Ainu dagger
Called kuttom-ushbe in the local language. This one mounted in deer antler mounts.
Miniature Ainu makiri
Despite its size it is of remarkably fine workmanship.
Facing dragon Canton tsuba
Made in Canton, China, for the Japanese market.
Echizen Kanesada in striking koshirae
Blade with fine dragon horimono. The mounts signed Sōmin and Masatatsu.
Fine autumn themed daishō
Both blades signed, its koshirae fine maki-e lacquer work. Ito school tsuba and Mino Gotō style mounts.
Katakiriha zukuri naginata by Masatsune
Considered one of the best makers of naginata, he worked for the household of Fukushima Masanori.
Jumonji yari by Kanabō Masazane
Made in the 16th century, for the warrior monks of the Hozo-in temple in Nara.
Very good hachiwari
Literally "skull splitter", more widely known as kabutowari; "helmet splitter." An excellent example, one of the best of its type.
Yagami school nanban tsuba
A masterpiece of the genre. The Yagami school were excellent carvers of iron.
Enamelled Hirado Kunishige tsuba
Fine work and one of the very few enamelled tsuba by this maker.
Katana in horse theme koshirae
Blade signed Sesshū-jū Fujiwara Hiroyoshi, active in the 1670s-80s.
Three wise monkeys tsuba
Japanese sword guard depicting three wise monkeys conveying the message see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Shimosaka o-tantō
N.B.T.H.K. Hozon with a set of Nanban-style koshirae with signed tsuba.
Important Ko-Hōki Sadatsuna katana
12th-century blade. 33rd Shinsha Juyō Token with sayagaki by Tanobe.
Jumyo katana with fine koshirae
The very detailed mountings are decorated with designs of Japanese spiny lobsters.
Katana by Musashi Taro Yasukuni
Signed, ubu. Complete with tasteful koshirae and Hozon papers.
Sōshū sword with tachi koshirae
Tokubetsu Hozon, attributed to Den Tametsugu. With fine itomaki no tachi koshirae.
Ainu sword with sash
With deeply carved scabbard, complete with fine guard embroidered sash.
Rare Ainu kuttom-ushbe
A luxury Ainu knife styled after the Japanese tantō.
Unusual Ainu knife
Resembling a makiri but with the blade's edge on the opposite side.
Ainu knife
Of a typical style used in Hokkaido in the 19th century.
Bark wrapped Ainu makiri
A slender makiri with a bark wrapped scabbard.
Fine Ainu makiri
An exceptionally well-carved Ainu knife.
Winged dragon tsuba
A fine and unusually large tsuba. Attributed to Hizen by the NBTHK.
Kunikiyo wakizashi, Yamano test cut
A wakizashi by master Kunikiyo, tested by the most famous sword tester of 17th century Japan.
Fine Kinai dragon tsuba
Made by the Kinai group of Echizen, who originated as horimono carvers.
Sukesada uchigatana made August 1523
With a sayagaki by Honma sensei attributing it to Yosozaemon.
Jūmonji yari (hozon)
A fine cross-shaped yari made by Enju Nobakatsu, with NBTHK Hozon papers.
Yari with kusabi-hi
Large Japanese spearhead with red lacquered zig-zag groove. Signed Mitsuhiro.
Suneate with Dutch leather
A pair of Samurai shin protectors finished with Dutch "goudleer".
Handachi mounted wakizashi
With Nanban-style guard and kozuka. Signed Fujiwara Hisayoshi.
Golden kabuto with iron menpo
A striking battle helmet from the Momoyama period of 1568-1600 A.D.
Signed nanban style ship tsuba
Signed by an artist named Kanesada from Higo.
Seiryūken Eiju dragon tsuba
Tetsugendo school. Round plate with discoid cross-section, chiseled with dragons.
Peony karakusa tsuba
Executed in "nanban style" openwork with chiseled and gold-encrusted peonies.
Sawasa style iron guard
Unusual piece with depiction of a foreign figure.
Iron chrysanthemum tsuba
Large example with gold and silver overlay.
Unusual dragon gate guard
Asian sword guard of unknown origin, modified in Japan.
Japanese tsuba in Canton style
Also known as Kwanto-gata, with two facing dragon chasing a pearl.
Daruma tsuba
A peculiar tsuba with a depiction of Bodhidharma and two dragon chasing a pearl.
Wan-gata tsuba by Kunihiro
Its outer surface is decorated with interlocking swastikas and family crests.
Rooster fight kozuka
Executed in gold and silver on a shakudō nanako base, with golden back.
Nanban kogai & kozuka set (futakoromono)
The only set of its type known to me in both private and museum collections.
Ainu sword hilt
Made of wood, with a silver ornamental fitting of remarkable workmanship.
Ainu sword in Japanese polish
Exceedingly rare Ainu sword. Comes in an old Japanese collection box.
An Edo period kankyûtô
A double-edged samurai tool with morbid origins.
Signed nakago kozuka
A by-knife for a Japanese sword, with a hilt shaped like a sword tang.
Japanese steel plate
Worked in repousse, possibly once part of an ornamental piece of armor.
Wakizashi in Burmese hilt
An unusual cross-cultural mix, blending Burmese, Japanese and Indian parts.