John C

Nah. Just a combination of poor old polish and carpet. The kissaki and what I believe to be ara-nie behind the spider rust. John C.

Two Geiger counters? Also, did any of the tsuba develop super powers? All kidding aside, could be from natural uranium found in many types of rocks and minerals, even those used to make tsuba. Or, the tsuba could have been exposed to high levels of radon gas for a period of time. John C.

Thank you, Thomas. Yes. I have it recorded as 16416 with copies of the stamps that were also in the Banzai newsletter. John C.

Resurrecting this necro-post as this is my first kai-gunto. Kanenami blade (water quenched, I think, due to the presence of ara-nie martensite), standard polished black lacquer wood saya, no chuso, gold washed fittings, and dark blue or black ito. The interesting thing about this one is that all of the pieces have matching numbers - just like it came from the factory, I imagine. No tassel, though. John C.

To my knowledge, this never happened with the Meiji 25. Instead, they added those features to the new Type 32 as a replacement. I have a snippet of an article that describes the release button still being at the top of the backstrap as late as serial number "16xxx." John C.

Quite the scam. They purchase your book from the distributor (for which you get your measly royalty), send it to a book binder (rare biblio, in this case), then mark up the snot out of it. The silver lining? They at least market the heck out of it: "This title holds the distinction of being a Bestseller, highly praised by readers across the GLOBE. We are thrilled to present this literary gem exclusively to our elite readers, meticulously encased in our one-of-a-kind Premium Leather Binding." John C.

Thank you, Hamish. Actually, I think it may be some type of lacquer or poly. It doesn't come off with isopropyl alcohol so bone tools are next. John C.

Marcin: I was focusing on the distinct chisel marks and the very sharp points on the strokes. More likely a chisel made these marks. John C.

Marcin: If you are asking if the mei was made with a rotary machine (e.g., Dremel), no it was chiseled. But for 12 grand it should be inlaid with 18k gold, studded with diamonds, and hand delivered on a silk pillow. John C.

Thank you, Florian and Jean for the explanation. Much appreciated. John C.

Jeff: Here is a link to a good article on nie and nioi with examples: https://www.mandarinmansion.com/glossary/nie John C.

Kanehide admitted that this was one of his foci after learning the Tosa-Ryu sword making technique. John C.

Maybe it's kismet. Just today I had a sword go missing - sort of. Got a delivery notice from USPS that the sword was delivered to the porch. Nope wasn't there. I immediately got on the phone to the post office for my area and had them track it. Postman probably wasn't more than a block away. Within 5 minutes he shows up with the sword. "Sorry. I was thinking it was the other street." Moral of the story is taking the quickest action possible got the 1,000 dollar sword back. And while it's not always possible to be that quick, constant tracking and plenty of phone calls can in some cases yield results. John C.

Thank you, Tobias. I appreciate you all taking the time to look at it. John C.

John: I'm curious how this notion came about. Not doubting it, as many of these small knives were probably made by blacksmiths rather than swordsmiths, however it must also be true that many swordsmtiths made kogatana and signed them. The Kanehide below is just one example. Examples from other smiths can surely be found in books etc. John C.

Dispalys are very nice, Piers. But I really love the setting. The building is gorgeous and sets the mood. John C.

Thanks, Mauro. Being new to the world of tsuba and having read the various posts and kantei points about forging layers, I figured it was a failrly important point. And compared to the photos on some of the posts, I could not see anything like that on this tsuba. So I wasn't sure if the lack of visible layers was big deal or not. John C.

Gerry: Just my two cents, however I agree with the comments about becoming a nuisance to them. Most of my career was spent arresting, interviewing, and prosecuting dishonest employees. And in my experience, assuming it was indeed stolen, if enough pressure is applied, the sword may just "show up" at some point because the crime becomes too risky. If it is just lost, the added pressure will prompt action because ultimately these folks don't want to lose their jobs. So keep up the phone calls, emails, and bugging them up the chain of command. John C.

Hello: I've been researching this akasaka tsuba, reading the multitude of posts. It seems to check all of the kantei boxes with one exception - layers. Shape of seppa-dai is good, thickness is good (if later), subject matter is good (Musahino), kogai ana is smaller than kozuka ana, carvings show kittate, etc. I don't, however, see any distinct layers. But it doesn't show signs of being cast either. Does an akasaka tsuba necessarily have to show fold layers? Is this an absolute kantei point? Thickness at seppa-dai 5.5mm; 4mm at the mimi I believe puts it later. Thank you for taking a look, John C.

What do you guys think this is? Just scratches or something else? John C.

I think John is correct. It's just a number 8. That said, if one were superstitious and could pick a number to stamp into their sword, then why not pick the number 8. But that's probably all there is to it. John C.

Kenny: My guess would be the last one - Masanaga. John C.

My stepdad used to do that when attaching the ends of his fishing pole together. John C.

Thanks. Guess I'll leave it for now and just lightly oil the small areas of rust. John C.