Shugyosha

Bump!!!

It's the province where the pictures of signatures aren't rotated.

I really need some better eyes and a sh!t ton more knowledge. Thanks Uwe!!

Nice fittings Dwain!!

John beat me to the punch.

Hi John, Signature is (Seki Stamp) Ishihara Naotane: NAOTANE (直胤), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Naotane” (直胤), real name Ishihara Kan´ichi (石原鍳市), his first name is also listed with the characters (鑒市), born June 20th 1907, he worked as guntō smith and died December 1st 1964 Don't know about the tsuba - sometimes an older tsuba would be used rather than the standard issue - I've got a ko kinko tsuba which was converted to take the catch on a gunto scabbard but there are people who know lots more than me on this subject. Best, another John

Goto Chōjo plus kao. No idea whether it's a good signature or not. Chōjo worked late Muromachi to early Edo period.

Hi Krystian, By way of a complete fluke, I stumbled across this on Aoi Art: https://www.aoijapan.net/kozuka-hosono-sozaemon-horu-kore/ Best, John

Hi Ken, I think that it is genuine: I can't see any signs of it being cast rather than forged and I don't think someone making a copy would bother to cut a mei into iron or steel. It's not in great condition though, if it's not too expensive I'd give it a go but I wouldn't pay much more than £75 for it and I'd be happier with something nearer to £50. Best, John

Well done BaZZa, very well deserved!!!

Happy to go with the flow.

Thanks for the kind words guys. If anyone is wrestling with themselves, just to spell this out: I will offer a 100% refund if this does not pass shinsa with the NTHK or NBTHK if submitted within 12 months of purchase. Best, John

Hi John, Welcome to the forum and welcome to the hobby. Unfortunately, the kanji on the kogatana are a little worn and not done in the nice "blocky" fashion that is helpful to western readers, so I'm struggling with the fourth and sixth kanji,however, I think there's enough that I can make out to take a stab at it. The first three kanji (志津三...) read "Shizu sa" and that is a combination that often comes up in a line of smiths signing "Shizu saboro Kane Uji". In this case there is also a "Minamoto" (源) thrown in so it might be this guy: KANEUJI (兼氏), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Mino – “Shizu Saburō Minamoto Kaneuji” (志津三郎源兼氏), real name Tōyama Jinjūrō (遠山甚十郎), he lived in Ōgaki (大垣) in Mino province, by the shintō-era, the lineage of Kaneuji had split into the Ōgaki, Gifu (岐阜), and Seki branches that were locally active until the Meiji era, the Ōgaki line smiths bore the family name Tōyama and the Seki line smiths the family name Fukuchi (福地) I say might, because for some reason manufacturers of kogatana often add a somewhat "aspirational" signature to them, usually of a famous smith, so this may not actually be the maker. I hope that helps. If you get the time please also post some pictures of your new sword as we like looking at pictures of swords! Kind regards, another John

Indeed. Thanks for setting this up Ray, it has been fun playing.

Now sold. Please archive. Thank you!.

Sold subject to inspection period...

One time only reduction: £850. If it doesn't go at this price, I'll keep it.

Offering for sale a ko kinko kozuka in shakudo nanako with a theme of oxen plus flowers. Wear and tear commensurate with age - a few dings and tiny loss of shakudo on the larger ox's nose. Asking £75 including shipping, plus Paypal.

1. Shinshinto: Taikai Naotane 2. Shinto: Omi Kami Hojoji Tachibana Masahiro (1st Generation, around Kanbun) 3. Koto: Rai Kunitsugu

Hi Uwe, I'm struggling a little with the pictures - any chance of larger shots of the boshi and jigane? Thanks, John I'll take a shot anyway - Nambokucho, Bingo, Ko Mihara. My reasoning is that (I think) I see Nambokucho sugata with high shinogi line, strong chikei work in itame with some mokume with perhaps some sumitetsu, I think there's some shirake utsuri, hamon looks nioi based with maybe ko nie but I'm struggling to make out the boshi very well but I'm happy to make my guess based on the the other factors.

Thanks Paul!! Best, John

The nakago and machi area: The patina isn't consistent with most Kamakura era blades - the colour is too light and there's much less pitting and the yasurimei are still visible, the width of the blade above the tang and that of the tang are more or less identical indicating that it hasn't had many polishes - I'd expect the tang to be wider, whoever made it or did the machi okuri didn't square off the mune machi properly - the angle is a bit off - I'd expect more care to be taken with the genuine article and there's more ha machi than I'd expect, on the real thing there is practically none left. These things aren't necessarily conclusive, you can find exceptions, but throw in the dodgy signature - I believe there are no known extant works by this smith, and it all adds up to a newer blade. A nice newer blade though.

It has the characters "Harukichi" on it...so unless someone is making knock-off kitchen knives now, I suppose there's a reasonable chance that it's your guy.

Some better photos:

Hi Patrick, There isn't a school attribution for it. The theme is the Chinese poet Li Po - after that the paper just gives the signature and a description of the manufacture. Here's a bit about Li Po: https://www.geni.com/people/Li-Po-%E6%9D%8E%E7%99%BD-98-65G/6000000007512818128 Bill - looks like you've made a pretty good start. Best, John