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Hello: I believe that is it. Thank you so much John. Arnold F.

Hello: There was a quite long thread on Ezo fittings which I have lost track of: does anyone recall? Many thanks, Arnold F.

Hello: If I could add to Mark's heads up on the yari lecture/presentation, I believe that will be given by Robert Block. Those who heard his presentation in Florida on the important role played by Owari and the inception of that tradition will know that what is coming in Chicago will be highly educational and interesting. Arnold F.

Hi: You are probably quite correct Geraint. Thanks for the up date. Arnold

Hi: Just saw Paul's post, now I wonder if there are three versions as mine under the imprint of the To-ken Society has no illustrations. In any event, while not as full as he may have wished it to be, the work of Nagayama sensei has a large and extremely useful footprint that will be hard to better. Arnold F.

Hello: I have both the English language translation of To-Ken Kantei Dokuhon and the Connoisseur's Book and checking here and there the text is the same where found, but there is some additional material in the latter, particularly important being the line drawings. The translator is Mishina Kenji and the Dokuhon was published by the British To-ken group. The books thus are not perfect substitutes for one another. Arnold F.

Hello: Many factors flow into the question and it is just conjecture to sort them out. From the over all round shape it would appear to be what is usually called katchushi, however they would usually have a raised rim, and if removed by width reduction they would not usually show a rounded rim, though it appears rounded. The design is old, sort of mediating between what a tosho artist would do, or a katchushi for that matter. The final product lends itself to being called ko, initially with two tomoe and no accommodation for a kozuka, yet it seems to have been accommodated for one after initial manufacture. Is that meant to add the appearance of age? I don't think johnnyi's question poses "ko", but of course if "ko" the value would be a multiple over late Edo and many late Edo utsushi, obvious or pretending to be old, do exist. What bothers me, for which there are perhaps clears answers, is the roughness of the vertical spaces within the sukashi elements or so they seem from the photos. Why would that naturally be so, either old or late Edo, rather than something even newer?That being said, it beats me. It is the sort of thing that needs to be studied in hand, and rung for that matter, along with an assessment of the patina in sun light. Arnold F.

Hello: I was told by Chris Bowen that he has just mailed out information for folks with shinsa slots that will help with their preparation for the shinsa. Arnold F.

Hello: If mei are important then Kinko Meikan by Masumoto Senichiro and Kokubo Kenichi is a must. It was published in 1974, with possible later editions. It is my understanding that the photographs, exclusively of mei, were done by the authors with pieces in hand, and if so that is a big plus. In 1982 John Yumoto provided a 197 page translation of that edition which is extremely useful for the non-Japanese reader. Needless to say the Fukushi Shigeo, Tosogu Classroom, as translated and compiled by Markus Sesko is more than highly rcommended as its entire mult-volume set comes forth. Arnold F.

Hello: Well I did spot the fortune cookie crumbs right away, but I didn't see the two kanji for "Middle Kingdom, and thought it too early for an April Fool's joke, so the inquiry. Arnold F.

"China"? Arnold

Hello: Yes they do acquire that patina with age, and while it is not a terrible thing to wax a saya, as it can be reversed, the main reason not to do so is that if some person with the credentials to do a proper sayagaki comes along, the wax would present a substantial problem. The ink used actually is absorbed to some extent by the wood and it really seems to endure. Arnold F.

Hello: If there is a hypothesis on the "kubikiri" side it would have to incorporate the implication at least that the functional form of such blades are better fitted than the equi-angular shape of all conventional Nihonto for the task at hand, namely removing a head, and therefore by conclusion to be preferred for that task. Such would be a negation of what is known about what makes Japanese weapons cut well! Arnold F.

Hello: Please take a look at my post of 10:23 this morning. The kubikiri shape referred to is a total 180 degree contradiction of the most essential feature of the Japanese sword, namely its efficiency when drawn through a medium. The so called "kubikiri" we see here can't be anything other than crude choppers if they were ever used for the imagined purpose. To chop well they would also have to be fairly heavy. Would any sane samurai want to carry that extra weight around in addition to his usual shoto weapon? Arnold F.

Hello: How did I miss this fight? The notion of a "kubikiri" as described and illustrated here is a contradiction of what makes Japanese edged weapons, those meant to be swung in an arc or drawn through a medium, and so are highly efficient. That quality, more important than any other feature of the traditional Nihonto, is the equi-angular property of its cutting edge's geometry which maximizes its cutting prowess. The detailed analysis of that quality is found in Sam C. Saunders, "Shape and Cutting Efficiency: The Unique Nihonto Curvature," JSS/US Newsletter, Vol. 33, No. 7 (Dec., 2001). pp. 20-30. The kubikiri illustrated by Bob would be grossly inefficient for cutting, but maybe just the ticket for multiple chopping, as with a tree branch, the cutting of which requires no pulling through of the blade against the medium. Why such a device would be preferred in place of a tanto or wakizashi that might be carried anyway by someone intent on removing a head beats me. To extrapolate to tameshigiri I believe most if not all cuts for recording are draw through cuts and not chops, though the issue above would not fall if a couple were chops. Arnold F.

Hello All: Being somewhat addicted to shinsa and caught up in all the late winter/early spring stuff (snow in the NE and pollen in Georgia) this might be a good time to remind folks that a shinsa is to be held at the Chicago show in late April. These events are so useful for all collectors, and so common in recent years, that we tend to forget how much we might miss them when they are no longer around. The shinsa, concurrent with Mark Jones' Chicago show, will be conducted by the NTHK (NPO). While I don't side with one version of the NTHK over the other, the NPO group appears to be respected and is headed by Mr. Miyano who I understand expects to be in attendance this year. For show details: www.chicagoswordshow.com For shinsa details: www.ejapaneseswords.com/Shinsa I hope to meet some new NMB folks there. Arnold F.

Hello: It would seem to me to be the most certain way with a ji-sukashi tsuba to firmly tie the seppa-dai to the rest of the tsuba's structure, particularly if the ji-sukashi negative spaces are relatively large. Arnold F.

Hello: PM sent. Arnold

Hello: Thanks Markus for pin pointing that location. I wonder if there are other known operational criteria for sorting out cutting levels in the literature that might have been used by other testers? I had more or less assumed in the past that a cut would be done and from its difficulty and its apparent efficiency after completion, perhaps observed from the vantage point of consistency a few times, then so and so would get a given rating. Cut off points (no pun intended) seem so mechanical. However that the Yamada had actual measured levels is really remarkable. Arnold F.

Hello: In the Bonhams, NY "Arts of the Samurai" sale, Oct. 30, 2017, lot No. 415, a Kunisada, was offered with the notational remark that he was "...one of only 21 smiths assigned the rank of owazamomo (sic) by the Yamada family of sword-testers, indicating that seven or eight out of ten of his tested blades cut through the center of the chest of an adult male completely and with ease." Has anyone found reference to such specific operational criteria for the Yamada or other testing families?I have Markus Sesko's, Tameshigiri, but can't find anything that specific. Arnold F.

Hello: The late 19th and early 20th Century translations, trying only to be helpful, are full of such awkward terminology, and one is never quite sure if the words chosen are actually descriptively accurate. It makes us more appreciative of the contributions of the late Harry "Afu" Watson, and of Markus Sesko! Arnold F.

Hello: Isn't the shape a function of it being moroha-zukuri (?), or so it seems from the images. Arnold F.

Hello: I made no ascertion that there was a Minatogawa reference in the posts above mine, though it would be interesting to know why exactly that version of the image was put on that sword. That mon is so often misdescribed and abused that I thought the post might be useful. I didn't mean to sidetrack the thread. Arnold F.

Hello: What appears on the blade is not a stamp but an engraving, and in my opinion a bad copy of the Minatogawa kikusui and it almost certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with the Minatogawa Shrine or the forge working there. Arnold F.

Hello: That is the classic question and there is no absolute answer either from the point of view of full appreciation of the blade or of economic value as there are so many variables at play. The term "unquestionably valid" only begs the question of in whose eyes. Even the greatest experts can reasonably argue about the validity of a mei. If your library is large enough you will find many illustrations of side by side mei, one declared right and the other wrong, and the most minute of differences distinguishing one from the other. If there is one rule of thumb, in my opinion it would be that the importance of expert documentation, origami and/or sayagaki, is directly proportional to the rating of the smith. If money is no object most collectors would doubtless prefer all of their blades to be papered I would guess. To carry it to the extreme there is nothing more satisfying than to have multiple origami and sayagaki all in agreement on the same blade! Arnold F.