reinhard

Eric, it's difficult to tell by your pictures, but what you are presenting looks exactly like sumigane, which is typical for some of the Aoe work. It looks like plain, dark spots distributed here and there. Jifu(-utsuri) is not plain and is evenly distributed all over the blade. (see also "The connaisseur's book..." by Nagayama Kokan, p.86/87). It is most often seen on very old blades like the ones from Ko-Hoki, Ko-Bizen and some others. It looks different. In general: Phenomenons like these (yubashiri, tobiyaki and all sorts of utsuri in particular) need to be studied in hand. Most pics are just confusing and no help at all; some of them are even cementing errors. reinhard

Dai and Sho have two different owners by now. Both of them high-end dealers in Japan. reinhard

Welcome to field one. That's one of the strange sides of the internet. Although its memory seems to be beyond limits, most people don't seem to care about messages from yesterday. reinhard

Harry, this is going to be tricky and it's the point where I don't understand this paper: Nio school was founded in Suwo province at a very early time (blades from mid-Kamakura period are extant). It continued existing into Muromachi period and during its later stage there were Kaji signing by the name of KIYOSHIGE. Their mei were quite different from the one in question though. At a much later time, during Edo period, other smiths working in Nagato, Choshu province, also signed their work by the name of KIYOSHIGE. They signed their works "Choshu (no) Ju Fujiwara (no) KIYOSHIGE" and the like. Your sword belongs to this group. First generation is said to have worked there around Kambun era (1661-1672). Little is known about them. Their best-documented kaji worked around Horeki era (1751-1764). First generation KIYOSHIGE in Nagato might claimed to be a descendant of Nio school in Suwo province. Nevertheless he was working in another province (Choshu). Actually he's not much more than a name in old records by now. "Officially" attributing (t)his work to "Nio KIYOSHIGE" (which sounds definitely more interesting than just saying he was a no-name smith during Edo period) seems a little....manipulative... to me. Enjoy your research and correct me, if I'm wrong reinhard

Will you tell us what sword it is you are talking about, please? Reinhard

Good job, Harry. As for your red boxes: Row 1 starts with DAI (for numeral classification), followed by the numbers 4 1 9 and GO ("number"). Then SHUBETSU ("classification") and at the end it just says WAKIZASHI. Row 3 starts with SUMPO ("measure, dimension"). The next red box includes a formal, non-standard kanji for the number 1. Row 4 starts with TOKUCHO ("distinctive features"). The left side following reads: NAKAGO, ICHI ("one") used in documents and KIRI written in hiragana. Row 5 says SUWO (no) KUNI KAMBUN (era) KEI ("time"). regards reinhard

Yury, you better stay in your sandbox, i.e. in the "for sale and trade" section. There's nothing wrong with your commercial interests, but spreading your silly stuff all over the board will eventually provoke reactions you don't want to be confronted with. Mine for example. reinhard

I'm sharing Mr Helm's sense of humour in this particular case. reinhard

Can somebody please translate this for me? reinhard

That's no big secret. Read English Token Bijutsu magazine vol.7, page 29, published in 1980. It's news from the day before yesterday. And guess what? There are false Juyo Bijutsuhin papers as well, dating from the same time. They are easy to detect (if you know what to look for) and there's not even a need to cross-check with the nado zufu. reinhard

Ford, thanks for finally presenting your detailed view of Goto ICHIJO and Kinko during bakumatsu and later times. At least that's something to start with and much better than just mumbling of "some circles". Moreover, and this is certainly not addressed to Ford, top-level artistry needs to be studied IN HAND. What is true for good blades is true for good tosogu as well. You haven't seen the real thing until you saw the object with your own eyes. There is no such thing as a "virtual appreciation" of masterpieces when it comes to real art. Colors changing when light and angles of view change, supreme qualitiy of surface finish and many other features, most of the magic actually, can't be seen in pics. You may study hi-res pics of masterpieces until your eyes pop out. Still you haven't seen anything yet. reinhard

No surprise at all. "Some circles" cultivating their whimsical opinions can be found easily all over the world. So what? reinhard

What exactly do you mean by "the best"? I must admit "Dojigiri YASUTSUNA" and "Mikatsuki MUNECHIKA" were not for sale this year, but apart from national treasures on a Tenka Goken-level the selection of MeiTo at DTI was quite impressive, don't you think? I remember four top-class KIYOMARO blades and one of the most beautiful NAGAMITSU tachi (JuBi) at Eiwado's shop. Taibundo's swords were of no lesser qualities. I remember handling a very rare zaimei Ko-Aoe KORESUKE tachi with beautiful mei and one of the best Ayanokoji blades in existence there. Bob Hughes offered a beautiful Rai KUNITSUGU with outstanding koshirae. Not to speak of the marvellous top-class swords offered by Sokendo, Seikado, Seikeido...So what are you talking about exactly and which ones are these "little shops" you are talking about? True, not all treasures were displayed on tables at DTI, but compared to the level of most discussions on NMB and compared to sword-shows elsewhere, especially outside of Japan, DTI was and is a most impressive experience. reinhard

I heard he is a Kami by now. Can't remember the shrine where he is worshipped though. Allow me to go outside for a laugh, if you please. So much for NTHK promo on NMB. reinhard

This is getting slightly off-topic, but so what. Don't worry, Henry, the tsuba arrived sound and safe at the other end of the world and you will be the first in line to be asked in case I will ever want to separate from it. BTW It made me reconsider the standing of Shonai Kinko compared to schools with higher reputation. It was a pleasure meeting you and other familiar faces at DTI again, as well as seeing the real faces behind the avatars of the French Connection (Jean & Jacques and some others). NMB as a virtual playground is quite nice, but it can't compete with real life. Wish to see you next year again reinhard aka Popeye Doyle

Got some "irresistible" offers from Guido's mail account as well. Must be a Hotmail thing (no wonder). Get yourself a reasonable mail-account, Guido! BTW, it was a pleasure meeting you again at DTI. reinhard

It's not what a naughty, little Frenchman is thinking. The poor guy is looking for his purse. Too many temptations at DTI, you know. Bob's trousers accidentally looked like the mysterious, black hole where all his money went. reinhard

Where's Mr.Hallam when you REALLY need him? reinhard

Show us the Juyo example, if you please. reinhard

Quoting from the commemorative centenary edition of "Hawley's Japanese swordsmiths": "Six months went by, then a year. Finally one blade surfaced at a gun show on the East Coast. It had been bought by a collector who upon further examination once home, determined it to be one listed as stolen from the Hawley collection. The collector returned the sword to Willis gratis. Then...nothing. Willis was devastated but he was also disgusted that collectors would collect so dishonorably." Things haven't changed yet. I'm talking of the collection of swords of the late Mr. Indlekofer in Riehen, Switzerland. They were stolen in April 2003. All these swords are well-documented Juyo Token and they are still out there somewhere. reinhard

That's it. reinhard

I forgot to mention: What does it mean when the extension of the shinogi into the nakago looks like this? See the area around "Murasame". It's a textbook-example of .....? reinhard

Yimu, let's waste some more time. The mei on your sword looks like a pretty poor promo-stunt, but I won't tell you why. You have to find out by yourself since you seem to know enough about Japanese swords already. As you probably know, the Ikoma in Sanuki possessed some very fine and famous swords and quite a few were marked with "Ikoma Sanuki-no-Kami". Here's a pic of a kinzogan-mei on a real sword from the Ikoma-collection (presently in the possession of the Kurogawa institute). Can you see the difference? reinhard

Brian concluded very well what I was saying. Reading my posts carefully, you will notice that I wasn't talking about retempering of NihonTo in general, not even about yakinaoshi of so-called "top-level swords". It was all about a very small group of swords treasured by daimyo or even by the shogun or by the imperial court itself. Kogarasu-maru", celebrated heirloom of the Taira clan, is a very good example. Others could be named like the "Tenka-Go-Ken" or some of the treasures possessed by families like the Tokugawa, the Uesugi, the Maeda, the Shimazu, the Kuroda, to name a few. The swords I'm talking about are representing the very best works of famous masters from old and many of them were recognized as masterpieces beyond weapons from the start. It doesn't take a genius to understand, why these few swords I'm talking about were not used in battle anymore soon after their manufacture. All it takes is a small understanding of how Japan worked during feudal times and getting rid of romantic images. MASAMUNE f.e. is said to have worked for the bakufu in Kamakura directly. Believing that his swords were sold to common warriors is just naive (politely said). You won't find it all in the web though. For those who are trying to practice sarcasm, like Keith, I recommend the reading of more sophisticated books than those you'll find on lists for beginners. - Unfortunately I don't have the time to hold elaborate lectures here. reinhard

Clive, most of the best swords in the history of NihonTo were recognized as masterpieces and works of art (sic!) almost instantly. Many of them were made for famous personalities/families in the first place anyway. These swords were taken out of the grinding process of battles at a very early stage and were bestowed upon high-ranking personalities. This is the reason why so many of the greatest Japanese swords survived in excellent, even pristine condition. It wasn't all about sword-care, although sword-care was (and is) important, of course. - It was crystal-clear, even before the fall of Osaka castle, that no Shogun, Daimyo or any other high-ranking samurai would ever have to wield "Ichigo Hitofuri" in battle again. While retempering this particular sword, shodai YASUTSUGU was free to focus on the artistic details of the blade alone. reinhard