Japanese
A Very Fine Superior, Very Likely Gendaito, Traditional Hand Made Japanese Officer's Sword. Signed Tanigawa Ichishin Saku In Fabulous Condition
The blade tang is signed by the maker, and appears to be handmade in the traditional fashion.
The blade on this example was hand forged, and the tang of the blade is signed (Mei) with the characters 谷 川 一 心, read as Tanigawa Ichishin saku {made this}
Research indicates that this smith's real name was 谷川 慶治 - Tanigawa Keiji, so in this case "Tanigawa" was his family name, and "Ichishin" his "swordsmith name." We have seen many other smiths sign their swords in this fashion. His name appears in the Seki Tanrensho Book printed in 1939. Ichishin was active during the Showa Period and worked at Seki arsenal in Gifu, with that stamp on the nakago, Mino Province (美濃国), and look to have made both arsenal forged and traditional blades. The signature is his tradtional type. He died November 1st in 1945.
The stunning blade appears handmade and was expertly crafted by the sword smith. The mekugi-ana hole in the tang is punched and not drilled, {typical for handmade blades for ichishin}. it has a beautifully visible temper line {hamon} on the fabulous blade.
The blade is is stunning condition, and signed on the tang by the maker "the Mei".the Blade has a fine yokote at the tip, kissaki, with a boshi (tip temper line).
It has a traditional lacquered saya bound in combat leather. The tsuka is a traditional katana type with fine patinated iron fuchi kashira engraved with crashing waves in turbulant seas. the tsuba is a plain mokko form tettsu plate with five hammered Kiri mon, the Imperial mon of Japan. Under the original silk tsuka-ito are tettsu menuki of Tageha {arrow} in a Yabira Yazutsu {quiver}. This is a superior quality sword for likely a higher ranked officer of the IJN due to its mounting that is of completely traditional samurai form, with simply a leather field service protective combat cover on its saya that still has its kurigata.
The IJN launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and crippling the US Pacific Fleet. During the first six months of the Pacific War, the IJN enjoyed spectacular success inflicting heavy defeats on Allied forces. Allied navies were devastated during the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia. Japanese naval aircraft were also responsible for the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse which was the first time that capital ships were sunk by aerial attack while underway. In April 1942, the Indian Ocean raid drove the Royal Navy from South East Asia.
In 1943, the Japanese also turned their attention to the defensive perimeters of their previous conquests. Forces on Japanese held islands in Micronesia were to absorb and wear down an expected American counteroffensive. However, American industrial power become apparent and the military forces that faced the Japanese in 1943 were overwhelming in firepower and equipment. From the end of 1943 to 1944 Japan's defensive perimeter failed to hold.
The defeat at the Philippine Sea was a disaster for Japanese naval air power with American pilots terming the slanted air/sea battle the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, mostly going in the favour of the US,126 while the battle of Leyte Gulf led to the destruction of a large part of the surface fleet. During the last phase of the war, the Imperial Japanese Navy resorted to a series of desperate measures, including a variety of Special Attack Units which were popularly called kamikaze. By May 1945, most of the Imperial Japanese Navy had been sunk and the remnants had taken refuge in Japan's harbours. By July 1945, Nagato was the only remaining ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy's capital ships that had not been sunk in raids by the United States Navy read more
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A Fine Edo Period 17th Cent. Samurai Armour Gosuko, Dangae dou Part Suit of Armour. Shown With A Kabuto For Display Only, {Kabuto Now Sold}
17th century body armour {kabuto helmet sold seperately} comprising full a cuirass {do}, of front and back plates, constructed of iron plates over lacquered and fully laced, and linked with chain mail.
Dangae dou (dō) meaning "step-changing" is a Japanese (samurai) chest armor that is a combination of two or more other styles. The main part of the dou (dō) may be an okegawa dou (dō), but the bottom two lames are laced (kebiki or sugake) instead of riveted or vice versa, or an armour is laced in sugake but the tateage and bottom lames are in kebiki.
Plus, steel chain mail and armour plate arm defences, inner lined with blue green material. The kabuto we show in photos 4 and 5, would compliment it beautifully, and for sale separately {code number 24030}.
During the Heian period (794-1185), the Japanese cuirass evolved into the more familiar style of armour worn by the samurai known as the dou or do. Japanese armour makers started to use leather (nerigawa) and lacquer was used to weather proof the armor parts. By the end of the Heian period the Japanese cuirass had arrived at the shape recognized as being distinctly samurai. Leather and or iron scales were used to construct samurai armours, with leather and eventually silk lace used to connect the individual scales (kozane) which these cuirasses were now being made from.
In the 16th century Japan began trading with Europe during what would become known as the Nanban trade. Samurai acquired European armour including the cuirass and comb morion which they modified and combined with domestic armour as it provided better protection from the newly introduced matchlock muskets known as Tanegashima. The introduction of the tanegashima by the Portuguese in 1543 changed the nature of warfare in Japan causing the Japanese armour makers to change the design of their armours from the centuries-old lamellar armours to plate armour constructed from iron and steel plates which was called tosei gusoku (new armours). Bullet resistant armours were developed called tameshi gusoku or (bullet tested) allowing samurai to continue wearing their armour despite the use of firearms. Please note the helmet is not with the armour. The silk lacing on the breast and back plate is 400 years old and very frayed throughout.
In Japan the term samurai evolved over several centuries
In Japanese, they are usually referred to as bushi (武士,) or buke (武家). According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning 'to wait upon', 'accompany persons' in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean 'those who serve in close attendance to the nobility', the Japanese term saburai being the nominal form of the verb." According to Wilson, an early reference to the word samurai appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century.
Originally, the word samurai referred to anyone who served the emperor, the imperial family, or the imperial court nobility, even in a non-military capacity.It was not until the 17th century that the term gradually became a title for military servants of warrior families, so that, according to Michael Wert, "a warrior of elite stature in pre-seventeenth-century Japan would have been insulted to be called a 'samurai'".
In modern usage, bushi is often used as a synonym for samurai read more
2850.00 GBP
Very Rare Circa 1700’s Japanese Nagasaki Emigre Sword Maker. A ‘Sawasa’ Naval Hanger With Japanese Hilt in The European Style, For a Senior Officer of the Dutch East India Company ( the VOC). A VOC Naval Captain of A So Called ‘Black Ship’
Made by Japanese emigre samurai sword koshirae {sword mounts} makers and artisans, after 1639, by exiled Japanese sword fitting craftsmen working in Batavia, for a VOA Naval Admiral or Captain, likely a permitted trading black ship voyaging to the trading post at the Nagasaki island Dejima.
The Black Ships (in Japanese: 黒船, romanized: kurofune, Edo period term) were the names given to Portuguese and Dutch merchant ships,
In 1543, Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking Goa to Nagasaki. The large carracks engaged in this trade had the hull painted black with pitch, and the term came to represent all Western vessels. In 1639, after suppressing a rebellion blamed on the influence of Christian thought, the ruling Tokugawa shogunate retreated into an isolationist policy, the Sakoku. During this "locked state", contact with Japan by Westerners was restricted to Dutch traders on Dejima island at Nagasaki.
European hanger swords were the weapon of choice for senior maritime officers employed by the Dutch East India Company VOC , in fact by all senior naval officers at the time, including notorious pirates such as Edward Teach, aka ‘Blackbeard’. The hilt and fittings of this sword were probably added to the European blade by Japanese émigrés in the Dutch colony of Batavia (Jakarta).
They were made using the sawasa technique of gilded copper alloy with black shakudo detailing. Japanese samegawa grip {giant rayskin}, with a vertical panel, engraved with an exotic bird in front of two Indonesian mosque temple domes.
The level of workmanship suggests that the sword belonged to a high-ranking company official.
A sawasa hilted hunting hanger. It features a straight blade with a double-edged tip and wide fuller, flanked by a narrow groove near the spine. In the base of the fuller on either side are a running stag and a boar, both prized hunting animals, and French motto of honour. Sometimes referred to as 'Tonkinese chiseled work', these 18th century export wares became highly sought after, such as this 18th century Sawasa hilted sword
The desiring incorporates a single shell-guard, chased and gilded in high relief against a blackened fish-roe shakudo ground, chisseled with reclining Eros with his bow and quiver. the hilt quilon block is chisseled on one sade by a collared hunting hound and tiger to the other side. The knuckle bow is chisseled with the figure of a turbanned Jakartan figure. the pommel is chisseled with a stag, and the quillon end is a stag hoof, and a covering in panels of Japanese samegawa {giant rayskin}. Overall the hilt is decorated with a combination of artistic styles of the Dutch East Indies, and Europe, made by Japanese emigre artistry with japanese samegawa binding, finished in a mixture of shakudo and gilt.
This sword is a beauty in a superb state of preservation.
Sawasa is the Japanese name given to objects made by Asian artisans, adopting European models combined with Japanese and Chinese materials and decorative motifs. This decoration consists of refined gilt relief and engraving on a lustrous lacquered surface. Sawasa wares are the result of cultural interaction between Asia and Europe. As a consequence of global trade in the 17th century, mutual interest arose in the peculiarities of each other’s culture. The Dutch and other Europeans brought rare objects back from their travels which whetted the appetite for exotic rarities. The earliest sawasa objects are sword and hanger hilts and tobacco boxes ordered in Japan from Batavia, now Jakarta. Sawasa demonstrates not only the intercontinental commercial connections created by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) but also mutual cultural influences between Europe and Asia.
The decoration of the fittings are of the Japanese export style, in the European manner, but with fine and typical Japanese influences for a black ship naval captain of the VOC, in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth centuries, a style of metalwork known as sawasa that was produced for the Dutch East India Company in and around Nagasaki. Following Japan’s closed country (sakoku) edicts, from around 1639, exiled Japanese sword fitting craftsmen began working in Batavia, where the market for sawasa was a profitable one. The idea of sawasa was that objects made from a copper alloy were given gilt relief decoration with black lacquered highlights to achieve the appearance of shakudō. The extensive metalwork here resembles shakudō, but is likely to be sawasa with highlights in gold. The ground is covered with fine punch marks in a pattern resembling fish roe (nanako), although the punch marks are not completely uniform. The wooden hilt is covered on each side with panels of brass alloy, over Japanese samegawa giant ray skin and once overlaid with gold leaf;
Blade is engraved, on both sides, Ne me Tirez pas sans Raisons.. Ne me Remette point sans Honneur
Do not shoot me without reason do not hand me over without honour.
The hilt and blade is exceptionally sound and great condition, but with all the due appropriate age and surface wear from the past three hundred years
Picture in the gallery, a Japanese woodblock print, of a 17th century Dutch East India Co. vessel trading in Japan, a so-called Black Ship.
For reference;
Sawasa – Japanese Export Art in Black and Gold 1650-1800 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
Every item is accompanied with our unique, Certificate of Authenticity. Of course any certificate of authenticity, given by even the best specialist dealers, in any field, all around the world, is simply a piece of paper,…however, ours is backed up with the fact we are the largest dealers of our kind in the world, with over 100 years and four generation’s of professional trading experience behind us read more
2450.00 GBP
An Ancient Nambokochu Han Dachi Mounted Nambokochu Period Samurai Koto Era Katana up to 600 Years Old
The sword in many ways looks just as it looked many centuries ago, and it has been lovingly cared for since it came from Japan to England 150 years ago, in the reign of the Meiji emperor .
The blade looks stunning with a typical ancient Koto, very narrow, suguha hamon of great simplicity and elegance.
All original Edo period han dachi mounts and the menuki, under the blue silk ito, are dragon with gold eyes over traditional samegawa.
Made during the late Nambokochu 1333 to 1391 period, to the early Muramachi period, that dates from 1392 to 1573. Han dachi mounted, with a very nice, original Edo period, matching suite of full mounts with gold and silver tendrils inlaid over iron. Round iron tsuba with inlays. Original ishime stone finish lacquer saya.
Han-dachi originally appeared during the Muromachi period when there was a transition taking place from Tachi to katana. The sword was being worn more and more edge up when on foot, but edge down on horseback as it had always been. The handachi is a response to the need to be worn in either style. The samurai were roughly the equivalent of feudal knights. Employed by the shogun or daimyo, they were members of hereditary warrior class that followed a strict "code" that defined their clothes, armour and behaviour on the battlefield. But unlike most medieval knights, samurai warriors could read and they were well versed in Japanese art, literature and poetry.
Samurai endured for almost 700 years, from 1185 to 1867. Samurai families were considered the elite. They made up only about six percent of the population and included daimyo and the loyal soldiers who fought under them. Samurai means one who serves."
Samurai were expected to be both fierce warriors and lovers of art, a dichotomy summed up by the Japanese concepts of bu to stop the spear expanding into bushido (the way of life of the warrior) and bun (the artistic, intellectual and spiritual side of the samurai). Originally conceived as away of dignifying raw military power, the two concepts were synthesised in feudal Japan and later became a key feature of Japanese culture and morality. The quintessential samurai was Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary early Edo-period swordsman who reportedly killed 60 men before his 30th birthday.
In Japan the term samurai evolved over several centuries
In Japanese, they are usually referred to as bushi (武士,) or buke (武家). According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning 'to wait upon', 'accompany persons' in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean 'those who serve in close attendance to the nobility', the Japanese term saburai being the nominal form of the verb." According to Wilson, an early reference to the word samurai appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century.
Originally, the word samurai referred to anyone who served the emperor, the imperial family, or the imperial court nobility, even in a non-military capacity.It was not until the 17th century that the term gradually became a title for military servants of warrior families, so that, according to Michael Wert, "a warrior of elite stature in pre-seventeenth-century Japan would have been insulted to be called a 'samurai'".
In modern usage, bushi is often used as a synonym for samurai
40 inches in saya blade 28 inches
Every item is accompanied with our unique, Certificate of Authenticity. Of course any certificate of authenticity, given by even the best specialist dealers, in any field, all around the world, is simply a piece of paper,…however, ours is backed up with the fact we are the largest dealers of our kind in the world, with over 100 years and four generation’s of professional trading experience behind us read more
7450.00 GBP
A Singularly Magnificent Original Antique Presentation Samurai Daisho. A Signed Original Edo Period Daito By Muneyoshi Presented to Yoshifuji, In the Fortuitous Time of The Midwinter, In The Year of the Rabbit, in The Reign of Emperor Keio
The shoto [short sword] is Sukesada school koto to shinto period, the daito [long sword] is a shinshinto sword signed Muneyoshi.
A Beautiful original antique Edo period (1596-1871) Daisho mounted with beautifully patinated copper koshirae based on hand carved botanical designs of incredible miniscule detail, gold tsukaito, with their very fine, original Edo period, decoratively embossed two tone black lacquer saya. The kodzuka is gold to match the ito and decorated with cranes. The daito has a superb midare hamon. Only the daito blade is shown in detail here at present. The daito is, signed Muneyoshi, the shoto is mumei [unsigned].The shoto has a good suguha hamon .
The tsuka bore an inscription, signed on a parchment [see photo] under the tsukaito, to date the occasion when and to whom they were presented, during the Keio Emperor's reign in 1867.
The presentation inscription reads;
“Keio san nen usagi Yoshi Chuto Kichi no tatsu Izumi ryu Koi, Koi Kawa Yoshifuji.’
Effectively, it translates to;
Presented to Yoshifuji, In the fortuitous time of the midwinter, in the year of the rabbit, [the third year] in the reign of Emperor Keio. Emperor Keio died in 1868, succeeded by the Meiji Emperor..
This form of parchment inscription, concealed under the tsuka-ito, is very rare indeed and we have never seen a complete inscription such as this to survive before.
The daisho has a pair of very fine kikubana sukashi daisho tsuba with a tetsumigakiji, possibly Sunagawa Masayoshi school, Edo period.
The Sunagawa tsuba school derived from the artists trained by teachers from within the Yokoya school founded by Yokoya Somin. The Ishiguro (by way of the Sunagawa school) and Iwamoto schools had the same antecedents. The botan (peony) was a common theme in this school.
The daisho is a Japanese term referring to the traditional weapons of the samurai. The daisho is composed of a katana daito and wakizashi shoto. The daito, meaning big sword, and shoto, meaning small sword, The katana, the longer of the two swords, was typically employed in man-to-man combat. The wakizashi made an effective main-gauche or close-combat weapon. A daisho allows for defense while fighting or the fighting of two enemies. Also, the daisho allows the fighter to have a longer or more widespread fighting range. The concept of the daisho originated with the pairing of a short sword with whatever long sword was being worn during a particular time period. It has been noted that the tachi would be paired with a tantō, and later the uchigatana would be paired with another shorter uchigatana. With the advent of the katana, the wakizashi eventually was chosen by samurai as the short sword over the tantō. The ancient custom of leaving the katana at the door of a castle or palace when entering facilitated the continuing to wear the wakizashi within the host's castle.
The wearing of daishō was strictly limited to the samurai class, and became a symbol or badge of their rank. Daishō may have became popular around the end of the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573) as several early examples date from the late sixteenth century. An edict in 1629 defining the duties of a samurai required the wearing of a daishō when on official duty. During the Meiji period an edict was passed in 1871 abolishing the requirement of the wearing of daishō by samurai, and in 1876 the wearing of swords in public by most of Japan's population was banned; this ended the use of the daishō as the symbol of the samurai, and the samurai class was abolished soon after the sword ban. Picture of Last Fight of the Soga Brothers, 1858 by Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861). Both saya have small areas of natural wear and use. The stand shown is for illustration only and not included. however it will come with another complimentary daisho stand. The shoto blade is being carefully cleaned so can be photographed later.
Special offer item, part one of a personal private collection, sourced from a former Far Eastern specialist fine samurai sword collector read more
24995.00 GBP
A Superb Koto Period Wakizashi Signed By Master Smith Sukesada
Fabulous blade in superb condition showing an amazingly complex and beautifully active hamon. One of the Sukesada, Bizen smiths. Very fine two part blade collar habaki in gold and silver. A pair of Shishi lion dog menuki under the gold silk tsukaito over traditional samegawa. A super kashira in shakudo silver copper and gold, with a takebori shishi. The fuchi is very nice quality in shakudo with deep scroll engraving and applied pure gold chrysanthemum flowers.
An Omori School shibuichi tsuba. The shibuichi tsuba of marugata shape, with a kozuka and kogai hitsu-ana, the nakago-ana with some suaka sekigane, finely worked takabori and takazogan to depict breaking waves carved in the typical manner of the Omori school with inlaid gilt-metal spray drops. Plain black urushi lacquer saya, its original Edo period saya, with vacant kozuka and kogai pockets
The highly regarded Sukesada line of swordsmiths descended in the Osafune school and are recorded as far back as the end of the Nambokucho period (around 1394). This blade here is likely placed in the Sue-Koto Period (1469-1596).Being descendant of the Ichimonji Line they were also known to have made some of the finest swords. This is where they really shine, swordsmiths such as Yozosaemon Sukesada were known to make masterpiece blades that outshone the vast majority of the time period. In fact Yozosaemon is considered one of the representative swordsmiths of the Era, going hand in hand with names like Muramasa of the Soshu/Sengo Tradition and Kanemoto of the Mino Tradition. Sukesada swords were also popular with those in high ranks and we see many tachi and longer katana being made, these were often of exceptional quality and were quite deserving of their Jchimonji lineage. Sukesada swords would spread throughout Japan, with their home forges being in Bizen province. This however ; would not last. The great flood of the Yoshii River around 1590 signalled a death toll to the Sukesada line. This flood hit Bizen province hard and wiped out nearly all of the Sukesada forges, leaving only several offshoots of the Sukesada family swordsmiths to carry out the tradition, such the Shinto period Yokoyama Sukesada family swords. The Sukesada tradition struggled to survive and eventually died out partway through the Shinto Era as it never really came close to reaching the Majesty and quality of its predecessor and mainline schools. The great flood essentially marked the end for one of the Koto Era's greatest sword making traditions.
As part of their military training, it has been said, but possibly as part of the myth of samurai training, that samurai were taught to sleep with their right arm underneath them so if they were attacked in the middle of the night and their the left arm was cut off the could still fight with their right arm. It is further said that Samurai that tossed and turned at night were cured of the habit by having two knives placed on either side of their pillow.
Samurai have been describes as "the most strictly trained human instruments of war to have existed." They were expected to be proficient in the martial arts of aikido and kendo as well as swordsmanship and archery---the traditional methods of samurai warfare---which were viewed not so much as skills but as art forms that flowed from natural forces that harmonized with nature.
An individual, in certain circumstances, apparently didn't become a full-fledged samurai until, some say, he wandered around the countryside as begging pilgrim for a couple of years to learn humility. Again this may be part of the myth. However, when all his training was completed a samurai trainee that achieved samurai status and received a salary from his daimyo, paid from taxes (usually rice) raised from the local populace, he truly became the very best at his art in the world of sword combat
Swords in Japan have long been symbols of power and honour and seen as works of art, which is exactly what they are.
In Japan the term samurai evolved over several centuries
In Japanese, they are usually referred to as bushi (武士,) or buke (武家). According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning 'to wait upon', 'accompany persons' in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean 'those who serve in close attendance to the nobility', the Japanese term saburai being the nominal form of the verb." According to Wilson, an early reference to the word samurai appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century.
Originally, the word samurai referred to anyone who served the emperor, the imperial family, or the imperial court nobility, even in a non-military capacity.It was not until the 17th century that the term gradually became a title for military servants of warrior families, so that, according to Michael Wert, "a warrior of elite stature in pre-seventeenth-century Japan would have been insulted to be called a 'samurai'".
In modern usage, bushi is often used as a synonym for samurai
Every item is accompanied with our unique, Certificate of Authenticity. Of course any certificate of authenticity, given by even the very best and highly esteemed specialist dealers, in any field, all around the world, is simply a piece of paper,…however, ours is backed up with the fact we are the largest dealers of our kind in the world, with over 100 years and four generation’s of professional trading behind us. The current two partners alone, combined together, have over 96 years of professional experience within the trade. read more
4995.00 GBP
A Fine Koto Period Wakizashi, Circa 1500 With Exceptional Mounts & Blade
The fuchigashira, are very special indeed hilt mounts and decorated with dragonfly and signed with an archaic style gold makers seal mark, and the menuki grip fittings, are of also stunning quality made in stunning quality shakudo. The menuki are based around the meditating Daruma. Daruma is a repesentation of a 5th century Buddhist monk,and has a design that is rich in symbolism and is regarded more as a talisman of good luck to the Japanese. He is completely wrapped in his robe, he holds a hossu-fly, the opposing menuki is showing, what is likely a view of Daruma wrapped in his cloak from behind, is inlaid with a pure gold seal mark of the maker, signed, Masayuki. The details in very high relief are accented with finely shakudo and gold inlaid in a Yanagawa style. This notable school takes rank with the Goto, the Nara, and the Yokoyoya in the extent of its influence, the numbers of its pupils, and the importance of the branch school founded by them. The founder, Yanagawa Naomasa (1692 ?1757 ) was a pupil of the early Yokoya and of the Yoshioka, and combined characteristics of both this school. Shakudo was historically used in Japan to construct or decorate katana fittings such as tsuba, menuki, and kozuka; as well as other small ornaments. When it was introduced to the West in the mid-19th century, it was thought to be previously unknown outside Asia, but recent studies have suggested close similarities to certain decorative alloys used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The fittings are set within their two bespoke wooden display cases. Antique Japanese koshirae Japanese samurai sword mounts and fittings are considered as fine object d'art in their own right, and have been collectable as individual items or sets, since the Edo period. The tsuka ito hilt binding is of leather. The tsuba is a fine sukashi tsuba in iron. The saya is decorated with intricately layered pine needles, placed in position to appear natural and random but are actually methodically put in position, in an incredible time consuming skillful manner to appear random, but are not. The surface is then over laid in clear lacquer. The whole process to make thgis saya could have taken an artisan a year or even longer. Overall 24 1/4 inches long, blade length tsuba to tip 17 5/8 inches long read more
5250.00 GBP
A Very Fine Ancient Koto Period ‘Plum Blossom’ Tanto Of the 1400's, Signed Blade
Around 600 plus years old. Likely used by one of the great Japanese clans that used the Ume [plum blossom] symbol as their kamon [crest]. With simply fabulous original Edo mounts of a copper ground with silver and gold decor of takebori deep relief plum blossom and berries. A fine copper tsuba stamped with rows of plum blossom kamon. The original edo saya is stunning, and inlaid with almost microscopic inlays of white shell. The saya pocket holds a superb kozuka with a complimenting copper hilt decorated with a takebori gold and shakudo goose in flight, showing with half a pure gold full moon. It is signed on the reverse side. The blade is very good with typical early, koto narrow straight hamon. The tang is signed but due to its great age is very difficult to translate. There are a super pair of matching takebori plum blossom menuki under the gold silk binding. A tanto would most often be worn by Samurai, and it was very uncommon to come across a non samurai with a tanto. It was not only men who carried these daggers, women would on occasions carry a small tanto called a kaiken in their obi which would be used for self-defence. In feudal Japan a tanto would occasionally be worn by Samurai in place of the wakizashi in a combination called the daisho, which roughly translates as big-little, in reference to the big Samurai Sword (Katana) and the small dagger (tanto). Before the rise of the katana it was more common for a Samurai to carry a tachi and tanto combination as opposed to a katana and wakizashi. Before the 16th century it was common for a Samurai to carry a tachi and a tanto as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi. Plum blossoms, symbolic of the arrival of spring, were a favored subject among scholar-gentleman painters in China, but when Chinese ink paintings of plums arrived in Japan their imagery became widespread within Zen circles. This composition of a gnarled plum tree framed by a circle of ink wash may reflect the use of the circle in Zen painting and calligraphy as a visual representation of words from the text of the Heart Sutra, “form is void and void is form,” and as a symbol of enlightenment.
Motsurin, a Zen artist-monk, might also have chosen plum blossoms because they were beloved of his mentor Ikkyū Sōjun (1394–1481), an abbot of Daitokuji temple in Kyoto known for his poetry, calligraphy, and flagrantly unorthodox behavior. Motsurin’s inscribed text claims that even elegant peonies and sweet jasmine cannot match the plum as a representation of the spring season. Originally brought in from China during the early Heian period (794-1185), plum trees became popular as ornamental garden fixtures because of their delicate beauty. Over the years, many varieties have been cultivated and now you see ume blossoms in a myriad of colours.
Ume blossoms are the first flower of spring and the original inspiration for flower-viewing hanami parties that were so well-loved by the rich aristocrats from the past. 21.5 inches long overall, blade 11 inches long read more
4995.00 GBP
A Delightful & Beautiful Early to Mid Edo Period 1598-1863 Samurai War Arrow. A Long Bladed Armour Piercing Tagari-Ya, With Yadake Bamboo haft, & Sea Eagle Feather Flights and a Traditional Tamahagane Tempered Steel Head In Stunning Polish with Hamon
With original traditional eagle feathers, probably the large edge-wing feathers of a Japanese sea eagle. The armour pierceing arrow tip, that is swollen at the tip to have the extra piercing power to penetrate armour and helmets {kabuto}, is a brightly polished, traditional tamagahane steel hand made, by a sword smith, long arrow head, originally hand made with folding and tempering exactly as would be a samurai sword blade, possibly signed on the tang under the binding but we would never remove it to see. The Edo period early eagle feathers are now slightly worn. It is entirely indicative of the Japanese principle that as much time skill and effort be used to create a single 'fire and forget' arrow, as would be used to make a tanto or katana. A British or European blacksmith might once have made ten or twenty arrows a day, a Japanese craftsman might take a week to make a single arrow, that has a useable combat life of maybe two minutes, the same as a simplest British long bow arrow.
The Togari-Ya or pointed arrowheads look like a miniature version of a long Yari (spear) and were used only for war and are armour piercing arrows . Despite being somewhat of a weapon that was 'fire and forget' it was created regardless of cost and time, like no other arrow ever was outside of Japan. For example, to create the arrow head alone, in the very same traditional way today, using tamahagane steel, folding and forging, water quench tempering, then followed by polishing, it would likely cost way in excess of a thousand pounds, that is if you could find a Japanese master sword smith today who would make one for you. Then would would need hafting, binding, and feathering, by a completely separate artisan, and finally, using eagle feathers as flights, would be very likely impossible. This is a simple example of how incredible value finest samurai weaponry can be, items that can be acquired from us that would cost many times the price of our original antiques in order to recreate today. Kyu Jutsu is the art of Japanese archery.The beginning of archery in Japan is pre-historical. The first images picturing the distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi period (c. 500 BC – 300 AD).
The changing of society and the military class (samurai) taking power at the end of the first millennium created a requirement for education in archery. This led to the birth of the first kyujutsu ryūha (style), the Henmi-ryū, founded by Henmi Kiyomitsu in the 12th century. The Takeda-ryū and the mounted archery school Ogasawara-ryū were later founded by his descendants. The need for archers grew dramatically during the Genpei War (1180–1185) and as a result the founder of the Ogasawara-ryū (Ogasawara Nagakiyo), began teaching yabusame (mounted archery) In the twelfth and thirteenth century a bow was the primary weapon of a warrior on the battlefield. Bow on the battlefield stopped dominating only after the appearance of firearm.The beginning of archery in Japan is pre-historical. The first images picturing the distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi period (c. 500 BC – 300 AD).
The changing of society and the military class (samurai) taking power at the end of the first millennium created a requirement for education in archery. This led to the birth of the first kyujutsu ryūha (style), the Henmi-ryū, founded by Henmi Kiyomitsu in the 12th century. The Takeda-ryū and the mounted archery school Ogasawara-ryū were later founded by his descendants. The need for archers grew dramatically during the Genpei War (1180–1185) and as a result the founder of the Ogasawara-ryū (Ogasawara Nagakiyo), began teaching yabusame (mounted archery) Warriors practiced several types of archery, according to changes in weaponry and the role of the military in different periods. Mounted archery, also known as military archery, was the most prized of warrior skills and was practiced consistently by professional soldiers from the outset in Japan. Different procedures were followed that distinguished archery intended as warrior training from contests or religious practices in which form and formality were of primary importance. Civil archery entailed shooting from a standing position, and emphasis was placed upon form rather than meeting a target accurately. By far the most common type of archery in Japan, civil or civilian archery contests did not provide sufficient preparation for battle, and remained largely ceremonial. By contrast, military training entailed mounted maneuvers in which infantry troops with bow and arrow supported equestrian archers.
Mock battles were staged, sometimes as a show of force to dissuade enemy forces from attacking. While early medieval warfare often began with a formalized archery contest between commanders, deployment of firearms and the constant warfare of the 15th and 16th centuries ultimately led to the decline of archery in battle. In the Edo period archery was considered an art, and members of the warrior classes participated in archery contests that venerated this technique as the most favoured weapon of the samurai. In the gallery is from an edo exhibition of archery that shows a tagari ya arrow pierced completely through, back and front, an armoured steel multi plate kabuto helmet.
Every item is accompanied with our unique, Certificate of Authenticity. Of course any certificate of authenticity, given by even the best specialist dealers, in any field, all around the world, is simply a piece of paper,…however, ours is backed up with the fact we are the largest dealers of our kind in the world, with over 100 years and four generation’s of professional trading experience behind us read more
645.00 GBP
A Stunning, Surrendered in 1945, Japanese 450 Year Old Ancestral Samurai Sword, Koto To Shinto Period, Mounted In Type 98 Military Shingunto Mounts For A WW2 Imperial Japanese Officer
Part of a superb collection of original WW2 Japanese swords, and early samurai swords recently acquired by us.
This is one of the best early ancestral swords with WW2 fittings that we have seen in a long time. The blade is superb for its age, wonderfully bright with an exceptionally vibrant hamon, and all its fittings are top class in very fine condition. An absolute beauty!
Fine quality type 98 Shin gunto officer's sword mounts, with an ancestral blade around 450 years old, late Koto to early Shinto period.
Sugata shinogi-zukuri with torii-zori, medium kissaki the hamon is a broad notare choji, two-piece copper and gilt deluxe habaki , nakago is ubu mumei and unsigned. Koshirae is traditional WW2 '98' pattern of good quality, the saya is wooden with leather protective cover and suspension ring; traditional tsuka wrapped in brown silk over good giant rayskin samegawa, fine standard brass military fuchi and kabutogane, tsuba and menuki decorated with sakura and kiku.
During the Meiji period, the samurai class was gradually disbanded, and the Haitorei Edict in 1876 forbade the carrying of swords in public except for certain individuals such as former samurai lords (daimyōs), the military and police. Skilled swordsmiths had trouble making a living during this period as Japan modernised its military and many swordcsmiths started making other items such as cutlery. Military action by Japan in China and Russia during the Meiji Period helped revive the manufacture of swords and in the Showa period (1926–1989) before and during World War II swords were once again produced on a large scale.
During the pre World War II military buildup and throughout the war, all Japanese officers were required to wear a sword. Traditionally made swords were produced during this period but, in order to supply such large numbers of swords, blacksmiths with little or no knowledge of traditional Japanese sword manufacture were recruited. In addition, supplies of the type of Japanese steel (tamahagane) used for sword making were limited so several other types of steel were substituted. Shortcuts in forging were also taken, such as the use of power hammers and tempering the blade in oil rather than hand forging and water tempering; these measures created swords without the usual characteristics associated with Japanese swords.
However, families of great standing or with samurai backgrounds and ancestry were permitted to allow their son's to wear military mounted swords but containing ancient ancestral blades, usually of great significance to the family's history. this is one of those swords. it was once estimated only 1 in 100 had such historical swords to carry in combat, while serving their divine emperor Hirohito in WW2.
The scabbard for the Type 98 was made of metal with a wood lining to protect the blade, and the option of adding a combat leather cover, or, as has this sword, a wooden scabbard covered with combat leather. Metal scabbards were often painted olive green to brown, but all types, wooden or metal were suspended from the officer’s belt by a single scabbard ring mount.
25 inch blade tsuba to tip read more
4450.00 GBP