Jesper

Hi Mattew, It´s too early to say anything if is it worth the expense of having it polished or having scratch marks removed by a professional. It depend on the quality of the blade, which is not possible to see at the moment. Have you tried the remove the copper collar (Habaki)? Sometimes, the polish is better under the Habaki since it shielded the blade from dirt and has not been subject to any so-called restoration attempts by steel-wool, etc. If it is stuck, you can try to GENTLY hit it with a piece of hardwood or bone (never metal!). Do not hurry, it may take some time to loosen it. It looks like a nice first buy which you can enjoy without doing any work on it. Just give the blade a very thin layer of oil. Regards Jesper

I can donate two good books, incl. shipping worldwide. I do not think we should stress this. Brian needs his well-earned holiday (he is doing a ton of work on this board already) and we can start the process in January if there are enough interested participants. It should be possible to arrange a small organization committee to manage the raffle. I´m in to help. Cheers, Jesper

My books arrived today! Well done, Jan :thumbsup: Jesper

I saw a copy at our local sword meeting in Stockholm a few weeks ago. Very nice book! WELL DONE Jan! :thumbsup: Anna and I expect you to sign our copies at the next meeting. Jesper

Hello Steve, Thank you very much, indeed. Jesper

Hi, I have problems identifying an old Japanese book showing different shapes of yari saya, standards, mon and other ornaments of identification. I think it may be a handbook/guide to identify daimyo processions travelling to and from Edo during the Edo period. I have seen similar identification handbooks for mon and personal seals (kao), but cannot identify this one. Dimensions are 16.3 x 7.0 cm and ca 1.1 cm thick. It is printed on very thin double folded paper. I would be grateful for assistance concerning the title, author, publisher, year of publication, edition, etc. Thank you in advance. Any input is much appreciated. Best regards, Jesper

No disagreement, Stephen. I was unclear in my post, sorry for that. Red rust is a bad, bad thing and should always be removed. Great that you help Marlon with the Nakago.

Hi Brando, Please be gentle with the ushiko and do not apply too much pressure on the blade when using it. Remember that everything you put on a blade will have a lager or smaller abrasive effect. It is always better to under clean than over clean. Any attemt to do anything more than applying ushiko may make the condition worse. Please not not use ushiko on the Nakago (tang). The rust/patina should be left alone. You can use a piece of bone or hardwood to gently remove some chunks of loose rust and give the Nakago a light coat of oil. The Nakago is an important, but often neclected part of the sword and may tell you a lot. You sword for example seems to have Takanoha (hawk-feather) filemarks, wich can be seen on swords from the Yamato province and related schools, according to Nakayama´s "The Connesseur,s Book of Japanese Swords". I cannot from the picture se how well they are executed. If a Nakago is very well executed it is a good chance that the blade is well made, too. I think we all can agree on that your sword most likely isn´t a national treasure. However, it is still a genuine sword and antique which deserves respect, and the blade seem to have some nice activities in it. Most collectors have started by buying swords in not perfect condition and then gone on to accuire better and better blades within their financial range. If you want to learn and educated yourself this forum is a fantastic resource to do so. But you also need to buy books to see good blades and learn at least the basic terminology used in the word of NihonTo. You also need to look at as many top-quality blades in good polish you can in museums, sword shows and in private collections. There are nowadays very good photoes in books and on the Internet, but the best is still to see and handle good blades yourself and have the details explained by a experienced collector. Best regards, Jesper

I missed that one! But I still have his email if someone is interested!

3 min., 50 seconds in the video there is an interview with a Swedish Koshirae artist living in Kumamoto on Kyushu in southern Japan. I have seen his work. It´s really good and I have his email if someone is interested. Best regards Jesper

The hamon looks like a rather coarse Sudare-ba (Bamboo screeen, resembling sweeping strokes of a broom). Sudare-ba was mostly made by the Mishima group, to which the Yoshimichi smiths belong. In that respect the hamon fit the mei. I have enclosed a snapshot.

Would love to have been there, but couldn´t make it I still remember the excellent 2012 meetings at the Royal Armouries. Jesper

Dear all, I would like your opinion on this Tanba no Kami Yoshimishi mei. It does not fit my references of the earlier generations of Yoshimichi smiths of either the Kyo or Osaka branch. The dot stroke in the Kami Kanji (by pointing in the six o´clock position) however indicate the Osaka branch. Could it be some of the later generations or a gimei?, which is quite common. Thanks in advance. Jesper

My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Dear all, Any help translating this Mei is much appriciated. The Nakago is very rusted. Kiku / Chika?.. something...? Thanks in advance. Jesper

Thank you very much, John and Thomas. Much appriciated. :beer: Jesper

I agree with you, Jean, but the use of Ishibashi in the mei may indicate another smith untill Ishido Suketoshi´s use of it in his signature is verified. It may even be an unrecorded Yari smith. Thank you. Jesper

Thank you Jean for you comment and suggesting Ishido Suketoshi. Are there any references to him using Ishibashi in his signature? Here are some photoes. It is a bit oversized OmiYari with 77 cm three-sided blade with 57.3 cm ubu Nakago. Masame hade on two sides and Itame on the third. Gentle Suguha based hamon. 2 Nakago-ana. Apologies for the bad photoes. Thanks for looking. Jesper

Hi all, I am looking for information on a Yari smith (I believe) who signed Ishibashi(?) Suketoshi from around late Koto to early Shinto period. I have a Yari by him, but cannot find him in my references. The Mei is valid, the Yari has Hozon cert. Any help is much appriciated! Thanks in advance. Jesper

Hi Paul, I would like a hard cover A4 or larger. Great project! Is there a website to register for it or is a NMB message sufficient? Jesper P.

Hi Ian, Nice! Now I know what to look for! Thank you for showing. Jesper

Hi, I have recently bought these two fuchi from an old collection. The workmanship is good with fine details on both. The motives and materials are quite similar and they may - or may not- be from a Daisho. They have the same size, 39 x 23 mm. They are both signed Nara Toshimitsu Saku (5th master of the Nara school, early 18th century). There are some differences between the signatures, for example the size, and I have not enough referenes on his Mei and how it changed over the years to jugde whether they both or one of them is Gimei. Any comments? They were accompanied with small notes in pencil in German stating they were made by Toshimitsu and other details. I have traced the text to come from Shinkichi Hara "Die Meister der Japanischen Schwertzieraten", 1931. There is another small note saying "329", "958" and "11/5 1911". I think they could be lot numbers and an auction date. Does anyone know of an auction with sword fittings in Germany or elsewhere on 11 May 1911? Thanks in advance. Jesper The pictures show one Fuchi on the left and the other on the right.

...I´m also here since 2006... We can be proud of what we have achieved so far. Thanks to all of you making this great forum work! :beer: :beer: Already looking forward to our 20th aniversary... Cheers Jesper P.

Thank you, Alex. Yes, I know the site. I am also suspecious concerning that kanji, and other details in the mei. I have compared the mei with the few Kunisuke oshigata I have in my library, but could not find a very close match. In general with signatures of high level smiths, it´s better to assume it´s gimei and try to prove its genuine instead of assuming its genuine and check if it´s a fake. Jesper

Hi, What do you think of this mei? Kawachi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke. The placement of strokes in the first kanji point at the first generation, not the 3 later. He was a top smith and there are many swords with false signature. I threat it as Gimei untill it is otherwise proven. Thanks in advance. Jesper P.