Tcat

I concur that there are likely to have been unorthodox targets cut with this sword. Don’t ask me why I might know this Jeff, regarding tsuka - no they do not crack up and fall to pieces after a few cutting sessions. They can take a surprising amount of abuse and come out relatively unscathed. The blade typically breaks/bends before a healthy tsuka gives up. The caveat here is healthy, and fitted correctly for the nakago. Since the scratches run through the rust on the edge of the blade, they must have occurred after the rust accumulated. This leads me to believe that the scratches are later than WWII.

Hi All, No offense at all taken regarding disagreements. After about 5 years of consistent use, with a tameshigiri session every month or so, cutting 20-30 mats each time, with say roughly 4-5 cuts per mat, let's say for argument's sake roughly 5,500 cuts or so, my sword looks very much like this, albeit with the scratches more concentrated in the monouchi area. Yes Jeff, tip cuts are a thing and are practiced specifically in certain styles and by certain practitioners. 'Notice how the scratches stop right at the shinogi — someone did this by hand with a goal in mind.' Tameshigiri scratches do this also though. The pressure from the force/action of cutting is all focused onto both sides of the ji through the path of the cut, hence why the scratches are most prevelent there. The shinogi ji barely touches the target in the cut, because by the time it gets there, ji has forced all the material away from the blade...also worth noting is that the shinogi ji is burnished so is much harder to scratch deeply than the ji, hence the shinogi ji typically does not get as many scratches from tameshigiri. In this case, there doesnt need to be any sandpaper involved - used tatami has in it ingrained many many little sharp bits of dust, dirt and SAND from peoples feet and daily use as a floor mat. This grit of all sorts stays inside the makiwara and scratches blades when they cut it. The scratches are identical. Just my casual opinion looking at the blade, as a tameshigiri practitioner. I have no hesitation to say thats what caused it, but there certainly could have been some non-standard targets used.

Hi, from my experience these look exactly like the results of tameshigiri, specifically cutting tatami. A single cut usually only leaves a few minor scratches, so unless the targets were particularly sandy I would guess this sword has seen a few cutting sessions.

Offered for sale are a pair of Edo era menuki made from high quality shakudo in the form of Shishi, sized for tanto or wakizashi. The level of the carving is quite exceptional and difficult to capture with a camera phone. No signature. Sale includes custom carved kiri wood box with cushion. US $400 +shipping. 5% of the sale will be donated to NMB.

A fantasy realized! Absolutely amazing work.

Go on then…my much-loved tsuba - I think it one was originally something else entirely, with the tiniest bit of gold zogan from its former life still visible. I believe the fukurin, shakudo inserts (‘plugs’ as we referred to them on another thread) and kogai-ana are later modifications. A tsuba made out of another tsuba.

I have one with a triple stack also, I always tell myself it means its been much loved by previous owners.

Great cover art.

I first was thinking the bling was hurting your eyes, as it does many...but still I enjoy Inside is a very sturdy nambokucho blade with a length just a hair short of katana. The nakago is a keisho style o-suriage.

Kirimon iron sukashi decorated with kin zogan. Amazingly it fits like a glove on a sword I have.

Agree with Rivkin, or papers might say Nambokucho Mino den.

No. Atobori was a historically common and context-dependent practice from the Edo period onward. To recap.. Atobori (後彫り) refers to carving in a blade separate from the original design for the blade at its time of manufacture. That is to say after the sword was originally forged and finished, rather than as part of the smith’s initial “conception”. While often viewed critically by modern collectors, atobori was quite common practice from the Edo period onward. The prolonged absence of large-scale warfare in the Edo period reduced the practical emphasis on armor-piercing and battlefield durability, while factors such as balance, handling, and visual refinement gained relative importance. Within this context, atobori bo-hi were sometimes added to existing blades to alter weight distribution, improve handling characteristics, or adapt older swords to contemporary preferences. Atobori was also influenced by aesthetic fashion. Certain periods favored the presence of hi as a visual element, particularly on otherwise plain blades. Adding a groove could visually sharpen the sugata, emphasize curvature, or lend an older sword a more “classical” appearance in keeping with prevailing taste. When carried out by skilled hands, such work could be executed in orthodox styles, including nagashi terminations, making the best atobori difficult to distinguish from original carving. In the Meiji period, motivations shifted further. The abolition of sword-wearing and the collapse of the traditional samurai market led to the modification of many older blades to enhance their visual appeal to collectors, tourists, or foreign buyers. Atobori bo-hi from this period were often added to make a blade appear more dynamic or refined, sometimes with little regard for historical coherence, though the quality of execution varied widely. In the early 20th century, atobori continued for mixed reasons. Some blades were modified for martial arts use, where balance and handling were prioritized, while others were altered during remounting or refurbishment. As before, the workmanship ranged from careful and traditional to purely cosmetic. Importantly, atobori does not automatically imply deception / fake / gimei or poor quality. Many atobori hi were executed competently and reflect legitimate historical practices. However, because the carving was not part of the blade’s original forging concept, any but the best often reveal subtle inconsistencies in proportion, termination logic, or stylistic harmony when compared to original work. For this reason, experienced observers tend to assess atobori not by a single technical fault, but by the cumulative weight of visual, stylistic, and historical considerations.

I know that this may not seem like a satisfactory response… but they just look “wrong” for that sword in a couple of ways. Firstly the bohi terminates midblade before the monouchi with a nagashi (tapering away) style. Unusual, and often an indication of atobori in and of itself. What does not indicate atobori is the nagashi style termination at the machi, this is / would be normal. However, on the ura side I find my eye to be anxiously checking alignment of the carving of the futatsuji-hi, which appears ever so slightly misaligned. With strong futasuji-hi, the eye will relax and everything will feel right to the trained observer. The spacing here however feels functionally parallel but aesthetically unresolved (seems to be some slight divergence). Meanwhile, a sword of this style is seldom seen with this kind of carving, that is to say, a utilitarian sword from the muromachi period, which this seems to be, basically does not originally have soe-hi. I don’t want to come across as elitist but the “eye training” one gets from looking at hundreds / thousands of “correct examples” over decades solidifies an aesthetic expectation which is very difficult to describe but this sword falls short of. Call it a gut feeling if you will, but I’m far from an expert.

The hi appear to me to be atobori / ato-bi.

Made in a studio in south China. I’m in touch with the artist(s) if you’re interested in acquiring one.

For real? Who are you and what have you done with reinhard....? It's contemporary mass-produced Chinese junk. Ebay used to be absolutely stuffed with them. Meanwhile... 'way too good to be Chinese' indicates you're not up to speed with what can come out of China -

The 'fish style' writing of 兼 - kane....

Cost and time are both a factor of the level of complexity of the work comissioned and the grade or level of demand the artist/workshop has. For example, I was recently quoted for a high quality saya in various configurations - with kozuka and kogai pockets integrated the price was close to double that of one with none. 4,750 US or thereabouts. I imagine additional carving such as ribbing, fluting or application of other materials samegawa, crushed abalone etc sky is the limit.

Thanks - there are a couple of tsuba posted here on the board, but I think the school only really lasted two generations as far as sword fittings go. After the sword ban the shop converted to other decorative damascene work - cigatette cases, bonbonnières etc. There's an article about the history of the shop up on the smoking samurai website under S. Komai.

This late Edo period Kyoto koshirae comprises a coherent suite of Komai-school gold hon-zōgan fittings executed in the classic Unryū cloud-dragon motif. During the late Edo and Meiji periods the Komai school developed the highly refined iron-ground gold inlay technique that would later become internationally recognized in their production of inlaid boxes, cigarette cases, and decorative objects. The fuchi is signed Yoshitaka saku, identifying the maker as Komai Yoshitaka. The accompanying tsuba bears a kinzōgan signature Tadanobu saku, and employs a closely aligned decorative style and gold coloration, suggesting manufacture potentially within the Komai milieu or by an affiliated craftsman. Gold menuki depicting two pairs of mandarin ducks are mounted on the tsuka under black silk ito. The saya is finished in bengara-nuri (iron-oxide red lacquer) applied over a tōmaki rattan spiral wrap. This results in the characteristic helical relief beneath a high-gloss finish associated with Kyoto workmanship of the late Edo–Bakumatsu period. Playing with the phone camera and sharing these attractive mounts just for fun. I have seen a sister Fuchi/Kashira set mounted on a well-known Kiyomaro sword, so take them to be high class examples of the style. Questions / comments welcome.

Hi Michael, Your sword is signed 平安城藤原國次 - Heianjo Fujiwara Kunitsugu. He was a smith who worked in Echizen province during the 1600s Shinto era of swordmaking, and there were several generations of the smith. There is some repairable damage to the blade and fittings. The fittings are corroding and the metalwork of the fuchi, kashira, tsuba and seppa require stablization and repatination. The scabbard seems to be lacking some of its hardware and the lacquerwork is damaged, these would need to be repaired in order to preserve the condition of the blade and prevent further deterioration. It can be difficult to give a definitive valuation when work needs doing. Realistically, your best bet is to look at action results, such as ebay, and compare the hammer price for blades of a similar type, age and condition. Alternatively, ask yourself what it would cost to replace according to what you see offered on the market. Replacement value and sale value are often not the same thing in the world of art and collecting.

Makes one wonder just how much editing goes into dealer / auction / online catalogue photos. Sometimes I feel that a simple phone camera with unedited photos is more honest.

My guess is Shinto, Mino.

Not koto.

That is false. While Inazō Nitobe’s Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1899) popularized the term in the West and reframed it as a moral philosophy, the word bushidō itself long predates him. It appears, for instance, in the Kōyō Gunkan (c. 1616) and in writings by Yamaga Sokō and Daidōji Yūzan, where it already referred to the “proper way or path of the warrior”. So, it can be said that Edo-period samurai were familiar with both the term and the ethical ideals it denoted…though I can concede that its meaning evolved over time. However, Nitobe certainly did not invent the concept bushidō; he reinterpreted an existing Japanese concept for a Western audience within a Meiji-era, Christian-humanist framework. Meanwhile, the groundwork for the formation of the concept of bushidō was done in Kamakura and Muromachi periods, its ethical substance was codified under terms like kyūba no michi and shidō, and is well-attested to in period texts and chronicles eg. Heike Monogatari (平家物語, early 13th c.), Taiheiki (太平記, 14th c.), Chikubashō (竹馬抄, 1383) etc.