Kapin

Hi all I came across this sword recently and hoped someone could help translate the signature. Not my cup of tea but the signature foxed me a little. Sorry about the quality of the photo, only had my mobile phone with me at the time. It's well made nicely mounted in WWII mounts and obvious Seki in origin but made by who? Thanks in advance Mark

Hi all I was hoping for a little bit more in the way of discussion on this topic before I made comment myself but here goes!! Apart from the glaring differences in Yasuhiro's style whilst at Yasukuni, let's look at the signature. For those who are interested, below is a link to the sword recently sold on eBay and a link to a page showing my own Yasahiro, which includes additional links to various references for Yasuhiro for comparison. Please compare the signatures and feel free to comment. My own opinion is that this sword is more than likely not by Yasuhiro and this has been reflected in the price achieved. However, I've only ever physically studied two swords by Yasuhiro so it's possible I could be wrong. However, I would like to draw everybody attention to the area just above the Yasuri-me and just below the Mune-machi. The nakago-jiri in my experience is completely out of character too. http://www.kapin.com/yhirooshigata.htm http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0345211259 Feel free to shoot me down if you like; I've posted this in the attempt to prompt further discussion. Kapin

Hi all Apologies if this post is in the wrong location but as I'm not offering the sword for sale yet, I wasn't sure where to post my question. Considering the recent popularity of Yasukuni Shrine blades, if you had this sword where would you offer it for sale? The thought of offering it on eBay fills me with dread. Although eBay gets the item out there in the market place, I'm not convinced it's safe. Now don't get me wrong I use eBay a lot to buy and sell items and overall my experiences are good; but we are talking about a valuable and treasured item here and not a DVD or the odd gift. Without listing all the drawbacks, because we all know them, I fear that I might not get paid even if I use Paypal. Sometime ago I offered this sword to one of the big auction houses for sale. In short they weren’t interested, stating only that it wasn’t something they considered to be worthy of their stage. I kid you not! This particular sword has been in my hands for 20 something years now and I know it is genuine; everything about is right. I’ve studied it for weeks if not months and I have bought and read most of the books on the subject in both Japanese and English. Its authenticity has never been in question as far as I know not even by the expert at the auction house to whom I offered it for sale. It’s time to move it on and let someone else enjoy it or study it. After all, it is one of only 500 reputedly made by Yasuhiro at Yasukuni. The sword is not a hundred years old yet so cannot be considered an antique, with all the implications that brings for shipping, customs and tax charges. In addition, shipping such items is now getting difficult here due to my government’s strange ideas on the subject of weapons. Recent changes in the law have resulted in most of the Couriers refusing to transport such items for fear of falling foul of the law, due to their own ignorance. Even eBay have revised their policy on the commerce of our beloved passion in my country. So, offering for sale and transporting such a valuable item is difficult and filled with uncertainty. So my question is; what would you do if you were me? Thanks in advance Kapin

And one more photo.....

Hi Dirk This is the best I can do with the limited equipment at my disposal. 2 more pictures.....

Hi to all you tsuba experts Can anyone help me identify and date this unsigned tsuba? Thanks in advance Kapin