koshirae I Did The Thing (New Koshirae)

[ckaiserca]

I went and did the thing that everyone tells you to avoid doing. I had new koshirae made for a katana. I used a set of tosogu  from the Edo Period. The Fuchi Kashira is signed by Yoshikawa Mumemitsu. The Tsuba and Menuki are unsigned but the Menuki are attributed as Denjo by the NBTHK. 
 

I’m calling the koshirae “The Chicken.” 

[GRC]

Personally, I think it looks great 

... and how could you not put those menuki together with that fuchi & kashira?

I also like that you chose a more reserved tsuba to balance things out.

Congrats!

[ChrisW]

I think its tastefully done. Very nice!

[Stephen]

Third s here...well done!

[ROKUJURO]

Elegant and obviously well crafted. Congratulations!

[Vermithrax16]

I really like it. Congrats!

[Spartancrest]

If it is convention not to create beauty, then to hell with convention!  Great job!    [But could you take the images with a less camouflaging background ]

[Bugyotsuji]

Bugyotsuji stamp of approval. Bringing things back to life. Well done.

[Bazza]

Cluck, cluck, cluck of approval.  Where is the Nihonto Chicken for his cluck??  Charles, this is a stunner.  I'm sure there is a wonderful story of who did the work, where, and how long it took.

 

Charles wrote:

> I went and did the thing that everyone tells you to avoid doing. I had new koshirae made for a katana

Well, if one uses the right artisans the result speaks for itself.

 

BaZZa.

[sabi]

Love the kashira, such a charming compliment to the fuchi ☺️

[Bazza]

32 minutes ago, sabi said:

Love the kashira, such a charming compliment to the fuchi ☺️

Yes - BUT - since when did roosters lay eggs???  Hmmmm???  Hmmmm???  The ideal kashira would be - a henpecked hen!!!

 

BaZZa

(in a cheeky mood)

[sabi]

10 minutes ago, Bazza said:

Yes - BUT - since when did roosters lay eggs???  Hmmmm???  Hmmmm???  The ideal kashira would be - a henpecked hen!!!

 

BaZZa

(in a cheeky mood)

 

Well of course they don't my friend!  To me the eggs represent the hen, which is part of why I love them as a companion to the rooster fuchi 😉🥚🐓🥚

[Bugyotsuji]

19 minutes ago, sabi said:

 

Well of course they don't my friend!  To me the eggs represent the hen, which is part of why I love them as a companion to the rooster fuchi 😉🥚🐓🥚

Eggsactly!

[Spartancrest]

They are that unique Asian breed "Him-a-layer" 

[Brian]

Putting together a koshirae is fine when done by the right people with the right knowledge.
In this case, was done right. I like it a lot.

[Nihonto Chicken]

On 1/13/2022 at 4:46 PM, Bazza said:

Cluck, cluck, cluck of approval.  Where is the Nihonto Chicken for his cluck??  

 

BaZZa.

 

Did someone say "Beetlejuice" three times?  Yes, the Chicken still lives, but has been away for a time now, with military/riot shotguns supplanting the nihonto itch.  You may thank (or castigate) BaZZa for trolling up this fowl member.  

 

I hope to attend the No. Cal. Token Kai this year after two misses due to Covid and cancellations.  It is, alas, time in life to consider de-accession as opposed to accumulation and find new caretakers.  Have no feeling at this time as to the nihonto market place, need to study up here, I guess.

 

The koshirae that kicked off this thread are indeed quite nice, very refined.  I have a near complete chicken set, rather beefy, minus the tsuba, that are more "over the top", but no candidate sword on which to fit them.  Oh, well.

 

Anyway, hi to all who remember da Chicken, fondly or else.  I will try (and likely fail ) to abstain from further recommending the Jim Kurrasch power uchiko method for removing clouds and rust fron newbies' swords.  Hope everyone here had a great winter solstice season (is this PC enough?), and have an equally rewarding 2022.

[DanielM]

Hello Ckaiserca,

 

Very nice koshirae ...congratulation. I have not seen this design very often on kodogu….but more often on chinese porcelain….

 

That is what i found about its symbol

 

In Japan, its crowing, associated with the raucousness of the deities, who lured Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, out of the cave where she had been hiding. Courage is the virtue that the Japanese (like other Far Eastern peoples) attribute to the rooster. The white cockerel as an auspicious symbol Japanese Shinto or shrine tradition likely has its origin in Taoist practices that filtered through from the Chinese court during the Tang dynasty and Nara periods.  Chickens are thought of as errand messengers of the gods at the Isonokami Shrine where many sacred roosters are seen roaming.

 

Thanks for showing us

 

Daniel

[ckaiserca]

7 hours ago, DanielM said:

That is what i found about its symbol

 

In Japan, its crowing, associated with the raucousness of the deities, who lured Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, out of the cave where she had been hiding. Courage is the virtue that the Japanese (like other Far Eastern peoples) attribute to the rooster. The white cockerel as an auspicious symbol Japanese Shinto or shrine tradition likely has its origin in Taoist practices that filtered through from the Chinese court during the Tang dynasty and Nara periods.  Chickens are thought of as errand messengers of the gods at the Isonokami Shrine where many sacred roosters are seen roaming.

 

 

Daniel,

 

Thanks for this information. It is always nice to have some idea of the meanings for the themes of fittings. 

 

For others who have asked about the maker of the kosirae, I contacted the vendor who arranged for it to be made, but they would not reveal the name of the maker. The direct quote from their email was "He is shy and doesn't like to make his name public." I suspect that they don't want me to be able to deal directly with him in the future rather than the maker being shy, but that is what it is. The koshirae was crafted well, and it was done fairly quickly. I had it made along with having the tsuka of another sword rewrapped with new tsuka-ito. The tsuka was was done in about a month's time, and the full koshirae was done in only three. Together with the price of the fittings, the construction of koshirae cost about as much as the blade that it was made for.

 

The menuki have an NBTHK Hozon paper attributing them to the Denjo school.

 

 

The tsuba is mumei shakudo, with a plugged kozuka ana in a plain kenjo style.

 

The Fuchi Kashira set is signed Yoshikawa Munemitsu (吉川  宗光).

 

 

The fittings were purchased as a full set. New seppa had to be made as the craftsperson did not want to try and file the old seppa to fit as the gold foil would be damaged.

 

  

The bade that this koshirae was made for is a short katana with new NBTHK Hozon papers that attribute the sword as Mino Senjuin (美濃千手院). The sword also has two older white NBTHK papers. One attributes it to Shitahara and the other to Fujishima. So now I am just a bit confused. I was hoping the newer paper might bring some clarity, but for me it just muddies the waters. The vendor thought that the sword was likely Fujishima. That would make the sword about 100 years older than Mino Senjuin if I have my facts correct. I don't know about. The nakago of the blade is heavily corroded at the mekugi-ana, but otherwise the blade is in beautiful condition aside from a tiny fukure on the shinogi-ji.

 

 

Blade length: 63.6cm or 25.0 inches.

Sori :1.9 cm or 0.74 inches.

Width at the hamachi: 3.13cm or 1.23 inches.

Width at the Kissaki: 2.1 cm or 0.8 inches.

Kasane :  0.71 cm or 0.27 inches.

The weight of the sword 660 grams.

 

All in all, I am pleased with this experience as a learning exercise. I now have an idea of how long things take in Japan. This sword was initially purchased in April of 2021. It was submitted for shinsa in June, it passed shinsa in September, the papers were produced in October,  and the koshirae was started in October as well. The sword finally reached my hands as a complete package in January of 2022.

[JakeNYC]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing this. Have any closer pictures of the hamon? I'd like to compare it with a mino senjuin I had.

 

[ckaiserca]

6 minutes ago, JakeNYC said:

Very cool! Thanks for sharing this. Have any closer pictures of the hamon? I'd like to compare it with a mino senjuin I had.

 

Here are some other photos that might be helpful:

 

 

[JakeNYC]

I see a few similar characteristics in this hamon to the NBTHK certified Mino Senjuin that I owned previously. Namely, this part. Also, I really like that habaki! Looks like it could be an older one.

[ckaiserca]

32 minutes ago, JakeNYC said:

Also, I really like that habaki! Looks like it could be an older one.
 

The habaki is quite nice in hand. It appears to be made of silver. 
 

[Curran]

Hi Charles,

 

Putting together a koshirae is often a fool's errand.  I know because I've done it 1.5 times.

  I'm impressed by your results.