Wim V

Found another example of Sendai Kanetsugu this morning: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-seiryusgi-kanetsugu-saku Wim

Peter, Looks like an interesting blade you have there. Certainly one of the more elaborate signatures by this smith. Would be nice to see the running itame you described as all the examples I have seen by this smith were in pure masame. As you suggested in your "eclipse post" I included some pictures here of my 5th generation Kanetsugu blade. It's quite a typical example by the smith I would say: masame hada with a gently undulating suguba hamon with some sunagashi/kinsuji along the habuchi and a komaru boshi with a hint of hakikake. I tried to take a close-up picture of the masame but it's rather difficult to capture, even more since my experience in taking pictures of swords is very limited. Oh yes, this sword has green (tokubetsu kicho) papers, but I am 100% sure they are genuine since I did my homework and every feature of the blade is perfectly consistent with all the textbook examples. Furthermore it is published in two references (Zuhan Tomei Soran and an article on the Sendai smiths in Japanese Token Bijutsu). So according to some current hot debate, this may well be one of the last few examples of doubtless green papers . Wim

Sounds very interesting Peter! I would love to see some pictures of that blade. I have a wakizashi by this smith in my collection signed Seiryushi Kanetsugu and dated 1854. Best regards, Wim

Yep, seen it also. I believe it has already been listed at the Aoi website in February 2016. At that time the sword was discussed here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18817-kiyomaro-value/?hl=kiyomaro Wim

Very nice Dirk and Steve, thanks a lot!

Thanks for the input John. Do you know where to find the proper kanji for his name? (in Unicode text?)

Dear all, I am deciphering a description of a sword in one of the Japanese Token Bijutsu. I am quite ok with most of the text, but I am having serious difficulties with just one of the characters. It's the second kanji in the attached picture, so what I have is 仙?彫之. If I am not mistaken this second character contains three radicals: 王 ⽲ 乃. However, when I try to combine these in a kanji search engine, this does not seem to generate the correct result. The only kanji I find that come close are 秀 透 誘 銹 綉 诱 锈, but I feel these are not correct. Can anybody shed some light on this one? I appreciate any help. Best regards, Wim

It was a very nice meeting. Especially the ko-Bizen Chikakane was amazing to me. Unbelievable that a sword of that age can be so healthy ... And the midare utsuri was very prominent, really spectacular.

OK, since I have less than 100 posts I will stick out my neck and give it a try. I did not take the time to hit my books, so going from my memory and judging by the picture and dimensions I would say: 1. Period: Muromachi 2. School: Oei-Bizen 3. Smith: Morimitsu

Not wanting to be Mr. smart*ss but I think it should be the 62nd Juyo examination instead of the 26th . Indeed, nice to know that the standards are set high.

That's excellent research work Morita-san! This explains to me why I could not find this blade in the existing references. I was looking for a signed Motoshige blade with a length of 2.75 shaku (83,3 cm), as indicated next to the oshigata. The current length of the Mikaeri Motoshige is 70,0 cm (according to Showa Dai Meito Zufu). It's a pity that there is no oshigata of the ura side in the oshigata book. It would have been very nice to know the original date inscription (assuming there was a date inscription before the orikaeshi took place of course).

I guess now the discussion will start why a blade of this level is "only" Tokubetsu Hozon and not Juyo

Alex makes an interesting point I think. Sometimes you see hagiri which can look like nothing more than a hairline of a few millimetre length, but which is considered a fatal flaw because the blade would probably break if it would be used again for making a hard impact. I wonder what would happen with this tachi if (hypothetically) it would be used for making a hard cut, considering the "battle scar" on the edge? I can understand the sword has a lot of positive elements, which have been summed up already, and they justify the juyo status, but I can't help wondering if this chip would be fatal or not in practical use ...

Hello, I think the mei reads "Yoshishige" (良重). He is listed as a Seki smith on the website of Mr. Jinsoo Kim (see http://www.jp-sword.com/ ) A similar inscription was discussed here: http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?98344-WW2-Naval-Officer-Katana-signature-and-stamp I think you are right with the date: Showa 18 nen (1943) Best regards,

oops sorry, I had not yet seen your posts when I was typing mine.

I would say: 和泉守國定 : Izumi (no) kami Kunisada Best regards, Wim

Gentlemen, Thank you very much for your help, much appreciated! Wim

Hi all, A friend of mine asked me to translate the mei on his tsuba. Unfortunately I could only figure out the first (木) and last character (政 = Masa?). Anybody have a clue? Lots of thanks in advance. Wim

Gentlemen, Thank you for your input . I believe you are completely right the mei reads Seki Zenjo O Yoshitoki Saku. I was on a false track looking for Yoshikatsu. It is indeed strange that the kanji for "Saka" as in Saka-O is missing. In the swordsmith literature index I found only one reference to Zenjo Yoshitoki, which is an oshigata in Zuhan Tomei Soran. I had a look at this oshigata and I don't feel it looks very similar with the inscription on this yari, so I still have my doubts about the legitimacy of the mei on the yari ... Anyway, thanks again for the insight.

Hello everyone, A member of our To-Ken club asked me to translate the signature on the nakago of a yari (see attached pictures please). The best I can make of it is: ?善定尾吉勝作 (???? Yoshikatsu Saku) However, I have no idea about the meaning of the first four kanji. Moreover, I did not find any information on a smith named "Yoshikatsu", at least not with this kanji for "Yoshi", so I have a rather strange feeling about this signature (maybe gimei?) The information on the ura seems to include hiragana but is even more obscure to me :? . Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks and best regards, Wim

Thanks a lot Morita-san! I find these "kanji puzzles" very fascinating each time. But difficult for a gaijin ...

Hello, Last week we had an evening in our To-Ken club on Japanese armor. One of our members gave a lecture on the Iwai-school of armor makers. One of the example pieces showed a red lacquer inscription on the inside of the Do (see attached picture please). I had a try in deciphering the inscription but apart from 七五 (75), 岩井 (Iwai) and 作 (saku) I feel rather clueless Could somebody please help with the translation? Thanks in advance. Best regards, Wim

Thanks for the input Grey and Curran. I will try and contact Darcy to ask him about his copy of the index. I am also thinking of sending my question directly to the NBTHK; being a faithful member for several years maybe they will be willing to let me know in what Juyo Zufu volume I can find the description of the tachi I am looking for .

Gentlemen, I came across a few posts in earlier topics on this board where people speak of the “NBTHK juyo index”. I refer to the following quotes: I was wondering if this index is available somewhere? I would assume that the NBTHK keeps track of all the certificates they issue by means of some digital bookkeeping, and I think it would be extremely interesting for sword students to have access to the information in this database. So when for example Darcy says there exist 177 Taima blades with juyo status, then I am really interested to know where he got this information? I am asking this because regarding this matter I have a query of personal interest. In the Nihon Toko Jiten by Fujishiro, an oshigata is presented of an apparently ubu Motoshige tachi which is dated Kan’o 3d year 8th month (1352). From another source where this blade is mentioned (Osafune Choshi Token Hen) I know that it has juyo token status, so I would like to read the full description of this sword given in the Juyo Token nado Zufu. One way would be of course to collect all the juyo books and start searching, but since there exist already some 58 issues if I am not mistaken, this is a very demanding (and expensive) mission. Searching in a digital database would in this case be the most convenient way I guess to pinpoint directly to the relevant Juyo Zufu issue. Does anybody know how to have access to this juyo index ? Thanks for any help , Wim

Wow, very nice Reinhard! Now that you named it, I can see the coincidence with the characters (千手院) but I wouldn't have found this myself. Thanks a lot, Wim