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Hello Mareo: The starting point for any tsuba said to be intended as functional is the seppa-dai. If that part is not able to interface with seppa, flat to flat on both sides, it should not even carry the name "tsuba". Arnold F.

Hello" As a general and highly respected survey you could not do better than Kokan Nagayama. The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords (Kodqansha International, 1997). It was translated by Mishina Kenji, one of the students of Nagayama sensei, recently deceased, and who was a designated Living National Treasure as a sword polisher. Arnold F.

Hello Tom: For a general survey you cannot do better than Kazutaro Torigoye and Robert E. Haynes. Tsuba: An Aesthetic Study. The most recent version I know of "Edited and Published by Alan L. Harvie for the Northern California Japanese Sword Club, 1994-1997". If you search around you can surely find a copy and it won't be wildly expensive. It is about 275 pp. Arnold F.

Hello: So much skill and quality from blade to koshirae! If in fact it is by Sadakazu, what is the point? - his name alone, as one of the two pre-war Teishitsu Gigei-in, was and is highly esteemed. It does not masquerade as an old koto, so why would it be unsigned? I don't recall of another example like this. Any ideas? Arnold F.

Hello: I still hope that a native writer of kanji will chime in on this discussion as interesting as it is. It still looks to me like a cramped mei and from that flows complications for the writer in the execution of the kanji at hand. Note for example the right hand member of "Suke" and how the cramping widens the spacing and shortens the associated strokes. That stands in contrast to other examples and is probably not normal variation. Arnold F.

Hello: Thanks for the very interesting post. Arnold F.

Hello: Thanks for the update Bob and you are so fortunate to combine Mishina, Hon'ami and a publication. I agree with Curran that the group is worthy, perhaps not so often seen, but with a very long and continuous tradition. Arnold F.

Hello: A dangerous quagmire to step into, but to me the yasurime in comparison with yours does look slightly off, but too far off I don't know. In general the angle comparison is supposed to be important . Moreover the entire mei looks crowded vertically in terms of kanji nearness. I am sure some watchers here who can actually write kanji with native skill will have a better idea. Arnold F.

Hello: I was not aware of Guido's essay prior to this first reading, and it was well worth the read through. It is always interesting to see a writer's way of moving to a rationale for collection, the needed background information, the importance of some focus, self discipline and goal attainment. There is lots there for all collectors. Thank you Guido. Arnold F.

Hello All: This has been a very interesting thread indeed, branching and swirling as it has, however the underlying rationale for it was the issue of the robustness of midare hamon. On July 24 above I suggested that useful inference might be drawn on the vulnerability of midare hamon from the decline in the Ichimonji group after the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281. More recently Darcy, whose contributions are always interesting, informative and often innovating wrote: "The Ichimonji smiths did not fall because of the Mongol invasions." My suggestion had been that the issue has been addressed in an interesting way by Saulius V. Ploplys, in the Mar. - April, 2017 issue of the Newsletter of the JSS/US, pp.6-22. The data presented is longitudinal data, not experimental data, related to smith numbers present in certain schools both before and after the invasions. The decline of the Ichimonji was not dramatic, it was not by edict, it was, according to Ploplys, the usual story of product change as we have know it through history, namely the maladaptation of one product in the face of a superior product for the use at hand. Needless to say the process, or at least partial substitution, took decades, and of course midare hamon have always been with us. It is an interesting aside to note that the strongest resurgence of midare hamon occurred during late Early Edo years through the Shinto era when the likelihood of actual sword use in practice was at an historical low. The less wide and less varied hamon patterns of the Osafune and Kosori groups after the Mogul threats was not a fashion change, it was beneficial adaptation. There can be other inferences that could be pointed to as contributory, but in my opinion Saul's contribution is a major step forward in our understanding. Arnold F.

Hello: Chris H. raises a very interesting issue, one that has not gone entirely unexplored, and for which the answer lies partially in the records of tested swords, and partially in the history of changing yakiba and jihada relationships. An extremely interesting article which assembles longitudinal data showing the staggered departure and arrival of new sword groups after the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281 is "The Ichimonji Swordsmiths" by Saulius V. Ploplys, Newsletter, JSS/US, Vol. 49, No.2 (May - April, 2017), pp.6-22. It is a real eye-opener and in my opinion illustrative of the provocative issue raised by Chris which suggests the vulnerability of midare hamon. It shows the rapid decline in Ichimonji sword production after those events and the hypothesis put forward is that the beautiful, flamboyant, wide temperlines of the Ichimonji types failed in battle against the Mongols. Saul's data as presented shows the Ichimonji decline and the increase in output of groups known for narrower and less irregularly varied hamon, such as the Kosori, the early Osafune, etc. Those changes were not aesthetic variations; they were imbedded in the results of practical use.Saul's background is in physics and the objective data-laden article is outstanding in my opinion. Arnold F.

Hello: Yes that was an instant attention getter. I believe that the sayagaki writer referred to, more or less dismissed as a "chauffeur," is the Kisanji mentioned by Markus Sesko on p. 89 of The Honami Family. If that is correct he was multi talented and a sword scholar in his own right. However I thought it unusual that the sayagaki was sans kakihan. Increasingly the Tsuruta write ups call into question various NBTHK designations and one wonders if that is a consequence of Tanobe sensei no longer being a regular overseeing employee at the Museum. Arnold F.

Hello: Very nice to see the postings Ray; interesting material well presented! Arnold F.

Hello: It would not be a "Japanese sword" in the sense that it could not be legally entered into Japan. Arnold F.

Hello Darcy: Following the Haynes/Torigoye leads it seems to fit better with Bizen Yoshiro than Kaga. The kogai-hitsu appears to me to be an entire addition. It is a nice piece and the mon-like devices seem to confirm that by the designs proper being integral with the circle surrounds rather than being inserted into the circling brass as is often seen. Arnold F.

Hello Robert: We get way too far off the path of reason when we worry about a tanto being somewhat more than 30 cm as if it then morphs into something entirely different from, say, one slightly less, and is therefore not a tanto in the functional sense. All those great historical blades with intended functions as tanto, wakizashi or daito got squeezed into " new clothes" only because of the adoption of the metric system in Japan and the legal requirement to add a length determined name along with a metric number on the torokusho. The obvious convenient break points at 30 cm and 60 cm. As for concern about Tokubetsu Kicho papers, what probability do you think there is that one you might encounter is wrong? I would guess the likelihood is exceedingly small. The ex ante estimate that seems to abound is a good revenue generator though! Arnold F.

Hello: Yes Peter I recall. I am less interested, for the purpose of this thread, about the relation between hada and a good forging outcome than I am curious about the inversion of the order "first examine yakiba, then hada" which seemed to prevail in the early post war era as exemplified by B. W. Robinson, Inami Hakusui, and Albert Yamanaka, to the order hada then yakiba as seen in the NBTHK writings of the mid and continuing post WWI era, and which currently seems to be reversed again by Miyano sensei. If the issue is which route provides the most likely good kantei outcome, I imagine a kind of controlled experiment could be set up to text the optimality of each route. However I am more curious as to why Yamanaka went one way and the NBTHK another. I believe Albert Yamanaka was a student of Hon'ami Koson and B. W. Robinson explicitly mentions that connection in his terrific Primer, written in 1955. Was it only politics? Some NMB participants more closely connected to that history in Japan might know. Arnold F.

Hello: Upon further reflection on the significance of focus on yakiba and its hamon as a primary directional assist in kantei as can be inferred from Miyano sensei's talk, vs. following a line where the direction is determined by the jigane/jihada, perhaps a little history about the order might help or might raised other questions. We all realize that both hada and hamon play a role so that need not be argued. If we go back to the early writers of the post-war era, such as B. W. Robinson, Inami Hakusui and Albert Yamanaka, the order they employed in blade discussion was hamon before hada. The NBTHK, coming along slightly later as an instructive source, reverses that order in their discussions of blades, ji before hamon, and they do so today. Markus Sesko's many translations of their blade discussion order will quickly show that. The same order is seen in the Connoisseur's Book. The rationale for the switch is unknown to me and all I could speculate is that the hamon then hada order is connected with the Hon'ami tradition, and the NBTHK may have preferred, for their own reasons, the opposite, but why? Does anyone know? Arnold F.

Hello: Point well taken Jean. The last time Miyano sensei was in the US doing a NTHK shinsa, in 2016, he gave a post shinsa lecture, interpreted by Chris Bowen. One point he made with real and repeated force was that he had devoted countless hours, day after day, to the study of hamon. I found that quite curious as the modern order for kantei devining is sugata, jigane/jihada, then yakiba. It had long been my impression that hada varied less group to group because of the fundamental forging processes taught within a group, but that yakiba, particularly the hamon, was open to more variation. Perhaps not!? Arnold F.

Hello: Yes well done Ray (!) though I remain somewhat confused about the low hi placement in that such was a direct and immediate post Mid Kamakura accommodation to the ikubi-kissaki vulnerability to breakage issue without possibility of repair, as experienced during the Mongol invasions, and Naoe Shizu coming somewhat after. A fashion lag? Arnold F.

Hello: I am still thinking Ko Mihara and would like to know if the apparent hamon conceals more ko midare in there than is shown as some seems to be there. The mixed mokume and o-hada would fit, and I see a hint of masame near the hamon. The gentle apparent notare would point to Naoe Shizu, however those deep set kissaki repair saving hi are more typical of Late Kamakura. Arnold F.

Hello: What Stephen said. Arnold F.

Hello Jean C. This whole thread is giving me one of those " Who's on first?" feelings. I guess I don't have the technical knowledge to know that a blade can't be partially retempered, though I suppose if it could it would be the transitional area the characterizes the kissaki in several ways. I have heard one polisher talk about some pretty spooky things that some claim can be done these days by way of "repair" without leaving a smoking gun behind. Arnold F.

Hello: How interesting Jean. I saw Aoi listing this AM and, while not personally willing to go quite as far as you, I did think it curious that the cut in the shinogi a little below the yokote looked more closed in the shop photograph than in the Juyo page shown. I also thought the quality of the oshigata provided by Aoi wasn't up to the usual high standard seen. Individual interpretations of people doing those drawings can vary quite a bit. If we assume is was saiba do you think the entire blade was done or just the boshi area? If it was done, presumably it was to show a more robust boshi, but would that be value adding or deducting for the blade? Curious to hear your thoughts. Arnold F.

Hello: While there is of course nothing wrong with admiring kinko, even in its extreme forms of "workmanship" excess and florid expression, we should not forget that that ethos can be carried to the extreme as it was by Hideyoshi and his golden tea room and utensils. The parvenu traits he exhibited probably annoyed his chief teacher of aesthetics, Sen (no) Rikyu, enough to be criticized by him for the display which promptly led to the invitation for Rikyu to commit seppku in Hideyoshi's residence. Arnold F.