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Hmm, is the dō laced with leather? Not sure about the shikoro anymore…same lacing as the dō?

Good Christmas “gift” Unfortunately the scarce pictures are quite blurry and don’t tell much about the whole. However, you may be right, it’s composed by different parts at a glance. As Maurice mentioned, the helmet is nice and bears some age, probably the oldest part of this “set”. The shikoro, on the other hand, seems to be not original to the hachi. Hence, a comparison (assignment) of the mon on the fukigaeshi and the one on the hitsu is quite senseless… If you like to share more pictures, don’t hesitate to

Dang, missed the strokes above….thought it are rust spots 😅 Thanks Piers 👍

Seems to be “國友膝兵衛” (Kunitomo Hizabei). Not sure about the reading of the red marked kanji of the name…

There is so much to learn out there. I’m afraid one life is not enough… Trying to understand and learn about “Mon” since many years…but seems I merely scratched surface 🫤

You are not ignorant, Bruce…it wasn’t meant that way 🙇🏻‍♂️ In the contrary, your question is legitimate! This Mon is made up of “stars” (星 - hoshi), but mentioned in some references (simplified) as kyū = 9 (九), because it is made up of nine of such stars. Other sources name it as “九曜” = nine suns… You see, it can become complicated…

Not Kiku, Bruce, but “Kyū-Mon” (or hoshi ). Can’t tell if Hosokawa-kyū, Kokumochi-kyū or Maru ni kyū, though… Very cool Tanto, indeed 👍

I had the same idea, Steve! “念” derives from the kanji Thomas has postet and can be read “nen” or “omu” (which can be translated as: sense, idea, thought, feeling, desire, concern, attention, care, to remember…etc) “之” ,on the other hand, can also mean “this point in time”. So the suggestion Steve made is worth to consider, I think. Although I couldn’t find another example as well….

念之…?

Nice pairing, Gary! This kind of Zunari are “usually” accompanied by a Hanpō, though….like the ushiro-date

Guess it reads “後藤石乗” + kao (Gotō Sekijō + seal).

I would rule “Toyo” out!

Although it looks like a match at first glance, Bruno, I don’t think so… 夹 is a rather unusual kanji especially for names! There was a certain Mitsunaga around 1850-1923, who used this kind of writing for 光 in his signature. So I suspect they might had some relationships?!

No one? So I start with a bold guess…”利光刀” (Toshimitsu horu).

As a first step! The fuchi is signed “幸雲斎古川” (Kōunsai Kogawa + kao). Another reading for Kogawa is Furukawa or Kosen…