reinhard

This is a nice tsuba, but NATSUO is definitely the wrong trace. No matter what the mei says: NATSUO's workmanship is far superior to this one. reinhard

TAR (?), There is no way Admiral Togo parted from his own, personal side-arm just like that, not even on an important formal occasion. If he did present Mr.Bellamy with a sword, he would rather have chosen a newly made, high-quality koshirae for this important occasion, but a worn set of low quality fittings. Presenting people with old and worn objects on formal occasions was (and is) completely beyond Japanese customs. Since Japanese swords had been exported to the west by the dozens at that time, I strongly suspect your sword of not being connected to Admiral Togo (although the idea is tempting), but being part of a growing family-myth and wishful thinking. - BTW, maybe one of our Japanese friends can tell us something about the whereabouts of Admiral Togo's personal sword(s)? - The only link between your pic of Togo shrine and the fittings of your sword is "Kiku"(chrysanthemum)-crest. This is/was the crest of Imperial Japan for ages and isn't very helpful for identification. reinhard

Welcome to the 21st century. reinhard

I didn't mean to be cynical nor to discourage anybody. I'm sorry if I gave the impression. I'm not sure about this tsuba being a copy or not. There are some very tiny details making me feel uncomfortable and so does its provenance; but there was still another reason for posting. From what we see on ebay and other market-places and is discussed on this board sometimes, some people might get used to the idea of fakes always being crude and easily to detect, but for some time now there are fakes/copies/imitations of high-end antique objects on the market, which are of supreme quality, far superior to Chinese trash and very difficult to unmask. Some of these copies are of Japanese origin. - It was meant to be a fair warning too. reinhard

I fully agree with Guido. For illustration a picture of Admiral Togo. reinhard

Steve, In order to analyze a tsuba like this, you have to consider: - quality - provenance - price Furthermore you should be aware of the fact, that almost everything can be copied nowadays on a very high level. Apart from crude fakes, there are hi-tec copies almost indiscernible from originals. Looking at a tsuba like yours, you better start from a negative point of view: IF it is a copy: What am I to look for in the first place? Put yourself in the position of the faker then. Since there are ways to copy outline and shape of a tsuba in every minute detail, including mei, there are parts more difficult to fake and cannot be easily copied in one operation. Final finish is more difficult to copy as well as aged colouring. Plugged hitsu-ana with "cat-scratched" surface are the nightmare of all fakers, for they must be done seperately and almost always give the fake away. Looking at your tsuba, I suspect it to be a hi-tec copy by someone, who had the original at hand for some time. This would also well relate to what I read so far in this thread before. No expertise, just a notion. reinhard

The signature on this sword reads from right to left: Bizen TOMONARI 56 daimago (56th in succession of (the famous) TOMONARI) Bingo Fukuyama (no) ju Yokoyama SUKENARI (Yokoyama SUKENARI = name of the smith, resident of Fukuyama in Bingo province) KAEI 5 nen 8 gatsu hi (dated KAEI era, 5th year (1852 AD), a day in 8th month) reinhard

Some people might be confused by Guido's lecture (at least I hope so). To give you an idea what he is talking about, I would like to show you a pic zooming into a close-up of a ko-wakizashi by Soshu HIROMITSU. Hitatsura hamon is visible, including yubashiri and tobiyaki in various forms, and ji is sprinkled by different variations of ji-nie. Original picture was taken by Mr. Fujishiro Okisato. I strongly recommend his books: "MeiTo Zukan" reinhard

For consideration: "Diamond-shapes" in the gaps between tsuka-ito are assymetrical, crossings are all made in the same direction and red/black paint was spilt all over the place. Does this look like genuine Japanese craftsmanship? And if not, what does it mean? reinhard

It is going to be very tricky cleaning these menuki. Recently added red paint on tsuka-ito was spilt over the menuki as well as black paint in order to "improve" the same (ray-skin). Fortunately these menuki are probably not by RENJO. reinhard

Oops, didn't mean to compete Markus. Posted about the same time, which definitely is time to go to bed now for a central European . reinhard

Origami says: (from right to left) Menuki made of gold depicting dragon made by RENJO worth 2 pieces of gold Goto shirobei (Goto mainline) dated Tenmei 5th year...(1785) Mitsumori + Kao No idea wether it is genuine or not reinhard

Mark, This reads (right to left and top to bottom): (top) wakizashi mei Bungo (no) Ju Fujiwara (no) TOMOYUKI nagasa (length): 43.8 cm (1 shaku 1 sun 1 bu) sori (curvature): 1.1 cm (3 bu 5 rin) (bottom) katana mei Bungo (no) Kuni TOMOYUKI nagasa : 71.1 cm (2 shaku 3 sun 5 bu) reinhard

Moriyama-san is correct, of course. No reason to doubt his translation. reinhard

Mark, I see your point, but the pic starting this thread is quite different from your example. Yubashiri and tobiyaki are no flaws per se and can be part of the ToKo's style, but the blade in question shows isolated patches of core-steel. Together with open grain they indicate an worn, over-polished blade. What really worries me, is the question at the beginning: "How to remove this kind of "stain" without (having to pay for) polishing. This does not only show a fundamental lack of knowledge (which could be excused) but a strange attitude towards Nihon-To in general. What makes NMB a difficult place at times is the "trinity" of dusty armchair-experts, who never left their homes, citing from their limited (and sometimes outdated) stock of books as if it were the holy bible, semi-educated dealers with intent to keep their clients as ignorant as they are themselves, using this board as a freeware pit-stop for translation and information and trying to define terms newly, if necessary, and finally, newbies, who can't cope with the idea of Nihon-To being a more complex subject than just a romantic Samurai myth. I can well understand Guido, Ted and others, who dedicated many years or decades of their lives in order to come close of understanding Nihon-To, loosing their temper every now and then when confronted with one of the specimens mentioned above and, even worse, when members of the "trinity" try to build an unholy alliance against competence. Since ignorants are not allowed to be shot in the forehead anymore, sarcasm is is the only way left to face them. Anway, this talk will go on forever and I really wish, the knowledgeable heads on this board won't lose patience, for NMB still has a chance of being a good thing. reinhard (prepared for eternity>attachment)

Sometimes it takes an ass to kick butt and Guido is definitely qualified to kick the right spot for the right reason. reinhard

These observations are all correct, of course, but there might be another reason for these flaws. Maybe the tsuba was damaged later by extremely high temperatures during a fire, like many blades were (and whose nakago sometimes look quite similar, BTW). Overall design does fit late Choshu Hagi-style quite well. Shadows and distortion of perspective make it probably look worse than it is. - It doesn't really matter, for it is no masterpiece and the damage/flaws are irreversible, but the mei remains a nice game to play. reinhard

A few hints: The three kanji on the right read: maker's name + saku (made this) on the other side (right): Choshu Hagi (no) Ju (=resident of Hagi in Choshu province) " " " " (left) : ? A nice mei for further investigation reinhard

Discovery of Japanese art during later 19th century made a strong impact on western art and design. Quite a few "art nouveau"-designs were directly influenced by Japanese objects reaching the West at that time and were not invented "out of the blue". This goes for "decorative arts" as well as "real" art. Vincent van Gogh admired Japanese woodblock prints deeply. reinhard

Hi Dan, Internet is not the place to get reliable information in the first place and you won't find a good "beginners-lecture" on tsuba anywhere in the web: Why not posting high-res pics here and we will discuss them over a longer period of time, one by one. There are some people really interested in the subject, ready to help. Those interested in commercial aspects probably sent you PMs by now. Ignore them. reinhard

Hi Brian, The sword you are wondering about is a fake. Nakago is artificially aged in a very poor way and proportions of the kissaki section give final evidence. Chinese fakers learn quickly and they are capable of producing hada and real hamon by now (which is not exactly witchcraft). Polished properly, these blades can lead you astray easier than the crude fakes made some years ago. Nevertheless, they are of no value whatsoever. reinhard

Stephen, Is this the infamous 4th paintball-platoon, haunting the Appalachian mountains since they have lost their way back home in 1978? And which one is Milt? reinhard

Average quality level of top-class ShinTo and ShinShinTo is below top-class KoTo. Inoue SHINKAI is no match for Go YOSHIHIRO, whose work he tried to copy, f.e.. Long KoTo were shortened due to changing needs during Momoyama and early Edo-period, but ShinTo and ShinShinTo can't claim such needs. Shortening is just a regrettable flaw in their case. However, this preclusion from Juyo is not a law made by stupid bureaucrats. Exception to the rule is shodai Nanki SHIGEKUNI, one of the greatest ToKo of all times, whose shortened blades can go Juyo or higher. reinhard

For consideration: reinhard

It is difficult to tell from this very small pic, but it looks more like some parts of a kanji missing than sosho-style writing; but I'm really no expert in this field. quote:"Finaly, the 5th right sign is certainly a kao. If this tsuba was for honouring the memory of TOSHUN or KASHUN, there wouldn't be a kao at this place, dont you think." This is why I think it was made by two CONTEMPORARY artists: MASATOMI making this tsuba using a design by TOSHUN as a blueprint and signing for both of them. Full mei seems to be made by one person. Joint works of painters and tsuba-ko are quite common during late Edo-period reinhard PS: slightly bigger and higher resolving pics would be useful