Soshin

Generally this idea of a need for quick draw of a katana from its saya is I think a incorrect assumption mostly develop by the exposure to Iaido and similar Nihonto drawing arts. In a real combat situation (think battlefields of the Pre-Edo period) trying to draw any katana with or without kogai or kozuka would spell death. A quick observation of some of the remaining kenjutsu techniques indicates this fact as well. Quick draw techniques only became important until the Edo period during a non battlefield civil situation such as self defense along the street or during a single duel for honor. This question of having two kogai hitsu-ana I have seen some Pre-Edo tsuba with two kogai hitsu-ana or only one kogai hitsu-ana. I have recently purchased a tsuba for my collection that dates to the Momoyama period and it has two kogai hitsu-ana. A contras to this I have a late Edo tsuba that also has two kogai hitsu-ana. As for the use of a kogai I am really not sure but the use as a hair styling tool sounds reasonable. Just my two cents. I am really enjoying the discussion while waiting for better photos of the original tsuba in question. :D Yours truly, David S.

Hi Keith, I have often equated the large number of smaller size tsuba of the Edo period to belong to one of the two possible categories: 1. Belonging to a samurai's wakazashi. 2. Belonging to a merchant's wakazashi. This is due in part to the fact that merchant's were allowed to wear wakazashi. I am also aware that peasants were allowed to wear tanto in public if I am not mistaken. I do see many Edo period tanto tsuba as well ranging in quality. This social structure was finally implemented by the government of the Tokugawa Shogun but started by Oda Nobunaga. Yours truly, David Stiles

Dear Keith, Being a Tsuba or Tosogu guy in general I would say you need to take some good in focus photos of the tusba under normal lighting conditions. The quality of the scans that you have of the tsuba are just not that great and the color and contrast looks strange. There is a old saying that looking at a tsuba under direct sun light is the best as it will allow you to see and possible photograph a image where the true condition of patina of the tsuba can be observed. The overall color and condition of the patina can help determine age. With the current quality of the images I am not even going to try and guess. Yours truly, David S.

Paul, Just sent Mr. Heckmann a email asking for more information about this upcoming publication. It looks really nice as I have read other works by Robert E. Haynes on this topic and found them very helpful. Yours truly, David S.

Dear Kris, I would say late Edo. Please follow the link to a related thread about Kunihiro: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7377&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a. I have a tsuba by them as well. There was a total of four to six artists in total working in Edo during the late Edo period (circa 1770 to 1868) using that name. Not sure which Kunihiro is mine or yours for that matter. I like there simplistic Tosho styled designs. I don't know much about Myochin school. There was a Kunihiro that was one of the "Founding Fathers" of the Shinto sword period but I don't think he made tsuba. I hope I was helpful. Yours truly, David Stiles

The first photo is out of focus and not at the best angle. The second one is much better. There is what looks to be active red rust on the tsuba which isn't a good thing. The design reminds be of the following Ko-Shoami piece. Overall it looks like a nice tsuba even with what looks to be a really bad photograph. The design is called Matsukawabishi in Japanese. Here is a similar tsuba with the same design. The tsuba in question is likely a high quality Edo period copy that would look wonderful in my collection. It might belong to the Edo period Shoami group as designs of the Ko-Shoami were copied by it and many other schools in the Edo period. Just my thoughts I am sure someone more knowledgeable will chime in on the discussion. Thanks for sharing. Yours truly, David Stiles

Dear Eric, Yes this was the Nihonto that that was originally for the Koshirae in question. Thanks Eric for taking the time to find a PDF of the thread. I was not able to find anything else about the Nihonto in my file folders. I was able to find another Nihonto made by someone working in the same school at a latter time period. Here is the link in has nice photos and good amount of information. http://www.sanmei.com/contents/en-us/p1445.html The sori of my daito was much greater then this Nihonto in question and it had more of a Koto overall character to it. For someone who has given up Nihonto I sure still enjoy talking about them. :D Yours truly, David Stiles

Hi Tiffany, One thing you need to keep in mind is that there was many different tsuba schools in medieval Japan (1185-1615) including the Kamakura, Nanboku-chō, Muromachi and Momoyama periods. As well as pre-modern Japan (1616-1867) Edo period. The Meiji period onward is considered modern Japan. I found it better to study the different schools of tsuba and other Japanese sword fittings by first studying the history of Japan. Once I had a historical context I was able to better learn them quickly. This was a long process of about seven years of work in my free time. I am fairly sure you don't have that much time unless you are working on a Ph.D.:D I quick rule to help you would be to remember that whenever you see a "Ko" beginning a name of a tsuba school it means before the Edo period. The Kanji for "Ko" (古) means old. So for example Ko-Nara is the Nara school of the Momoyama period. When someone says such a piece is done in some style it likely means the artist was trying to emulate a specific style or technique from some earlier time period. This is very common in all Japanese art not just Tsuba. I hope this helps. Here are some good books to start you off on your learning process with some wonderful photos. They are intended for a general educated audience. 1. Lethal Elegance The Art of Samurai Swordf Fittings by Joe Earle 2. Art of The Samurai Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868 edited by Morihiro Ogawa Yours truly, David Stiles

Hi Keith, I tired this and it didn't work likely due to the fact that the sold Nihonto thread was deleted as Brian has indicated. I am going to check through some of my written papers to see if I have any written records of the Nihonto in question. I will reply again if I find something. What you said about it being more practical then decorative koshirae would fit very well with the reputation of Mino swords in general even the one made by a good representative swordsmith such as Yoshitane. I am basing this on Nagayama sensei comments on page 245 of The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords. Yours truly, David Stiles

Hi Keith, After spending the better part of 15 minutes searching for my "For Sale" post I was not able to locate it that section of the website. Maybe a site administrator can help us out by posting a link for the discussion. I posted the Nihonto for sale late last year around Oct. to Dec. The Nihonto that was attached to the koshirae dates to the Kan'ie (1624-1644) of the Edo period and was made by Yoshitane of the Echizen Seki school of the Mino tradition. The Nihonto came along with NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho shinsa origami. I noticed a mistake in my original post I mixed up the fuchi and gashira in my attached photo. Sorry about that. The kashira is plain iron without gold inlay work but with a nice dark patina. The ito isn't leather as I first expected but is silk covered with a massive amount of black lacquer. Currently in the koshirae I have a full length wooden sunagi of the original Nihonto. Yours truly, David Stiles

I would agree I have used this website before it is very informative about Japanese Buddhism. I have used it to identify Buddhist designs and motifs in my tosogu. As well as identity details about some of my other Japanese art outside scope of this forum. To discuss the topic at hand I really like the second tsuba with the shi-shi and the peony. What school would it likely fall in to? I was thinking Nara but I could be wrong. As for the Soten tsuba (i.e. first tsuba) this school went into near mass production during the late Edo. The early tsuba of the Soten were masterpieces. Yours truly, David Stiles

I would agree with Martin on this it looks like a late Akasaka school piece to me dating from the late Edo period. How the sukashi is done is also very characteristic of Akasaka school all through the Edo period. Thanks for sharing and asking for an opinion. Here is a tsuba from my collection using the same motifs in a some what different style that likely dates to the same Late Edo time period as your tsuba. I would likely consider my tsuba belong to the Shoami school based mostly on how the bird motifs are arranged and the overall size and shape of the tsuba. Yours truly, David Stiles

Dear Carl, Here are some links about this topic already discussed on the forum: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8087 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7868 You need to be extra careful with your tsuba as there is many soft metal inlays on its surface. Good luck. Yours truly, David Stiles

Hi everyone. He is a koshirae for a katana I have taken photographs of today in my free time. This is my only complete koshirae in my tosogu collection. The tsuba is of the Tempo shcool and was discussed on this Tosogu forum here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7814&p=63580&hilit=Tempo#p63580. I would now like to discuss the fuchi-gashira set for the koshirae as well as the set of menuki. Here is what I already know. The fuchi-gashira set are made of iron with a dark patina. Contrasted with kin-zogan (gold inlays) applied in in a snowflake and vine designs intermixed with crosses. These designs appear on both sides of the kashira even though I only photographed one side. The menuki are of two shi-shi dogs made of what I think is copper. The ito and same of the tsuka have both been heavily covered with black lacquer which does a wonderful job of matched the black lacquer saya not photographed. I find this simplistic fuchi-gashira design very different then most fuchi-gashira made using soft metals or alloys such as copper or sakudo. Does anyone know of a specific school that would work in hard metal (iron) fuchi-gashira with kin-zogan inlays? Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my topic. Yours truly, David Stiles

Dear Steve, My Masafusa I purchased on eBay back in 2008 and is located on the WorthPoint website. From my examination and research I think it dates to the late Edo and was crafted by a artisan of the Shoami school. The size, workmanship, and design all point to Shoami. Which specific line I am not sure but a good educated guess is Aizu Shoami as they made many tsuba. Here is photos of both sides for your reference. Measurements of the tsuba is: height: 6.5cm, width: 6.0cm and 0.6cm thickness at mimi. Yours truly, David Stiles

Dear Steve, I think the tsuba looks fine for its age dating it to the late Edo Period. I have enjoyed other pieces by Masafusa of Bushu. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has some nice pieces by artist as well. I have a very different tsuba signed just Masfusa which I have attributed to the Shoami school and not the Bushu-Ito school as yours belongs. Just keep the tsuba as is and prevent any red rust from developing. Yours truly, David Stiles

I would recommended visiting Aoi-Art (http://www.aoi-art.com/) they are in Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo near the NBTHK museum. If you can make it to the museum Aoi-Art is just down the street. The first time I visit the museum I made it to Aoi-Art and they were able to direct me to the museum. I am sure there are many other places I haven't been able to visit. I also remember visiting two other shops in Kamakura and Kyoto. Enjoy your trip to Japan. Yours truly, David Stiles

Here is some scans of some Umetada Myoju tsuba(s) I have photographs of. The first tsuba is just signed Umetada. The next two are signed Umetada Myoju. I came across them in the Token Bijutsu issue number 634. There are many more tsuba in that issue I didn't scan. Some of the works are in kinko. I was under the incorrect idea that he only worked in iron. The ones I provided are in tetsu (i.e. iron). All of them I find masterpieces. I hope they are helpful to everyone's research on the topic. Enjoy. :D Yours truly, David Stiles (Soshin)

Here is another set of menuki made of shakudo of a similar motif that I own. They could be made by the same school. I think the design is about the story of the Soga Brothers Juro and Goro. The very famous story which takes place in Kamakura period Japan. It is about the brothers taking revenge for their father's Kawazu Sukeyasu death. One bushi in my menuki set looks like he is charing something that could possibly be a severed head. The story is the subject of many Kabuki, Nō dramas, and Ukiyoe during the late Edo period. I think this set of menuki dates from the same time period. Here is a Ukiyoe about the Soga Brothers by Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1865). I find the detail of the art in menuki amazing and wonderful. Yours truly, David Stiles (Soshin)

I would just like to say that after looking at more photos of the tsuba on the seiyudo.com website I find it wonderful and only a little outside my price range. Just kidding more like way outside of my price range... :lol: Thanks for sharing and the interesting discussion. Yours truly, David S. (Soshin)

I would venture to agree with Ford and others that the tsuba in question is a modern cast copy with a fake signature added later after the casting process. Overall the theme and design of the tsuba is nice and I would consider mounting it on a iai-to for Budo training. For what its worth this is just my unofficial opinion as a collector of tosogu. Yours truly, David S. (Soshin)

Hi Roy, I am not a expert but I am going to reply to your post. According to Kazutaro Torigoye's work Tsuba Geijutsu-ko Toshiharu lived during the Kambun era (1661-1672) of the early Edo period. Because Toshiharu is one of the four great masters of the Ko-Nara School it would be a wonderful find if the signature could be confirmed as true. Having such a famous signature does raise the possibility of a false signature on what is otherwise a wonderful work of art. In terms of the nature of the designs such as flowers and rabbits and the use of a kinko base with different soft metal overlays I would say that it is consistent with the Ko-Nara school. I will let more of the experienced collectors do a rigorous signature comparison of other signed Toshiharu works of art. Thanks for sharing. Yours truly, David S. (Soshin)

My estimation is Ko-Shoami likely Momoyama period or late Muromachi. The design, overall shape (maru-gata), and shape of seppa-dai and hitsu-ana remind me of Ko-Shoami. The brass inlay work on the sukashi would also be consistent with Ko-Shoami school. I would like to hear other collectors opinions that have more years of experience with this hobby. Posting measurements would also be helpful. Yours truly, David S. (Soshin)

Good question. Not sure if there is a way to tell. They do it all the time with the tang (jp. nakago) of swords. It would be nice if someone more experience would reply to this post with a answer. Yours truly, David S. (Soshin)

I would agree with Christian this tsuba at it's level of quality would warrant a professional touch to help restore it's condition. In my past posts I have discussed cleaning of iron tsuba but these tsuba(s) in question was not at the level of quality or importance as this tsuba appears to be. They also did have anything else wrong with them besides superficial rust on their surface. The problem with the shakudo plug in the kozuka hitsu-ana will require a professional touch and understanding to fix. Yours truly, David S. (Soshin)