general_piffle

It's possible. Perhaps a previous custodian rebalanced or refitted the wakizashi.

Thank you gentlemen, attached are 2 pictures of the mei on the nakago, one picture of each side. I have good reason to believe this wakizashi is first generation Musashi Taro Yasukuni who studied under Omura Kaboku. I'm attaching the pictures here for our learning. The excellent Mr Markus Sesko is also helping me determine if there's a date or not. Thanks again.

Good evening, all I have a Musashi Taro Yasukuni wakizashi with papers, and I'm curious to know what the papers say—especially if there's a date for when the sword was made. Many thanks in advance for anyone who might be able to help. Best regards - Joel

Such sad news. Ford helped me enormously with a daisho, a pair of Ito school tsubas and other koshirae matters. We communicated over several years. He was always a gentleman, a powerhouse of knowledge, and an artist in his craft. This is as much a sad loss for the community as it is for the wider world of nihonto.

@IJASWORDS I have sent you a message. Thanks.

I'm based in the UK and have gone about buying 2 swords that were located in Japan, my written Japanese is virtually non-existent and my spoken Japanese is very basic. One, a wakizashi where the dealer spoke little to no English I got Pablo Kuntz to help me, he instructed his contact in Japan and for a small fee the sale, paperwork, etc. were finalised. The transaction went very smoothly. The other was via a Japanese dealer who understood English pretty well. So, I undertook the importation myself and it was pretty straightforward. I was fortunate not to fall foul of customs when the package arrived in the UK. One UK dealer I can recommend who I've had good dealings with is Ian Chapman (also a member of the To-ken Society), he once found me my first ever piece, which I still have - a koto katana. I have no business interests with anyone named above, this is simply my experience. Hope it helps.

Yes, you're right about the powder. Here's a comparison of just 2 characters, 2 pics (actual and rubbing) from a papered Kaboku and a pic from the example above. They're quite different, not just in form but what I would describe as 'surety' or 'positivity of stroke' when engraving. The example above seems almost timid/apologetic and the papered versions of the same characters have a definite confidence about them.

Almost a year old, but 1 year in nihonto is a single breath. This mei looks very suspect to me. The piece itself has little to none of the classic Kaboku hallmarks, that I can see. Personal opinion - but if it's genuine I'd be amazed.

At my request, Markus Sesko put a PDF together for me of Kaboku's students. Markus has always been brilliant in sharing and collating this sort of information. I've attached the PDF here to benefit others also fascinated by this sword-smith and his apprentices. KabokuStudents.pdf

Also fascinated by Kaboku, I started studying his apprentices and ended up with a beautiful wakazashi and a very powerful katana both by Musashi Taro Yasukuni. Both lovely pieces with more than a small influence from Kaboku. I look at them as a blend of skills, materials, and influences between the two sword-smiths.

Thanks Robert, I got Markus Sesko to do a translation for me as it wasn't expensive and it's good to put back into the community in some small way.

Hi Christopher, in my humble opinion if you want to spend your money on restoring this sword (regardless of its value, sentimental or otherwise) because in its restored state it will bring you even more pleasure than it does now then I would say that's money well spent. Go with your heart and as you've already identified you will need a trained expert to polish. Personally I would stick with Japan for polishing as it's the birthplace of the sword. I can recommend Mr Kenji Mishina in Tokyo. If you would like further details please feel free to message me. I have no dealings with him other than having been a customer of his and have found him to provide an excellent service, although he does have quite a long waiting list. But then a sword which has already been here for several hundred years can probably wait a little longer for the right polish.

I have two katanas and a wakizashi. The katanas are this humble but purposeful Taira Takada and a much more flamboyant beefy Musashi Taro Yasukuni from 1716 (think Sword of Doom...) plus the wakizashi is also an earlier Yasukuni from when he was under the instruction of Omura Kaboku - both of these have papered very well. I decided to polish it before shinsa and have used it to create a daisho. A couple of pictures attached. I will continue to study it and have no real desire to move it on and take in more than I already have - this contrasting mix is enough for me.

Thanks Jussi, very interesting!