Bazza

Or perhaps plain old talcum powder usually used for a baby's bum... BaZZa.

And "pure" iron as in unalloyed Fe?? The Iron Pillar of Delhi comes to mind: http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/incredible-rust-resistant-iron-pillar-delhi-001503 BaZZa.

Ahhhhh - but was it a good sword to begin with?? Curious minds want to know... BaZZa.

So, its a horror-mono!! I saw one once that was so bad I called it The Chicken Leg Dragon. It was AWFUL... I showed it to a visiting Japanese dealer and he said (HE SAID!!) "Its not so bad". I thought then that he meant horimono are really difficult to do and anything passable was (sort of) worthy... BaZZa.

Amazing bit of carving. Official stamp of some sort??? BaZZa.

Give Back To Caesar What Belongs To Caesar A very apposite title seeing that Caesar went through Gaul like a dose of salts, eh Jean??!! BaZZa.

MIYOSHI NAGAMICHI https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=nagamichi Doesn't necessarily mean he made it... Kogatana mei are notoriously false (kozuka is the handle, kogatana is the blade) BaZZa.

Brethren, I see no reports of Uwe's excellent photo skills. I sent the required $$ and received the image, all 20MB of it. WOW!! Honestly, its worth the small donation to see it. Not quite as good as "in the hand", but a mighty fine approximation to it. Wonderful work Uwe, danke. Best regards, BaZZa.

What he said... Sorry Andy - I love it too!! Missed out on a nice fuchigashira once. Best regards, BaZZa (not wishing to start a bidding war!!!)

Ah, no, sorry. On the kurikata side its a kogai. Some katana only had kogai and no kozuka. BaZZa. EDIT: Or another type of fitting called warikogai (split kogai, like chopsticks), or umabari aka bashin, so-called horse-bleeding needle.

Evan, A really wonderful read, thank you. I enjoy write ups on Japanese ceramics. BaZZa.

Hello Jean-François, The mei is I think NOSHUU JUU YOSHIMITSU SAKU. The "mon-looking" character is a kokuin (stamp) for SEKI arsenal. i.e., guntou. The date is SHOUWA JUU SHICHI NEN = 1942. And a gentle note for all the good souls seeking information on this Forum it would help if you presented your photos as follows. It is far easier to learn how to do this than it is to learn Japanese kanji, believe me. BaZZa.

YOSHITADA? Showa 20th year 3rd month = 1945 BaZZa.

Well, as a man whose middle names aren't 'Darcy' or 'rkg' I'm in Uwe's camp. I have to take dozens of photos to get one I'm happy with. Its an exhaustive, iterative process between camera and computer, especially if one doesn't have a studio of sorts. My studio is sometimes outdoors lit by Heaven, sometimes with a cloud filter, sometimes indoors with flash assistance, and sometimes just the light that filters in the window. Sometimes I use my macro, but mostly I don't, the normal 18-55mm EF-S zoom being 'good enough'. Oh, PM sent to Uwe. Bestests, BaZZa.

Peter, thanks muchly. Very interesting indeed. I'm reminded of a book in my undergrad years "Poverty in the Bakumatsu period" or similar such title. Bergamini in his "Imperial Conspiracy" talks about the hard life in Old Japan. BaZZa.

I like ABsession, as in ABcessed with our painful pursuit. "Painful" for any number of descriptors!!! BaZZa. XXXX

I think the book is "Stone's Glossary" and it shows again that even for hachiwari the tsuba were small. I like the OP's tsuba and would have it, wondering perhaps forever why the nakago ana is as it is. BaZZa.

STUNNER Richard, STUNNER. I love it. Shame about the surface deterioration for such a fine piece. Silly question time - do you know anything about its history to get like that? I would have thought that such a fine tsuba might have had an easier life. Here is a dim-witted thought for the cognoscenti - is it meant to look like that?? Y'know, rustic, wabi sabi and all that jazz?? BaZZa

Like Jeremiah I am fond of mokume style tsuba. My friend has given permission for me to show his tsuba, an ebay buy of some 4 years ago. Below I show (1) face with the mei; (2) closeup of mei; (3) reverse; and (4) view of edge. Mei reads (RHS) MYOUCHIN MINBU (LHS) KI (no) MUNESADA SAKU: =========================================================================== There is also a very nice iron tsuba on Wikipedia as part of a co-operative venture with the Walter Museum: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamano_Noriyuki_-_Tsuba_with_a_Chinese_Immortal_-_Walters_51267_-_Mark_A.jpg The front of the tsuba depicts the face of a Chinese immortal at the lower right, while the back is plain (save for a KAO) clearly showing a mokume structure to the tsuba. The description notes that the body was probably made by Munesada and the decoration added by Hamano Noriyuki. Here is the Wikipedia photo, the mei being the same as that illustrated above: Best regards, BaZZa.

I bought this bowl simply because of the sword forging theme. I'm guessing its the Fox Goddess on the left, the smith at work, and a priest or noble on the right. The bowl is 22cm across and 8cm high. I guess the mark reads KUTANI SEI. Now, Japanese ceramic marks are their own form of hell (as someone once commented about Japanese names!) and a reasonably exhaustive search of Gotheborg amongst others did not reveal this particular mark. I present it here for general interest, although my wife say it is one of the fugliest things she has ever seen... Bestests, BaZZa.

And how funny this Old Geezer "liked" a post that was 9 years old because he didn't look at the date!!! Just goes to show how "fresh" some of our discussions still are... BaZZa.

Udenukiana BaZZa.

A friend of mine has a nice one. I'll see if I can find a photo of it. BaZZa.

Sent to me by a friend who looks out for interesting topics for his mate with a strange collecting interest: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180103-the-Japanese-castle-that-defied-history BaZZa

Hi Chris, Another way to find your mystery character with the Nelson book is to work from the radical (not always on the lhs). If you don't have Nelson and are keen on learning/identifying kanji do buy yourself a copy. Lots of learning embedded in that book. Best regards, BaZZa.