Bazza

Unless I'm going off my head this menuki portrays a leopard, not a tiger????? BaZZa.

I think the mei is SEKI JU KANE... I agree with Peter Bleed that this could be a nice (Mino?) sword, possibly Koto?? BaZZa.

OK - we need some clarification here. The active ingredient in nitromors is dichloromethane, aka methylene chloride, but this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitromors says: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The current All Purpose version of the product ( as of 2011 ) does not contain any of the active ingredient dichloromethane, and the logo representing approval by the Guild of Master Craftsmen no longer appears on the tin. ( image to follow ) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So what does it contain at present???? Nitromors may not be available in Australia, but I would guess that ANY paint stripper product that has methylene chloride as an active ingredient would work exactly as Ford has outlined. However, anyone contemplating using it would do well to read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloromethane Best regards, BaZZa. EDIT: I haven't felt the same about my cuppa since I read this "In the food industry, it has been used to decaffeinate coffee and tea"

Barry and All, If this sword has no or a wooden blade then it might belong to that class of swords described as a "Doctor's sword". Bestests, BaZZa.

MEIN GOTT - sounds more like an "exercise for many fingers" than a pleasantly melodious guitar piece!!! But thanks for the introduction to a guitar artiste previously unknown to me. I shall seek out other performances. Bestests, BaZZa.

There are a number of armours in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/ One of the armours is a near complete assembly of a mid-Edo armour and accessories acquired in 1948. I remember being told it was accompanied by a very long banner detailing the history of the armour. The "banner may have been a sashimono of sorts. The armour is described here http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collect ... irn=241380 And this is a portion of the text. I have highlighted a few words: ------------------------------------------------------------------- This suit of armour with accessories and related horse tack was purchased by the museum in 1948. Unverified acquisition records state that the equipment dates from 1775 and belonged to Komu Kaemon, a samurai of the officer rank from the Bizen clan. It is certain, however, that this collection is a remarkably complete example of samurai equipment from the middle Edo period. The armour is of superior quality and features all the elements outlined above. It has purple and white silk laced lames with primary and secondary heraldic symbols or mons. The helmet is a sofukurin type featuring gilt edged ribbed plates. This was a revival of earlier helmet styles as was typical during the Edo period. Accompanying the armour is a very rare sleeveless felt coat or jin-baori with matching mon. These coats were worn over armour at camp and occasionally into battle. Underclothes comprised of breeches and robe are also included. There are two armour boxes again with matching mon. These were used to store the armour. There are paper storage bags and several banners and lengths of cloths. There are no shoes. Read more: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collect ... z3CRH86OOz Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial --------------------------------------------------------------------- Good luck with the research. Bestests, BaZZa.

Something over 40 years ago I had a wakizashi with a garish irridescent green and white "candy-striped" saya. I remember it well. The mumei blade I thought in my immature daze was nothing remarkable - I'd like to see it now to be sure!! But the thing I most remember is the tsuba. It was an iron sukashi tsuba, not Namban, and it had a 'biscuit' broken out of it. A crystalline structure was clearly evident in the break and I always attributed this to the metal being cast iron, more so as there was no bending at or around the break. In light of the present discussion I regrettably cannot describe it in more detail, but the presence of a clean break and coarse crystalline structure to me clearly indicated cast iron. I have no idea how old this tsuba was, but by the highly decorative ('gauche'??) saya I would have guessed Meiji period. As a person with little technical knowledge of the subject, the present discussion encouraged me wander into google to see what I could find out about the history of cast iron. There is a bit and I'll reproduce a little - here is the link: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/pla ... oryid=ab16 and at the very bottom of the page the text states: ----------------------------------------------------------- Cast iron in the east: 513 BC Thus far in the story iron has been heated and hammered, but never melted. Its melting point (1528°C) is too high for primitive furnaces, which can reach about 1300°C and are adequate for copper (melting at 1083°C). This limitation is overcome when the Chinese develop a furnace hot enough to melt iron, enabling them to produce the world's first cast iron - an event traditionally dated in the Chinese histories to 513 BC. In this they are a thousand and more years ahead of the western world. The first iron foundry in England, for example, dates only from AD 1161. By that time the Chinese have already pioneered the structural use of cast iron, using it sometimes for the pillars of full-size pagodas. ----------------------------------------------------------- I'm not at all challenging any prior posts and I do understand the difficulties of molten iron insinuating into fine spaces. I have no purpose here other than to perhaps pose the question "If Chinese were producing cast iron in 513 BC is there any evidence of intricate casting, such as a tsuba or an intricate ritual object??". I apologise if this seems simplistic... BaZZa.

Ah, God, how I love you blokes. This mere mortal has found this thread to be of immense and passionate interest. I read Boxer's 19thC piece on Namban (perhaps I should say "foreign influence") tsuba 45-ish years ago and was entranced, and saw in-hand Peter Bleed's auriculate tsuba when he visited Melbourne only a few years ago. Although I have kept for a long time a very good Namban tsuba, I haven't either "what it takes" or the resources to follow this interest up with more solid research myself, so I have deeply appreciated contributions to the thread. For passionate if not always reasoned argument this thread proves to me beyond doubt the great importance of the Board. Kudos to all, especially Brian who bonds us together. Bestests, BaZZa.

Jim and I had a long and robust correspondence. I admired/still admire him immensely and miss his presence amongst us. I still occasionally read his writings. A real gem of a man. RIP. BaZZa.

Just having a stab... The first one is much older and the second one a later Edo copy. BaZZa.

Brilliant program. Shame about the uchiko segment... BaZZa.

Is the entire mei shown??? It could be 三州住久氏 Sanshū jū Hisauji???? The kanji in question looks to me more like a variant HISA 久 than a NIN 人 ... BaZZa.

Chris you may have these already, but I recall (inaccurately???) that there was an article on the Kunisuke generations in one of the JSSUS issues of "Art and the Sword"??? BaZZa.

Well, to "hang it out there" I can't but help agreeing with Stephen. When I see a big, ubu, mumei katana with o-kissaki I think Shinshinto... BaZZa.

G'day Paul Mate, Very sorry indeed to hear of your enforced rest. You have achieved wonderful things in the cause of Nihonto and I sincerely wish you a speedy recovery. As we say in Oz "Take it easy mate". Best regards, BaZZa.

But then it couldn't be Koto... BaZZa.

A bity of humble pie is good for the soul!!! As I'm not so familiar with waki Hizento I should have added the caveat in the above "For mainline Tadayoshi" with regard to the yasurime. BaZZa.

Honestly, this needs to be properly cleaned and held in the hand by "someone who knows" - like at a Shinsa. I have found that photographs are next to useless in judging a blade. Having said that, with the available images and my miserable knowledge set, I would say this is a gimei. From my exposure to Hizento this is not one. The yasurime are wrong (should be kiri), the nakago jiri is wrong (should be iriyamagata), and the mei is far too "chippy". BaZZa.

Ron Watson wrote: ------------------------------------------------------------- Supposedly a year later, a Portuguese blacksmith arrived in Japan ,and he was persuaded to pass the secret of the breach plug by as legend goes ... the Portuguese blacksmith was offered the hand in marriage of a lovely girl called “Wakasa” ( the blacksmith's daughter ) as the reward for disclosing the secret of how to affix the breach plug into the barrel. This is in all probability just legend. ------------------------------------------------------------- I have an old videotape of an NHK program that is a costume drama recreation of this story/legend/what have you. It runs for about 20 minutes with Japanese dialogue, but it is a good watch. The frustration of the swordsmith coming to grips with this new weapon is well played. BaZZa.

Thank you Sebastien. Snowflakes, well I never!!! We are getting away from the OP topic, but snowflakes goes someway to answering shapes on a "mystery tsuba" I have that I've been going to present to the Board. I need to take some decent photos - watch this space, though it will take me a couple of days or so. On second thoughts, I'll post it under a new topic. BaZZa.

What on earth are the shapes of the sukashi??? Blobs of protoplasm????!!!! And some of the small holes are too far apart to be undenukiana... BaZZa

HAHAHAHA - Joe, a very good quip!! Chris, a very nice result of a long trip (I guess) and thanks so much for sharing. Inspires me to put up one of my better finds and the almost unbelievable story that goes with it. Promises, promises, but I'll do my best soon. It concerns a katana signed (KIKU) ECHIZEN no KAMI MINAMOTO RAI NOBUYOSHI and its late Edo handachi koshirae. Bestests, BaZZa.

Well, my thing too and I'm "in", but one look at Chris Bowen's layout for his Tokyo Gendai book makes me wonder how Markus can get such a book out by year's end. End of 2015 I would believe. It must be a HUGE project with many of us contributing oshigata etc etc. and I simply wonder how it can be done in only a few months???? BaZZa.

Gentlemen All, Thank you for your comments and knowledge. However, I'm a little confused. The attachment in Ron Watson's post above is clearly, as Moriyama san has identified, a TEKAGI, whereas my OP photos show a differently formed tool, one with a straight haft and a less murderous looking "hook", being more of a blunt, "prodding projection" reinforced along the haft, rather than a pointed hook more simply attached to the haft. So, are these one and the same but my OP tool being a much older variant, or is my OP tool indeed a TOBIGUCHI??? Thanking you all, BaZZa.

Dear All, A friend has sent me photos of a tool/weapon asking if it is Japanese. Scratched into the wooden handle are two ideograms that could be crude characters. I can't recall seeing anything like these - does anyone have any idea what the "characters" are, and what this object might be??? It appears old and well-made and may well be a Japanese fireman's tool. I can't imagine it being a weapon (?) Best regards, BaZZa.