John C

Conway: Was there anything above the first character? I've seen that kanji paired with field rank. John C.

Just picked this up. A 1934 paper weight commemorating the birthday of Crown Prince Akihito. John C.

Thanks again, Steve. Found a few online now that I know what I'm looking for. John C.

Thanks, Steve. Do you know if it started life that way or has it been altered? The location of the ring makes sense as a way to pick it up. John C.

Agreed. The holes look hand cut through the decoration so probably not original (although I cannot find another example of this particular medallion to compare). And the loop is in a weird spot for a pendant or keychain so I think the most likely usage would be as a NLO. Overall size is 63mm X 71mm. John C.

Thank you very much, Piers-san and Kaito-san. This gives me some great info to research. John C.

Thank you, Piers. Here is the back side showing a loop that would have allowed it to be used as a NLO. John C.

John: In general, the Edo period was relatively peaceful. Samurai were still working for daimyo, however as peace keepers, police (see info on sodegarami), firemen, guards, etc. Swords became less for battle and more for status, tradition, and peace keeping. This means hamon became more flamboyant and kashirae became a form of an expression of wealth and status. In short, a sword (assuming katana here) from that time period would have been carried by samurai, though would not have likely seen any battle. John C.

Hello: I can read May 30-31, 1934. But the only thing that comes up on that date is a day of mourning for Admiral Togo Heihachiro. Not sure that's what it is. Could this have been for Crown Prince Akihito's Birthday???? Looks like a medallion that someone turned into a tsuba-like netsuke-like-object. Thank you for taking a look. I appreciate your help. John C.

No specific example. The hole in the middle reminds me of some netsuke attachments. In addition, the whole form reminds me of a type of concho we use in leather working. John C.

Roland: The small knife is a kozuka (short knife handle). The blade by itself is a kogatana (small knife). Both appear to be signed and decent quality. Not sure in this case, however many of these have the potential to be worth more than the sword so treat it kindly as well. These small knives are sometimes made by known swordsmiths and many are made by lesser smiths who put an "homage" signature on them. Overall, a very nice piece of history. John C.

Brings back memories - all of my grand-uncles were boilermakers. Endless stories...most of which are R rated. John C.

Did some additional research. Looks as if mine is a copy. Note the cartouche is different on the real example (square) and the chevron stroke on the top is separate rather than solid. I wouldn't say fake since the potter didn't try to replicate his mark exactly. Still looks nice, though and I didn't pay much for it. John C.

That certainly looks like it, Piers. Thank you. I searched through several sites listing Japanese ceramics and procelain, however with thousands of individual marks, it was a needle in a haystack. Just for interest, here is a pic of the suiteki. A persimmon or peach, I assume. John C.

It appears to have had a leather loop at one time. An old netsuke perhaps? John C.

Could it be an attempt at the one on the bottom right labeled Jizo? John C.

Many of the factory workers were high school girls. In fact, they would have lessons (and a teacher) at the factory for a limited amount of instruction or would work in the factory after school. The balloon bombs sent over the Jet Stream to Canada and the US were all sewn by high school girls as well. John C.

Hello all: Has anyone come across this mark before on ceramics? Thank you, John C.

Steve: I think what Chris may be seeing is that the seppa might be out of order. Note in the pic below that the larger ones are closer to the tsuba. John C.

232 is back up for sale...again. No reserve so not sure what's going on with this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/236695575484? 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.