reinhard

Hi Larry, Returning to your question at the beginning of this thread: The coarse structures you can see in your blade's ji-hada are typical for Bushu-Shitahara school. Although Nagayama Kokan classifies it among the ones related to Soshu-Den, its style is quite unique, incorporating mokume with "whirlpool-structures" resembling ayasugi-like hada. Probably it is this particular feature you can see on your blade. Added a close-up of a TERUSHIGE blade illustrating this very phenomenon. reinhard

Well, I've got what I deserved, guessing wildly with not enough substantial informations. Since there's a confusion about the meaning of "waki", I'll try to bring some light in there. "Waki", meaning "beyond a mainline", can only be applied, when there IS a mainline school. As in HizenTo. There was a mainline-tradition (TADAYOSHI/TADAHIRO) and surrounding schools, called "Waki-Hizen". It is the same with Goto-school of Tosogu-makers. There was shirobei-mainline, represented by the heads of the family. Artists, trained in Goto-school and working for them elsewhere, can be called Waki-Goto. It is different, however, with Bizen-school of swordmaking. It divided into many famous, independent groups at a very early stage, leaving only local "mainline head-masters", such as KANEMITSU for the Osafune group, but there were artists with supreme skills like CHOGI, working at the same time at the same place, who can't be called "waki". Therefore no such thing like "waki Bizen" exists. Going back to the sword in question. Bushu Shitahara-school worked quite secluded in Musashi province during Muromachi-period before the rise of Edo as the new capital in "their province". Important feature of Shitahara workmanship is strong emphasis on mokume-hada. Ji-Hada of some Shitahara blades has a resemblance to Dewa Gassan swords including ayasugi-hada. Others are made of pure mokume-hada (which is very rare in general) and will easily lead you astray (see my silly guess). However, congrats to a very interesting sword, Larry. You seem to be a quick learner. reinhard

Sorry Brian, I couldn't resist. Some pics are just too...beyond. But seriously: Henk-Jan and you are right , of course. If there's a slight chance of this person owning a real TADAHIRO, he must be told immediately how to care for it properly and what NOT to do. I really wish, somebody close to him will give him some elementary advice. Owning a Nihon-To is an obligation in the first place. reinhard

Oh, and BTW: Pretending to be a newbie is not very credible anymore. reinhard

On the screen ji-hada looks like konuka-hada to me. This would make it a Hizen-To. Without seeing hamon itself (only kessho masking) and without knowing the measurements of the blade (length, sori), any further guessing is highly speculative. Maybe I'll make a fool of myself, but telling by the hada alone, I don't think it's mainline Hizen (TADAYOSHI/TADAHIRO) but some "next to" artist in the lines of MASAHIRO or YUKIHIRO. reinhard (prepared to face your laughter)

This is a very famous blade by TADAHIRO. Its nickname is: "shibaka(ri)ki-maru". reinhard

Nobody will be capable of giving you an answer on the basis of amateur-pics (no offence). Most reliable source of information is the mei once more. In case you want to investigate any further by yourself, here's a hint what to look for in this particular example: sharp respectively rounded angles in the writing of the name TSUGUHIRO. This is not an expertise, however. Just a notion. TSUGUHIRO was well known and oshigata can be found in ShinTo Hen by Fujishiro, in ShinTo oshigata by Sato Kanzan, in ShinTo Taikan by Iimura and in other books. Maybe you can get one or more of these. I recommend them all. For background information: TSUGUHIRO belonged to the group of sandai (third-generation) YASUTSUGU of Echizen Shimosaka group. This is where you should look for parallels in workmanship. reinhard

Domo arigato gozaimashita. I have a long way to go. reinhard

With all due respect to Morita-san, but this mei doesn't make sense to me. Translating the Kana for vocal "a" as "AN" doesn't make sense to me. Asking for enlightment. reinhard

For those of you still believing in a heroic "samurai attitude" of tokkotai-missions during WWII, I recommend for a starter: Kamikaze Diaries, Reflections of Japanese student soldiers, by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney It is explaining, on a scientific basis, how warrior ethics of old (which I admire), were pervertedly used to manipulate people during modern age warfare. The book can easily be found and read by Google book-search, entering: "Kamikaze diaries" reinhard

Hi John, There seems to be a confusion about printed and written kanji. I'm sure the TSUGUHIRO meant here is the following one. On the left is an example given in Nihon Toko Jiten by Fujishiro, on the right another one given by Kanzan: reinhard

The mei reads: Omi no Kami TSUGUHIRO (Echizen province, late 17th century, if genuine), but it looks real bad. reinhard

It doesn't really matter, if this dirk was carried by a "kamikaze"-pilot or not. Simple-minded collectors of militaria might get a kick from the idea, but knowing about the sad circumstances in which many young men were forced to give their lives in senseless missions, this is somewhat appalling. Imperial propaganda of unselfish heroes, sacrificing willingly their lives, has been shattered by serious historians lately. As for the blade: Sugata (especially abruptly turning fukura), poorly executed bo-hi (look at the top-end) and crude yasurime make this blade not earlier than Showa-period. Mei is gimei beyond doubt. YOSHIMICHI lines in Kyoto and Osaka extinguished long before this blade was made. It is just a very poorly made Nihon-To, maybe to the hands of a suicide-pilot before his last mission, but this would make the whole thing even sadder. reinhard

Cool down, Brian, you are a MODERATOR. Say "hello" to my good friend Harvey. reinhard (alias Alice in wonderland)

Gilles, To answer one of your questions in short: nagamaki or naginata, cut-down to katana- or wakizashi-size, are common, but not very popular on (Japanese) market. If quality is the only thing you care about, you can get a masterpiece for half of the price you have to pay for a tachi by the same smith, but it will be difficult to sell it again. reinhard

O-SA can be safely excluded on the basis of mei and sugata. That's about all we have for judgement, sitting in front of computer screens. There are two possibilities left: It is a gimei sword, as was suggested because of the yasurime, or it is a blade from O-Ishi Sa-school in Chikugo. They purported the famous name and used it without deliberatly cheating. This attitude can be compared with Mino smiths in Seki, using the "trademark" KANEUJI in a similar way during Muromachi-period. Without seeing the blade itself, any further conclusion is ridiculous. reinhard

What matters for you reads: Unsigned katana; length: 2 shaku 1 sun 8 bu (66cm), attributed to Kashu IYETSUGU (IYETSUGU working in Kaga province). Hozon Token paper was issued by Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai on 22nd day of 8th month in the 20th year of Heisei (August 2008). I'm sure you can read the name of the person, who handed in the sword for shinsa. reinhard

Why not asking Yoshihara-san himself? I'm quite sure he will remember his own blade. reinhard

Hello Rich and Ford, Sorry for not making myself clear enough. By "typical hitsu-ana" I meant the sloping shoulders and sometimes "miss matched" size-relation of hitsu-ana seen in early Akasaka tsuba. "Typical" meaning the unexpected (or miss matched) in this case. - As for SHOAMI attribution: After all that has been said by now, this seems to be a reasonable attribution to me. What I was trying to explain was: There are many tsuba attributed to this school for no good reason nowadays. E.Kremers, former student of Sasano sensei, calls it: "...a deplorable custom to call those guards Shoami that cannot be definitely identified." Nevertheless there have been great, nameless artists belonging to this school and attribution to Shoami has become unfairly underestimated. Some of their works are true masterpieces, reflecting taste and workmanship on a very high level. Their former high esteem can be seen in their name: It derives from AMIda Buddha and origins from the same root the Hon'AMI family of sword-appraisers got their name from. Thus experts on Noh were called ZeAMI and those on ceramics SoAMI. Unfortunately these great tsuba tend to be forgotten within the bulk of helpless Shoami-attributions. Anyway, I'm not the expert around here and I bought this tsuba with the paper. No chance to ask the juror what made his mind. Thanks again for your great input on this one. reinhard

Mark, no dissing around here. Nihon-To is no topic for da hood. Quick (and clumsy) reply from my side and hasty answer from yours made a bad start. Let's just forget about it. reinhard

What is it you want and where do you think you are? reinhard

I've seen this little camera before. E-bay, wasn't it? It doesn't belong in this section of the board. reinhard

Thank you all out there. Your input was amazing and far beyond my expectations. You made the best and more out of my non-professional pics. Since I'm not an expert on sukashi tsuba and this is not a kantei with a lecture, I'll just give you my thoughts. John pinned it down at first sight: somewhere between Owari and Akasaka. My compliments. Nevertheless I'd expect (especially early) Owari tsuba to be more static and symmetrical. The steel quality however is equal. Akasaka is a good choice as well, but early Akasaka tsuba are characterized by typical hitsu-ana and seppa-dai shapes. Generally they have an easier appeal than this one. The bold-angled design however is pushing towards Akasaka. Marc eliminated Kanayama with good reasons. Generally they are smaller and steel quality is different. Ono tsuba usually have simpler design, their surfaces appear "molten" at times and granular tekkotsu are very prominent. This tsuba feels somewhat heavy and its massive dotte-mimi and thoroughly worked steel give you a "no-nonsense"-feel. On the other hand, it displays a refined artistic concept within its solid frame, as Ford has pointed out. It is representing to me the borderline between "simple" Muromachi aesthetics and a more sophisticated attitude on the horizon. - However, Shinsa came to conclusion it is a SHOAMI tsuba. Personally, I don't consider this a Shoami tsuba within the pool of vague attributions, but the "real thing" SHOAMI. Thanks to all of you for your investigations. Especially to Martin and Markus on the subject of "eight views" reinhard

Hello Ian, I agree with you. This tsuba was made in the "pine needles on water"-design. It was very popular in Kaga province and should not be confused with Kyo work such as Heian-Jo or Yoshiro. Two Kaga-examples added for comparison. reinhard

For those of you not yet tired of considering, here are some more pictures. They show basically my limited skills of taking pictures with a compact click-o-matic camera. On the rim some granular tekkotsu as well as linear structures are visible. A further hint are these passages from literature related to this school: "it seems most improbable to me that the production of the above mentioned group should have been restricted to one place or even to a single family......the metal is frequently the same or resembles that of the Owari guards. In terms of design and quality the earlier......sukashi can be called equal in the rank with Owari tsuba." "The artistic work of ..... tsuba lies somewhere between Kyo-sukashi and the Owari-schools. .....openwork is bolder than Kyo but more delicate than Owari.....The designs are unique." John narrowed the subject immediately by saying Akasaka and Owari, but maybe this was too tight a border. Bold angles are pointing towards Akasaka work, the steel quality is leaning towards Owari work, but there is still Kyo-work beyond common expectations, creating a triangle of possibilities. The key-word has not been said yet and therefore I don't want to set you free now. And what about the eight views? reinhard