reinhard

"You can make it about the objects. Beauty, rarity, historical importance - whatever is more attractive to you." (Kirill) Crucial points. In order to understand and appreciate the beauty and technical quality of a blade you need your own compass resulting from experience. You don't need to own masterpieces for studying and learning; only very few people can afford this method. As far as rarity is concerned, Homma Junji sensei was clear: Look for blades with typical features! Searching for mavericks will blur your vision. Historical importance is no reliable advisor for the average student. This belongs to the field of historians and Nihon-To researchers. An extreme example you can find is a Juyo Token by Sanjo Chikamura with the mei "Chikamura tatematsuru (same kanji as "kami"). The blade was retempered long ago and is a mere shadow of its former self. The mei however is of great importance, for it proofs another Sanjo blade to be gimei: A true Sanjo blade with the mei "Munechika mura-kami" which was always dubious. With the help of the retempered blade it was possible to proof the "Mune"-character was a later addition. Therefore its historical value and its designation as Juyo Token. It doesn't make sense a blade like this is in private possession. "% = (TJ+Jubi+Jubun+Kokuho+Gyobutsu)/Juyo Ko-Mihara Masaie: 37.5% Nanki Shigekuni: 28.6% Shodai Hizen Tadayoshi: 12.7% Ko-Bizen Tomonari: 257%" (Chris) This is what I mean when I say you need your own compass as far as quality is concerned. If you don't have one, you end up up with strange statistics like these. Comparing the handful of zaimei blades of Ko-Bizen Tomonari with the many works of shodai Tadayoshi or Nanki Shigekuni still existing is misleading. For those of you who sneer at the term "Sue-Bizen", f.e., I recommend to have a closer look at the blade recently designated TokubetsuJuyoToken by Ukyo-no-Suke Katsumitsu. It is described in detail in the latest "Token-Bijutsu"-magazine of the NBTHK. reinhard

"There will always be a steady flow of Tadayoshi, Ko-Mihara, Bungo Takeda, Shinto Waks, Uda, etc. These aren't going anywhere, they constitute the majority of the items exchanged. The pressure concentrates at the top of the field, this is normal and healthy." This is where ignorance and misunderstanding of nihon-to starts. A masterpiece of shodai Tadayoshi of Hizen, a masterpiece of Ko-Mihara Masaie, a wakizashi-masterpiece of Nanki Shigekuni can equal and even surpass a blade by Ko-Bizen Tomonari in quality and in even in market price. What matters is the quality of the individual blade and its condition. Those who can't tell the difference might better focus on used cars as a field of investing money. BTW Whining about the fact, that there are no Leonardos or Caravaggios to find online in Italy for a "reasonable" price is.... reinhard

Hi Sam, When one gets stuck in kantei after having inspected sugata, hada and hamon, it is often helpful to have a close look at the boshi. It is often the most individual feature on a blade otherwise hard to pin down. Telling from your pics I see a pretty clear hakkikake/ kaen boshi. reinhard

I was wondering about this thread from the beginning. Somebody is dropping by, telling he is willing to spend 15K on a sword without knowing basics. A test...a joke...or just a bored guy with a lot of money to spend? Supposed this thread is meant seriously, silly name-dropping a la Rivkin won't help. Nihon-to are not to be treated like second-hand cars. There are no price lists for "Oei" or "Ichimonji". Each blade must be judged by its individual qualities, even those made by the same maker. For once I agree with Jacques: Don't buy a sword on the basis of pixels. You need to see it in your hand. reinhard

PM sent. reinhard

Torokusho states: a wakizashi (written in hiragana), nagasa (blade length without nakago) is 44cm, sori (curvature) is 1.8cm, 1 mekugi-ana. Signature is: Kanda (no) Ju Kane 囗. (empty box meaning: kanji is illegible) The best known town named Kanda was in Musashi province. The last kanji of the mei is definitely not "tsune" and probably not "sada". reinhard

Definitely not the mei (signature) of famous Horikawa Kunihiro. reinhard

Thanks Tyler, That's good news. Chandler's translation is correct and the style of engraving is in accordance with Nobuhide's work. Good luck and take good care (of the blade and of yourself). reinhard

I'm wondering nobody asked for a picture of the opposite side of the nakago yet. Kurihara Nobuhide always engraved a nengo ("date") on the sashi ura of his long blades. So Tyler, could you please provide us with a pic of the reverse side of the tang? reinhard

What I was saying was: The horimono is WITHIN RANGE of SOME of Kurihara Nobuhide's works. His horimono include a wide variety of subjects and he never executed the same horimono in the exact same style twice. The horimono in question shows many elements of different dragon-horimono he made. All in all the blade is interesting and should not be easily disregarded. reinhard

You don't need to like it. The horimono is in accordance with some of Kurihara Nobuhide's works. reinhard

I agree with Thomas. Most likely a twisted version of "Kane". reinhard

Maybe we can agree on this: The blade in question is of high quality, way above most of the blades discussed here, and shows many features associated with Yamaura-school. Judgement on the basis of pictures/pixels is difficult. Perspective/camera-angle make judgement even more difficult. Let's wait for judgement of true experts, and I don't mean NMB, to narrow the question of the possible maker. reinhard

Hi Yoshi, EMS worked perfectly fine with me and my Japanese associates until some years ago. All of a sudden EMS refused to ship swords to Switzerland, claiming problems with SWISS airlines. That was and is actually not true. Asking SWISS cargo they confirmed that they will transport antique blades without a problem. Asking again in Japan it turned out the problem was more likely to be located at inner Japanese traffic. A blade sent from any place in Japan eventually has to take its way to another airport in Japan before leaving the country. That's where Japanese regulations start to become a problem for EMS. Anyway, the blade in question made its way to Switzerland with Fedex without any problems. reinhard

Supposed the nakago is mumei but in original shape, i.e. the blade was made in "naginata-naoshi-style", you are correct. Supposed the blade was originally made a naginata and was shortened later (naginata-naoshi) you are not. reinhard

Hi Artur, Sorry to tell you, but the tsuba you are showing are not pre-mid Edo period. Designs are stiff and awkward, most of them unprecedented. Execution is amateurish and very poor. All in all they look pretty young. I suggest you study reliable sources about quality tsuba before further acquiring. reinhard

Bonji on blades are often easy to identify, but sometimes they are not as simple as they seem. Just for consideration: reinhard

The famous Hosokawa-Mon is always consisting of nine round luminaries. A bigger one in the middle and eight smaller ones circling around it. Not one more, not one less. reinhard

Who is next? Bizen Nagamitsu? reinhard

You better go to sleep and consider this tomorrow again. reinhard

A beautiful and spectacular blade. Nevertheless I am leaning towards Taira (no) Nobuhide as the maker of this blade as far as one can tell from pixels. Congrats anyway. reinhard

Hi Jack, Your katana looks like ShinShinTo-work to me. Let me explain: It has average katana-length but the nakago was either greatly shortened or otherwise reshaped. Sori is still extremely shallow. This excludes older works of Awataguchi, Rai, Aoe. Let's suppose the sugata fits Kambun-Shinto measurements. Other features do not. Hizen-To was mentioned, but neither sugata nor hada fit the criteria. Hizen-To sugata is strongly curved beyond the usual ShinTo fashion. Hizen's konuka-hada, which tried to emulate Awataguchi's nashiji hada, was unique in its clarity and structure. I can't see it here. Hizen-To were also much appreciated for their beautiful boshi, following the curvature of the kissaki precisely and returning shortly. The boshi on your sword is somewhat fringy and shows a pretty long kaeri. But most of all: The hada of your blade is an extremely tight and crispy ko-itame. In the past conservative polish left this as "muji" or muji-fu". It is a unique feature of many blades made during the 19th century. reinhard

Thank you for your ideas and explanations. Allusion to"konotegashiwa" is a very interesting suggestion that did not come to my mind. Unfortunately the surface of the blade is in bad condition (rust and scratches) hence the hamon is partly obscured. reinhard

Recently I was asked for translating the signature of a mistreated and deteriorated katana in a (partly) mismatched koshirae.. The blade is definitely a genuine nihon-to. Mei on the sashi-omote was easy: a 16 petal kiku-mon followed by the mei: Tamba-no-Kami Yoshimichi. Probably second generation in Kyoto. But: On the sashi-ura there are 2 rows of katakana. I found katakana on nakago unprecedented: Can anybody help me out here and tell me me, what they mean? reinhard