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Showing results for tags 'shinto'.
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1 desirable signed Samurai Jumonji Yari (polearm/spear) available. This fine Jumonji Yari would make an important addition to any collection. This yari has a well-cut signature. It is signed 武州下原住内記康重 Bushu Shitaharaju Naiki Yasushige. Fujishiro ranks Yasushige as a jo saku smith. Yasushige worked from 1624 to 1661 A.D. This yari measures 8" by 5 11/16" (20.3 cm X 14.4 cm). This yari measures 18 3/16" overall (46.2 cm) including the nakago. This jumonji yari has a straight temper line. Condition: The blade is in original Japanese polish. The blade has carbon staining and oxidation. The hamon and boshi are perfectly healthy. Note that the nakago at the lower mekugi-ana bends easily. So the nakago needs to be handled carefully. What a beautiful blade. There is not even one ware/opening in the blade. This jumonji yari would polish beautifully. $1775 plus postage (if choosing to pay via Paypal or credit card, add their fee) --Matthew Brice St. Croix Blades
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1 difficult to find Japanese model 1883 Naval Kyu-Gunto Samurai Officer's sword. This rare Imperial Japanese Navy Officer's katana would make an important addition to any collection. A sword in model 1883 Naval Kyu-Gunto sword mounts is rare. An example in exceptional condition is extremely difficult to find. The Naval mounts on this sword are mint. Of Kyu-Gunto mounted swords--just 1 in 40, or 1 in 50 is in Naval mounts--all others are Army. A sword like this does not come on the market very often. These Naval mounts are often also referred to as Russo-Japanese War mounts. A photo from a reference book of a Japanese Naval Officer posing with this type of sword is provided in this listing. This sword has a Silver Samurai family mon on its backstrap. This sword has an ancestral Samurai blade. The blade dates to the 1644 to 1648 A.D. The nakago/tang is signed 'Hoshu Takada-ju Fujiwara Munekage'. Munekage is ranked a 30 pt. smith in Hawley's--making him a chujo-saku swordsmith. The blade measures 25 13/16" (65.5 cm) from blade tip to notch in the blade spine. This sword has a beautiful hamon. This old blade has two holes in the nakago. The sharkskin-covered saya is very fine. All fittings are gilted in gold. The original Naval tassel/portopee is attached. The blade even has desirable kiri komi--(sword cuts or strikes from battle with another Samurai). This sword is papered. The papers accompany this sword. Condition: The mounts are in mint condition. The blade is in perfect polish. The hamon and boshi are perfectly healthy. $5699.95 shipped within the U.S. (if paying via Paypal or credit card, the PP/credit card fee will be added to the price)
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Hey guys, Been a while since I've posted a new acquisition, but this one has me excited and its not something you see every day. I acquired it at the recent Chicago show and got it in a trade deal. I've put it in front of several people at the show, including Bob Benson. He seemed to really like it and told me how he could properly bring out the hada even more than it is already so this one is going to Bob for work eventually. His opinion was that it was late Shinto/Shinshinto. Bob did note that someone had messed with the nakago in an attempt to make it look older but he believes it would be easy to remedy and properly repatinate. It is a massive 29" nagasa with a VERY active hamon and mokume hada. There is kinsuji, inazuma, nie and nioe present. This piece feels like it was made to show off the smith's skills yet is mumei which leads me to believe that this was a temple offering piece. I am welcome to opinions on school and smith. My blind guess is perhaps Mino, but ken are so poorly researched that it is really anyone's guess. Without further ado, here you all go! (If you want to see it in person, DM me and I'll get you the information for the next ITK meeting which is this next Saturday.) The first picture shows my two other ken for reference to scale since I neglected to lay a tape down with it. The top one is a Yamato den, and the bottom is Bungo Yukihira (1199-1206).
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I've got a wakizashi that passed Tokubetsu Hozon last year, but on the mune there's what looks like a hairline crack, about 2 inches above the nakago. It's not something that was directly mentioned by the seller, how normal is it / how concerned should I be?
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So, I'm on my second read-through of The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords. I've read about the length restrictions from other sources before - as Nagayama tells us (it's a shame the book doesn't give the prescribed lengths in shaku etc., as it's less intuitive in metric) So, I have a blade from c. 1660 that has a nagasa of 59cm, so it fits the modern definition of a wakizashi (and this is echoed on the NBTHK certificate), but I'm left wondering: 1. Would this have been worn as a companion sword at the time - or perhaps it just had a shorter owner? 2. Were the length restrictions actually enforced? Could a commoner buy an "over-sized" blade from a reputable smith? Would samurai-class have their blades measured? 3. Any recommendations for documentation sources / further reading about the restrictions, their enforcement and effectiveness (English or Japanese is fine)? -
So, I've just purchased my first 日本刀, forged by Tanba no Kami Terukado, an early-Edo period smith. As he's my entry point into Japanese swords, I'd like to find out more about him, the blades he produced and (eventually) learn to compare / appraise his work in contrast with other smiths / periods. This is purely amateur research for my own hobby use, I've got no commercial interests and won't be selling anything etc. Any help in corrections, further / primary sources and examples of his work would be greatly appreciated. Profile Considered as a "leading Mino smith" in "The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords" by Kokan Nagayama. "He is listed as working in Mino 1658-1684. He was also considered one of the Zenjo smiths and listed as Seki-Kaji-Toryo ” master of all Seki smiths”. The Tegai influence is easily recognized within this work. " - source: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/wakazashi-sword-fss-697/ Signatures Zenjou no Fujiwara Kanekado 丹波大掾藤原照門 (Tanba no Daijou Fujiwara Terukado) 丹波守藤原照門 (Tanba no Kami Fujiwara Terukado) 1659 on? Together with a few other variations. Active years 1658-84? School Yoshisada (Mino) Ratings Hawley's: 60 points Toko Taikan: ¥2.8M Fujishiro: "Jo Saku" -source: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TER16 Notable owners Isami Kondo (a Tokugawa Samurai, a member of the "Shinsengumi", later executed after capture). - source: https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/antique-Japanese-sword-katana-signed-by-terukado-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-certificate/
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Hi everyone, recently i bought my first yari from e sword and it arrived yesterday. its attributed to kawachi no kami nonju kanesada its related to the yamato tegai kanenaga den and that was the main reason i got it since i really like that style. Its a small yari head which is only barely longer than 12 cm. What are your opinions on it? was it worth the price of 200K yen? i basically have no expirience with yari (sorry for the bad pics, i currently dont have my DSLR) Regards, Simon
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Hi there, Its me again. This time I wanted to post my 2 katana that i own. both of them seem interesting, atleast to me. The one in koshirae couldnt be attributed to a smith(in the hozon certificate), the only information i have about it is that its mumei, sue bizen school and from the bunmei era (1469 - 1487). it also has a bit of damage at a specific spot (shown in the pictures). If anyone is able to find out more info about it, please tell me. The one in the Shirasaya is allegedly a Kaneharu Gen.3 piece (Kanbun 1661 - 1673). it isnt NBTHK papered but i have Japanese registration papers and an assessment document of an expert from germany. what i find interesting about it is that its length is 2 shaku down to the millimetre. so from the length alone it could be both a katana or a wakizashi. Now i first gotta save some money till i can make my next purchase.
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Hello there, i joined this forum a couple off days ago because i needed help with a sword i got. I have been infected with the nihonto collecting fever a few months ago when i made my first purchase which i want to show off and hear opinions about it now. This wakizashi came with a hozon paper and a full oshigata. i think it was a bit more expensive than it had to be but i got a big discount on the next nihonto i bought from that seller so its alright i guess. it is attributed to "Ecchu Kami Kanekuni (2nd Generation)" of the "Yamato Tengai Kanenaga den" and dated to the Enkyō era (1744-1748). the tsuba does have a signature too but i havent deciphered it yet. if anybody can read it, the info would be greatly appreciated.
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Hello Again, I grabbed this sword because I thought the old Koshirae handsome, the blade was mostly in polish and didn’t have many kizu, and it was at a good price. The downside is its lost its signature due to O-suriage and while I’m sure I’m looking at a Kanbun sugata, I’m not finding it all that easy to pin it down to a school/region. Very little curvature for sure (8mm), even compared to the sword Mr. Benson said was Bizen Muromachi which was not terribly curved. What curvature it has seems to start early, although I’m not sure just how much losing close to 10cm in length might have affected the shape. Nagasa length is still 66.2cm despite having been shortened to lose of much of the original nagako. As far as hada goes it looks like it starts with komokume and then further up the blade are large structures I think are some type of itame with small grain inside, often bordered by dark nie grains. I’m not sure but it looks a bit like the description of Echizen or Musashi hada from Connoisseur’s. Also the Shinogi has some roundish wood grain. The Hamon I can’t tell if it suguha or komidare, it’s straightish but wobbles a bit, might have hotsure. The kisaki looks like a chukisaki with a hakikake boshi. Nagako has katte sagari that seem to disappear above the first hole. So I guess my questions are: Am I correct in assuming this is a Kanbun Shinto? Would the sword having been produced near Edo be a reasonable guess? And is there any point in taking this to a shinsa once they return to America?.thumb.JPG.5d55066fe2d1ecde108afe61e13a94f2.JPG)
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Hello again everyone and thanks for your advice last time I was here. I’ve spent more time reading books, and looking at examples from different time periods so hopefully I’m getting better at this hobby. Anyways, last year I bought an unsigned sword with old Kicho papers attributing it to Kashuu Kiyomitsu. I know that’s less reliable than new papers but I genuinely like the sword, and it’s got the kaga nagako and matches what Marcus and others write about Kashuu Kiyomitsu traits like the Ashi and coarsish Itame hada with the occasional masame thrown in. I can’t read Japanese though so my ability to understand the NBTHK papers is limited to what OCR software can tell me which is that it says Kashuu Kiyomitsu and it’s an old certificate from the 50s. If anyone can tell if the papers narrow the attribution down to a generation that would be great. Or if not, might it be possible to use the photos to guess which Kiyomitsu made it? The ashi and konie in a hamon that’s otherwise nioi kind of sound like what the books said about Hinin Kiyomitsu, and he has an interesting story so I think it would be nice if this sword were conected to him but even if it weren’t, I’m quite fond of it. I hope the photos of the certificate, and ones where I tried to capture the hamon, or hada help with identifying the maker. Thank you again everyone,
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Hi, I started this thread here (see below), believing it was maybe not Morimitsu but koto bizen. Now finally, I have got the blade back from the Togishi. When I figure out how to make smaller pictures with high quality I will add more photos to the same post. Otherwise photos are coming in different posts. Togishi´s thoughts are that this may be a kyoto sword in bizen style. Hamachi and Munemachi has been later added as well as Bohi and Sohi. It is a soft forged sword with smooth jigane (koitame). I find the hada to be Osaka Tetsu. We are both thinking in the lines of Yamashiro. Possible Muromachi or more likely Edo/Shinto period. What do you think. Tried to take photos this morning but let me know what you want to see more of and I will try to comply with better pictures. --Björn
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Fake blade, etched pattern The post is edited to discuss the koshirae only. Dear All, Greetings from Canada! I am new and all my limited information about Nihonto are from internet. Please share your thoughts , knowledge and comment. The koshirae looks elegant and concise. All fittings have a lot of Chinese characteristics. Red colored rayskin scabbard with 9 bats means "hong fu shou qi tian" ，"洪福壽齊天"in Chinese. The bat is not a simple bat, it has a longevity head, and a hidden monkey face, combines auspicious meanings. The tusba has a "Lou han" who tames the tiger without a fight. Maybe the highest honor for a warrior. Please note the philosophy here. Both ends use horn material. The handle end has a white though line, means the blade is a sharp one，you can cut through your enemy.The scabbard end has a short white line, means the opponent can not cut you through. There are willow strips decorated on the outside of the handle and the scabbard, which are rare to me. The menuki on the handle also has a nice meaning: triple dragon courage,"三聯龍膽" in Chinese. So, the blade is fake, the red rayskin koshirae seems pretty good, but a real koshirae can not protect a fake blade. Again, please share your thoughts , knowledge and comment. Thanks in advance.
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Hey guys, I know things have been a bit slow around here with people selling/showing/talking about blades so I thought I'd post another one of my blades. I think this one is either koto or shinto and appears to have Sukesada-like qualities to it. I am just looking for general opinions. I think the blade's overall condition is poor with the polish being non-existent but the blade itself is very healthy so likely only on its first or second polish. It is mumei but I think would be a good candidate to be restored. And I've heard people say you can remove active rust with antler, but what kind and quality of antler? I also have a rather worn tsuba that I've no proper knowledge of; it came with it and fits rather well.. I will post that in tosogu later! Opinions are appreciated!
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Hey everyone! I have another blade here from my collection. I've had this one for a while now, but the same day I took pictures of that wakizashi, I took a few of this katana. Its a pretty interesting piece, so again, I'll let the pictures and measurements do the talking: Nagasa: 26 1/8" Sori: 5/8" Nakago length: 7 1/4" My asks are: apparent age, school, any other useful info you can clean from my crappy photos! One other thing: the habaki is wedged tightly on and because its gold-foil, I am afraid that trying to remove it would damage it. Opinions welcome!
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Hey all! I am in the process of obtaining two tachi blades made by the same smith purportedly. Can anyone give me a translation of the following kanji found on one of the blades? Thanks and have a Merry Christmas! ~Chris
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Hi All, Up for sale is this shinto period wakizashi by Gassan. It has really nice ayasugi hada which was very difficult to photograph. I think this is the Gassan that worked in about 1624 and was from Owari and also worked under name Nobutaka. It has a nice 2 kanji signature Gassan. The cutting edge of the blade is 21 inches long. It has a wonderful fuchi and one really nice menuki. This is exactly as I got it and just have too many projects in the pipeline so I am selling it so someone else can polish it. I can arrange a nice polish for about $800 for the new owner. I can also arrange for the restoration of the fittings. As I said the ayasugi hada was difficult to photograph but you can see it very clear in hand! $3700 plus shipping and paypal if aplicable. Thanks for looking and if you have any questions please dont hesitate to msg me though this site or email me at brannow_NO_SPAM@artswords.com Please remove the _NO_SPAM from the email address. Bill Rannow www.artswords.com
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O-Tanto/Ko-Wakizashi for sale Signed Kane Masu... very similar to the one featured as Tanto of the Quarter in Bushido Magazine (pictured). There are many generations of this smith spanning late Koto into Shinto. I am not sure which one made this sword and so am also uncertain about the exact age. Mino School- Gunome temper with itame hada. A few spots of loose grain and some minor chips but otherwise quite sound. Well cut grooves. Measures 41.7 cm total length. Nagasa is 30.3 cm. 2.7 cm wide It can be enjoyed as is or if polished would be quite lovely. The saya is a bit longer (46.1 cm) than the blade but it is original as far as I can tell. Same on the handle is high quality. Fuchi is ishime (stone pattern) shibuichi. Habaki is good quality silver foil. Again, worthy of completion with tsuba, menuki and a new wrap job. SOLD Ships worldwide.
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I can't decide which one of these two sword I should buy: Wakizashi #676 http://www.juwelier-strebel.de/asien-kunst/Japan/wakizashi-tanto.html Katana #713 http://www.juwelier-strebel.de/asien-kunst/Japan/katana.html
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Hi, first of all 'kudoss' & congrats on the site. I'm a first timer..so pls be gentle. Sorry in advance for a thread. To the job at hand, I inherited from great grandfather a ww2 sword many a year ago. I remember the day as a kid, him showing & telling me all the stories. From that very first day as a kid, (think I claimed it!) I always kept my eye on it. Now 40ish, I blew the dust of it 3-4 mths ago & thought I'd give it another look. My dad's m8 had a go long ago & told us 'it's nothing, military made, standard thing pumped out in the day, not worth 1-2 hundred maybe, cr*p!..' and that's what my dad thought ever since, but not me i still though mine(only seen a cool sword). Here's what I've got so far, the mei (i hope!) is Noshu ju Kanenobu & was made in showa period march 1944. The blade is shinto style and tachi in length at a little over 27". The nakago is star & arsenal stamped + 'ho' stamped on mune. Slight gunome hamon, bit rough, but still sharp as 70 odd yrs on, since sharpened!. In shin-gunto type-3 military mount. It came with a tag, since learnt possible surrender tag(thought name tag).. That's where I'm part stuck.. So far I've got, Rikugun shoi, army sec.sub lieutenant, Okazaki eiiki? eiichi? aichi? Thats all I got. Anyone that would be able to translate it & check the mei+date & be able to tell a little more info. on sword 2 cross reference mine(so i can tell my dad it's not the cr*p sword like he thinks). Since I live in the land of kangaroos & koalas (Aust.) I would love to have the blade professionally sharpened & polished, but am very limited on options. Would anyone know of someone that can be trusted to do the job?!?(I know really only Japan) but you got to ask. Is the blade worth the polish? Or? is the polish worth more than the blade?! Pls post reply, any info. is all good. Sorry again for length of thread. Cheers, check out pics.
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Hey guys, A friend of mine recently sent me this sword to look over. He's had it for several years now under the assumption that it is Shinto Ishido School work. That was the opinion of the togishi that last worked on it. It very well could be Ishido work. Last week I posted this sword on a Nihonto Facebook group and started a decent discussion. I've had quite a few very good and informative opinions on this sword so far. Some suggested it could also be a ubu Koto Bizen Uchigatana. Before I thoroughly examined this sword and asked around a bit, I originally thought it was O-suriage. The yaki-dashi and second mekugi-ana threw me off. I figured I would post it on NMB and get a few more opinions. A much broader audience here on the NMB. This sword has recently been returned to its owner. He plans to send it away for a new shira-saya and papers soon. Any and all opinions are welcome. Thanks.
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I've been lurking the forum for a few years, trying to absorb informations like a sponge, but always felt too newbie to contribute in a constructive way. Actually I mostly thought that my interest for nihonto would find enough relief in reading, visiting museum and occasionally spending some time with collectors: swords are expensive toys and my freelance coder pockets aren't very deep Anyway this january I was in London, I visited Don Bayney's shop and, as soon as I touched one of the wakizashi he had, I knew I was in trouble. My wife noticed my reaction and told me "it's a really nice sword. I think it's time to do it"; 24 hours later my bank account was a little lighter and I still had butterflies in my stomach. The sword is a shinto mumei wakizashi in mino tradition with a large gunome midare hamon and itame/mokume hada. It's suriage and it came with NTHK papers attributing it to Nobutaka (sendai?). It's not a juyo luxury blade (which I could not afford anyway), but it closely looks like the image summoned by my own mind when I think about the concept of "Japanese sword", so I instantly fell in love with it. Here are a few pictures: I did not have a mekugi nuki with me when I took the pics, so I attached the oshigata of the nakago. For more higher resolution pictures, you can have look here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gdatmdvltavc1yj/AACx54_gUorbPWw8PvuKrxBaa?dl=0 The main reason for this post is just celebrating something special for me; any comment about the sword is more than welcome, as I'm sure it will help to train my newbie eye.
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Hello my fellow forumites, to celebrate christmas i bought myself my first naginata. Here is what the dealer had to say about the blade (i think that i don´t need to mention who the seller was :D): Naginata in Shirasaya (NBTHK Hozon Paper) Signature : Kashu Jyu Fujiwara Mitsuhira Shinto: Ryosaku: Kaga (We divide 4 sections for each sword as Saijyo saku, Jyojyo saku Jyo saku and regular saki)This sword Kashu Jyu Fujiwara Mitsuhira belongs to Jyojyosaku ranking. The blade was polished. Habaki :copper single habaki. Blade length : 54.5cm or 21.46inches. Sori : 3.03cm or 1.19inches. Mekugi : 1 Width at the hamachi :3.1cm or 1.22inches. Kasane :0.83cm or 0.33inches. Era : Edo Period Circa Kyoho 1716-1735 Shape: Itame hada well grained with masa hada appearing The hada pattern could be observed well. Hamon: Nie deki suguha with mixture of notare work. It is could ha with sunagashi activities. Boshi is round turn back. Special feature :Kashu Jyu Fujiwara Mitsuhira is one of Katsuie group swordsmiths and also the son of Sandai Mitsukuni. He was called Chuumemon. This naginata is wide and thick with superb jigane. It is masterpiece of Fujiwara MItsuhira. We recommend this long and thick katana. Historical Background: Koishikawa Hospital was established by the order of Tokugawa Yoshimune on Keiho 7th year(1722）. The population of Edo boosted due to massive influx of migrants from farming villages causing an outcast class in the society. This lead to Yoshimune’s order of building Koishikawa Hospital. This enabled the poors to take medical advice for free. I even learned something about the history of Kaga, the Maeda clan and the ikko ikki while i did my research about the smith. Here are some honorable mentions: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=75213299666 Feel free to leave some comments regards,
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