The Blacksmith

The small stamp looks to be Na, which IIRC. which I read somewhere was thought to be a Nagoya stamp?

@PNSSHOGUN Thank you for that John. That is very helpful. I had wondered since the Plimpton book is so much bigger.

I think I have to go with Kikuhide too. The first inscription, the date, of course reads. Showa Ju hachi nen ju ichi gatsu. Back when I was collecting Japanese swords, unfortunately, too many years back now, I was given the same advice by two authorities, that reading Japanese names etc. was not as difficult as one might at first think, you simply have to want to do it! So I spent hundreds of hours reading and copying the kanji from Alfred Dobrée's book, Japanese Sword Blades. It was time very well spent, and was immensely rewarding.

I for one certainly need to read more. I have a several hundred books on arms and armour, but unfortunately, my Japanese library following a fire , is woefully scant now. On one forum I am a member of, one of the members has a terrific signature: 'Before you start collecting, spend your first $1000 on books.' How true that is! I wish more would be collectors heeded that sound advice. By the way, I am not talking about this post either, there are lots of sword and bayonet collectors who would benefit from having, and reading, a good selection of books! On the subject of Japanese sword books, I have a copy of Dawson that I am thinking of buying, but I also wondered about Plimpton's Swords of the Emperor. Which of these two tomes is really the better in members opinions please? Knowing me, as a book collector anyway, I will probably eventually end up with both at some point, but where to start? Thank you in advance.

Regarding papers, as has been said, they are not always what they seem............... Back in 1982, I bought an absolutely stunning wakizashi blade at the Bowden sale at Christies, London. I bought it because I liked it, it was absolutely massive with O kissaki, which I love, and it was in perfect condition in shirasaya. Perfect! The mei was Tsuta Echizen no Kami Sukehiro, and the date was Enpo gonen. Even to my uneducated eye it didn't look like SukeHiro's work. But I was spellbound by the beautiful blade, so no problem anyway. The blade did come with an orikami by Hakusui Inami, stating that it was by SukeHiro with its supposed value etc.. Inami evidently signed a whole batch of papers for Sir Frank Bowden, including in the same sale a supposed MasaMune! However, on the orikami, he cleverly didnt affix his seal, effectively meaning that they were not signed, and therefore invalid. All the above didn't matter to me as I fell in love with the blade itself, not the supposed smith. The papers were dated 1968 IIRC.

This was a very simple sword to repair and re wire, a Danish NCO's 1910 pattern. The wires look as though they are loose and uneven, but this is an optical illusion, they are tight and straight. Really difficult grips are rapier and small sword grips with multiple wires, possibly of different metals, and with wire 'turks head' knots on the end, and these can take days to wire! And after... The biggest problem is keeping the tension even and tight. This is easiest done in a lathe (Not swirched on!!!!). Medieval swords can also be a pain, as some of these grips can be eight or ten inches long!

Spot on I think Mark!

Well as a professional metal worker, I do have access to all sorts of materials, or know where I can usually source them, so I guess I am lucky in that respect. In this particular case, it looks as though the wire is simply loose and not broken, so personally, I would try and re wire it using the original wire, which is certainly not as easy as using new wire, but can with care, often be done. It is interesting to hear different people's thoughts on this subject. Restoration vs conservation is a bit of an emotive subject. Personally, I am firmly in the 'we are only temporary custodians' camp, and thus we have a duty to look after these items and then pass them on in the same, or better, condition than we received them.

Nice An interesting conundrum here, and one that I'd certainly be interested to hear members thoughts on please...... If, all the wire is present, would you re wrap it, or, if all the wire is not present, would collectors here replace it, or simply leave the sword as it is? Every collector has their own ideas as to what is acceptable, or desirable, so I'd be interested to find other collectors views please. Apologies to @montrealfan1986 for asking this here, but think it would be interesting to know. By the way, have you acquired this sword?

@montrealfan1986 Congratulations! Well done. That should round off Christmas nicely I hope.

I see that the sword on ebay has now been sold. So hopefully, you have acquired it @montrealfan1986 ?

And the one nearest the mune machi at least, seems relatively recent.

Tragic that we cannot always trust the postal service these days. Fortunately, even though the items that I buy are cheaper items, I have never had a parcel go missing. Though a bayonet once took over six weeks to come from Ireland. I have had items sent to the wrong country (That was New Yorks postal service, both times !), but everything has eventually turned up, if at times a bit late. I cannot imagine the pain of a prized katana or tachi going missing!

Thank you Bruce. I will try and find a pictuer of this sword. Hopefully , I can post it.

Some years back, I had a katana with the bamboo style fittings that Bruce posted earlier, a matching set, tsuba, fuchi, kashira, with black tsuka ito. IIRC. it had the standard military menuki though. The blade was signed Ido Hiro Mitsu Saku. It did have a leather combat cover on the wooden saya, so I presume it wasnt a civilian katana. Ron Gregory also shows a set of these fittings in Military Swords of Japan, p.47, pl.63. presumably these were an optional extra perhaps.

I bought a bayonet in the summer, the bayonet was thankfully cheap, then add 50% for commission and tax etc. Ok, so it was still cheap................. Then came the problem of getting it sent here......... The auction house, in the Uk, couldn't, or wouldn't send weapons, even small bayonets. So, a packer had to be sought and I had about five quotes from firms recommended by the auction house. It eventually cost me £92 to get it collected, packed and sent to me, plus another £25 in customs, which was all told some £40 more than the bayonet and additional charges had originally cost me. But one of the packing agents wanted £294 to send the bayonet! In future I think I will definitely give auctions a miss, it isn't worth the hassle. I'd rather buy from dealers or other collectors. I do buy occassionally off Ebay, but no more auctions for me.

There is another 'genuine, authentic', Masamune on ebay at the moment, for only $6500, which comes complete with a certificate! Wow, I wonder what the certificate means? Perhaps, that the seller likes fish on Fridays, or is tea total........? The blade is in good condition, other than the fact that it appears that someone has taken an angle grinder to it, oh, and the certificate was taken from a book! Yours for only $6500! The blade in the original post is rather pretty though!

It looks raised to me, though perhaps not quite as proud as many. As John has said, perhaps the dies were a bit worn by this point.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of it, but many years back I had a nice type 98 Shin-Gunto, made by Asano Kanezane, with the silver mon of the Sakai family on the kabuto gane. The sword also had its leather combat cover on the saya, and this had the Sakai mon neatly tooled into the leather between the ashi and the koiguchi,and coloured red. I had a couple of swords by Kanezane, and this one I think was not actually by him, but made by a member of his workshop and bore his name. I believe that was not unusual with kanezane's workshop. Great thread, and thank you for all who have contributed. It has been a fascinating read!

According to the Sotheby's auction catalogue of April 10th 1997, Professor Freeman named this nagamaki naoshi tachi, ishigiri (stone cutting ) tachi, after it supposedly fell edge downwards onto a block of petrified wood, and it seemed that two inches of the ha had chipped out. I can only imagine his feelings at this. However, upon examination, the blade was quite undamaged, but not so the petrified wood evidently! I just love swords with o kissaki!

I had a Shin-Gunto katana with an old tachi blade, probably Nanbokucho period, that was o-suriage, and made into a katana, and later still into a Shin-Gunto katana. I showed it to Vic Harris at the British Museum, and he agreed on the age of the blade and thought that the blade had perhaps been some 9" (22cm) longer originally. In the mune were two sword cuts, which he also thought were probably put there when it was still a tachi. He was also of the opinion that the blade was probably made in Higo. This was the only sword that I have ever owned that had definite proof of use, and was one of the three swords that I wish I had kept! Russ

A favourite of mine was a piece of old carpet, twirl the tsuba round and round, and then wax afterwards.

Sorry about this, but I simply couldn't resist it.................... "You wait out here Tonto," says the Lone Ranger. "I need to see a man in the saloon. They won't let you in, and anyway it's illegal to serve firewater to your people." "But it's freezing," complains Tonto as he hitches the horses to the rail. "What am I supposed to do?" "Run up and down to keep warm," the Lone Ranger suggests, and with a grunt of ill satisfaction Tonto begins to run up and down and round and round, occasionally giving a muted war cry as he does so............. Meanwhile, inside the saloon, the Lone Ranger finds the man he needs to talk to, and they're deep in conversation when the sheriff comes in and spots the stranger. "Hey there mister", he says to the masked man, "is that your horse outside the saloon?" "Sure is," says the Lone Ranger. "It's hitched up all right though isn't it. Do ya want me to move it?" "No", says the sheriff, "...but you've left your injun running." Apologies for that............

I did see an aluminium hilted type 95 a while back that had the screw at the mekugi point replaced with a rivet. said to be working life repair. Maybe?

So far as I know, and maybe I am wrong here, but the copper handled katana were held only by the screw holding the sarute. They didn't, I believe, have a screw where the mekugi would normally have been, this came later with the aluminium handled katana. (?) Also the kojiri on the copper handled swords was a simple rounded type, the later western style chape was introduced with the aluminium tsuka. I hope that I am correct here?