Janrudolph

Good day, Brian! I did not want to come in to the site with my tanto yet, but seeing your post above, I thought I must show it. Please see the pic. It seems to be still in good condition, thin, slender, ridgeline present, even yokote is there, gold fern-like leaves on both sides of the fuchi, smooth rounded kashira, worn but undamaged wrapping. Normal nakago, no signature, no date. Length of blade: 285 mm. Sori: 2 1/2 mm. Johan

Thanks for coming in, John! I'm wondering also if the design of the tsuba bears any relationship to the f/k. If there is no relationship, does it mean the three items are not a set? Am I justified to think the three items are meant to be a set? Johan

Thanks for coming in, Brian. In post #3 I see something I first imagined to be a person, but later it looked more like a signature kanji (!) situated near the cornerpost of the right-hand hut. The inlet metals I think are copper, silver and gold. The iron seems to be patinated to a brown colour. I marvel at the craftmanship, even though I am willing to accept that these f/k are not examples of top notch koshirae. What do you think? Johan

Good advice, Grev! Worth looking into. I would like to know if the design on the fuchi and kashira (see above) are traditional Japanese and if they can be reliably interpreted. I can imagine what I see, but that will be for fun only. I want to better understand Japanese culture as it represents itself in my waki fittings. Please help. Johan

Thanks for all this informed "back & forth", if I may call it that. I appreciate that, coming from you guys who have the experience and are able to sensibly do so. Much better than silly imaginings! Fact is, the curtain of time has dropped and the lights of the stage have been switched off...(There I go again!) I'm happy if my waki is an original Nihonto blade which has been altered somehow. Thing is, the alteration is not recent, am I right? That ugly break at the end of the nakago is just as "rusted" as the rest of the nakago. Johan

Sorry guys, I'm disgusted with my photos. I don't have the apparatus for macrophotography. The last two seem better. Johan

Good day all! It's a blustery autumn morning here in the Western Cape. I've gone and taken some better pictures (not without a struggle) of my wakizashi fittings. Some knowledgeable friends on the Nihonto-related board have suggested the waki to be at least meiji. I would like to know if the design on the fuchi and kashira (see below) are traditional Japanese and if they can be reliably interpreted. See, I can go and imagine what I see, but then it will be for fun only. I want to better understand Japanese culture as it represents itself in my waki fittings. Please help, friends! Johan

It is my great privilege and pleasure to be associated with you guys on this forum! I started becoming interested in militaria at about the end of my primary school days. Those days interesting stuff like bayonets, helmets etc etc were very easy to come by. My parents had a three-inch British mortar bomb as a door stop in the house, which rapidly became one of my first acquisitions. As the years passed, I became a gun collector with edged weapons as a sideline. To date I have been the owner of nearly sixty historical firearms, but due to lack of funds, I had been compelled to let some go in order to procure others. I had always to "give" in order to "take". I became known initially as a Mauser collector, and later the Mausers went and I concentrated on Americana (single-action handguns). Eventually the licencing laws in SA became harsher, which put a damper on my collecting enthusiasm. I started collecting more edged weapons than firearms. After 2000 the firearms Act became ridiculously strict and I despaired of collecting firearms. I immersed myself in the Nepalese kukri, then moved over into the Javanese kris. What a lot I was learning! But at the top of my wish list there always was the Samurai sword. For umpteen years nothing came into sight. The first one I did get hold of was rubbish: a carved bone-hilted scrappy wannabe. Then lo & behold, I became the proud owner of a shin-gunto. Still not a Samurai sword! I picked up a cheapie Chinese stainless steel replica because it at least had the appearance of the real thing. Then the opportunity to get a quality functional Chinese reproduction came my way and into my grubby paws and that's when I started to really dig deep - not only in the wide study area of Japanese culture and history, but also into my pocket. I had soon to exchange dozens of my favourite collected items in a swap for three nihonto: a katana, waki and tanto. Al last I could say I have the honour of holding a real Samurai sword in my hands! I am currently spending hours trying to delve into the matter of art, function and history behind these three items. And I'm so pleased and grateful that there are boffins on this forum who are willing to share their expertise and experience with the likes of me. What fun! Johan

Marvelous info, Karusk & Chris. My thanks for that. I'm learning, I'm learning! Of course it is a big bother for me to see my waki's tang end so roughly broken off. Ian earlier said he also has one like that. I measured the length of the tang and found it to be 85 mm. The space made for the tang in the handle comes to a dead stop at 92 mm. So when fully assembled, there's only 7 mm space left over. My outlandish view is that the handle was made to fit that tang....? And it does seem that the handle plus fuchi plus kashira are period to the blade and tsuba. Johan

I have a few nihonto blades, one high-end Chinese repro and one shin-gunto. Only on one of my sword's handles is the emperor node apparant. It is situated 145 mm from the fuchi end of the wakizashi handle and 30 mm from the kashira end. Surrounding the emperor node are a few smaller nodes, but still noticeably larger than the majority of the nodes. What significance could there be as to the handle-maker's choice of rayskin sections? On my tanto handle the nodes are all very small. It is only this waki handle that has the emperor node plus nodes of larger size. Would the handle guy use the choice cut from the skin for choice handles? Would he take off-cuts from the edges for ordinary handles? I have read that swords made earlier than the 16th century had the emperor node situated near the centre of the handle. In the 17-19th century the handle mostly had the emperor node near the end of the handle. Is this regarded as an indication of age? You agree this is a good talking point, guys? Johan

Good day to you all. As a small Nihonto collector living where I do, I have serious restrictions preventing me from full enjoyment of my few collected items. Barring talk about limited funds/low sword budget and what not, I have to contend with the fact that I do not have fellow collectors nearby, as do many of you, and being of an age that does not allow me to travel back & forth over long distances to visit faraway acquaintances. So my communication with knowledgeable people is through books, internet, the forum, Whatsapp etc. Now I have many kind friends in my neck of the woods and we chat regularly, but none of them share my life-long passion for edged weapons. Imagine the conversation where I am bursting to talk about my newest blade, and my buddies stare at me with glazed eyes, waiting for me to stop rambling so that they can wax lyrical on gardening, rugby, politics or the stock market! So I have changed my style, in that when I meet with my friends, I throw a talking point on the table, show a small photo of what I'm talking about and see what their comments are. In this thread I would like to list a few such talking points and get the proper gen from you guys. Please let me know where I get it wrong! The first one is the so-called emperor node on rayskin. Johan

Whew! Then I am relieved. Thanks, John J. It might interest you & all you other very dedicated nihonto guys how I as a small collector go about ordering my knowledge & understanding of what I acquire. I communicate with as many knowledgeable people as I can on any particular item I acquire, make notes of what I learn from them: eventually I summarise what I have learnt, order the information in logical, understandable text (or at least I try) and then insert the final summary in a flip file for that item, be it a katana or whatever. I re-read my ordered notes, for my pleasure, and to keep familiarising myself to all aspects of nihonto. Of course I realise you all will have your own methods, probably much better ordered than mine. My Yasuhiro wakizashi flip file will not be complete if I do not enquire about the snapped off tang. Early in this thread Ian said he also has a blade with a snapped off tang. My own assumption as to how this could be, is that the tang had earlier been longer, to fit the longer handle of a katana. For some reason the blade must have then been shortened to waki length, taking away the kissaki & forming a new point. John might regard my reasoning as extra-planetary . What other explanation could there be? Johan

John J, the information you have given makes for very interesting reading, and I'm truly grateful. Yet, against the backdrop of what I said in my last post above, namely that "I'm at this stage not even certain what the correct kanji in the signature are. Those I have shown in my post #35 above are guesses. I only think they are the same as on the tang", then your kind information is based on the belief that my kanji are correct. Please would you look at the actual mei, which I will try to post once more.

John and John J, thank you so much for coming in. Perhaps I can convince John that I purposely wandered off-planet to stimulate forumites to comment on the signature, as they were not forthcoming and I was anxious to learn more about my wakizashi. Or maybe I could try to defend myself by explaining that I am a scientist, retired now for 15 years already, and still have not unlearnt the harsh rules I have had to follow regarding scientific methodology. That requires (as I have heard it put) a person to be imaginative and a dreamer, to think things others don't think. Now look, John, I'm saying this stuff with a big smile on my face, because I actually appreciated your opinion and I don't think you were harsh at all. John J, thank you also for your input. You indicated that two-character Mei are common, particularly in koto swords and Yasuhiro is a common Mei. To me that means there are many swords bearing the same signature as mine. I have found it hard searching for examples of such mei to compare with mine. I'm at this stage not even certain what the correct kanji in the signature are. Those I have shown in my post #35 above are guesses. I only think they are the same as on the tang. Please could you look at the mei on the first page and tell me what your take is? With great appreciation. Johan

Barry, thank you for your suggestion, very worthwile to follow. In the meantime, while waiting for kind debate on the mei issuei, I have been doing some desperate digging and found a kanji or two that seem to be identical to the mei characters on this wakizashi (photo previous page). These are the characters for the word YASUHIRO: 康 ('healthy') 廣 ('wide'). So, if I am on track, these two kanji are what's on the nakago and this is what they mean. I could interpret it to be the work name of the kami Yasuhiro. But is the a Yasuhito in the history of Japanese swordsmiths? If so, why he did not include other (normal) honorifics, is what I'm wondering about. It seems like I am not willing to accept gimei, but I would appreciate some thought exchange on this specific signature before I do. Please advise! Johan

Yep, they're all reflections. Johan.

I've read what you wrote, thank you, and I really appreciate your insight. Please see the two pics I promised. But I had a hell of a job resizing them down to almost nothing, as I was disallowed larger pics. They look like nothing now. Sorry about that. I do wish, and hope, that more respondents come in to the discussion, as I do need some kind of further assessment as to the signature on the tang. Johan

But as a mark of respect towards you for the trouble you are taking to give me the information I need, I want to take a careful pic of the hamon section in question and show you as best I can. I must say: from among the blades that I have, this one is die brightest (having best polish) in the shinogi-ji area. I've always wondered why you boffins make such a fuss about not handling the blade with the fingers, because if I handle my blades, I never see finger marks. With this one I actually do. And it take a lot of wiping with cloth and thin oil to remove. That's a lesson I am learning. Johan

The hamon seems to go down into the edge, about an inch before the habaki. (Haha, you will have noticed our posts are crossing one another - it happens.) I cannot help looking again at the decoration of the tsuba. I really think the gun (probably a matchlock) is not aimed at the dog (seems to be a dog), and the proximity of the dog to the muzzle is coincidental. The duck (?) in the sky might be an indication that the dog is a gundog and the hunter is after a bird or two. The noose could be to secure the dog or to carry the birds by their feet. There's round balls on the ground (or shot). The bag on the other side is a different bag, perhaps a money-bag, indicating that the hunter sells his catch for profit. I'm dreaming, aren't I? Or hallucinating. Johan.