Renato

If You are restoring a saya, point on the dimension of the kozuka pocket instead of the kozuka itself. Normally the lenght of the pocket (where the kozuka handle rests) is about 90mm.

At a close ispection you can read "Bushu ju Akasaka Tadatoki saku"; there are some 6th Tadatoki mei that have instead "Bushu ju Akasaka" on the Omote and "Tadatoki saku" on Ura side.ù Here the red ghost! The opposite face is the same....

Hello, first of all Merry Christmas to everyone. I got an Akasaka tsuba with the classical 32 arrow feathers pattern, very similar to the Ashmolean museum one - 79 x 71 mm - 5mm tick at the nakago with squared-rounded mimi. Unfortunately it's badly rusted and the mei is quite worn. (Picture is the best I could do...) Considering the very thin mei and the yahadzu pattern which Tadatoki could be in Your opinion? The sixt? Thanks Renato

Thanks, Malcom

Hello, do You know the Japanese name and the families that used this gomaizasa kamon version? Thanks Renato

I have it, but I'm thinking on a book more complete (roughly, half pages than Connoisseurs) to use togheter with Connoisseur during Kantei. In our association, we do it using Robinsons' "A Primer of Japanese Sword blades". May be very useful for beginners

Talking about a book of general interest for the mass of low/medium knowledge members, I think it may be very useful a manual with all the swordsmiths schools and branchs, well detailed also on shinto and shinshinto periods. The Robinsons' " A Primer of Japanese Sword blades" may be a starting point, looking for a book more agile and less dispersive than the Connoisseurs (moreover an idispensable book). Renato

One time, one of the two most famous english auction houses reported the term "inscribed........." on swords auction catalogues when mei was not so sure, while the right signatures were defined as "signed by..." Renato

Thanks Guys! I'm a member of the Japanese Sword Italian Association, I know Japanese sword terms and I can translate signatures and nakago inscriptions, but reading current kanji is another thing. I believed to find on Hozon paper not only the material items description, but also the school attribution or the style of mountings. The interesting thing is that all the koshirae seems en suite, with all the fittings, tsuka and saya aged all the same. Thanks again Renato M

Thanks Kunitaro, but I'd like an english translation, unfortunately I have may difficulties translating Kanji. I tried using Google translator, but the result is not so fantastic. Renato

No Piers, I'd like to have the exact translation of those kanji lines, if possible. Thanks Renato

Hello, this year I bought a daito with Koshirae Hozon paper. Anyone can translate the koshirae description in the paper? (the second column from right with big and small kanji). scansione0001.pdf Thanks in advance Renato M.

Hello! Do You know anything about a swordsmith called Echizen Shimosaka Kunikiyo? I attach an oshigata from Sato Kanzan "Shinto Oshigata". I saw a long blade with similar sugata, hada, hamon and mei but I didn't find more information on Hawley, Fujishiro etc. I'd like to understand if he can belongs to the main Yamashiro Kunikiyo school, or this sword can be an early work of Yamashiro Kunikiyo shodai (before the kiku-mon mei), or not. Thanks in advance .JPG]

Hi Peter I have a short blade with the mei Soshu Ju Hiromitsu, but the characters are a little bit different. Also the mei of first generation Hiromitsu in Fujishiro Nihon toko jiten is quite different. I think Your blade is surely a Koto Soshu school for the hamon and the shape of nakago and Hitatsura is typical of Hiromitsu ( but there were several generations of this smith).

Hi Dana Some considerations on Your blades: The first Tanto seems an average blade and good menuki; The second knife seems much Tibetan than Japanese ( I never seen this kind of knife in Japan, but they are common in Tibet and Ladakh); P3 has a nice mounting with a beautiful habaki and this may show a good blade inside (obviously we must see the tang); P4 has an average mounting P5 is a very strange sword, with a shape (sugata) never seen in Japan, so it is probabily a touristic gift made at the end of nineteenth century. All the blades need a professional polish that can be quite expensive