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Type : Katana Ubu, Single mekugi ana Mei : Bizen Kuni Ju Osafune Kiyomitsu Saku Ura Mei : cant read fully but a partial Ten kanji and a clear Bun kanji can be seen ( Tenbun ) Papered: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Shirasaya with Koshirae and sword bag and oshigata Nagasa/Blade Length : 70.0 cm Sori : 2.1 cm Hamon Type : suguha/ notare Jihada : itame/mokume Sword Location : USA Will ship to : USA preferable Payment Methods Accepted : PayPal/Venmo Price and Currency : $6000.00 USD including insurance and shipping for CON-USA I have reluctantly decided to part ways with my beloved Bizen Kiyomitsu katana as my interest has shifted towards Kyushu schools in recent years. Hard to do it justice via photos but the hamon and jigane is stunning with lots of activity. It is quite hard to find Tokubetsu Hozon Sue Bizen and this one is quite one of a kind as well with a massive 845 gram weight, wide 3.3 cm mihaba and thick kassane. The heaviest and thickest sue bizen blade I have yet to see listed personaly. Here are the high res photo in the link and please do not hesitate reach out for any additional photos if you are interested. It was purchased at 950,000 yen at the time so I will be just below breaking even after shipping and insurance. High Res link: https://www.kozmophotography.com/Bizen-Kuni-Ju-Osafune-Kiyomitsu-Saku/n-4Fg5nF This sword is also featured in the Eirakudo gallery of masterpieces https://eirakudo.shop/token/wakizashi/detail/319916 As noted above, the koshirae is included and is the same as the Eirakudo listing . And please note that this blade currently has a light hadori after shiage togi last summer. Thank you everyone - Kevin

I couldn’t find anyone by the name of Ueda Kanetada（植田兼忠）, but I did discover a swordsmith who signed his blades with the name ‘Kanetada’.（兼忠） Keiichi Ishihara（石原銈一）It seems he was active in 1939. I was able to confirm the signature ‘Ishihara Kanetada’, but I could not confirm the signature ‘Ueda Kanetada’.

I Propose for sale my Gassan Collection of swords ( 5). - 2 Gassan Sadakazu’horimono - 1 Gassan Sadatoshi’ horimono - 1 Gassan Sadaichi ‘ horimono - 1 Gassan Sadanobu’horimono They were collected thanks to the late Darcy Brockbank. Please ask if you are interested in. regards julien

Not looking for cheap deals, let's move to the other end of the spectrum. Late Kamakura to early Nanbokucho period. Shikkake School of Yamato province prospered present Tenri City in Nara prefecture. The name Shikkake is from Shikkake-ishi, the flat stone to place the divine palanquin in Shinto. The Jitetsu of this sword is extremely fine that has something in common with Taima School. It satiates the collector’s interest. Five principal schools prospered in Yamato province: Tegai, Shikkake, Taema, Senjuin and Hosho. Norinaga is thought as the substantial founder of Shikakke school. Dated Tanto in 1319, the third year of Bunpo era in late Kamakura period still survive at the age of 69. Counting backward, Norinaga was born in 1270, the seventh year of Bunei era in Kamakura period. Later generations Norinaga forged sword to the Muromachi period. Smart Shinogi-suji, wide Shinogi-haba, stream like pattern of Itame-hada and Suguha-hamon are characteristics common to all Yamato province. The workmanship of Shikkake School shows traditional Yamato style. Typical ko-gunome hamon based on suguha. Kunzan Sayagaki which states this belonged to Dean Hartley. Provenance: Col. Dean Hartley Price: Ask, if you are prepared to purchase a sword of this level.

Just some information on the Fujiwara area of Nara. The place name still exists and it is located in front of Kasuga-taisha grand shrine. These smiths supplied arms for the warriors attached to the shrine. As Ray has provided, some of these smiths are from the Sue-Tegai School, some are Fujiwara School smiths and a few are pre-Kanabô smiths. The Kanabô School began in Fujiwara before moving to the Kanabô area of Nara.

The pictures of the blade are not the best, but I don’t see anything in the listing that makes me think this is a reproduction. Just look at the wear on the wire and the grip. It does look like the brass on the handle was cleaned. The patina looks a little off.

Update: Yamanaka Newsletters V4 NL 08 - now available. Albert Yamanaka's Nihonto Newsletters Volume 1 Yamanaka V1 NL01 Yamanaka V1 NL02 Yamanaka V1 NL03 Yamanaka V1 NL04 Yamanaka V1 NL05 Yamanaka V1 NL06 Yamanaka V1 NL07 Yamanaka V1 NL08 Yamanaka V1 NL09 Yamanaka V1 NL10 Yamanaka V1 NL11 Yamanaka V1 NL12 Yamanaka V1 NL12 Extras Volume 2 Yamanaka V2 NL01 Yamanaka V2 NL02 Yamanaka V2 NL03 Yamanaka V2 NL04 Yamanaka V2 NL05 Yamanaka V2 NL06 Yamanaka V2 NL07 Yamanaka V2 NL08 Yamanaka V2 NL09 Yamanaka V2 NL10 Yamanaka V2 NL11 Yamanaka V2 NL12 Volume 3 Yamanaka V3 NL01 Yamanaka V3 NL02 Yamanaka V3 NL03 Yamanaka V3 NL04 Yamanaka V3 NL05 Yamanaka V3 NL06 Yamanaka V3 NL07 Yamanaka V3 NL08 Yamanaka V3 NL09 Yamanaka V3 NL10 Yamanaka V3 NL11 & NL12 Volume 4 Yamanaka V4 NL01 Yamanaka V4 NL02 Yamanaka V4 NL03 Yamanaka V4 NL04 Yamanaka V4 NL05 Yamanaka V4 NL06 Yamanaka V4 NL07 Yamanaka V4 NL08

One correction 竪丸形 Tatemarugata Nengō is correct. Edit 型→形 (had to correct my own correction)

Looks to be three wartime KANETADA in Gifu, and all seen to have used Seki stamp. Kanetada Ishihara Keiichi, born 1920 and in Seki registration list. 兼忠 石原 銈一. Kanetada Yamada Koichi, born 1926, not in registration list (but in Sesko). 兼忠 山田 耕市. Kanetada Ueda, the subject here, not is registration list, and no other info found, so looks undocumented. His mei is cut 植田 兼忠 .

FYI, another Fujiwara ju Yasumitsu Yahoo!オークション - 珍品 藤原住安光 指表に素剣彫り指裏に添樋の入...

This is an old acquaintance, it was already there in 2021 (see page 2).

Dreadful fake:

I have a Fujiwara jû Yasutomo oshigata and the signatures are very similar, although the nakago-jiri are different. This is certainly a Yamato Fujiwara smith that is unlisted in the Meikan.

After the war, some Japanese veterans had wartime swords refitted with postwar made alloy blades. So this might not be a real or replica situation.

Hi @Gerry no worries Also this is a Tokuno Kazuo appraisal certificate and not NTHK either. The papers somewhat look similar but I ve heard mixed opinion about Kazuo. I would think anytime a big name like Gassan coming up today without NBTHK would be quite the red flag

Very interesting development! Not much known about this Seki swordsmith. Did not see him listed on the guild list. Translation help & Polishing, Post #27 @mecox

The Nihonto Club swordsmith database is now gated behind a login, so sharing a screenshot with some examples rather than a link.

3rd:

2nd:

Are you from the past? I disagree, as a person without deep pockets I find these quite interesting. Anyway, maybe this help. I will leave it as it is. If anyone is interested you know where to find me.

I don’t mean to get upset I had a member that wanted to buy my sword Anyway it should be a quick fix Nothing wrong with the sword Steve

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/l657634473

Beautiful work! One of my favorite works on this topic is by Omori Teruhide.

堅丸形 赤銅地 金平象嵌 無銘 加賀 年号に自信がないが昭和丁未年春 堅丸型＝katamarugata 赤銅地＝syakudouzi 金平象嵌＝kinhirazougan 無銘＝mumei　加賀＝kaga Maybe 昭和＝syouwa 丁未年＝hinotohituzi 春＝haru (1967) 私が知っているオカンさんなら、突然連絡が途絶えた時、心配しました

These Kyu Gunto dress swords are relatively inexpensive and fairly common, which is why they are rarely faked. The few replicas I’ve personally encountered have been very obvious; typically much more poorly made than this example. They were generally unsharpened and often feature an etched hamon. Of the couple dozen I’ve handled, the quality has varied quite a bit, with some clearly better made than others. My understanding is that these were produced by a wide range of workshops, which explains the significant variation in both design and overall quality. @lonely panet would be the guy I would ask for confirmation, if he's willing to offer his input. -Sam

The first shishi tsuba that I have is a Shakudo one signed Masanaga. The tsuba depicts two shishi in shishiaibori and engraved in katakiri on the reverse with a windblown peony. Shishi are mythical guardian lions in both China and Japan and the peony is regarded as the king of flowers and in Japan symbolises bravery, honour and good fortune. The design of shishi and peony is often augmented by the addition of a butterfly. This is because, according to legend, the shish has a weakness in that a bug lives inside it, but if it sleeps under a peony the morning dew is absorbed by the shishi and the bug is eliminated as a larva, which metamorphoses into a butterfly. The tsuba is signed Masanaga, with a kao and was catalogued as Haynes Index no. H 04250, which identifies the artist as Chosuke Masanaga (d. ca 1700), who was a student of Nara Toshinaga (Markus Sesko) or Ito Masatsugu (Haynes). However, there were two generations of Masanaga in the Nara School and both used the same kanji for their signatures. The first generation, Seiroku, was a student of Toshinaga (either the 3rd generation master of the Nara School or a student of the same name). His (adopted?) son was Gihachi Masachika, who signed Masanaga for a while after his father’s death and was from the Kawakatsu family and a nephew of Sugiura Joi. The Nara tsuba artist Gohachi Masachika may have been an alternative name used by either of the other two Masanaga. Consequently, there is some uncertainty as to the identity of the artist who made this tsuba. Height: 7.6 cm. Width: 7.4 cm. Thickness (rim): 0.4 cm. Weight: 216 g Provenance: Edward Wrangham Collection, Part I, 9 November 2010, Lot 37, bought from the Roland Hartman Collection of Japanese Metalwork (Christies, 30 June 1976, Lot 130) The second shishi tsuba is a large copper one made in the 20th century by Yanagawa Morihira (1899-1971) and was made as a work of art, rather than as a practical object to be mounted on a sword. The shape of the tsuba may be best described as sumi-iri-kakagata (lit: notched in square). The front (omote) of the tsuba shows both a shishi and peonies, whereas the reverse (ura) only shows the shishi. Interestingly, the shishi on the omote has a silver body and a golden mane and tail, whereas the combination of silver and gold is reversed on the ura. The faces on both animals are copper. Shishi are often represented as playful creatures, but these two are muscular with a fearsome pose and the silver shishi has a head which looks rather like Hannya, the Japanese female demon. The engraved peonies on the omote are coloured with silver and gold gilding and the petals are in a darker shade of silver. The outlines are defined in katakiribori (half cut carving) and kebori (hair carving) and, particularly the silver, darkened to add extra tonality to the design. The nakago ana has four 32(?)-petalled chrysanthemum punch marks on each side, purely for decoration and the tsuba is signed on the lower right face of the ura Morihira (守平). There is also a single kozuka hitsu ana, filled with a gilt cat scratched plug. Shishi are mythical guardian lions in both China and Japan and it is also the name given to a group of political activists (Ishin Shishi 維新志士) in the late Edo period who opposed the westernisation of Japan. The peony is regarded as the king of flowers and in Japan symbolises bravery, honour and good fortune. I think that it is likely that this tsuba was made in the 1930’s when Japanese militarism was at its peak. I expect that the intention of the artist was to represent the shishi as fearsome creatures prepared to protect Japan in its time of conflict. However, in my view, the artist failed in this respect and they appear rather camp. I purchased this tsuba in memory of my nephew, who died young (52) at about the same time this came up for sale. He was a rather over the top extrovert character and I thought it would be a suitable memorial for him. Height: 8.75 cm. Width: 8.4 cm. Thickness (rim): 0.7 cm; Nakago: 0.4 cm. Weight: 254 g Provenance: Bonhams (Lot 48, 13 May 2021). Best wishes, John

I am not following your logic here. Ko-Hoki smiths were in Hoki province on Honshū, not on Kyūshū. And they were active in the Heian era, so well before Norishige was born. In any event, I like your Senjuin. It is a great example that Sōshū den was not the start of vigorous nie hataraki. Relatively, Sōshū den was a late bloomer, and it drew inspiration from some the best traits of many smiths who were active long before.

Thank you so much for taking the time to assist! This is very helpful information. For anyone interested in seeing the kozuka, I have attached an image. Unfortunately, I don't have the skill or equipment to take high quality pictures.

I took these photos when I visited Westpoint.

Hello from the UK I love any Japanese Art the dwells on legends, bakemono, yokai etc and this Tsuba depicts “The slaying of the Nue”. From the Heike Monogatari, the Nue was a monstrous Yokai with the body of a tiger, the head of a monkey and a snake for a tail. This scene depicts the Samurai Minamoto no Yorimasa and his servant Ino Hayata about to slay the beast at the request of the rather unwell and troubled Emperor Konoe. The beast was hit by Yorimasa’s arrow (you can just see him drawing his bow) as it emerged from its swirling black cloud, it fell from the sky and was finished off by the servant. As a reward, Yorimasa was presented with the sword “Shishio” as the health of the Emperor instantly improved. The patina is an even very dark brown/black Anything you can tell me about the tsuba or the double sided mei would be greatly appreciated…age, school?? Etc H7.6cm W7.3cm Thickness 5.1mm many thanks. Colin

Naaah but I do like the flag.