Shugyosha

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

Hi Marius, Many thanks for the kind words. Hamish has offered me some better pictures (probably yours) so I'll post them when I get them if you don't mind. Kind regards, John

Shinshinto utsushi of a Kamakura jidai tanto Offered for sale, a cute tanto in a shirasaya with a sword bag. This is a later copy of a Kamakura jidai tanto with the fanciful gimei signature “Rai Kuniyoshi”. Approximate measurements: Nagasa: 22.8cm Motohaba: 1.9cm Motokasane: 6mm Jihada: Itame with some itame nagare Hamon: Suguba in nioi deki Nakago: Furisode nakago,Ubu (maybe slightly machi okuri), 3 mekugi ana, false signature. Horimono: Bo hi ni soebi on one side and something that is like gombashi on the other and for which I can’t find a name in Japanese: two lines but each comprised of two finer lines. A nice, well-made tanto with no significant flaws beyond some scuff marks under the habaki and a minor scratch (pictured). Comes with a well made habaki covered with silver foil. Priced as a good quality, mumei shinshinto tanto, asking £SOLD plus Paypal but will include worldwide shipping. Comes with the usual guarantee: if this signature proves to be genuine then I will be more than happy to take back the item and refund the sale price.

Mumei wakizashi in shirasaya with NPO NTHK papers attributing it to Muzashi Kami Morimichi plus Kotoken Kajihara papers and sword bag Blade length: 45.4 cm Curvature: 0.8 cm Thickness: 6mm approx. at the mune machi Jihada: blend of mokume and itame Hamon: Midare – some suguba with large tadpole shape gunome at irregular intervals, some mune yaki and tobiyaki Kissaki: chu kissaki, chu maru boshi with a hint of hakikakke (I think) Nakago: Ubu, unsigned, one mekugi ana with osujikai yasurimei This is a good quality blade with a high-quality polish done by Kotoken Kajihara. It has a two-part silver habaki and a good quality shirasaya with horn inserts at the koi guchi and mekugi ana and (I think) an ebony mekugi. When I received the blade it bore the signature “Inoue Izumi kami Kunisada”. It had belonged to a Mr Ellis who I believe acted as agent for Kotoken Kajihara who carried out the polish. He issued his own papers dating to 1981 suggesting that, whilst the blade was well made, the signature required further research. It was part of the collection of a prominent UK collector, Deryk Ingham, who left a number of swords to the Royal Armouries at Leeds when he died. I believe that it was bought from his estate by the person who sold it to me. The blade was submitted to shinsa in Japan and it was failed by both the NBTHK and NPO NTHK. At this point I had the signature removed, the tang re-patinated and resubmitted, where it received its present attribution. The papers suggest that it was made around Kanbun (1661 to 1673) so it is probably the second- generation smith with this name and title. This is the entry from Markus Sesko’s eSwordsmiths of Japan: MORIMICHI (盛道), 2nd gen., Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Mino/Settsu – “Musashi no Kami Fujiwara Morimichi” (武蔵守藤原盛道), he moved later to Settsu, Fujishiro writes that Settsu was his home province, there exists a joint work with Shinano no Kami Daidō (信濃守大道), gunome-midare with togariba in ko-nie-deki, chū-saku Some small blemishes in places the worst of which are the one at the edge of the hamon at the monouchi and some minor pitting, (see pictures) otherwise guaranteed free from fatal flaws. Asking £SOLD plus Paypal but will include shipping worldwide and offer a 3 day inspection period.

Kaga Masakuni Katana Offered for sale, shinshinto katana from Kaga in shirasaya signed Kashu ju Fujiwara Masakuni kitau kore and dated Keio yonnen ni gatsu hi – a day in February 1868. Approximate measurements: Nagasa: 69.7 cm Motohaba: 2.8cm (at munemachi) Sakihaba: 21mm (at yokote) Motokasane: 6mm Sakikasane: 5mm Nakago: Ubu, one mekugi ana, Kesho yasurimei, typical kaga nakago jiri Hamon: mainly suguba with three areas of notare on each side in a pattern of 7-5-3 undulations from kissaki downwards. Hada: very fine ko itame verging on mujihada. This was bought from Andrew Quirt’s site Nihont.US and the polish and shirasaya were done in Japan (shirasaya tsuka is a touch tight). Kaga Masakuni was valued at 1,200,000 Yen in Toko Taikan. This sword is unpapered but I will guarantee that it will pass NBTHK Hozon or NPO NTHK shinsa if submitted within one year of the date of sale. I’ve attached a copy of the entry in Toko Taikan and a papered example for a comparison of the signature. Comes with original kaga-style habaki in copper which has the design of four crossed cut marks on one side and five on the other. These represent the kuji – in “nine symbolic cuts” which are a series of mantras of nine syllables in Japanese esoteric Buddhism. Also comes with its original saya which is cracked and missing its kojiri and koiguchi and a wooden tsunagi. I was advised that the saya was not capable of being repaired and so did not pursue its restoration. Unfortunately, I had the tsunagi made before I found out about the saya but will include it in the sale. A nice hefty shinshinto sword which is in recent Japanese polish near perfect condition (one tiny scratch). Asking SOLD plus Paypal and shipping. A donation will be made to NMB if sold to a board member.

I just thought that I'd give Ian Chapman's website a bit of a plug. Some good quality items listed for sale and UK buyers can save on exchange rates and import duty: http://nihonto.uk/radburn%20collection.html Best, John

For me not great quality, but price seems to be about right based on similar ones on the Aoi website: https://www.aoijapan.com/fittings/fuchikashira/

According to Markus Sesko's eSwordsmiths of Japan there are two smiths with this name and the "Mutsu kami" title, there's some detail about the earlier one: YOSHIYUKI (吉行), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Tosa – “Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki” (陸奥守吉行), “Yoshiyuki” (吉行), real name Morishita Heisuke (森下平助), he was the second son of Harima no Kami Yoshinari (播磨守吉成), that means he was the younger brother of Kōzuke no Kami Yoshikuni (上野守吉国), later he was adopted into the Yamaoka family (山岡) and took their family name, like his father and older brother he studied in Ōsaka under the Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi lineage (丹波守吉道), he came originally from Nakamura (中村) in Ōshū but settled later in Tosa´s Kōchi (高知), he worked in the style of his master, gunome with chōji-ashi, wazamono, chū-saku YOSHIYUKI (吉行), Bunkyū (文久, 1861-1864), Tosa – “Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki” (陸奥守吉行)

亦 is pronounced "mata" meaning again, or also. 泥 pronunciation is "doro" meaning mud, slush, mire, dirt. Yes, I believe the last two kanji are read "kuni" and "on". Sorry about the shading...don't know where it came from.

So what's in it for us exactly? It doesn't appear that you have a lot to share and the build relationships thing isn't working out too well either.

Hi Neil, I suspect that this is a slogan rather than a smith's name - anyhow the last kanji isn't "tada", it is read "on" and means benefit, favour or obligation. I can't find a match for the first kanji so you are going to have to have some better help than I can provide, but here are the others: [ ]泥亦國恩 Best, John

Hi Henry, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner; I've been away for a few days and didn't have access to the sword. I've just dug out the paperwork that goes with the blade and I've had a bit of a brain fart: it actually has NPO NTHK papers rather than NBTHK, so it has been authenticated by a body that doesn't use the Hozon, Tokubetsu Hozon etc system. Apologies for that - let me know if you are still interested and I will post pictures and full details here, otherwise I will offer it for sale generally. Kind regards, John