Janrudolph

Good day, all. I have had the privilege of presenting my nihonto items on these boards (Nihonto, Nihonto-related and Tosogo), but have kept discussion of the actual blade of my katana to a bare minimum. My idea even then was to present it in a separate thread, as I do now. I thought it justifiable, as the blade of a Japanese sword is the most important part of the whole, even more so than the signature. Please see the sword with its scabbard. When a similar pic was previously posted, a forumite said he was "glad to see it is an old blade". Another said the blade is not in a good state of polish. Grain is closed, so hada can't be seen. Hamon activities don't show. The hamon is not pure suguha. But it is a "nice old Japanese sword". The signature reads: Shinano no Kami Fujiwara rai Nobuyoshi. The date interprets as 1680 (eighth year of Empo). I have been given the advice (rightly so, probably) to just enjoy the blade for what it is, and not try to read too much into it. BUT I really do want to interpret what I AM able to see, with your kind help.

Thank you, Ian, that's good news! If all goes well, I'll have it in hand by Wednesday next week. Well, seems that's the end of this thread. Let me inclosing repeat what I've already said about me progressing on the learning curve. I've not only learnt from you guys on the various current threads, but I have also perused old threads in the archive. There's a mass of stored information there, and you can be assured many of us ask questions that have already been discussed at length. We just are not aware that discussions on those topics are already accessible. Go well, all you wonderful collectors and sword gurus out there! Johan

Brian, thank you, you have got it on the nail. The problem was my faulty use of descriptive words. For my number 4 I should have written "fully traditionally made expensive shinsakuto made by modern smiths", which would have been exactly what I meant. With my word "reproduction" I had hoped to convey the idea of "everything else but still not ancient". But you'll have to admit: For a proudly Afrikaans Boertjie for whom the Rooitaal is his 2nd language, I could have done worse!

Thank you, Yakozen, you honour me by submitting your post, and I appreciate your helpful comment. Johan

Ian, thank you, I suppose I had that coming, it could have been carried over more harshly by others! I agree I had put the idea of "nihonto" on a too high pedestal in my own mind, having spent 75 years not having access to same. I had characterised samurai swords for myself into 1) cheap Chinese replicas, 2) Chinese and other countries' reproductions, 3) Shin-gunto, 4) modern reproductions made in Japan, and 5) Samurai swords made in the era of the Samurai warrior. To me this last category was the absolute pinnacle: you don't get better than that. It was to be the final accomplishment in my year-long (!) search for the holy grail. Don't laugh - naivety is a disease! I have found out that within ALL FIRST FOUR of the self-invented categories above, there are graduations ranging from putrid to ethereal. I am now struggling to finally let the realization sink in that there are within the genuine 5) oldie nihonto category putrid "churned out" items out there, in all of sword blades, koshirae, tosogo and signatures! Seems I have enough of those now to tide me over - I'll invent a description to help me appreciate what I have nevertheless; it has to be a euphemism like "entry-level nihonto". That should do it. Johan

That kozuka is indeed shakudo. Regarding the signature on the right-hand blade in post #3, I was wondering why there is difficulty reading it. I thankfully noted that SteveM tried but could not make out certain characters. To my untrained eyes, those characters look strange, a different style to those I see in my katana and wakizashi tangs. So I am not making heads or tails out of it. Perhaps there is another of you guys willing to take a shot at that signature. If you please! Johan

Thanks for coming in again, Brian. What is interesting to me about the persimmon kozuka, besides the apparant quality of the steel and the beautiful feel of it, is the length of the tang. The blade section is 115 mm long and the tang 82 mm. Moreover, the tang is slightly bent in a wavy form to assumedly help hold the blade sturdily in the kozuka. (Whether this bend was put in ages ago by the smith or added recently, I cannot tell.) The background field behind the persimmon seems quite smooth when you look at it, but under a strong glass you can see an ultra-minute roe pattern. And then the long tang has diagonal file marks on both sides. Also, I can't help noticing that the throat of the kozuka is shaped like a shinogi-zukuri blade in section. Johan

Stephen & Steve, thank you. I am a person who is not really satisfied with merely getting people's opinions on eg. kozuka, but like to puzzle things out myself too. I became stuck with researching these three kozuka, and therefore had to ask for assistance, which you all kindly gave. Regarding the centipede kozuka, directly after Stephen replied with his suggestion, I Googled that story and became convinced that he was right. Then Steve confirmed it. Thank you, guys - much obliged! I do think at this stage that of the three kozuka in this thread, the centipede one is the more interesting (combined with its blade, of course). Of these three kozuka, (1-gourds, 2-commander's staff and 3-centipede), can you perhaps tell which one may be the oldest?

Thank you, Brian. I would lastly ask the assistance of Steve M or anyone who is able to come in, to help identify the design on the kozuka pictured in post #8. Some kind of long-bodied animal (dragon?) has been wounded by an arrow, but I can't make out the topmost gold-plated picture (probably the archer/samurai?). I do not unfortunately have the kozuka in hand yet, so no better picture. Please help. Johan

Florian, Steve M and Jesse, thank you for the valuable info. You are helping me deepen my knowledge about kozuka/kogatana which was initially poor. Steve, what you said in post 10 is so very, very true. Of course it is as you say. BUT.... there may be some factors which cause different behaviour in collectors even if these truths were brought to their attention at an early stage. One is the age of the newbie collector. I am 75 and this is my first year of owning nihonto. I cannot have the expectation of another quarter century of active healthy life ahead which could see my collection burgeoning with choicer items. And I'm not being dismal about it, just looking at reality. And then there's budget. After retirement the budget goes down the drain, and in my case my day of retirement is so long past it is just a vague memory. There is a third factor that springs to mind, and that is the inclination of the collector to specialise at an early stage. I have never specialised, but have collected smallish sets of many kinds of traditional edged weapons (the kris, the kukri, blades of North Africa, also militaria: bayonets etc and muzzle loaders... the list goes on). What this collecting situation has imparted to me is a very wide knowledge, as I have always loved researching everything I obtain. Those who love a specialist field might frown on this, or even scoff, saying "Jack of all trades, master of none". It's a choice all new collectors have to make. And you don't know yourself when you start to accumulate stuff while still in school, like I have. And then lastly: even if you should corner a youngster or young collector and give him the wise advice in Steve's post 10, will it have a chance of altering his behaviour? Will youthful eagerness rather compel him to amass wide knowledge by scooping up every item he can lay his hands on? Post 10 is the result of years of collecting knowledge and understanding, as well as advanced maturity in collecting logic. But... an orange cannot be squeezed ripe. Johan

I should use this opportunity, Florian and other knowledgeable kozuka guys out there, to show a kozuka that I am in the process of getting. Pics to follow. I very much liked the extended script on the tang, which I imagine to be the smith's name plus perhaps a poem or something. But that's all I can think of. Please explain what's going on there, if you all will be so kind! Johan

Anybody out there....? Those two emblems in gold on the handle of the kogai look different, but yet seem similar to me. Are they known Japanese emblems? Johan

Prof, one would like to think that the shotgun stock engraving designer copied the ancient art form, but it is probably not the case. It raises the question: where do engravers get their ideas from? To put it differently: who did the engravers copy? I readily do accept that certain top engravers are superbly talented and can really generate fresh ideas. Also regarding accuracy of copying: The engraver of the tsuba scene might be criticised for inaccurately rendering the matchlock. Today such stylised renderings aren't frowned upon. Johan

Top of the morning, good people! Here are two kozuka and one kogai. Please be so kind as to comment on them; so far I have been advised that the experts should be the ones to bring a verdict. Perhaps that's just our kind forumites being humble? Please help. Johan

Good day to all. I'm hoping to interest you in the image of a matchlock that I found on the tsuba of my wakizashi. Please see the images below. Johan

It does look like this might be the end of this thread - much too soon for my liking, as I had wanted more comments. I had learned such a lot. And I want to especially thank forumites like Barry, Karusk, Chris U and Christian S who have gone to trouble to enlighten me in a nice, frank way. Although the picture on the tsuba is probably not worth trying to decipher in an academic way, Barry mused with me on the possible interpretation of the hunting scene. I very much appreciated such willingness to share. Karusk never hesitated to give me ideas on the possible age of my waki, without trying to pin a date down. He also said I had a decent starter blade with good talking points. He could have said I had a low-grade sword, not worth getting excited about. But wisely, he didn't - new collectors, young and old, don't need their blades shot down in flames by collectors who have reached the top. I really had looked forward to acquiring my first nihonto, after getting a few Chinese reproductions and learning from them what I could. I never thought a real nihonto would come my way. When I DID acquire one at a heavy price (for me), it was quite a let-down to learn that nihonto can vary from the spectacular down to rubbish (and mine was light-years away from spectacular). So in the interest of all new collectors/owners of nihonto I want to make a plea that forumites choose words judiciously when dealing with new guys. Most times the low-end stuff (tatty but genuine) are all that are within our reach. Johan

Perhaps you will grant me a last few questions to you and the members. In post #3 I see something I first imagined to be a figure, but later it looked more like a signature kanji (!) placed near the cornerpost of the right-hand hut. The inlet metals I think are copper, silver and gold. My one question is: Whereas a gold decoration on any art object at today's prices would be deemed special, I think that in late Edo or meiji times the yellow metal was regarded with less reverance and used even on lower-grade sword koshirae. What do you think? And secondly, if at all that "figure" is a kanji in gold, put there as a mark or signature token in gold, would that be a feature frequently seen on tsuba? (I'm not referring to a full signature, but a mark such as this one.) Thank you so much if there are some comments on this! Johan

In terms of slenderness, my "boy's tanto" measures 20 mm next to the habaki, going down to 18 mm at the centre and 16 1/2 mm next to the yokote. The blade's thickness is all of 3 mm next to the habaki, with no measureable thinning to the point. The many flowers on both sides of the tsuba look exactly like the cherry blossoms on my shin-gunto tsuba. The kashira appears to be horn. I mention all this so the information can serve as a comparison to your tanto listed at the top, Brian. Johan

If I may be so bold as to keep harping on the matter of design and interpretations, and ask if the picture of the gun, the ammunition, the dog and the bird in the sky is a known Japanese theme, sometimes seen on tsuba? I really appreciate you and the members sharing with me on this matter. That gun is identical to an Edo/Meiji-period matchlock-converted-to-percussion Japanese musket I have looked up on internet. Johan