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I have a koshirae for a sword that Lord Mizuno Tadanori, the last hereditary leader of the Numazu-Mizuno Clan, supposedly carried. The menuki and fuchi-kashira both feature Hidari-mitsudomoe (three commas) mon. When I searched online for an association with the Numazu-Mizuno Clan for this Mon, I couldn't find any evidence. Still, when I asked ChatGPT, it says that they were fudai daimyō (hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa) and that the Mizuno clan, including its Numazu branch, historically used the Hidari-mitsudomoe mon as their family crest. Can anyone provide a source for confirmation of this information? Also, the mimi of this sword's tsuba bears a repeating pattern of what I believe to be another mon, a gold leaf pattern. Is there an association there? I have attached photos of the rim of the tusba, fuchi, and menuki. Thanks for any help that you can provide!

The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Token Kai will be hosting a display and information table at the “Doors Open Toronto” event this weekend. The event runs from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25 at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre located at 6 Sakura Way, Toronto, CA M3C 1Z5. Note that Sakura Way was formally Garamond Court and still displays this way on some online maps. There should be some beautiful items on display, and several members of the club's executive will be on hand to meet and answer questions. There will also be a host of other events and demonstrations going on at the Centre during the weekend. This photo is from the Haru Matsuri celebrarion that occurred at the beginning of March, but the display will be similar. Please stop by to say hello!

Member of NBTHK AB and a member of the Toronto Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Token Kai.

I would strongly suggest that he display the koshirae with the tsunagi and keep the blade in its shirasaya. It should be fine to keep it displayed like that indefinitely.

Very hard to tell anything from these photos. I can't make out any trace of a hamon and it looks like there is either rust or some other damage to to blade’s edge. Without better pictures, I would pass on this one.

Stunning book. The photography is first rate and even has a couple very impressive 4 page foldouts of important swords in 92.5% scale.

I ordered a copy from Amazon Canada today. It should arrive tomorrow. It was supposedly the only copy they had in stock. Price in Canada was $59.95 CDN.

Torokusho are supposed to be kept with the sword at all times. I doubt any dealer is just sending in a random Torokusho for an export permit. They take record keeping very seriously in Japan

I was 58 in 2021. A Hozon Kaneharu Sunnobi Tanto. I am still very new to the hobby and have a lot to learn. Now that I am retired, I have time to learn but very little money to spend on new swords.

My wife and I will be visiting San Francisco from July 14 to 18. Are there any Nihonto related “must sees” that I should be aware of? Thanks,

For those who may be interested, I did a quick machine translation of the article: The year of Showa 12 (1937) was a great turning point for Hikosaburo Kurihara. From May, I traveled for a new Japanese sword full-fresh business trip exhibition, and soon after returning home, I went to Manchuria again. It is to see the rot of Showa swords and plan and investigate the establishment of a Japanese sword training school on site. However, the training school was not born in Manchuria. In the wake of the Sanko Bridge incident, there was an all-out war with China. Because I went in, dispatch of the Imperial Army Consolation Local Service Group (Local Service Group for Military Sword Repair) here has been decided. The plan assumes that the battle period will be one year, and a group of 5 to 7 people will be formed into 20 groups, a total of 100 people, and a total of 3,000 people will be dispatched, and emergency repairs such as blade care, polishing, and handle winding will be performed once per person per day, and a total of 30,000 swings will be repaired. I'm doing. Fruit. In some cases, the period and scale were more than this. Hikosaburo contracted amoeba dysentery at the Soman border in the summer of Showa 10, and since then he has often developed symptoms and has reached a critical condition. This disease is characterized by severe diarrhea, and the physical exhaustion is significant, causing complications. It seems that there was no effective treatment at that time. It is said that he was in a state of command from the hospital bed until just before he left as the leader of the first squad. It seems that he was also prepared, and he called himself the book of death "Sujuzoei" published in the middle of the business. See the portrait of that time. And there is exactly the atmosphere of "the demon of the country" in the air. After the election of the House of Representatives in February 1919, Hikosaburo left politics and devoted himself to the reconstruction of the Japanese sword. And with this military sword repair business, we clearly identified the role of Japanese swords and swordsmiths, it will make "Forged Sword Hokoku" flourishing.

Welcome to the NMB. It looks like you have already accumulated an impressive collection.

Welcome to the NMB. This is a fantastic place for learning about Nihonto. You will be happy you landed here.

Typing on an iPhone isn’t ideal.

Hi Roman, There are several member on this board from Canada. Where in Canada are you located? Toronto has a very active Token Kai located at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. There is a meeting next this coming weekend, Saturday, June 8 at 12:30 pm. I won’t be able to attend, but visitors are more than welcome.