reinhard

The signature can be translated: Goto GENJO + Kao reinhard

This is a mumei blade and therefore open to many interpretations. It is too early to focus on Bizen and utsuri by now. These are only guesses by the owner. Just take it for what it is. Polish is not too good, but it doesn't look like "hybrid polish" nor acid etching to me. Strong hadadatsu and jifu will get you similar results within the frame of traditional polish. - Just for consideration. reinhard

Nengo (date) reads: Ansei ni nen ni gatsu hi (a day in second month of second year of Ansei era [1855]). reinhard

For a starter it says: KANEMICHI is (was) a contemporary (gendai) smith and worked from Showa period onwards. The price of one of his swords is about 200 man'en (2M yen). His known signatures are: [Noshu Seki (no) ju KANEMICHI kore-o saku] [Noshu Seki (no) ju Kojima KANEMICHI kore-o saku]. His personal name was Kojima Tokijiiro (Jishiro?) and he was born in Meiji 35th year, 7th month (1902). Followed by the important stages of his career and his location in Seki. BTW Estimated prices in compilations like these are wishful thinking. They are helpful only for understanding the relative value of a blade compared to others. reinhard

This seems to be your motto on NMB too; unfortunately at the expense of undisputed knowledge sometimes. Instead of proclaiming the "wisdom" of a would-be samurai and his fencing school, I recommend the study of up-to-date scientific research. reinhard

Colin, Japanese conception of serious fighting is basically offensive, not defensive. Unlike most cultures in other parts of the world, samurai went to war without hand-held shields. It is the same with tsuba: They were never meant to be a protecting device from Heian days on. Their purpose was to prevent hands from slipping into the blade when thrusting. reinhard

This reminds me of the Black Knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" ("only a flesh wound!") No substantial news from my side, BTW, but I say "NI".... and I want a shrubbery! reinhard

There are dated blades by KANEMITSU from Shokei first year (1332) and Genko third year (1333). This means: At the very beginning of Nambokucho's turmoil, Osafune mainline stood in the middle of confrontation. Soon afterwards (Kemmu era) they didn't use the southern calendar any more. Therefore YOSHIMITSU's nengo is no error, but important historical evidence. There are no errors in nengo. Everybody knows what year he is living in and whom he is obliged to. The KANEMITSU group (and its member YOSHIMITSU) followed the Northern Court calendar from Kemmu days onwards without exception. If you have an explanation for the CHOGI group, using Shohei nengo for a short time, I'm really curious to hear. reinhard

BTW, I wasn't fully correct. Instead of "Osafune smiths", I should have said: "Osafune mainline smiths", for there is an exception to the rule: The CHOGI group used Shohei (Southern Court) nengo for a short while and turned to Northern calendar again later. I don't know why. An explanation would be most welcome. reinhard

It doesn't matter. YOSHIMITSU is said to be a member of KANEMITSU's school and worked in Osafune. If you check nengo of Osafune smiths from Nambokucho era, you'll find them following the calendar of the Northern Court. Their nengo are: Shokei, Kemmu (until 1338), Ryakuo, Koei, Jowa, Kan'o, Bunna, Embun etc. You won't find any Engen, Kokoku, Shohei examples. - Kojima Takanori was born in Bizen and he fought for the case of the Southern Court under the orders of Nitta Yoshisada, but after Yoshisada's defeat at Minato-gawa (1336) he wasn't much in command of anything anymore. He fled to Shikokku and returned to Bizen in 1340. Besieged by Ashikaga Takauji, he went to Kyoto and fled from there to Shinano. - Nengo on Osafune swords during Namboku-Cho are valuable evidence for historians. reinhard

This is no oddness. Everything is going perfectly along the line. As Moriyama-san pointed out: There are four full years of Bunroku and and a fifth one shifting into Keicho first year. There cannot be a sixth year at all. - The YOSHIMITSU example you mention was made during Nambokucho. As you can see in Fujishiro's (or any other) Nengo compilation, Kemmu was a Nengo from 1334-35. In 1336 Go-Daigo changed the name to that of Engen, but the Northern dynasty kept it for two more years. It was only in 1338 that it adopted Ryakuo. reinhard

Mark, I can see your point now. The missing coral is a nuisance, for it was there once, without doubt. - Since this F/K is not the pinnacle of tosogu, you should ask yourself: Is it worth the pain? From a monetarian point of view, I'd say "No". First of all, many jewellers will tell you, they are capable of doing this, but most of them will present you with an unsatisfying result. Some of them will damage the surrounding area and its patina, for many western jewellers are not familiar with Tosogu and their particular surface. If you do find someone capable of restoring this object in a perfect way, it will probably cost you more than it's worth. - Your choice. As for the Heianjo-style tsuba: One side being rubbed and worn is not that bad. Like you said: Replacing all the missing inlay will probably change its appearence drastically. If you're unlucky, it will look like Disneyland afterwards. You better not have it "restored". reinhard

Mark, sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a worn appearence results from actual wear or was intentionnally made like this. There are tsuba imitating a worn look, including lost inlay, but they were made like this from the very beginning within a particular aesthetic frame. This may sounds strange, but unlike some western taste, where things should be healthy and shiny, Japanese taste also includes a more refined appreciation with a liking for old and worn appearance of decoratve objects. - Unless you are 100% sure of knowing what you're doing and capable of seeing the difference between art-work and "so-so", I strongly recommend NOT to fix anything. reinhard

Well, sometimes the brain doesn't know where the toes are. - Guido's quiz could be a nice learning experience for you. A much better one, anyway, than dozens of poor eBay pics will ever be. reinhard

Not really. Only in the sense of: "...4 those unfamiliar with nengo" reinhard

By telling ".....it's IMAGAWA or MOGAMI or SATOMI." you are contradicting yourself. - KaMon is a giant jigsaw puzzle with many pieces gone forever. Hawley and (western) web-resources are creating the illusion of simple answers, but they don't exist. You better forget about them. reinhard

Nengo reads: "Bunroku 6th year......", which is about as silly a date as "January 32nd." (which makes it a gimei for sure). reinhard

A simple question for those still sticking to the ShinTo theory: The sword is either suriage or strongly machi-okuri. What is sugu-yakidashi doing up there? reinhard

For consideration: Suishinshi MASAHIDE, famous founder of ShinShinTo movement and teacher of NAOTANE, died in 1826. Taikei NAOTANE was made "Mino no Suke" in 1848. If this mei is genuine, it is probably a later generation MASAHIDE involved here. reinhard

Calm down, Fritz. This has nothing to do with you or your questions. I was referring to one particular answer. reinhard

What I called "Meiji boys" were the (mostly) western foreigners, who invaded Japan during later 19th century and didn't have a clue. Some of them traded "masterpieces" for "glass beads". At least, that's what they told their customers in the west. This kind of business is still going on, BTW. reinhard

Here we go: There are quite a few people, who make an easy living by telling their customers just what they want to hear. Among them are many amateur dealers with a couple of books at hand and self-declared "professional" polishers, who did stages in Japan. Most often the only thing they have in common with their teachers are their prices. Some of them see their business in danger, threatened by a forum like NMB and internet in general. Why not join in and trying to manipulate it? However, telling people, that "gimei is ok too" and poor trash is acceptable, as long as it it looks Japanese, is contradictory to everything this board is dedicated to. Maybe I'll be gone within a couple of years, but I really do wish, the crooks will be gone before. reinhard

Gimei? No problem. Fittings of the poorest kind? "Modest but average". Age or quality of a blade? Who cares? It's probably Japanese and therefore a little piece of art. Let's reduce NMB to the question: Is it of Japanese origin or not? We can take things easy again and play the game like most of the Meiji boys did. No more painstaking research, no more disappointing answers. It looks Japanese from a distance? Great! Any more questions? reinhard

Come on boys, who's going to tell him? reinhard

Peter, Meikan lists only one YASUMITSU (written with these kanji) working during ShinTo period (Enpo-era). His name was Uemura YASUMITSU and he worked in Kii province. He belonged to the Kishu Ishido group and it is said, there was a second generation working around Genroku era. These two can be safely excluded. There is no Bizen YASUMITSU working during ShinTo or ShinShinTo times to be found, neither in Hawley's nor any other compilation I checked. Hawley mentions one though working during early Meiji period. I don't know anything about this one, but Meiji ToKo are somewhat beyond my focus. After all, the mei looks gimei to me. It is "just" semantics, but for the newbies: it is SUGU-yakidashi pointing towards ShinTo. Yakidashi just means: the area of hamon about two or three inches above the ha-machi. Almost every NihonTo has yakidashi in some shape or another (except some very old swords, whose hamon starts a few inches above hamachi). reinhard