Bazza

I have a nidai Tadahiro wakizashi (unpapered) that in the hand just feels as if it is begging to be put to work... Mmmmm, I can imagine a Samurai of yore with the same sword in his hand wondering 'if it would...' BaZZa.

OTTOMH, Chinese... BaZZa.

To quote my 5yo grandson "I want to say something", but I'm not sure what to say without writing a huge essay. To me, the interviews were stunning and I cast my entire collecting 'career' against the yardstick of Robert Haynes' life experience and dedication and almost think I should have given up before I started! I recall a letter contact with Robert some 50 years or so ago asking about a seemingly nondescript tsuba I should have kept, as I had a 'feeling' about it, but there you go!! I'm deeply grateful to Peter for bringing these interviews to our collective notice and I'll be watching them numerous times. Much to say, but the first 'takeout' for me was that (if I remember correctly) Robert wasn't interested in anything made after 1700. Well, for mine that's debatable on a number of levels, but I hear what Robert says. Needless to say, there is MUCH more at play here than the workmanship of late Edo tosogu and the gamut has been run on that in lots of enjoyable threads here on our wonderful NMB. Here I'm running out of inspiration which can lead to 'running on'... Rabbiting on??!! To bring this to some sort of conclusion, keeping Robert Haynes in mind I'll continue on my merry way enjoying the arts of the Japanese sword and the wonderful friendships I've made around the world over the last 60 years. To Peter Reusch, thanks again mate. Bestests, BaZZa.

How do we see the earlier parts 1 to 4?? BaZZa.

A far from tranquil scene!! I'm somewhat surprised to not see any marks?? And a question - is the body solid silver, do you think?? BaZZa.

Dale, surely not a clunker??? BaZZa.

Interesting last tsuba. Ko-Kinko??? I would give it house room... BaZZa.

Rivkin commented "The mounts are early generation Komai work. " KOMAI: https://japanesegall...about-antiques-komai It is a stunning technique. BaZZa.

Robert, very interesting, thank you. Though I use facial tissue first to remove oil and then microfibre to remove any remaining fine film of oil, I've often nonetheless wondered about the tissues. I do gently 'roughen' the tissue and vigorously shake it before applying it to a blade to minimise any chance of scratching. So I searched kimwipes and found this phrase from one of the suppliers: KimWipes are a type of cleaning tissue commonly used in laboratories. KimWipes are composed of paper, silicon, and other substances. As a result of the silicon, the paper is somewhat rough feeling. KimWipes are used to wipe a variety of items, including slides and pipettes. They are sometimes used to clean lenses as well, but using lens tissue instead is often recommended, as KimWipes can scratch optical surfaces. And perhaps 'optically perfect' Ninontou??? Many years ago (decades?) someone in England (in The Token Society of Great Britain's "Programme") did a comprehensive analysis of various types of tissue, facial, top-end toilet paper etc etc, with various tests including burning/calcining to measure ash content as an indicator of abrasiveness. As I remember, better quality facial tissues were found to be adequate for our purposes. BaZZa.

Lewis et al, to my eye the boshi looks more hakkikake than kaen??? I'm sure I've read that 'somewhere' and I'll try to find the reference. BaZZa.

Francis, do have this sword checked out very, very carefully. At least one Kamakura period sword I have seen had bohi finishing short like this. If I remember correctly it was a Go Yoshihiro... BaZZa.

Looks good to me Dale, but why are these bones considered 'lucky'?? They look eminently suited to getting stuck in your throat and inviting whacks on your back!!! Here is my Akasaka Tadatoki V, with thanks to Justin O for selling it to me. Here is part of Justin's writeup for general knowledge on the Akasaka group: Hikojuro Tadatoki V was the 8th and last master of the Akasaka school. From the 6th master onwards the guards continue to be influenced by the style of the 4th master period and are in Higo school. This guard in particular is very reminiscent of Higo Nishgaki work. Tadatoki V prepared a genealogy of the entire Akasaka group that is reliable and provides much of the information that we know about this school today. BaZZa.

Notice also the gold-foiled habaki. One doesn't usually find those on clunkers. It's shape suggests a ni ju (2-piece) habaki, quite difficult to make. It also suggests the blade resides in a shirasaya and may have been submitted to shinsa sometime in its recent life. BaZZa.

If I might suggest, the present scabbard/saya is sufficient to preserve the blade with a light coating of oil until you decide to (or not) to proceed further with polish etc etc. Clean the oil off every once in a while and renew it. IMHO a new shirasaya is an expense better put towards future restoration costs. Think long and hard about this and consult widely as there are many pitfalls in the polish path. Best regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

EXCELLENT Piers - put that hat and coat back on. My kind of wordplay joke, the kind I make all the time to groans around the table or wherever I happen to be... BaZZa.

Dale asked: > Hey Barry is there a Dragonfly on the ura of yours? Nice piece! [that is an understatement!] Dale, I took that photo in 2009 and there is no photo of the back in my files. A dim recollection is that the back of the tsuba just had foliage and no dragon that I can recall. The sword has moved on and if I see it again I'll look at the back. Sorry. BaZZa.

Gents, I attach the following picture because I have it!! This lovely tsuba was on a mate's Kanesada katana and offers a different perspective of the same theme to Alexander's above. Same school, I wonder?? Bests, BaZZa.

Ousaka Shintou??? BaZZa.

Just a 'simples' question - does any know or care to guess at the carbon footprint of chatGBT??? Or the internet??? BaZZa.

Thank you Emilll, it looks a very interesting article. I have saved it in case I ever get to the stage of reading Japanese fluently, but even so, it would indeed be nice to see an English translation... BaZZa.

https://new.uniqueja...o-ganmaku-wakizashi/ BaZZa.

George, The diagonal white streaks are scratches from a coarse stone. The whole thing needs shitaji togi, a foundation polish, to correctly shape the blade. However, I fear the previous 'carers' may have irrevocably caused damage to the blade by using a coarse stone, thereby possibly removing the niku - the convex 'meat' of the ji. I don't wish to naysay, but I doubt anything can be done to 'bring this blade back' despite our best wishes. The first thing to see if a blade is indeed worth the huge effort and cost to save it is to determine in the first instance if it is worth saving. Three filters I use are (1) does the nakago and any inscription suggest it could be a worthy candidate, (2) does the sugata, shape, look 'good'. If so then (3) have a professional polisher put a madoake, a 'window' in the blade. This alone can take at least 4 hours of a togi's work day. There are no short cuts and the efforts of the previous 'carers' have done nothing to help an assessment as to the blade's worthiness. Its a long, winding road to the junk pile... I'll leave others to comment on your first questions, but to try and be more helpful can we please see good pics of the nakago both sides with the habaki off??? BaZZa.

I'm reminded of Hokusai who was recorded as saying at 80 years of age "If I live long enough I might become a good artist". Well, I'm 80 and if I live long enough I might become a good student of Nihonto, recognising that after absorbing 16 years of the Message Board and looking at many swords and having numerous swords polished, I'm not really good at anything!! Kantei is enough to send one to a wailing wall... Keep up the good work Pierre and if you should ever get to Australia be sure to let me know. BaZZa.

QUESTION FOR COLIN: Colin, I believe your gun is numbered?? The inscription of the stock-maker reading KAWASE KITARO MASAWAKA has two kanji at the bottom to the lhs that I think are 拾五, which are the number 15. This being so I would expect to see the same number on the metalwork. My KATSUMASA is numbered on the bisen, barrel and stock. Best regards, BaZZa. EDIT. 'Looking around' my failing memory has just been propped up by discovering I have TWO Tayosuke Katsumasa teppo.

Colin's Teppou metalwork appears to be in far better condition than mine, so lovely to see. It's almost a dead ringer for the Tayosuke Katsumasa I've had for some 30 years. Thanks for the excellent photos and details. Like Brian, if I was in the UK I would jump on it... I'll have to get off my fat hakama and write mine up, though I might have done it here on the Board anytime in the last 15 years. I'll do a search on the Board and see as I'm not getting any younger!!! Congratulations in advance to the lucky person who does get to jump on it!! BaZZa.