Bazza

Chuck, Here is another read for you: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4976-fukumoto-kanemune-work/ Have a trawl around the Forum using the Search function in top rh corner of the page. BaZZa.

Sir (please sign your name so we can address you politely), its not a star stamp, its a cherry blossom stamp (a stamp is known as a kokuin) with characters inside. I'm not sure, but mates is this a Chimata stamp??? The word just popped into my head!!! BaZZa (aka Barry Thomas)

Oh, sorry, I didn't scroll down far enough. At the bottom of the shirasaya will be information about the appraiser and his KAO (identifying "flourish" - a signature of a sort). This stuff is way above my pay grade and one of our more erudite members might be moved to have a crack at it. BaZZa.

Aaaaargh, Piers, I feel your pain. No rotten cabbages from this little wood duck. 1. > Suddenly the blade dropped straight out the tsuka hitting the expensive > tiled floor point-first, right between my feet. It bounced and lay silent. No blood anywhere. Many years ago I saw exactly the same - EXACTLY - the same thing happen to a VERY experienced mate of mine. The tanto blade left the handle and hit the carpeted floor. It didn't bounce, rather, it stuck into the floor and gently keeled over, slightly bending the point - clearly an inferior blade because it didn't snap off!!! Never mind American Express, the look on my mate's face was indeed priceless. He looked at me (no one else saw it), picked it up, put it all back together and had a quiet word with the owner. All was cool, no problem at all and I believe the kissaki was straightened in the workshop the next day! 2. When very young handling my first sword, a skinny Koto katana in Shingunto koshirae, somehow I lost control of it and it fell from my right-handed grasp. Instinctively I tried to catch the blade in mid-air with my left hand (didn't think of my left foot). Not successful and I'm giving the fine, short, suguha scar over my thumb joint a respectful glance as I type this. The sword wasn't damaged, but lesson learnt - until the next mishap some 50 years later... So Piers, you are in good company and I suspect the membership of this exclusive group is larger than we care to 'collectively' admit. BaZZa.

Blade is attributed to ECHIZEN KANENAKA on the paper and are the first four characters on the shirasaya. The remaining characters on the shirasaya constitute the length in shaku, sun, bu and ri (?) and for your exercise I'll leave the numbers for you to work out :>). The first long row on the paper is the same as the shirasaya with the addition of "1 wakizashi" and "mumei". The rest of the paper is I think "proforma stuff" and another member probably has an appropriate website off the top of their head for that. BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

Bruce, In the first photo I love the finger-print looking jigane... BaZZa.

I bought Don Myra's Gaijin's Guide to Polishing (a set of videos including shirasaya making etc etc) DEFINITELY NOT TO POLISH, but out of curiosity to see what he was up to and what damage he could do to a sword. The videos were a horror story in their own right. I'm always astonished at the abysmal lack of knowledge of people who claim to be able to polish Nihonto. There is one such man known to me here in Australia and he "works" for a smallish military museum, with an "apprentice" no less. Aaaaagh, what Brian said. I did ring Don Myra's home one day and spoke to his wife who said Don was very ill and as he couldn't work he did "polishing" to make ends meet. I have no idea what his medical issues were (it was now a LONG time ago), but it is possible he could have passed away. BaZZa. (small edit)

The nakago jiri (tang end) would suggest a Kaga province blade, possibly a kazuuchimono from the 1500s, but that would need someone knowledgeable to look at "in the hand". BaZZa.

My journey with wine has been very like that which Piers so eloquently describes - and far more successful than my journey with swords. My wine story started when I was 18 and tried for the first time "Stanley Claret" from a (now) old-style flagon. A light bulb went off "Mother, where have you been all my life??!!" To keep to the theme of the thread, the horror stories here abound solely due to far too much of a good thing on occasions... Nonetheless, I regret I have but one liver to give my country. With swords, like Piers, I perforce learned to ride alone as there were no Sensei in my part of the world 55 years ago. I looked for those lightning moments when a flash illuminated the sword of the moment I was looking at. This was rare. Never mind your tanto journey Piers, mine has been peppered with at times quite expensive follies. Yet we persevere... BaZZa.

Well, good gravy, in my 55 years of collecting I've almost made a meal out of Jugyo-Ryo!!! BaZZa.

Marius, I have always LOVED your "supercilious nincompoop" line and put myself at the bottom of that class... Which is why I allus reads your opinions closely. To people who occasionally say "Oh, you're an expert Barry" I reply that I am a mere empty vessel regurgitating others' opinions and knowledge... Best regards, BaZZa.

Well, agree on the seeming crudity, but there is the matter of the black lacquer that hasn't been discussed and Robert's observation very nice detail on unworn parts. Does this indicate old, i.e. Ko Kinko, or was black lacquer on tosogu a feature even at the end of Edo??? The nanako is to my eye very crude indeed compared to top work, yet I can't see enough in the horses to comment. BaZZa.

Ahhhh, while I was ruminating on writing styles Jean went right to it... BaZZa.

A beautiful mei, just divinely elegant. This doesn't quite look like sousho - is it gyousho??? Ahhh, when in doubt go to google/wikipedia... seal script (篆書 tensho) (pinyin: zhuànshū) clerical script (隷書 reisho) (pinyin: lìshū) regular script (楷書 kaisho) (pinyin: kǎishū) semi-cursive (行書 gyōsho) (pinyin: xíngshū) cursive (草書 sōsho) (pinyin: cǎoshū). So, I'm no wiser as to the Yasutomo katana writing style. Help a drowning man Steve... BaZZa.

A friend sent me this link that others may find of great interest for the photos and comments: https://news.kynosarges.org/2019/04/19/samurai-helmets/ I left a comment plugging the Board so Brian might see an increase in first-time traffic. Best regards, BazZa.

Bruce, here is more grist for your mill. The attached photos are titled "Bazza's...jpg", but in fact the sword belongs to a friend of mine who has at last sent me photos of his Mantetsu. I don't have any other photos so can't comment on condition, but the tang suggests it has had a hard life. So in essence this is a contribution to your survey. BaZZa.

... and I think I see "chatter" on the file strokes, i.e., not a trained metal smith?? BaZZa.

Mmmmmmmm... I'd take advice on using Renaissance Wax ('ren wax'). Personally I wouldn't - the Japanese didn't have it, right?? But what DID they have? They had ibota - was that used on fittings?? Then somewhere rattling around in my brain is a kernel of a thought that I've read somewhere in the dim past that the Japanese did use a "vegetable" wax on their fittings. I have no idea. Does anyone know?? I think its an important question for tosogu preservation - I have some nice items that I wonder about in terms of both lifting their appearance as well as enhancing their continued preservation. BaZZa. EDIT: Mmmmmmmm... as in "Lovely" rather than questioning the use of wax... Just to be clear. Stunning tsuba Jeremiah.

Dear Georg, Yet another wonderful story of discovery. My salutations for the great effort you have made to present your horidashimono (lucky find) here on NMB. Yours is a beautiful and meticulous write-up that will be admired by all here, I am sure. We delight in seeing fine swords discovered and “brought back” to the Nihontô community. You have had great fortune in finding a good sword in neglected condition in unfavourable circumstances. In another time and place such a sword could have been cut up to make fishing knives - it has happened here in Australia! I once had a similar experience and was the lucky owner of a sword in just the condition as yours, but without any furniture, just the scabbard, handle, habaki and blade. This was perhaps 40 years or more ago. I knew the sword was special and did not send it to any polisher known to me fearing a bad result. After many decades it went to Japan and was restored perfectly. The blade wasn't signed, but as a kiriha katana it was judged to be a work of the Shimosaka swordsmiths in the early Edo period. I sincerely hope your lucky find turns out to be a genuine work of Yamaura Masayuki. It is a fine looking blade with a good sugata (shape) and very interesting hi (grooves). As Geraint wrote, we await with great interest the story of your continuing journey. Best regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa (Melbourne, Australia)

FWIW and OTTOMYH I think gimei. The kanji is "jagged daggy" and the ZEN kanji is not in the usual Hizen rendering. And o-sujikai yasurime??? BaZZa.

The book/booklet MEITO IN NORTH AMERICA had an important find in a signed and dated Koto sword. I've lent my copy but I particularly renumber this in the early 2000s. It was described as the (then) "find of the century". BaZZa.

Dear Ffolke, A friend has just sent me a link that has left me wide-eyed and full of anticipatory wonder. All Nihonto friends should be aware of the content and I'm sure it will provoke interesting comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/forget-everything-you-know-about-sake?ref=wrap Best regards, BaZZa.

Well!! the term "necropost" certainly should not apply here!! Yeah, maybe Anthony could have started a new thread - BUT - I must have totally missed this in the great wash of posts and topics. I really enjoyed reading this from start to finish and indeed might write up something for our local antique arms collectors magazine. What a fascinating topic. BaZZa.

Hello Ed and all, now this has raised its head again I must insist that "In Like Flynn" is the ridgy didg original expression.and not "In Like Flint". It is true that both are real, but gentlemen all, let me draw your attention to MY intended meaning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_like_Flynn Indeed, if one googles "in like flynn" one can see there is another whole genre around Errol Flynn. CONCLUSION: Ed is right and I am right - choose your "in"... BaZZa.

Now Boys and Girls let's talk sharpening... > you've just went our appetites. Steven I presume you meant wet, but I didn't start this to castigate you on that small typo. No. I'm simply wondering if in this usage the correct word is to whet our appetites, as in sharpening a sword... Lovely sword Franco, looking forward to more pictures. Bestests, BaZZa.