Dereks

As always, you only see what you want to see. The dealer clearly explained how star patterns are depicted on tsuba, and he does not agree that your shippo patterns are actually star constellations. And let me remind you that Japanese dealers are dealers, not researchers. Most simply don’t care enough to investigate these theories. You started this discussion by stating, “These tsuba are not Shippo patterns, but are star maps.” So there’s no point arguing with you, because nothing anyone says will change your mind. You don’t seem to respect other people’s opinions when they differ from your own. Maybe you should write another book on the subject and try to sell it on Amazon. To me, you’re simply a negative attention seeker who enjoys provoking arguments and keeping threads going for pages and pages. Even if we brought an 18th-century Japanese tsubashi into the discussion, you’d still argue with him. That’s not a Zen beginner’s mind. It’s closer to the Dunning–Kruger effect. Your posts shouldn’t be taken seriously. I don’t think anyone should even bother replying to them— just a waste of time. I won’t be replying to your response, so don’t bother.

Can you share a picture of the whole blade? Just curious

Excellent!

Very pretty indeed!

That hada looks beautiful!

Excellent, Okan! Thank you for sharing. Please check your message box 🤭

I haven’t studied tea ceremony myself, but I’ve attended 6–7 sessions during my visits to Japan. That’s what this piece brought to mind.

Thanks for sharing these, Okan. Like you said, all three give me a different feeling. The Umetada especially reminds me of my tea ceremony experience—calm and elegant. It’s the kind of piece I’d enjoy holding in my hands after a long day, just to slow down and clear my head.

Please don’t get me wrong — your koshirae is still very nice and would be a welcome addition to my collection. My comments were purely educational. I’m not a seasoned or wealthy collector, but you can take my words as someone who spends entire days studying top-grade pieces in books and museums.

Sun-nobi tanto or wakizashi — back in the day, the distinction wasn’t always that important. And yes, if a merchant was wealthy enough, they could carry or own one depending on the period.

I’m also still learning and studying a lot of koshirae, especially through museum collections like The Met. The last time I saw something I would truly call “stunning” on this forum was this one: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/53904-something-unique/ That piece also has excellent samegawa on top of very high-quality fittings. @HokkeI actually like this set too—I think it’s quite charming, and it probably has an interesting story behind it. Maybe it belonged to a fish merchant or an island samurai. My point was simply that it isn’t a “top quality” item in terms of workmanship as he might think it is. Thanks

Hello Marcus, It honestly read a bit like an auction description — well written, so credit where it’s due. That said, I would consider this a decent koshirae rather than a “stunning” one. To my eye it’s mid-level work at best. The nanako, in particular, isn’t especially strong. Describing it as housing a spectacular quality blade feels a bit overstated. Just my two cents..

You sure have an impressive collection, Okan. Are those menuki gold?

Yes, my point was simply that if someone is lucky enough to acquire a piece like this for under USD 150, then investing another USD 400–500 in proper repairs and papers makes good sense. If I had spent USD 10,000 on it, I’d probably be sleeping with it under my pillow.

Dear Dan, When these rare Yagyu tsuba are valued at USD 5,000–10,000 (and often more) in today’s market, spending USD 400–500 on repairs and having it papered seems like a very reasonable investment, don’t you think? You’ll also enjoy it far more with a proper patina.