DanielM

Dear Moriyama San and Franco D Many many thanks for your help...it is great...i am very happy i wish you all the best

Hello Jack, Many thanks for your translation. Have you any idea of the prononciation of these kanji? If any member has a similar kozuka in iron it would be interesting to compare...this is not a unique piece ...but it is interesting...you realize that the 3 human faces have each less than 2 millimeters and we see the eyes nose hear...in copper or silver....realy impressive. I réal would like to see others kozuka of that type Thanks in advance

Dear members I have the feeling that iron kozuka are much less in number than soft metal Kozuka ...i would like to know if some schools specialised in iron kozuka ? and i join you a photo of one in my collection ... i think It has a Soten perfume but i have never seen a Soten kozuka? if anybody could translate the signature i would be very thankfull Many thanks in advance for your comments?

Hello Geraint, Very Interesting your proposal .this allowed me to find something similar in Boston museum....many thanks Geraint...happy New Year

Hello members Could anyone help to identify the story of this chinese person with a horse? Some very knowledgeable members have already identify the signature, Sekijoken Togu - at the age of 81 (Motozane nyudo go) Many thanks in advance and all best wishes for 2025

Dear Moriyama Koichi Also many thanks for these complementary informations it is very interesting. i like this kozuka very much with very good details and not too many gilding. By the way have you any idea of the design of this Kozuka, a chinese man with a horse ? the horse is kneeling...the man is looking at the sky ...on the reverse above the signature there are clouds in kiribori... Please i wish you a very good and happy new year

Dear Jan, I thank you very very much, and congratulation for your knowledges.... Excellent new year for you and family Daniel

Hello members, First of all may i send you all my best wishes for 2025...i wish you find your dreamed treasure that you will sherished for the rest of your life... Could you help me for the translation of this kozuka signature...i can only read the first kanji. Seki..or aka ..;for the rest ??? many many thanks in advance

Dear Uwe, That is very interesting.....many thanks for this As far as the right column is...i have no idea at all....let see if other members can help... Again thanks Uwe for your time...very helpfull Dan

Hello members, Could somebody help me to translate a signature on a wakizashi ? it is a shinshinto wakizashi ..i suspect it is maybe not a signature but possibly" donne or forged for ...at the demand of...at the request of...? many many thanks for any idea all the best Dan

Many thanks Piers D very helpful all the best

Hello everybody, I just discover a a kozuka with a signature? i cannot read? ? mae or saki Kuni ??? if somebody could help? Many thanks in advance PS sorry i have no better photo...

Very very sad news....what a great loss.... I will always remember him...i really appreciate the Tosogu thanks to his video...even after 40 years of interest. All my condoleances to his family and friends

Hello Chris, It is very difficult to appreciate the quality from a photo..; the design is interesting, rarely seen and i do not find a similar in the goto schools books i have...at first glance we can have some doubt ...not very crisp details...but if you look to a goto with Hozon paper ...you also have some doubt....

Bonjour Monsieur Paris (Belgium) Non ceci n' était pas une mauvaise photo...;mais ne désespérez pas pour la traduction....j' ai fait 4 années de japonais en cours du soir ..;et je suis incapable de traduire ces kanji en écriture cursive...;mais c' était un bel essai...c' est le principal...;une prochaine fois ce sera de mieux en mieux

Dear Jean Collin, Yes of course it was Sentoku...the automatic writing is not always a good think....but many thanks for reading

Dear Moriyama Koichi San, Many many thanks for this difficult translation ...it effectively correspond to some other comments i received by a friend. And i agree with you this is a late Edo or Meiji tsuba ...not intended to be mounted..but only for the barbarian collectors that were buying things at that time and this design (snake) is not a Classical Japanese... Again thanks a lot Daniel

I was very surprised that there were no answer concerning the reading of a tsuba signature??? please do not hesitate even reading only 1 or 2 kanji...it could help...i think this kind of tsuba could be Nara or Yasuchika or Ōtsuki late Edo or even Meiji....again many thanks in advance

This is i supose a late nineteen century tsuba in santoku ....and i would be very happy if somebody could help me translating it..si i could learn more on the school or maker Many many thanks in advance

Many many thanks, specially for Bruce who made a lot of useful research.... For Jussi I plan to go end of next year November probably 2or 3 days in Tokyo, 4 days around Nara and 4 or 5 days around Niigata but nothing is fixed yet Again many thanks for your help

Hello members I would like to obtain NBTHK papers for at least 2 blades from my collection and some kodogu also. I hope I will be able to go to Japan end next year ….probably my last long trip as I am already 79 If not I will send these ….directly to Japan or via Bob Benson in Hawai? So could anyone give me a reliable contact in Japan (that I can contact and meet next year (that will keep the items and bring these to the Shinsa) and of course I will pay for the service. I intend to spend 8 days at least and I have another demand could you recommend me 1 or 2 museums where I could see koto Soshu blades (sunnobi tanto)…if possible Hiromitsu or Akihiro or Masahiro shodai…I thank you in advance for any help. PS the 2 blades are in good polish conditions , in shirasaya, one is a shinto mumei so just Hozon expected - the second is a koto partly signed good candidate for higher papers.

Many many thanks Colin T and Dale for this "common" information....and similar exemple...aizu-shoami is certainly the best choice...it was very helpfull for me all the best Daniel

Could you please help me identifying a school for this tsuba…all I can say ..it looks like a copy of kaneie goose tsuba. Dimensions 8.3 x 8.1 cm and thickness 3 mm in the center 4. 3 on the rim Many thanks in advance for your comments

Hello Saint Just You ask us an extremely important question...is it better to leave a valuable Japanese sword to a museum or to sell it to a collector who will take care of it? I'm afraid there is no satisfactory answer... -On the death of the careful collector this piece can very well be used by a member of his family who having no knowledge will let it rust or worse... thinking he is a samurai will use it to cut branches in his garden... -As for the museum…I speak from experience having been a volunteer in a large museum in Brussels…many pieces are languishing in poorly ventilated and poorly adapted reserves… Here's a striking example...in 1980 Dr. Walter A. Compton donated 200 swords from his large collection to the Boston Fine Art Museum where a new wing was created with Japanese capital. A wing where students could see and study quality swords (reference Token Bijutsu Journal No. 3 and 4. from 1980) Probably in the 90s this wishful thinking was realized…. But in 2013...30 years after this wishful thinking...I planned a trip to New York and Boston and I sent an email (3 months before my visit) to the curator of the Boston Museum stating that I wanted to see if possible a "Fukuoka Ichimonji" blade. I got the following response: We do have some blades from this school but unfortunately they are in reserve and we do not have the staff to show them to you, we have a visit once a year from a Japanese expert who comes maintain our blades but he will not be there during your visit…. So I went to Boston where I remember seeing 1 naginata blade and a beautiful collection of tsuba and other kodogu…what a disappointment…. So I don’t know what to advise you….perhaps the Samurai Museum in Berlin? Janssens Collection? Museum solely dedicated to Samurai objects