Large akuchi

[deskjet]

Hi ,

I have a very large saya in akuchi mounts ,iron and brass dont think it is gold the iron is a good chocolate colour unsure of the school ,could it be Hamano or Hejano

I read somewhere that these large akuchi were often worn with armour ,would aapeciate any comments.

Anthony

[Curran]

If possible, please show us close-ups of the rest of the fittings- especially the junction between the scabbard collar and the fuchi.

 

Initial thought is "higo" or "heian-jo", as some iron and gold (yes gold- not brass, sentoku, etc) "heian-jo" items were made very similar to Higo stuff.

 

It could also be Satsuma work, akin to Higo- but some things like the saya loop will be the only pointers there. Most likely it is Higo. From the initial photos it looks that the wrap has been removed from the handle and I also suspect the tsuba & menuki have been removed. I do not think it was originally an aikuchi mount job.

 

More photos would help firm up the opinion.

 

Curran

[deskjet]

:D Thanks for the information i will end more photos

Anthony

[DavidF]

Gold painted on iron. Very common style of fittings.

 

DaveF.

[Bungo]

Gold painted on iron. Very common style of fittings.

 

DaveF.

 

actually iron f/k is considered " rare "

 

Milt THE ronin

[Grey Doffin]

I don't think there is any doubt about this being aikuchi; it definitely is. Looks very nice.

Grey

[Bungo]

I don't think there is any doubt about this being aikuchi; it definitely is. Looks very nice.

Grey

 

Yes, I agree this is aikuchi, the fit of the koiguchi and the fuchi with the " merging " of pattern ( the semi round kozuka slot ) indicates that's there no tsuba intended.

However........now this is my personal opinion only , first pic shows no ito on the tsuka and later it's wrapped . I think aikuchi type mounting usually does not have ito wrap on the tsuka. So the ' restoration " work is a bit off the convention.

 

p.s. to nailed down the kashira, usually they use a " clove leaf/heart " shaped metal plate instead of the silk cord over the hole at the side.

 

pps. and if the tsuka is " wrapped ", it's usually a round and round binding ( not diamond cross hatch ) with the menuki sitting on top of the binding.

 

Milt THE ronin

[deskjet]

Thanks for all the comments and obsevations they have been very helpful and enlightening

 

Anthony

[S.Haugtredet]

Hi, this is my first post in this forum. Felt that i had "struck gold" when i found it some days ago :-)

Anyways, a beautiful aikuchi blade!

About the ito-maki, i`m not saying Bungo is wrong, just that there is a myriad of variables in the world of swords

Here`s an example of one with ito-maki.

http://www007.upp.so-net.ne.jp/m-kenji/ ... shirae.htm

 

And i`ve seen a few others as well.

 

Have a nice day Gentlemen :-)

[Brian]

Welcome to the forum, glad to have someone here from Norway

I wonder if the availability of Nihonto there, is as bad as here in South Africa?

 

Judging by the matching kashira, I would have to theorise that this is indeed one of the exceptions to the general rule.

The same and wrapping do look like a newish restoration job, but look done in the way it was intended to me. Just need a few 100 years of aging to get that nice aged look to the ito and same

 

Brian

[S.Haugtredet]

Hi Brian, and thank you

 

I recon your thinking of import rules of swords. (Correct me if i`m mistaken)

There`s no problem importing swords to Norway. But the sales of swords here is mostly production swords, and they are expensive!!!! For instance...a Cold steel "Dragonfly" katana is sold here for 1822$. Emagine that.

So for me, finding this forum...is like "striking gold".... :lol:

Hopefully in time, i`ll be able to buy myself some nice Nihonto`s instead of the production blades i`ve been buying the last years.

 

Have a nice day

[trygve]

Hi Brian, and thank you

 

I recon your thinking of import rules of swords. (Correct me if i`m mistaken)

There`s no problem importing swords to Norway. But the sales of swords here is mostly production swords, and they are expensive!!!! For instance...a Cold steel "Dragonfly" katana is sold here for 1822$. Emagine that.

So for me, finding this forum...is like "striking gold".... :lol:

Hopefully in time, i`ll be able to buy myself some nice Nihonto`s instead of the production blades i`ve been buying the last years.

 

Have a nice day

 

Nice to see someone from my own country is into nihonto.

Nihonto is rare here in norway. You may be lycky in some auctions. I bought a katana in an auction some years ago in Bergen where I live. I belive there is no community here in norway. You have som Martial art people. (Like myself (kendo)) that takes the intrest a little bit further and start to collect nihonto. I been collecting a few years and been lurking on this board ever since Rich T help me with a Mino Mumei Katana I inherit from my father.

 

Regards

Trygve

Bergen

Norge

[S.Haugtredet]

Hi Trygve,

great to see an other from Norway here.

Your right, not to many nihontos that i know of here up north. Tho i`ve heard.....there are a few sitting on some nice collections. Are you one of them ?

 

Bergen is known for it`s good kendo practisioners. Good kendo community up there i understand. (I`m in Oslo) I`m not training kendo, but Tenshin shoden katori shinto ryu under Eri Kusano Sensei.

 

Maybe a small Nihonto community would be a good idea. Something to discuss in the future Trygve.

 

Have a nice day!

[trygve]

hello agin. My humble collections consist of two katanas and three waks for the time being. my resources are small after I got me a little boy and his mother is watching me closely. Since most of my money tends to go to dipers, I need to sell before I can buy. This limits my expansion. But it looks like a purchase is coming my way soon.(maybe)

 

It must be very interesting to train under Eri Kusano Sensei. I heard she

is 6 th dan. I would have liked to trained Tenshin shoden but we only have kendo and Iaido here. Must be fun to master naginata, yari, katana, wak, stick and defense all in one.

 

Gjerne ta kontakt med meg på e-post trygve.klepp@myhome.no

Siden vi er så får bør vi utveksle informasjon o.l

 

Vennlig hilsen

Trygve

[S.Haugtredet]

Mine are all production blades so far, but i`m looking for a nihonto that i`d like regardsless of maker and has a fair price. I`ll get one...in time.

 

Mmm..know how that is, and dipers are expensive too...lol. But totaly worth it in the end. Children are small tressures.

 

If you get to buy that blade, please share with us. Would like to see some pictures.

 

That`s one of the things i like about TSKSR, the width/range of weapons. I feel lucky to be able to train with Eri and her husband SÃ¥zen. I`t a great school. Sugino Sensei is coming to us from Japan this November. Really looking forward to that.

 

By the way, i sent you a mail. Have a nice day :-)

[S.Haugtredet]

Sorry, didn`t mean to hijack your thread Anthony!

My apologys :-)

[deskjet]

No problem i enjoyed the comments

Anthony