Bazza

Look carefully at the boshi - I think the kissaki has been broken. The koshinogi and fukura of the ha nearly meet!! And the bohi just about runs into the koshinogi. Not a good look at all. Oh, and some Koto had thin kasane and wide mihaba, which this might be. The RAI KUNITOSHI mei is undoubtedly false, so any restoration potential depends on the integrity of the kissaki and to an extent the lack shintetsu. Lastly, the blade looks as if it has been "gone over" in a cleanup... BaZZa.

Jean et al, I have seen such a sugata and kissaki on a Meiji period tanto in a cloisonne koshirae. I have searched for the picture I have of it, but I fear the HDD I stored it on is dead... The shape is indeed unusual and the tanto I saw many years ago is the only one I have ever seen until the pictures above. BaZZa.

"...the glint in his eyes..." This really resonates with me. After 50+ years "with swords" I still feel this as keenly as when I was first smitten. The glint is with me now as I wait for word that an offer on a sword might be accepted... RIP Victor. BaZZa. EDIT: I wrote the above before Clive's tribute appeared. The video is something every politician or person who thinks they might want to ban or destroy Japanese swords should be encouraged to watch. Especially here in Victoria, Australia, "The State We're In!!".

Anthony, wundebar (or whatever Vikings might have said). Thanks so very much for your photos - they must not disappear. Sighhh. It makes a man with only three teppo feel a little small in the pants... BaZZa.

Lance wrote: > Sometimes the tools were carried in little pockets in the scabbards of long frighting swords too Surely this was meant to be frightening swords... BaZZa (Resident #2 Smarta##s)

Ummm - doesn't really matter as IMHO it is a Chinese repro... BaZZa.

Long ago a friend had a tanto (maybe it was a kowakizashi) with an O-kogatana and O-kozuka in the saya. It was a long time ago but somewhere around I still have oshigata and photographs. So John, there is at least one found in a koshirae. The blade was very unusual with a snake horimono. The nakago was extensively signed. I'll post it when I next stumble across the info I've got... BaZZa.

Looks like a Kunitomo teppo and well worthwhile removing the barrel. I'm sure it will be signed. However, one must exercise caution in removing the bbl so as not to damage the stock. Remove the remaining pin, hold the gun butt down and gently tap the bbl from the muzzle end to release it from the stock. This could take a lot of time and a lot of GENTLE persuasion, even to using a small rubber or plastic mallet. Patience is the keyword. BaZZa. EDIT - hold both the barrel and sock in an enclosed hand while doing this so the bbl doesn't suddenly release...

Pete - CONGRATULATIONS (through gritted teeth!!!). It once took me 8 years of very occasional persistence to secure a sword... BaZZa.

OK, so we have [42], but what does it mean??? BaZZa.

The habaki is, I would think, portion of a kiku flower (chrysanthemum)?? BaZZa.

Also engraved a single aoi leaf on his swords. IMHO the mei looks very dodgy indeed. I once had such a sword with the aoi leaf that was clearly a WW2 knockoff (I hesitate to use the word utsushi!!). BaZZa.

Does anyone else see a ghost of an old (removed) signature from the mekugiana down past -NAGA???? BaZZa.

Yes, give it a shot. I read it off the top of my head and no doubt dozens of others have too. You can do it. Gambatte kudasai... BaZZa.

A mate of mine who, like me, is interested in "everything" sent me this link recently: https://hyperallergic.com/375907/an-illustrated-19th-century-Japanese-travelogue-of-egypt/ I'm no Randy McCall, but likewise minded readers may also enjoy this read: https://hyperallergic.com/375669/watch-the-british-library-digitize-one-of-the-worlds-largest-books/ I've never heard of hyperallergic.com, but I might just spend some little time there. Bestests, BaZZa.

For your information, and auction with a few tsuba, http://www.invaluable.com/catalog/searchLots.cfm?shw=50&houseRef=HWP5EOI26C&wa=Tsuba&utm_source=house&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=targetedexclusive&utm_content=aca042817 BaZZa.

MODAN style???? BaZZa.

I think the filemarks are a variant of taka-no-ha known as shinogi sujikai/hira kiri See: http://meiboku.info/guide/form/yasurime/index.htm BaZZa.

Hey Mate (chuckle) see this thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/20387-dohi-shinryo/ BaZZa.

Good spot Marius, shame about my depleted Exchequer... BaZZa.

FYI - just into my computer: http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/a-Japanese-court-tachi-in-orange-lacquer-saya.-9774ECEBA7?utm_source=house&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=exclusive&utm_content=why042617 Bestests, BaZZa.

Off the top of my head (baaad, I know), where tobiyaki connects with the hamon it is called something else. Just a note to hopefully trigger the name in someone's better memory. BaZZa.

What he said... BaZZa.

Marius, I'm not competent to argue this point, beyond saying that the shape of the point determines the penetrating power when it comes to armour piercing and somewhere in my past I've picked up that sharper points (as in any other yari) don't have the penetrating power that blunter shapes possess. I'm guessing that sharper points collapse on themselves when hitting armour. Can anyone with particular knowledge comment??? Bestests, BaZZa.

I did a search on mijika yari and got at least one seemingly useful hit. It is a German website http://budoforum.yuku.com/topic/2123/TeYari#.WPNowWclG70 and the text in Post #5 runs (the bold emphasis is mine to pick out mijika): ============================================= Hallo Leute ! Tja euer Te-yari ist nichts anderes als der allseitsbeliebte Kago-Yari. Wie der Begriff Kago andeutet wurde das Ding mit Vorliebe in Sänften benutzt. ( Kann ich mir allerdings auch nur schwer vorstellen, daß ein gut gefalteter daimyo in seiner Kago damit was machen konnte ) Ansonsten geistert dieses Ding auch unter solchen Namen wie "Ko-Yari" oder "Mijika-Yari" durch die Lande. Dementsprechend war die gnomenhafte Koshirae der Klinge die auf dem Schloß gesichtet wurde mit Sicherheit O.K. Was die Klinge und die Nakago dieser Waffen angeht, so sind es meisten stink normale Sankaku Yari oder kleine Ryo-Shinogi-Yari. Allerdings gibt es diese Winzausführung von Yari in allen Formen. Ich selber hab gerade noch so ein Ding da. Ein hübscher kleiner Shinshinto Tate-Tori-Jumonji-Yari. ( Das Ding hat noch mehr Kanten als ein einfacher Jumonji-Yari,mir grault es jetzt schon vor dem Teil.......) Auf jeden Fall ist die mittlere Klinge nur 16 cm lang und die yari no eda ( die Ärmchen ) haben einen Abstand von 9 cm. Ein echter Zwerg. Trotzdem ist die Nakago satte 35 cm lang. Naja meine Schleifsteine schreien nach mir. Bis dann. Stefan Wuttke, Togishi/Moderator Nihonto ============================================= The OP in the above thread was asking about Te-yari. There may be something useful here for our German-speaking friends. BaZZa.