reinhard

It's quite obvious, isn't it. The original mei was not fully removed. Some of its deeper traces are still visible. A new mei was added, including parts of the former one, in order to build a "reasonable" signature. It didn't work out well as it seldom does. reinhard

I second Mr.Trotter, who said about all there is to say. The mei is a gimei of the poorest kind. Translation would be: Ko To (no) Ju MASAZANE saku i.e. MASAZANE resident of old East made this. Think about it. reinhard

This blade pretends to be named "...kubi giri maru" ("...little head cutter"). By doing so, it is in accordance with other sick and disgusting trash related to WW II memorabilia, not to mention their replicas. In this particular case I'm sure it's a fake. Reminder: Some people tend to believe ShinGunTo was an extension of Samurai culture into 20th century. This is bullsh... Japan went to war as a hi-tec nation and GunTo were far from any real purpose in warfare except killing POW's. reinhard

This is the one from Icke-Schwalbe/Karpinski's book Mariusz was talking about. A general hint: If something looks neat, elaborate, uninspired, two-dimensional and executed by a trembling hand, it is probably the opposite of art and of any other true talent. reinhard

I would love to, Brian. I read about marauding baboons in Capetown in yesterdays newspaper (true!) and I really would like to say hello to my kin. Unfortunally my job binds me to boring and civilized Northern hemisphere during winter. Nevertheless I'm looking forward to meet you Southern guys next year. best regards reinhard

Paul, Freely translated it says: On the cover: Owari tsuba On the inside: Karabana (Toka?) sukashi (this is referring to a flower/blossom unknown to me) Unsigned and dating from late Muromachi period Metal is pierced in positive silhouette design Kei, Ken, Juko (strength, health, composure and dignity) are outstanding Written in the year of Showa Hinoto-U (Showa 2nd or 62nd year; 1927 or 1987) Sasano Masayuki was born in November 1920 and passed away in January 1993. reinhard

As works of MYOJU they were treasured from the very beginning and not carried through wind and rain. I think MATASHICHI's famous tsuba is a "multi-layered"-approach to the concept of wabi/sabi. First it is expressed by the subject of broken fans, which is part of a "worn-brocade"-design; assembled on a surface, which is modelled after weathered stones and the whole thing is meant to look like after a long time of wear. It is a picture-puzzle. Don't worry. Although a little senile by now (age 47), I'm still able to draw my own conclusions. It's always a pleasure to argue with you. If it's OK for you, we can leave it at that for the moment, for this subject will pop up again for sure and I don't want this thread to become a matter of supremacy over interpretation. BTW, you are invited to see the MASANAGA tsuba for real whenever possible. My pic definitely failed. reinhard

Because it is part of my collection and I had a lot of time to study its workmanship in hand. Again, the pic alone is by no means good enough to make any valid statement about "micro detail". Tiger, rock and bamboo don't show signs of wear. How comes? I agree with you as far as the "buggered up metalwork" is concerned, but I disagree with your conception of natural/artificial ageing when it comes to some of the greatest tsuba of all. Umetada MYOJU made more than one of his masterpieces in this style of artificial ageing (including false seppa prints BTW). In Nihon To Taikan two great examples are depicted. Seing tsuba like these in hand, it is obvious that they were made like this on purpose and the effect is just breathtaking. First generations of Shimizu Jingo, Hirata Hikozo or Tsuchiya Yasuchika provide us with many great examples. I don't want to argue on the basis of "believe". I remember disagreement earlier on this forum (tsuba attributed to Miyamoto Musashi,remember?), but you can't convince me in this field. Nevertheless I do respect your skills and knowledge, of course. best regards reinhard

Curran, I'm not sure what you mean by "micro detail". I beg to excuse my limited skills as a photographer. This is difficult to explain on the basis of pics and words like most topics concerning NihonTo. Examining this tsuba in hand makes it clear at first sight: The surface within and around seppa-dai is almost perfectly even. Discolorations looking like wear by seppa are obviously part of the "worn plate"-design, skillfully added by the artist. Their perfect look surpasses any real wear caused by time. reinhard

Keith & Ford, I agree with you in so far that the "real thing" wabi/sabi cannot be created by man per definitionem. But it was the art of creating the illusion within frames of aesthetic principles and supreme craftsmanship, that has been so highly esteemed ever since. To my limited experience it has always been the "man-made factor" appreciated the most. A tsuba, ragged by time and wear, did not rise great feelings in the hearts of samurai, for it happened just like that by time and wear and was turned into an ugly thing. Creating the illusion of a worn plate AND following aesthetic principles at the same time, on the other hand, was regarded as one of the highest forms of tsuba making. Hayashi MATASHICHI's juyo bunkazai tsuba with broken fan design is a very good example. Eventually I'm kicking open doors here, but just for fun I would like to present another example. It is a tsuba by Nara MASANAGA (signed on the obverse with his Kao). The tsuba is in perfect condition. The plate is supposed to look like an old and worn piece including "fake" print of seppa-dai etc. The inlay depicting a tiger seeking shelter from the rain however is "flawless". - The "worn and discolored"-design of the plate is perfect, much better than any natural aging process could have done. It creates an air of melancholy in contrast to the vital and fresh tiger and bamboo theme. reinhard

It's not about wabi/sabi. It's about the illusion of wabi/sabi. MYOJU was the grand master of this art. Every chiselmark and every discoloration are intentional. reinhard

This is the key for understanding some of the finest works of art. Umetada Myoju, Hirata Hikozo, Shimizu Jingo, Nishigaki Kanshiro and others cannot be appreciated without understanding this sentence. Thanks. reinhard

Off topic and just for the record: They were in the collection of Giorgio Crespo de la Serna for a while. Stubborn as he was he bought them against all reasonable advice. Latest victim of the infamous couple I heard of was Darcy Brockbank, who presented his catch on NMB some time ago. - Giorgio Crespo de la Serna was also owner of the horrible gimei SUKEZANE with hitatsura hamon shown on the same plate (No.14) in Robinson's book. This sword came to auction as part of his legacy at Sotheby's in London in June 2003 (lot 91). I've seen it in hand and it is not worth any serious discussion at all, but since it comes with the bonus of provenance (V&A museum) it will probably pop up on the Western market again. reinhard

Hi Alan, W.M.Hawley collected an enormous amount of information and deserves respect for this achievement alone. Unfortunately he put every information he could get into his books without any critical distance. This was only partly his fault. Western "scholarship" worked like this in those days, but it should not be purported anymore. Hawley's compilation of Toko can be a quite reasonable point to start research from, but his general infos about NihonTo should be taken with great reserve. I can't comment on Nihonto Koza, for I don't have the volumes. It still has a good reputation though. My preferred sources are mainly Japanese books, but I recommend the three aforementioned books/catalogues for starters. For those of you, who don't know what this talk is all about, I would like to present a few excerpts from B.W.Robinson's book. No wonder good, old Basil got it all wrong with the blades in the V&A museum. - The one about soft metal care is especially for Ford. It might cure some nostalgic feeling. At least I wish his marvellous Katsuhira utsushi tsuba he showed me recently will never be restored by the methods of Engineer Commander A.R.Newman. reinhard

Alan, If someone is going to pay me a reasonable amount of money, I'll crush the book in detail, but it is not worth the pain. I know, many of the oldtimers and part-time members of sword societies are still sticking to Robinson, Hawley and Yumoto and others, for these are the guys they had learned from and their books were all reasonable information they could get at the time. Their limited knowledge gives them a cozy feeling even, or especially, nowadays, but there are so much better English introductions to the subject by now: Ogasawara's glossary for the collection in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Harris' and Ogasawara's catalogue made for the exhibition in London 1990 or the book accompagning the present exhibition in NY to name a few. Frankly, I'm sick of popular myths from Edo times repeated over and over again. MASAMUNE's jutetsu and other nonsense. Stuff like this has been corrected decades ago, but comes up again and again because of these few outdated books. reinhard

This book was a decent attempt at the time but is completely outdated by now. Most of the big-name blades turned out to be gimei later as in many early Western collections. Unless you are interested in the history of sword appreciation in the West and its errors you better stay away from it. This book has caused too many confusions already. reinhard

Grey and Joe are correct: The remnants of the mei read: NAGAHIRO Aren't you happy with it? Reinhard

This exact question was posted recently under the name of "irca" on sunday oct 18th, pics included ("help mei noshu seki ......."). It was fully answered. What else do you want? This is getting ridiculous. reinhard

Brian, "zanguri" is a term used to describe a particular type of Hada which appears coarse und loosely structured. It does not have a negative connotation but is used to describe the works of Horikawa KUNIHIRO and his followers exclusively. - BTW I don't insist in this particular case. It was just a notion that came to my mind. As mentionned before, it is difficult to tell by pictures alone. All I can tell for sure is that this particular blade is neither MASAMUNE's nor SADAMUNE's work. It is dating from later times and is of far less quality. reinhard

First of all, a knowledgeable dealer trying to sell a (potential) top-class Soshu blade for a few bucks on ebay DOES NOT EXIST. Second, Hada of the blade in question does not match MASAMUNE's nor SADAMUNE's. It looks somewhat loose and disorderly (>zanguri) and makes me think of a Kaji with Horikawa background. Size and measurement of the blade fit in there better too. Attachment shows zanguri Hada of KUNIHIRO. It may be good to know: If a blade looks like Soshu x 2 it is in all probability not the real thing. Spectacular Nie and Hataraki are refined and subtle in old Soshu swords. Later schools inspired by old Soshu style like Horikawa, Satsuma ShinTo and others tended to exaggerate. reinhard

Bereft of its original purpose in modern society ShinsakuTo is an endangered species. From an artistic point of view ShinsakuTo must find new ways to go. Copying old masterpieces is obsolete. Composing like Mozart or painting like Rembrandt doesn't make sense in a time when artists are just a click or a phone call away from knowledge unavailable to old masters. All art is bound to its time and its limits. Great artists break these limits by ingenuity, not by collecting informations. Considering NihonTo a weapon in the first place, even nowadays, it should be made of hitec material cutting through forged steel like butter. But then who cares. reinhard

Jon, If it takes 10'000 hours of practice to become a master criminal, you can probably achieve your goal in less time. Comparing Mozart to Bernie Madoff or Jack the Ripper seems to be an interesting approach though. Welcome to NMB's comedy corner. reinhard

There are and have been too many presuming "well rounded collectors" on this board already giving false impression of their skills and knowledge. "External authority" is not a save haven in every case, but it is preventing beginners from doing the worst mistakes at least. - Talking with experts, who spent most of their lifetime with swords and/or fittings made me feel modest towards my own attempts of authentification. We should not try to establish our own rules unless we are intending to undermine any credibility, provided that we ever had one. BTW it is quite easy to become an "ubermensch". Marry the girl with the small hands. reinhard

A teaser (tanto by Yosozaemon-no-Jo SUKESADA and O-SA) accidentally taken from this year's catalogue for those still hesitating. May the God of copyright have mercy on me. I was told he is related to the God of promotion. reinhard

Good oshigata are. Some oshigata are just a waste of time. reinhard