John C

This is probably a dumb question, however..... if a Japanese netsuke craftsman were to move to China, or even a Chinese craftsman trained in Japan, and set up shop and still make beautiful pieces, how would these coming out of China be looked upon by the collecting community? I'm just thinking about quality vs country of origin. John C.

Jon: Just for information sake, if you do decide to spend the money to have it polished, the togishi can also straighten the blade. But I wouldn't try to polish it or straighten it yourself. They use a special jig and know just how much pressure to apply so they don't break it. John C.

Here's a teaser. I wanted to mimic the "feeling" of the design without copying it. The corner braces in their raw form. I will patinate them black to match the old iron. The flowers were stamped in with one of my leather leaf tools (the wife's idea. She thought they looked plain otherwise). John C.

Curious. Looks like it started life as a pendant then the plug piece was soldered on recently. Wonder what it's supposed to plug into. John C.

Thomas: I think the bottom character in the second pic is the word attack. But not sure how it is combined with the others. John C.

Probably status more than rank. In other words, the owner requested one be made like that at a jingasa shop (yes, it's a real thing). The very plain ones were often loaned out by the daimyo for use by the lower ranked soldiers. To me, they look like artistic renditions of dragons (note the feet and two eyes) with the inclusion of the flaming pearl as part of the head and mane (I assume dragons have manes. It's been awhile since I've seen a real one). John C.

Nice sword, Steve. If you decide to sell, I would leave the seppa in place to avoid unnecessary rattling during shipping. Just disclose the use of newly made leather seppa in the auction description. John C.

The short answer is yes. All traditionally made Japanese swords without fatal flaws have value. And remember that creating a false signature was quite common. If one could find an unsigned, though nicely made, sword, adding a signature of a known smith could raise its value. I would take Jean's advice (advise in UK) and take it to a local sword club for an assessment, particularly in terms of fatal flaws. It still could be a nicely made, old sword. But maybe not made by Inoue. John C.

I believe the rifle is also Japanese; a type 99 Arisaka from WW2. John C.

Dean: You might know this already, however the rank can usually be determined by the underside color of the jingasa. Generally, black for low rank, red for middle rank, and gold for upper rank. The gold patches on the red color probably means someone of middle to high rank. John C.

Marcus: It appears the design is a hanaire (small wall vase) filled with aoi plant (or could be hollyhock). John C.

Gregory: Looks like it's dated 1679, which is in the right time frame, however the kikumon looks very rough. Compare yours with the example from the document provided by Uwe and the one pictured below. John C.

Getting there. I'm about a week or two from finishing a suzuribako tansu. Started with just the door with all the ornate metal work, locking mechanism, hinges, etc. Long process due to making all of the supporting hardware from scratch (sheet copper), unfortunately without a full workshop, and trying to mimic the grain and color of the wood. I'll post pics when finished. John C.

Stephen: As Jean noted, the use of "lacquer" is quite common. I put lacquer in quotes because it is not lacquer in the modern sense. It is urushi, which is a hardened sap from the sumac tree rather than a product of the lac beetle. Under the right conditions, it dries to a hard plastic-like consistency, which is quite robust. Helmets and armor were coated with it for strength. As to the color, traditionally it came in red, black, and brown so these are the most commonly seen. Now, it comes in a variety of colors. John C.

Don't worry too much about that. The tapered end of a bamboo chopstick works well. John C.