Matsunoki

Hi Shane, just a few thoughts from the UK. Firstly decide exactly what you want to start with……..a blade in mint polish and shirasaya or a blade in good polish and in original koshirae (ie a true “complete” Nihonto) or a blade in mediocre condition either in s/saya or Koshirae. There are many combinations and permutations to choose from. Sounds like you are taking your time to think about it and that’s excellent. The reason I suggest deciding exactly what you want to collect is because the potential for “damage” varies greatly depending on what is in front of you. A mint polish in shirasaya is both a joy (depending on the polish) and a nightmare. The potential for “damage” (depending on how you define it) is far higher than a blade that already shows it life journey. If you are a perfectionist then the smallest scuff on a mint polish caused by a contaminated wipe or minor encounter with the wrong tabletop can cause massive anxiety. The same “damage” to a less pristine item (whilst still very undesirable) will not cause you such trauma and may not even be noticeable. Again….there are many permutations. Avoiding damage is mostly a matter of common sense. Don’t swing it around - ever. Don’t be tempted to see if it cuts. Always make sure the mekugi is in place when it needs to be. Use appropriate oils and wipes. Don’t try and restore it yourself…..you will ALWAYS wish you hadn’t tried. Store it where it can’t be knocked over or accessed by anyone who shouldn’t have access. Realistically you can only gain that experience and confidence by handling swords, firstly preferably in the company of someone more “knowledgeable” who can tutor you. After that you’ll been fine, until someone hands you a Kiyomaro in mint polish and asks “what do you think?”🙂😳 Don’t overthink things….and good luck. Enjoy. Colin.

Thanks Jussi…I understand exactly what you mean regarding the kanji. So probably not 1st generation. Can anyone else help me out? The blade does seem very well made with that very distinctive yakidashi and massive proportions. I attach another image showing hamon as it approaches the kissaki. The gunome becomes less clearly defined with much nie.

Hello everyone, I’m asking for help,again. SOME IMAGES HAVE BEEN PHOTOSHOPPED TO SHOW DETAILS. Truly massive wakizashi with several unusual (to me) features. I’m asking for help re the smith as I know there were several generations of widely differing reputations. May even be gimei ie none of them! I don’t have the knowledge or library necessary. I believe the Mei reads “Mutsu Daijo Miyoshi Nagamichi”….please correct me. The dimensions are below. It is typical UK found sword in poor worn polish….possibly an old sashikomi polish as no sign of Hadori (thankfully). The hamon commences with a strange yakidashi…very narrow gunome midare that widens to a large hump over the strong hamachi. It then widens into a nie laden gunome but as it approaches the monouchi it becomes more of a diffuse nie laden midare. Lots of konie sunagashi and ji nie. The o-kissaki boshi are hakkikake and there is some thin muneyaki visible to about halfway back down the blade. The nioi guchi is diffuse and fairly wide. The hada is impossible to image but is a very tight mokume I think. The koshirae are original, all en-suite but rather “workmanlike”. Many thanks for all your time and opinions…..good or bad! nagasa 58 cm (77cm overall) motohaba 3.45 cm sakihaba 2.69cm motokasane 9.14mm sakikasane 7.31mm nakago kasane 9.35mm sori 1.6cm

Hi Paz whoever told you that was talking bo***cks! With search engines like the saleroom.com absolutely everything gets discovered. My experience is that things make at least “full market value” and more often than not they greatly exceed it. Just today some poor hopeful paid £1900 for a Chinese fake!!! Auctioneers that often have some swords are Bonhams, Thomas del Mar (Olympia auctions), Holts, lockdales, Antony Cribb etc Quite a few swords do turn up in regional auctions, mostly rubbish or WW2 . Sometimes something nice appears and the world and his dog then chase it. Trouble is most regional auctioneers cannot give you a reliable description….they haven’t got a clue but tend to describe everything as “antique Samurai sword” …..whether it’s new, old, fake or a Masamune. I am not aware of any auctioneer that holds dedicated Japanese sword sales. I’m not trying to put you off but that is the reality. this is a link to the best uk auction search engine - https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb Add to that the buyers premium anywhere up to nearly 40% and then shipping costs on top (if you can find a shipper to handle swords) ……..it’s not easy. I wish you good luck. all the best Colin

Never seen Shojo menuki before……I love ‘em. The actual patination and gilding looks fairly good under some grime. Some very very gentle cleaning with soapy water and cotton buds? The red hair could be lacquer as it’s pretty difficult to get copper to stay that colour? Nice find. All the best. Colin

Right hand object is a long banner that has escaped it’s anchorage and blown away. Left hand suggests a tree or shoreline in the mist……probably a known viewpoint of Fujisan…..just my opinions! All the best. Colin

Agreed!

Hi Paz i fully support buying things you like…..gimei or not! Like they say, buy the blade not the Mei. However I would have a long hard look at the horimono. The images you post are not great but the main figural carving looks pretty rough to me. Of course it could just be the poor quality of the image. Trouble is horimono were (are) often added to either conceal flaws or enhance the perceived value. They can look flashy at a distance but crap up close! Can you get better pics? Good luck! Colin

Hi John, many thanks…yep I understand….but I have definitely seen an image where something other than the tassel was wrapped around his wrist. Modern version of the old two holes through (mostly old Tachi?) tsuba which were for wrist ties? They seem to have cropped up mostly on Iida latch mounts ie upgrades so why not a belt and braces approach if you didn’t want to cripple your nice tassel and have something a bit more durable to attach your sword to your wrist? Also would be interested to see if the swords with this feature also have the usual tassel loop (sarute I think it’s called)……

Maybe showing my lack of knowledge but could it be for a wrist strap to ensure sword cannot be dropped or knocked out of hand? I have seen images of these on a military sword in an officers hand….but can’t remember where. It may have been on this forum in last 6 months.

That looks a really sleepy and interesting sword with nice “samurai taste” iron mounts. I’m not so sure re the possibility of hagire. If you enlarge the last image there are three parallel lines at right angles to the edge and two of them look as if they may emerge from small edge chips. Possible choji hamon peeping out at us? The tsuka wrap is also good quality…possibly leather or lacquered doeskin. I would certainly take a chance on it on the basis “hope for the best but prepare for the worst”.

My money is on the Ito being metal. Imo it was once a flat sheet of ?? Copper ?? that then had the ribbing etc embossed possibly from the reverse side and then the “diamonds” cut out. To achieve the cross-over effect you can see where the metal was simple abraded to create the illusion of cross-over Ito. It was then wrapped around the tsuka…..so somewhere there should be a seam that should be visible. Could then be patinated or lacquered over. It looks like a “bitsa”. Saya maybe an adapted Kai-gunto? Rather clever though. Doesn’t look a Chinese jobbie to me.

Pm sent re Fujishiro.

Hi Daniel I am pretty certain the design represents three of the “7 lucky gods” often called the “gods of good fortune” The figure on the fuchi with the helmet is Bishamonten, the one next to him with the curly cap on is Eibisu and the chubby chap on the kashira is Daikokuten. They are quite a common theme especially in later “soft metal” fittings. Just put “Japanese 7 gods” into google……you’ll find out all about them….who they are and what their attributes are. All the best. Colin.

What a great photo of “a moment in time”.

Hi Piers I think we need to be clear……shibayama mounts such as this were never made to take a blade out of shirasaya. The vast majority contain blades that were “made” specifically for the shibayama mountings and are usually vague copies of assorted Tanto sugata usually with no hardening and made from whatever steel they could get their hands on. The sugata, as in this case is very awkward and the nakago is hastily formed…..all done to at least look a bit “old” to the Target market…..Meiji and Taisho period Gaijin who knew little about swords but loved works of art. I doubt it has any hada or hamon beyond a polished on Hadori “look alike”…..but that does not affect its value. Occasionally we find a “real” blade but it is nearly always defective in some way. We can find Wakizashi and Tachi in the same amazing shibayama koshirae and they have a better chance of having something old in them simply because they were aimed at the really seriously rich Gaijin and were very very expensive at the time. My comments are based on having owned (and restored) a great many of these flamboyant pieces in my previous life as a Meiji Art dealer. It’s a nice item….shame our I’ll informed UK government have banned the sale of such things……won’t save a single elephant sadly. All the best. Colin.

Hi Francesco in a life or death battle, your friend can have the Chinese kitchen knife and I’ll have the katana. When chopping vegetables he is welcome to the kitchen knife. Absolutely pointless debate. How many 1000 year old Chinese kitchen knives has he seen?

Hi again piers the koshirae now looks much nicer! In the uk before we banned ivory that would be about £2000, possibly a bit more. Blade still looks a duffer to me. But the value of these is nearly always in the mounts so doesn’t really matter as long as all inlay is there.

Hi piers well the Koshirae looks a bit better than in the first images. Still not great but not the worst. Can’t see much in the blade but from the nakago and based on many others I’ve handled I would say it’s a poor quality untempered example……which is the norm for these. Can’t be totally sure without better images. All the best. Colin

Interesting…..I think maybe this photo was staged for “publicity”. Trying to shift a pile of swords with a shovel would more than likely end up with the man wielding the shovel getting badly injured…….sharp blades falling from saya etc. Would have been quicker to pick them up!

I had a very quick look on YouTube for Japanese Surrender and there are numerous videos. Also just put “Japanese surrender Missouri” into Google and selected “videos” and a lot appeared. Could take ages to view them all but you’ve probably done that already. I started to look at some and quickly got hooked!……need to get on with something else now! Good luck. Colin

The tsuba appears to have the remains of a classic Japanese inlaid design which (for want of a better term) I’d call “Greek key”. The inlay appears to be all over including the narrow dividers between the sukashi design. The inlay is probably brass, unlikely to be gold. So, could this be what was once a “solid plate” tsuba that has had the (pretty rough quality) sukashi added later? It happened a lot I think. Just a thought. All the best. Colin