings your alot of pleaser. Regards Hamish

it looks like its been welded. about 3 years ago i welded a longer nakago on to a hanwei practical katana to make it a nagmaki just for the fun of it, and it finished up looking simular, and to age it, I heated it till it was red hot and then quenched it a mud puddle to get a nice patina, and it worked some what. My thoughts are it may have been repaired after the war for a trophy for a US soldier. but its just a guess. Regards Hamish

dont mean to but in, but i have purchised 2 items from john now and i have to say im happy with them both, one of which has been posted on this site. A tsuba with maple leave's flouting down a river. his items are much better in you hand then in the photos, not to sound like a salesman but the photos dont do thm justice, and his prices are pretty good. Regards Hamish

It may sound like a lot, but if i had the chance and a way to suport my self i would be there in a second. Regards Hamish

hello mike the sizes of the tsuba are as follows" 8cm across and 8.4cms top to bottom and 0.4cm thick on the rim this tsuba is dished in the middle. Rgards Hamish