New koshirae for my Mukansa Minamoto Moriyoshi.

[Barrett Hiebert]

Forumites,

 

Just posting pictures here for your viewing pleasure of my new koshirae of antique fittings I got for Mukansa Minamoto Moriyoshi done up by Robert Hughes and his craftsman. All the credit goes to him for coordinating and his craftsman for putting it all together.

 

I'll add a picture of the bare blade with the warrior copper habaki and new tsuka separate from its saya when it's done.

 

Enjoy.

 

Best regards,

 

Barrett Hiebert

 

[Brian]

Lovely looking set! Robert has great contacts who do fantastic work.
Nice Hizen style koshirae, will look awesome on display and look very classy. Thanks for sharing.

[Drew H]

The green ito looks great. I want to get koshirae for my Edo period blade at some point. Does Robert have a website or email for contact?

[ckaiserca]

That's beautiful. I look forward to seeing the photos of the blade. Thanks for sharing.

[Barrett Hiebert]

Friends,

 

Ask and ye shall recieve. Thanks for the kind words Brian, Drew and Charles. I would of replied earlier though I have been recovering from sickness and from blowing out my pelvic floor while moving.

 

Of course these are the blade with the two part gold foil habaki. I had it switched out for a warriors copper single part one though am still waiting on a picture with such, though these pictures show the blades metallurgical profile enough.

 

Enjoy.

 

Best regards,

 

Barrett Hiebert

[Stephen]

  On 11/12/2022 at 2:51 AM, Drew H said:

The green ito looks great. I want to get koshirae for my Edo period blade at some point. Does Robert have a website or email for contact?

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https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/profile/1318-keichodo/

 

Member here he's also on Facebook

[Drew H]

  On 11/16/2022 at 10:48 AM, Stephen said:

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/profile/1318-keichodo/

 

Member here he's also on Facebook

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I appreciate the direct link

[Michaelr]

WOW that is a Beautiful blade and Koshirae. You are very lucky. Thank you so much for sharing and enjoy them as all of us will. 
  MikeR

[Nicholas Fu]

Wow, that is absolutely beautiful! I have plans to have a similar style koshirae made for my blades too.

 

I literally just made a post asking about people's experience, if they ever had a koshirae made for blades they already own in Shirasaya. 

Could I Kindly ask what the process was like? Did you have to find your own fittings?

and did you needed to have your blade repolished after the koshirae was made?

Sincerely,
Nicholas

[Boston iaido]

Hi Barrett,

There is a listing for the sale of a sword that is identical to your sword, were you the one who posted the sale or the link below using your sword information to post it?

https://giheiya.com/product/02-1548/

 

Thank you,

Boston iaido

 

[francois2605]

When I inquired in Dec 2022, @Barrett Hiebert had sold his sword to Robert Hughes

[Keichodo]

Greetings friends,

 

I ended up purchasing this sword back from Barrett, and because I got busy I consigned it to my friend Mr. Imazu at Giheiya because he has a large following of Iai clients.

Technically, I still own this sword. If it doesn't sell in the next month or so I will probably take it back to sell at the Dai Token Ichi.

 

I hope this clears up any concern.

 

Best,

Robert

[Ed]

No problems with Robert. He is 110% honest and reliable.  He will go above and beyond to make you happy.

[Jean]

FYI, Robert is the one from whom I got my Ryokai Juyo and who found a papered koshirae for it with a fantastic wooden lacquered tsuba. And furthermore he is a good friend which is the most important.

[b.hennick]

Let's all write good things about Robert Hughes. 

I'll start, Robert organized a cruise and dinner in Tokyo Bay during DTI. It was one of the highlights from my trip to Japan. Thanks once again. I could go on... Step up and share your thoughts. 

[Barrett Hiebert]

Robert,

 

Thanks for chiming in. I mistakenly told Boston Iaido that it didn’t look like your sword…I guess the concussion from getting hit by the car fudged me up…sorry.

 

Best regards,

 

Barrett Hiebert

[Boston iaido]

Hi Robert Hughes,

Since this sword was originally owned by you, I would like to ask your opinion on if this sword is authentically made by a Japanese swordsmith.

Thank you,

Boston iaido

-----------------------

Greetings friends,

 

I ended up purchasing this sword back from Barrett, and because I got busy I consigned it to my friend Mr. Imazu at Giheiya because he has a large following of Iai clients.

Technically, I still own this sword. If it doesn't sell in the next month or so I will probably take it back to sell at the Dai Token Ichi.

 

I hope this clears up any concerns.

 

Best,

Robert

-------------------------

 

Hi Barrett,

There is a listing for the sale of a sword that is identical to your sword, were you the one who posted the sale or the link below using your sword information to post it?

https://giheiya.com/product/02-1548/

 

Thank you,

Boston iaido

 

[Keichodo]

Greetings sword friends,

 

Thank you for the kind endorsements given freely above.... much appreciated.

 

This sword, in question is in fact, still owned by me and is consigned to my friend Mr. Imaizu. It is a beautiful sword made by a highly respected Mukansa sword smith. I originally found this sword for Mr. Hiebert and arranged the creation of the koshirae to his specifications. Later I purchased it directly from him. In fact, the blade remained in Japan and never left the country. The posting above looks like there was some Google translation confusion with the text... this is a great sword at a greatly reduced price.

 

Sword smith:

 

Minamoto Moriyoshi, was born Tanigawa Matsuyoshi at Yatsushiro in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1920. He studied under Kongobyoe Moritaka Yasuhiro and Enju Taro Nobushige.

Moriyoshi forged swords at Yatsushiro in Kumamoto Prefecture. Hishu is the old name of that province.  Kongobyoe Moritaka Yasuhiro gave Moriyoshi the swordsmith name Enju Nobutsugu Minamoto Moriyoshi in 1941. In postwar Japan, after Japan concluded the peace treaty with the United States at San Francisco in 1952, Moriyoshi made a fresh start forging swords in 1954. He won several prizes at the annual sword-making competitions held by NBTHK. He earned a strong reputation for reviving the hamon of Kiyomaro and then Moriyoshi was designated as a Mukansa-tosho in 1985. He passed away at age 70 in 1990.

 

This Moriyoshi blade was made in 1977 and is 75.6 cm. long. It has 2 cm. of curvature and is nicely balanced. The koshirae is newly-made and has never been used in practice... The fittings are antique and the shakudo menuki have a Hozon paper... somewhere. The tsuka is done in a soft leather suede wrap... The koshirae is similar to Tenshyo style...

 

The koshirae was an expensive production utilizing shakudo fittings.  Curently, with similar antique fittings, this king of koshirae alone would cost around yen 400,000 to produce.  If you Google this smith, you will see what these blades sell for.  A dealer in Tokyo is offering just a blade without koshirae for yen 1,100,000...

 

So if you want a high-grade mukansa production with a quality koshirae... this sword and koshirae is being offered at a very reasonable price...

 

Best Regards,

 

Robert Hughes

[Boston iaido]

Hi Robert Hughes,

Thank you for the information,

Regards,

Boston iaido

[Oleg S]

Dear Gents,

I followed the discussion as a learning opportunity.

I wonder how a Mukansa rank is related to an NBTHK Hozon. My understanding is that the NBTHK does not judge Mukansa smiths. Are then all Mukansa forged blades worthy of preservation, equivalent to a Hozon? Could a Mukansa sword still obtain a Tokubetsue Hozon or higher if it is not evaluated?

This particular sword was made in 1977, a few years before Minamoto Moriyoshi achieved the Mukansa rank in 1985. If the blade predates the Mukansa rank, can it still be judged by NBTHK?

Thank you,

Oleg

[SteveM]

  On 9/18/2023 at 12:36 PM, Oleg S said:

My understanding is that the NBTHK does not judge Mukansa smiths. Are then all Mukansa forged blades worthy of preservation, equivalent to a Hozon? Could a Mukansa sword still obtain a Tokubetsue Hozon or higher if it is not evaluated?

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Hello Oleg,

Blades from mukansa smiths are indeed judged, and can be awarded Hozon and Tokubetsu Hozon. I don't believe there has been a Jūyō awarded to any mukansa smith yet. Below are some links showing mukansa blades with various papers, including Tokubetsu Hozon papers. The NBTHK doesn't judge blades from living smiths (but, strangely enough, they don't mention this on their site). There is a different paper for living smiths. 

 

https://www.seiyudo.com/sta-050220.htm

https://www.aoijapan.jp/刀筑州住宗勉作之無鑑査刀匠/

https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-08041.htm

https://www.kusanaginosya.com/SHOP/22.html

[Oleg S]

  On 9/18/2023 at 2:50 PM, SteveM said:

 

Hello Oleg,

Blades from mukansa smiths are indeed judged, and can be awarded Hozon and Tokubetsu Hozon. I don't believe there has been a Jūyō awarded to any mukansa smith yet. Below are some links showing mukansa blades with various papers, including Tokubetsu Hozon papers. The NBTHK doesn't judge blades from living smiths (but, strangely enough, they don't mention this on their site). There is a different paper for living smiths. 

 

https://www.seiyudo.com/sta-050220.htm

https://www.aoijapan.jp/刀筑州住宗勉作之無鑑査刀匠/

https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-08041.htm

https://www.kusanaginosya.com/SHOP/22.html

Expand  

Thank you for this information, Steve!

Maybe I am going off on a tangent, but if Mukansa blades can be papered, would you recommend it? Does it add value, or is the quality and authenticity already assumed due to the maker's reputation?

Thanks again,

Oleg

[SteveM]

If I were in Japan, I wouldn't hesitate to paper it. The cost/effort to paper it from within Japan is well worth the added perceived value (in my opinion). In this case, its not so much a monetary value-add, but it is a kind of marketing tool for when you want to resell the item. The paper reduces the friction for a resale. Does it add anything to the monetary value of the blade? That is harder to answer, and I think honestly for a modern smith I don't think it will enhance the monetary value. Its just, as I say, something that greatly reduces the sales friction, and gives the buyer some extra confidence in the item. 

 

However, if you live in the States and have to contend with contracting an import agent in Japan, and then add all the touch costs of the agent and the shipping fees and the insurance, and then contemplate the not insignificant chance of damage to (or loss of) the blade in transit, I would be inclined to forego the NBTHK paper, because I don't feel the risk is worth the reward.

 

Much better to wait until you can submit the blade to shinsa (NTHK) here in the States, where you can then get the item authenticated without the expense and the hassle of sending it to Japan. 

 

Your mileage may vary.