Bazza

Jacques, I think he means 27 inches overall, not nagasa. This reminds me of an 'eviscerator' Suketaka kowakizashi a friend of mine has. It would seem to support the notion that Suketaka occasionally produced "outlandish" blades (for want of a better name). I have some pictures somewhere, I think?? I'll have a look and put them up for the sake of the discussion. Bestests, BaZZa.

John, Right now I don't have time to respond more fully (I'm in editor mode knocking out an antique arms collectors magazine), but for the sake of the discussion can I refer those stalwart souls still interested in this thread to here, a discussion on Magoroku Kanemoto: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3448 I'm interested in this (current) thread because I do have a very nice ca 1600 Kanemoto katana, and "in care" for a friend I'm holding a mumei suriage katana (may never have been signed) with takanoha yasurime that the Sydney Shinsa called to Owari Seki. I'm beginning to think that the subject sword is a genuine Mino "something, somewhere" with a gimei. Regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

Gentle Folk, If I might suggest, this is not a Jizo boshi. The boshi is midareba and it appears Jizo-like by the gonome peak returning 'down' to a maru to return to the mune. The midare boshi with takanoha yasurime indicate Koto Mino. I agree the KANEMOTO kanji are decidely "off", but we must remember there are many Kanemoto lines in Mino, not only Magoroku - as Dr Malcolm Cox's compenduim reminds us. I have the MINOTO TAIKAN and will have a trawl for this kind of mei. Dunno when I can do it as our neighbour has just had a fall due to his replacement hip joint collapsing. He is in hospital for we don't know what, and my wife and I are "on call" to help his wife and kids wherever we can. Anybody else free to trawl the MINOTO TAIKAN??? Best regards, BazZa.

I've been out for an appointment and while driving thought about this problem facing "galsmark". We have been so concerned for him that we collectively forgot to read him a prime rule of the Board - PLEASE SIGN YOUR NAME... So, this Euro125 tanto is about $200 Australian. Dear "galsmark", I assure you if you stay collecting Japanese swords this is a mere drop in a bucket. A few days ago I bought a book from Craig Harris' generous 50% off sale for $290 Australian dollars. A BOOK!!! The only thing sharp about that deal was my wife's tongue for throwing more money into my bottomless pit of collecting... This so that I might be able to learn something about my three (THREE) fuchi signed YASUCHIKA. I guess my library over the decades of collecting has cost me at least $20,000 Aussie dollars. To look at your issue another way, you have bought a book for Euro125. It said "This is a gimei/not real tanto". This knowledge is priceless as you have bought through experience, and it will continue to do so, but better to buy real books first. I said to a beginning collector recently "spend your first $2,000 on books". I also commented that collecting Japanese swords is sure to cost you grief and money!!! But O, the joy of a good find, and the fabulous friends one makes on the journey. My Dear "galsmark" san, you have joined the club... Best regards for your future endeavors, Barry Thomas.

No doubt whatsoever it is a fake. I didn't have the heart to be the first cab off the rank with what is undoubtedly extremely disappointing news for you. Buy books, look around a lot - Shows, Museums, other collectors, join clubs and groups - and save your money until you know a lot more. I doubt there isn't a person on this Board who hasn't bought unwisely early in his or her collecting life. If I could say just this - don't beat yourself up over it if there were otherwise no guarantees in the description and familiarise yourself with the Latin phrase caveat emptor... Regards, BaZZa.

Ahhh, what is a "true" daisho... Many words have been written on this topic and our Moderator Brian may be able to fish the topic out of the archive disk I sent him. If not (BRIAN!!) I'll dig it out myself. Suffice to say, there are many variations... Regards, BaZZa.

HAHAHAHAHAHA - I once had a tired Koto mumei katana in Shingunto koshirae and a Showa clunker katana in Kaigunto koshirae, then I bought a cheap book and since then it has cost me many thousands too... BTW - I like your tsuba. And I thought your tsuba was pictured as worn on a tachi... Best regards, BaZZa.

Dear Boarderos, Browsing through the Board I've noticed many inconsistent usages of Takeda/Takada when speaking about the Bungo group of swordsmiths. So, being somewhat of a usage pedant (putting myself up as a target here!!) I've put together a little piece that I hope some will find useful and interesting. Best regards, BaZZa. ---------------------------------------- Japanese is a most precise language – I learnt that in my short two year study of it in my university daze. So poor was I at it, I realised that I could never speak Japanese fluently unless I gave up everything and went to live in Japan. How I admire those people who do just that – where are you my young friend Andrew Ickeringill?? Having introduced my own failings I feel a certain reluctance to address the issue of English spellings of Takeda/Takada, but in deference to our newer collectors I pray indulgence in my attempt to do so. I find that google is a good test of how something should be spelt/spelled/speld. If I have an issue with a spelling the biggest number of google hits gets the guernsey (try ‘despatch’/‘dispatch’ as an example). I’m also amazed at how many WRONG spellings there are “out there”. In searching for things I often employ a stratagem of misspelling words… More a little further on. So, Takeda. As an example, this refers to Takeda Shingen, the Daimyô of Kai in the Sengoku Jidai. His name is spelt 武田信玄. Now for Takada. We have been talking about the Bungo Takada school. This is spelt 豊後高田. TAKE-da 武-田 TAKA-da 高-田 On using misspellings, as I was typing bungo takada into the search window, a populated, auto-completion list popped up and by the time I got to ‘bungo ‘ (that’s bungo followed by a space), the list included bungotakada (one word). Clicking on that gave some sword references. By the time I had typed ‘bungo tak’ the dropdown list included only bungotakada (one word) and ‘bungo taketa’ (two words). Each link gave quite different results – 65,500 and 10,600 hits respectively. Taketa-shi is a city in Japan, and its kanji is 竹田市. (-ta can also be -da. Ah, Japanese...) I’ll leave it to interested Boarderos to follow these variations up if they wish, but I found these two links to be good and interesting reads: http://www.pref.oita.jp/10400/guide-o/e ... keta_j.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%8Dsuishi-ry%C5%AB I hope this ramble has been of some interest, and let me finish with a pet grumble. The rendering of Japanese into English is called rômaji, not romanji. I recommend the following as an important read in this regard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese Jumanji…

Ted, Thanks very much for the picture. Bewdiful... (you have to know one of our local, much loved comedians - bewdiful, said with feeling and sincerity). Bestests, Barry Thomas.

Henry, Nice job. Hopefully not being too picky, but I think they are more correctly displayed with the handles to the left??? Barry Thomas.

Dear All, Reported in my daily newspaper yesterday. The Board has occasions when such a mark is sorely needed: -------------------------------------------------------- Seriously top marks for sarcasm THE internet is said to be dumbing down the language, but at least it is trying to make up for that with plenty of sarcasm. So much, in fact, that a Michigan software company is now trying to make some money by adding a new form of online punctuation – the sarcasm mark. Sarcasm Inc said the Sarcmark, which looks like an open circle with a dot in the centre, is now available to be used by any computer and even on BlackBerry devices if you are prepared to pay to download it. “Statements have the period. Questions have the question mark. Exclamations have the exclamation mark. When you see the newest punctuation mark for sarcasm, you'll know the writer of that sentence doesn't literally mean what they're writing - they're being sarcastic,” the company claimed, without using a sarcmark. Not sure if this is serious or not, but – just in case – they are even selling sarcmark jackets for the real enthusiast. -------------------------------------------------------- Regards, BaZZa.

Giving credit where it's due, I got the site info from Board Member Stephan Hiller. Regards, BaZZa.

Craig, A very interesting find as I've never been to the Maritime Museum. I've just received two 90 megabyte downloads in zipped format from http://drop.io/. I wasn't aware of this website, but the offer is "Optionally upload files (100 MB free per drop, upgrade for more) ". You could put all the images there and give us a link. BTW, your tsuba5 is signed GOTO someone - I opine gimei as the kanji is sloppy... Best regards, BaZZa.

Stephan, Are there any rumblings at all in Germany about "banning samurai swords"???? My home State of Victoria here in Australia has done so, and England has done so. Anywhere else??? Of course, here now machetes and knives are the go, nary a "samurai" sword to be seen in the news. Nice to see swords written up in German in a good light. Barry Thomas.

Gentle Folk, I would like to get a very good photo of a 1944 Pattern tsuka, the one that has the 2 screws. Both sides preferred, but the screw-head side is the obvious one. Please send direct to me at warlord@iinet.net.au Many thanks for reading. Barry Thomas

I have seen SANJU on a BIG, BIG Tanegashima - a KAKAEZUTSU - and somewhere have an oshigata of it. I should find it in a few weeks when I move all my "shtuff" from semi-storage into my new study (25yo son is leaving home - YAY...). Regards, Barry Thomas.

Well, Gentle Folk, I have three Kunitomo matchlock guns of the short, heavy barrelled type with internal locksprings. One has both the gun barrel and stock signed (different makers of course) with all parts numbered 21. The lock has a maker's kokuin inside. Another one has a silver dragon the length of the barrel top. I've also got some hard-to-get literature on Tanegashima (meaning I accidentally stumbled upon an old article in an obscure English journal). I've been "gunner" photograph these for a couple of years now and write them up, so if the moderators are happy to accept a Tanegashima thread I'll get to work on them. It will take me some time as other needs and projects are ahead of them, but I'll get there... Regards, Barry Thomas.

It is time for me to personally thank Moriyama san for his presence on our Board. Of course I knew that the three strokes also meant MI (as in mitokoromono), but couldn't see where it fitted. You grace us struggling gaijin (speaking for myself) Dear Moriyama san with your knowledge and the unstinting willingness to share it. So saying, I hope we give back to you in some measure the warmth and comradeship I personally feel from you "being here". Best regards, Barry Thomas (Melbourne, Australia)

I'm a bit in Henry Wilson's camp here, now some pages back - and as Pete Klein eloquently put it "my brain hurts". It is a long time since I left university and all that wonderful reading that underpins the stimulating discussion between Ford and Steve. However, in the essence of simplicity Franco earlier hit the nail on the head. In matters Nihonto, Japan is the homeland of our beloved art and the arbiter of "what's what" in collecting and recognition of art vs function etc etc. Even in Japan "fashion" at times dictates what is "more collectible" - for example, suguha vs choji midare... And I believe the revisionists are hard at work modifying the kantei of earlier sensei. Such is the nature of art!!! I can't pretend that I easily follow the Ford vs Steve discussion/arguments, but I can say I have enjoyed them immensely and will read and re-read them until I better understand the points. Rattling around in my noggin is a memory that far, far more tsuba were made than there were ever swords to put them on. I have seen tsuba that have never been mounted in a koshirae, and a fabulous Ishiguro fuchigashira that have never adorned a tsuka. It is clear that large numbers of tosogu were made as gifts and never intended to be "used". Are these then "not tsuba" or "not fuchigashira" because they were never mounted on a sword and given as gifts wrapped in silk??? I hope the PM exchanges between Ford and Steve conclude in an entente cordiale and are published here to give us a plenary session of sorts to bring this most interesting and compelling thread to a fruitful conclusion. Regards, BaZZa.

A starter off the top of my head without going to the books: SEKI SHU(? unusual) MINAMOTO(?) MASA HIDE SAKU BaZZa.

The daisho tsuba I mentioned earlier where the dai tsuba had a sword cut was of iron, and yes the cut was more of a "nick" than the heavy cut in the tsuba Pete showed us. Pete - a question. The colour looks as if the tsuba is yamagane rather than shakudo - is this right?? Regards, BaZZa.

Do we not already have one in Dr Gordon Robson??? Barry Thomas

David, In my very limited experience Customs will want to see proof that a blade being returned from restoration was originally sent from (in our case) Australia. Years ago when sending a blade out I would take it to a Notary (a Justice of the Peace or someone sworn to take affidavits or statutory declarations) with an oshigata of the blade and after showing thwm the sword and explaining "the deal" have them stamp the oshigata with their seal attesting to the fact that they had sighted it. Any false declarations along these lines has the potential to get anyone in very deep caca with Customs. When it comes to treasured blades honesty is definitely the best policy. Jean - you are certainly right, but here in Australia at least it is possible (or perhaps was) to just put a blade in the post and send it off. When it is returned by post from Japan is where the caca could hit from Customs if one did not have proof that it was originally sent out of Australia. If sending by a freight agent your question certainly applies - but OH MY - the costs can be horrendous. Recently (two or three years back) the charges alone to get a returning blade through the freight agent and Customs was about AUD$800. As others have said, shipping swords anywhere can be a nightmare unless one does one's homework and gets it right. Regards, BaZZa

WELL!! I can't imagine what I could have contributed to the discussion thus far, but there are a few things that haven't been touched on. I'll get to those later in another post, but here I've chipped in to talk about battle damage to tsuba. I once had a daisho that had clear clash marks on the blades. Somewhere I have a hand-drawn rendering of the marks. On the dai tsuba was a clear cut from a sword. Taken in conjunction with the clash scars on both blades there was no doubt in my mind that it was a sword cut. After the daisho passed from my hands I saw the tsuba quite some time later and was shocked to find that the new owner had peened the cut closed. I dunno why he did this because it was still evident "something" had happened at that spot. So, Ford, here is a singular example for you. As the koshirae was clearly late Edo I feel the clash marks happened in that very turbulent time known as Bakumatsu, possibly even in the years before the Haito Rei in 1876. Notice I haven't used the expression "battle scars". As the blades were in fairly decorative "civilian" koshirae the clash more likely occurred in a street or domestic environment rather than a battlefield. Also, the fact that the blades had not been re-polished suggested the damage occurred at a time close to the end of the samurai as a class. Further on the Great Discussion of the tsuba as a hand guard, recently I viewed (on the web) an image of an ukiyoe of a battle scene. The writer commented that it was very unusual because the artist had depicted the "little bits" on the ground - the fingers and hands that get cut off during battle. Whither tsuba as a hand protector??? Not apparently of much use if a cut comes from left-field (or right-field!) and takes a swordsman's hand off at the wrist!!! So it would seem that the random occurrences of cutting in the hurly-burly of battle makes the discussion of the tsuba as protecting the hand (or not) something of an exercise in over-intellectualisation??? Regards, Barry Thomas.

Deborah, I've sent you a PM (Personal Message), but if that is difficult for you to access at this stage send the pics directly to me at my "working" email address: warlord@iinet.net.au I'm in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. I'm guessing you are also in Australia by your mention of Timor on a tag and Yamada Kenzan, a polisher of sorts who visited Australia a good many years ago. Best regards, Barry Thomas.