JonP

hi Chris, did you send this out of NZ to be polished, I assume so. Can you point me to the link of unpolished pics please and let me know who you used to polish. Cheers Jon

Maybe a bit of Rorschach going on with rust marks 🤷 The right end pic is on the other side.

The blade was in a poor state from misuse when I got it in the 80’s. Blade only and the owner had cleaned the tang and lost its patina sadly. It is old and worn.

A piece of masking tape so it fitted better in the crap wooden handle I made decades ago 😂

If anyone would like to take conservatorship on this blade and restore it, please get in touch. I’d prefer to trade or part exchange on a tamahagane tanto, wakizashi or katana that looks in better condition in the hope it will be more likely to be treasured by my grandchild I leave it to.

That’s a really nice piece for around NZ $3500 I’d pay that any day. Well done.

Thanks guys, some very clear informative answers. I now understand what the characters mean and understand more about the variations about them. I wonder which Kanemitsu made this. It would certainly be a bad day for anyone meeting the sharp end of this blade. Merry xmas all.

Excellent explanation thank you.

Thank you, very helpful information. 🤗

Thanks Jussi. I see 2 characters. Do you understand the meaning of each character, if so can you tell me please? Merry Xmas After drawing the characters as simply as I see them, {I might be missing bits} I can see the bottom character is easily recognisable on the list of Kanemitsu mei. I’d like to know what this character translates as eg is this the character for Kanemitsu ? 🤷

After drawing the characters as simply as I see them, {I might be missing bits} I can see the bottom character is easily recognisable on the list of Kanemitsu mei. I’d like to know what this character translates as eg is this the character for Kanemitsu ? 🤷

I still can’t see the 2 characters on my tanto anywhere that seem to match the characters for Kanemitsu. It is very faint with age but the 1st character is pretty distinctive. My hope was someone on the forum was able to translate the 2 characters. Without the translation I can’t even start to theorise on the true smith. 🤗

1: totally forgot, hard to remember yesterday let alone 13 years. 2: if I had I would have still asked as I assume with time opinions and knowledge change. 3: the layout of the forum, i find, is not easy to navigate and keep up to date on.

Thanks for the reminder, totally forgot about that.

Excellent, thanks.

Thanks for the reply. I bought this 15 years ago from a reputable dealer and have no doubt of its authenticity or its purpose. My question was if anyone could read the “mei”.

Looks pretty stabby to me. 😁

This description looks exactly like mine size and shape wise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoroi-dōshi

Does anyone know this mei? I understand the maker is Kanemitsu around 500 yrs ago. Here is the description that came with it. As the mei is faded i can’t find a match online so far. ”Known as a "Yori Doshi" this style of Tanto was constructed with an unusually THICK & ROBUST blade designed to be able to PIERCE Samurai armour This genuine ANTIQUE hand forged "layered & folded" blade produced Circa 1450 - 1550 Blade signed by maker Kanemitsu There are only 13 sword makers recorded that utilised this signature, several can be eliminated as working too early, & several for being long after manufacture Shirasaya inscription reads "Noshu Ju Kanemitsu" (Kanemitsu living in Mino province) The blade shows unmistakeable Mino manufacture traits in the "Taka no Ha Yasuremei" (Swordsmith's signature file-mark pattern) While incredibly feint, after 500 yrs, they can be still positively identified The blade shows VERY STRONG tempering clearly throughout most of its length & exhibits a very RARE trait "Utsuri" (temperline shadow reflection) Found ONLY when a sword is tempered by heating & quenching at the OPTIMUM temperature Only the most experienced and SKILLED sword makers were able to produce Utsuri in their blades. The ability to do so "at will" was LOST around the 17th Century, & only re-gained in 1972 by Yoshindo Yoshihara (elevated to the status of "living national treasure" soon afterwards) There are "Hadaware" (minor forging flaws) in the form of poorly adhered welds after MANY sharpening & polishings throughout it's working life. 95% of ALL Koto swords display Hadaware they are little detraction to knowledgable collectors of KOTO era swords. Blade length 8.5" along back edge & MASSIVE 7.75 mm thick @ Habakimoto (IE as THICK as any Katana !) Tang is "Ubu" (As made 500 years ago)”

Thanks for the input. Fortunately I got a reply from nihontoantiques.com as well and going from a previous sale in the $4500 range he suggested to insure for $6-7000.

It’s beautiful, who cares about the nit picky details. Of course you will enjoy any details and information garnered but don’t let them get in the way of the joy and duty of ownership. The 3 peg holes alone show it has a hell of an history. Enjoy your new piece of history and craftsmanship. One query, why doesn’t the price show up, I’m very interested to know how much such a thing is from Japan and what they charge for the delivery etc. Green with envy 🤗

Additional images.