Hoshi

A beautiful tribute @Kotetsu1959 This is what matters, in the end, friendships, sharing, learning and memories that live on. Paul has left a big mark on our field. This auction is a tribute to a lifetime of passion, discovery and careful curation. I wish for this auction to be a big success.

A few fakes have been discussed lately on YJP. Fake Odachi, fake Awataguchi Kunitsuna - to name a few. None of these are convincing fakes, however. Convincing fakes do exist and - if you remember a few months back - we've had a Go Yoshihiro, and an Awataguchi Kuniyasu from the same 'new' vendor with Juyo papers that were exceedingly good reproductions (or real. re-issued papers). The blades were made as convincing copies, however the photos were 'too good' and it was easy to see the blank hamons and other telltale signs. The fakers put in some real effort, real investment, and achieved a 5M yen cash grab on the Go if I recall correctly. The swords were made to closely ressemble the Oshigata of the Juyo blades, including the nakago, with convincing reshaping and drilling. Now, it returns. This has either inspired a copycat, or it could also be the same 'gang' operating: They learned their lesson with the photos and the setup is now optimized to make it more difficult to tell. https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/u1175987916?lang=en&rc=yaucc - The papers look real (and match the Zufu). - The blade looks like a good match for the Oshigata (notice the hataraki). - The seller is a newbie that is cleaning up his friend's attacs (so he is naive, hehe). It's all made in a convincing way to attract bargain-hunters that want to buy gold at the price of lead. If you look closely, you will notice that the hataraki are 'painted' with hadori, the Yubashiri becomes a tobiyaki, the dimensions are slighly off, you can't discern the bright nie you'd expect with Sadamune. If you know you know, but it's a very real danger for all the YJP! chasers out there. I get the thrill, but be careful. If its too good to be true, something's wrong.

This is the kind of sword we should be discussing on this forum. Great effort @Lewis B lately. You're picking up fast. Your posts are interesting, which is motivating a few of us to contribute more to sharing knowledge. RE: The Yoshifusa. As @Gakusee said, it is in his early Ko-Bizen style, which is more suited for an advanced collector, perhaps as a second Yoshifusa, to provide an illustration of the migration movement from Ko-Bizen to Ichimonji in the early to middle Kamakura period. It is understandably somewhat arcane, so it can be quite difficult to find a market for such a blade. The price is reasonable given its extreme rarity, but it's far from an easy one for which to find a good home. In general, the more you deviate from the preferred style, the more your market narrows. For Yoshifusa, this preferred style - and most common style - is the glamorous and complex choji that vary wildly. Although, keep in mind, we are talking ultra-rarities there, with 31 works extant works that can even be exported outside Japan. So, this Yoshifusa in Ko-Bizen style is a rarity amongst rarities, with 4 exportable works in Ko-Bizen deki. Nonetheless, the glamorous Yoshifusa is most sought after, and I think this needs no academic explanation...the flamboyance is simply spectacular, and wildly considered to be the peak of Ichimonji's glamorous style, everyone just "gets it". For other smiths, their rare styles are their preferred styles. Take Nagamitsu, he has less than a handful of blades in the style of his father, but the few that can be found tend to be Kokuho or Jubun and considered to be his supreme masterworks. Keep up the passion!

Truth is we don't know. The author has an axe to grind about the treatment of Gunto and the requirements that art swords are made according to "traditional methods" which are defined as using Tamahagane, etc. With this caveat in place, he's right to point at the massive gap in scholarship when it comes to the nature of the iron used prior to the Muromachi era. The 'state of the art' metallurgical studies usually analyze a few low value blade from the Muromachi period. You can't draw conclusions on such tiny samples with non-representative blades and extend this to the golden age of Nihonto, the Kamakura period. Grain of salt yes, but would personally love a properly calibrated XRF-bases study, with multipoint measurements, over a vast collection of treasures. For now, we just lack in-depth scholarship in the topic.

I'm of the opinion that "important" should be interpreted more "important in general in the field of nihonto" than "important within the corpus of Mitsutada" - so my bias weighs heavily towards passing them Juyo. People at this level can differentiate and don't need to rely on papers, and TH, unlike Juyo, is a private database. This means outside researchers miss signature style, nengo, etc, because blades are Saiha or otherwise ruined but they are important references that can significantly affect the sholarship on a smith. It's already hard enough having to trace all the undesignated blades in various collection catalogues and word-to-mouth. This is a problem for me. Or, make a new publication "known nengo and signature styles on compromised TH blade". The reason it was done this way is that clients complained that they don't like to wait and TH is "just a checklist". You can pass blades TH in your head with 99% accuracy by reading the requirements. It means something only for very recently made blades, and for fittings. For old swords, Hozon or TH, makes no difference if you have eyes.

Remember that If Tanobe-sensei didn't agree with the mei, he would not have made the Sayagaki. The mei varies, has distinct phases through the smith's career, and Tanobe wrote extensively on the smith in the past. In fact, he's singlehandedly push the the frontiers of knowledge on Ko-Osafune substantially. So you are good. That said, it's absolutely the good approach to analyze it for yourself. That's how one learns. You are dealing here with one of the unicorns of Nihonto. There is a grand total of 29 zaimei Mitsutada tachi. Out of these, 13 can be legally exported out of Japan. Out of the 13 that can be exported, half are going to be locked up permanently in museums or whale collectors that intend on creating museums. So that leaves about 7 Mitsutada Tachi. Out of these 7 that are not in quasi-permanent lock-up, probably 2 are closer to the early style of Nagamitsu and hence late work or even Daimei, and 2 other are likely in Ko-bizen den. They are all wonderful and important, across all style. That said, If you're looking for the archetype Osafune Mitsutada, you can count them on the fingers of your hand, at best. This one is close to the zaimei archetype, which is on the quiet side, with less of a Ko-Kyomono kitae. The mumei archetypes are the super flamboyant ones with Kawazuko choji and Ko-Kyomono jihada that is at the level of Awataguchi, plus prominent midare utsuri to top it all. It feels midway into his transition from Ko-Bizen to his prime style, with still some Ko-Bizen vibes and executed of ko-nie, with lots of gunome and activities such as Kinsuji and tobiyaki. Of course, it was more flamboyant out of the forge, and lost some width, the shape of its kissaki went on the chu-side of things, and overall it's fair to say that part of its shape, due to polishing and repairs, was diminished somewhat. Remember that it's 750 years old so, it's a miracle that it is the way it is, still. The jihada has taken a hit as a result and it's not representative of his skill, but it must have been lustrous back in its glory days. Is it the amongst the best? No. but is it a legitimate Mitsutada? yes. Is still a good sword and important sword, including as a historical reference? No doubt. It's also better in hand than in the photos. At 20M yen it's the lowest priced legitimate Mitsutada tachi. The gravitational pull of Ladder theory is exerting its influence on the price. Pass Juyo? Absolutely, one day, no question. Maybe this year, maybe in five years, maybe ten, but it will pass. I think there are worst Mitsutada at Juyo than this one. Now, there is an oscillation at the NBHTK between "all mastermiths go juyo automatically" and "let's have some differentiation and make TH meaningful for mastersmiths also" - it just ebbs and flows, and patience is certainly required. Good sayagaki don't have a 'causal' impact on Juyo. In fact, according to some, it irks the judges. There are people that deliberately submit without Sayagaki. Now, it could also be a superstition and the effect is neutral, or even positive. But it's not strong. Does it correlate highly with Juyo? Yes, for obvious reason. But then again Tanobe-sensei focuses on the best aspects of the sword in his Sayagaki, it's not easy to ascertain what a truly positive sayagaki is or isn't, there are clear cases sure, but there is also a grey-zone. That's just the way of things and It's normal. He must have been very happy to see this piece, as he's been assiduously collecting all known signatures in his studies. He wrote a long sayagaki, because its a topic that interest him deeply. Very rare, very precious.

Much appreciated gents. Is there any good reference material on these early type 94’s with curved Tsuka? Any particular decorations to be expected based on rank, or was it standardized, with the tassel + Mon as the only differentiating factors? Regarding the Nakago length spec, 212 was the max I assume. Any specs as on the placement of the Mekugi-ana? Did they drill new mekugi Ana in old swords at the time for the purpose of mounting or did they exclusively try to re-use existing mekugi Ana? Thank you for your assistance.

Dear Military sword enthusiasts, I understand the standard length on a type 98 was about 66cm nagasa. - Was there a length requirement on type 94's? Any specific nakago length or sori requirements? Or was everything more or less custom made. My hypothesis is that the sword pictures below is a type 94, but it lacks the second hanger (which was removable, and hence makes any type of inference from my side difficult). My guess is that this is a type 94 with a general's tassel. But I'm not well versed in this field at all. The person pictured is field marshal Kotohito, which (likely?) would have had his shingunto custom made. - Would this have been a type 94, or a type 98? - Anyone has perhaps a better picture of this Gunto to share? - Anyone knows the whereabouts of the Gunto? (museum, somewhere?) it should be adorned by the family crest of the Kaninomiya. Below, the (short) sword of his son who was a tank officer. I believe that this particular is in the USA, according to Omura, and is published in an american book on the topic. Thank you for your insights! Hoshi

You did well. It's better than most Kinju I've seen. If it was Kinju, it would most likely express the rather regular gunome hamon in nie deki. This work is more interesting. It is aiming for Norishige school. There is conspicuous chickei, sunagashi, and rather coarse ara-nie. The relatively coarse ara-nie, thick kasane, and somewhat 'contrived' quality of the chickei does rather speak towards Shinshinto work that tries hard to emulate Koto. I think, with the signature, it was probably an entire package made with the intention to mislead. However... There is a chance that it is a healthy Koto piece. The photos doesn't show everything unfortunately, but I wouldn't rule out Tametsugu here if the work was mumei. In any case, to me, this is more exciting than some Kinju. Buying a Gimei blade? No, not a full blown gimei, not today. When I started, then certainly yes. As it stands in 2025, my limit would be "To mei ga aru" if the piece showed remarkable qualities. I like research pieces.

It's one of the top 3 Norishige tanto in existence. For items at this level, price = n/a. It's whatever a whale is willing to pay for. This is the sort of item that doesn't make it to the internet, so I can only presume that the whales made offers, offers got rejected by consignor, and now it hit the broader internet. It's very rare to see such a piece being sold openly. At the end of the day it's not far away IF you eliminate the irrational outliers (anyone remember the octopus tsuba?), account for auction house fees, and apply the appropriate forex correction. If you do it, then it's a pretty good correlation. But what is often forgotten is that these objects are not commodities, a TJ norishige's value is not the same as another TJ norishige's value. Each item needs to be examined in the context of the smith's corpus, and appraised for its strength and weaknesses in its specific category. Ladder theory exerts a "Pull" - low TJs and TJs+ tend to cluster together on price. Don't fall for the pull.

Worth re-reading: https://web.archive....o.com/ladder-theory/ Best, Hoshi

Lovely sword, truly tasteful and classical sugata, well done Chandler. I also applaud that you did your research, that you took a dive on the blade and had a sayagaki made. Koson was more 'loose' in his judgement compared to the Ko-Honami, so it is a good outcome that Tanobe-sensei considers this judgement to be appropriate for the blade. He would not have made it if he disagreed outright. "To mei ga aru" on a shumei or kinzogan has a certain nuanced meaning at Juyo that is different than the same expression used for mei. At Tokuho, there is much less opportunity to carefully research the blade, and in this context "To mei ga aru" could highlight some uncertainty on the shumei/kinzogan itself, as Gakusee points out with an astute observation: In the grand scheme of things it's not really important. As Darcy used to say, we don't have a time machine. To me, this uncertainty is also a blessing in disguise for learning. It is an inspiration for you to take a deep dive into the records of Nobufusa, Ko-Bizen, Ko-Ichimonji, and the wonderful period that was early Kamakura. It is a precious ancient piece with a venerable history, and a miracle that it has come to us in such a state of preservation. May this sword will be a wonderful source of knowledge and enjoyment.

Oh come on. You know better. - "on average, men are taller than women" - "Not true! look at this seven feet tall dutch lady!" - "Surely you didn't know about the mere existence of the seven feet tall dutch lady, how ignorant! your theory is disproven!" ... I find this view overly simplistic, but it is a matter of personal preference. For the market, however, while "demonstration of virtuosity" is the major factor, it is not the only one that matter. The extant by which a field has been shaped by a virtuoso, let's call this "the historical impact of virtuosity" is at least second in importance. This is why school founders are so highly valued. Naturally, age, rarity, provenance, etc, obviously factor in as well. At the end, quality correlates with attribution. Same with fine arts. You go down one level and you get 'Studio work'. Attribution is the best predictor of quality (+/- condition), unsurprisingly, drunk Kiyomaro aside. Anyway, you can cherry-pick the best outliers from the names I cited, but even if you do, these smiths still live in a different world. % = (TJ+Jubi+Jubun+Kokuho+Gyobutsu)/Juyo Ko-Mihara Masaie: 37.5% Nanki Shigekuni: 28.6% Shodai Hizen Tadayoshi: 12.7% ... Ko-Bizen Tomonari: 257% Let's trade!

It's all supply and demand. There is no such thing as a "fair price" - there is only the the price that at least one participant in the market is willing to pay. That's all it takes. Top items are getting rarer. This is normal. This is what happens in all major art fields where there is a limited supply. The rate of attrition is essentially museum accessions, and this is a direct effect of whales who can afford to create museums or contribute to existing museums for social prestige. At the very end of this process, there is no more market so to speak since nothing is for sale. Today if you want to acquire a Ko-Bizen Tomonari tachi, there is no market. If one does come up, it'll probably be one of the last to be sold, ever. This means price = n/a. As a result of museum accessions, prices increase, it's just supply and demand. The buy-side is not happy about this, as the prices aren't "fair" anymore. At the DTI, there was a truly lovely TJ Norishige for 36M and TJ Yukimitsu for 38M. Everyone grumbles. We don't want to adjust our estimates upwards when on the buy-side. We keep remembering last year's opportunity at 25M yen, where it already felt unfairly expensive so we passed. At the end of the day, the market doesn't care about feelings of fairness. As a result of items being more difficult to find, dealers hold onto their inventories. Why shouldn't they? They know that they can't refill their inventory easily, so they slap a big price and enter a staring contest with the buy-side. Within the crowd of grumbling buy-side people, one will eventually pay up and then the new price is set, to the great dismay of the others. There will always be a steady flow of Tadayoshi, Ko-Mihara, Bungo Takeda, Shinto Waks, Uda, etc. These aren't going anywhere, they constitute the majority of the items exchanged. The pressure concentrates at the top of the field, this is normal and healthy. In fact, Nihonto suffers from a protracted 'right tail' of the price distribution. Is it fair that one can purchase a great, unique masterpiece from one of the top smiths to have ever existed, with Daimyo provenance, for the cash equivalent of three dozen 5K$ Ko-Uda blades of mediocre quality? Probably not. Look at any other art field, and the delta between the top and the low-end is at least two order of magnitude higher. This is a great market anomaly. I will say we are more fortunate than ever, with the great democratization of information, and the fact that the right tail of the price distribution hasn't yet caught up with the expected power law that tends to govern those things. Even if great items are becoming harder to find and more expensive, we live in the golden age. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the market anomaly could very well resolve itself in the next decade.

Lovely post @Benjamin. You're asking the right questions. It's worth reflecting deeply on this topic. 1 - What is the "theme" of your collection ? (expl : gokaden ? That one smith ? That era ? Horimono-maniac ? etc..) Meito, or famous swords, artifacts with a story to tell. 2 - What is the "aim" of your collection ? (expl : one of each type ? The one sword ? As much as possible ? etc...) To tell a story in seven chapters centered on seven artefacts. The focus is not solely on the object itself, but its cultural and historical context as the soul of the warrior, as an ancient store of value, and as an object of great ritualistic and symbolic significance through a changing society, from the times of emperor Gotoba to the tragedies of WW2. Every artifact should be a time capsule that stirs imagination on its own. Together they should tell a greater story. I think of it as pieces of a puzzle that fit together to reveal the awe-inspiring beauty of one of humanity's greatest artifact. 3 - What is the "border" of your collection ? (expl : only papered ? Not less than Jumyo ? Only tanto ? Always koshirae ? etc...) The border of what constitutes a Meito are blurry on the edges and I am still learning. Quality is necessary but not sufficient, provenance and other types historical context, scholarly value as reference pieces... In due time, each paired with a representative koshirae from the Edo period, by past or present owner, that tells a parallel story on the style of wear across different periods, geographic regions, and social contexts. While there is nothing wrong with unpapered or so-called secret blades that are confirmed privately by expert opinion, I am not a fan of this practice. I feel strongly in favor of creating exhaustive, reliable and openly accessible catalogue raisonné (Zufu volumes, Sayagaki & their registries, reliable publications...) as a critical step to promote, preserve, and highlight this artform to the world and for future generations. 4 - What is your "behaviour" in collecting ? (expl : buying - learning - selling ? Making a museum-room at home ? Stocking until not knowing where to put them ? etc...) All of the above, pursued with patience. Collecting to me is like growing a Bonzai garden. It's a long term pursuit, with a lot of pruning, research, and long periods of waiting. There are failures and successes. I do enjoy and undertake Kantei sessions, oshigata drawings, research seminars, data-driven and qualitative analysis, with the aspiration of being to contribute in some way or form to the scholarship and recognition of the art in a decade or so, once I have more time on my hands. Learning for now. 5 - What is your "purpose" in collecting ? (expl : knowledge ? Community membership ? Investment ? Pure appreciation ? etc...) All of the above, these all go together and feed virtuously into each other. From community comes better knowledge, Better knowledge improves our perception, and thus our ability to appreciate, From our ability to appreciate better comes better judgement, And better judgement leads us to make better investments, Better investment open opportunities to share and elevate the knowledge of our community, ...and the cycle repeats itself. That is at least the theory. There are so many failure modes in this loop. At the end though, its friendships and memories. 6 - At what stade are you ? (expl : starting ? Achieved or nearly achieved ? evolving ? etc...) Evolving, slowly. ETA: a few more decades.

For old Honami, only the Shogun, the Kyoto Aristocracy, and some Daimyo families had access. A sword with a Kinzogan mei by one of the old Honami was, at some point in time, in the collection of the Tokugawa, Kyoto Aristocracy or one of the major clans. The Umetada family did the inlay work for the old Honami, and the costs involved were extremely high. I recommend this book from Markus Sesko. Old Honami attributions are considered highly reliable, and in fact form the basis of the NBHTK's attribution tradition when the corpus of a smith is largely mumei. The reason is that they had access to swords that do not exist anymore and oversaw many shortenings of previously zaimei blades. Kinzogan by Kotoku, Kojo, Kochu in particular are held in the highest regards. You bet. After Kochu came Koyu. While he is still considered reliable, the NBHTK has overturned a small number of his attributions. After Koyu, the Honami family essentially started to "print money" in order to relieve the economic burden of the Shogunate and their own. The Honami family needed to find new business models, and the reliability of attributions came down substantially. In fact, some later Honami are so unreliable that the saying goes that the smith is 'anything but the Kinzogan' Yes, although little is known on the topic as these Kinzogan generally do not bear a Kao. The exception is Honma Junji who did a few Kinzogan mei, inlaid by Gassan. Today, the NBHTK is essentially the spiritual descendant of the Ko-Honami.

You might have struck gold. The smith is Enju Kuniyoshi, active beginning of the Nambokucho period, Jo-Jo Saku, 750 Toko Taikan 2E. Kuniyoshi is the son of Kunimura, the founder of the Enju school. Enju Kuniyoshi has various highly rated blades, including 3 Tokubetsu Juyo. Good signs: - Old patina, eroded, smoothed edges - Shape consistent with the purported maker - Hamon consistent (suguha) - Ubu, shape of the nakago is historically consistent - Kuni character within acceptable variations - Yoshi character misses a stroke, which is a good sign since he has known signatures missing this specific stroke. Conclusion: 1. Post more pictures so we can have a closer look. 2. If it keeps checking out from the new photo, send to Japan (Get in touch with Ted Tenold, he's fantastic) for NBHTK assessment and Sayagaki from Tanobe Sensei 3. Get a new polish by a top Japanese mukansa polisher (Fujishiro, Saito or Abe) If it all checks out (and this is a big if. There is always a risk of hagire or other grave issues) - then it has a good shot at Juyo+ It's nice to see a promising find on NMB. Well done.

Your sake cup is full. Unfortunately it will end up confusing a newcomer into the field, and we can't have that. Lo and behold: same sword, same light conditions. BLUE RED Light doesn't make the dark chikei rings change color, no.

The nakago photos are in another listing. You can find them here. Same fraud with the 'Awataguchi' blade by the way. The Oshigata is genuine, the NBHTK papers are genuine. The blade was made to resemble the Oshigata. The 'old' Torokusho is a fake, however. Den Tametsugu can mean 80% Tametsugu, 20% Sanekage (Sanekage is the deki quality step in between Tametsugu and Norishige). Refer to Darcy's excellent articles here and here. It's not a known fake sword. First time I see it, hence why Andrew and I are warning about it.

Juyo papers are authentic. The sword is actually a Tokuju Go (Session 5). Normally, when submitting for Tokuju, one has to hand in the Juyo papers for destruction to avoid these types of scams. This can be circumvented by losing the papers. Possibly, the papers were once lost, then found and bought by the scammer, who then spent considerable resources to create an elaborate fake to match the papers. Moreover, the scammer has arranged for a convincing replica of rather low-ish quality, but with a convincing hamon / boshi to the untrained eye. For experienced students it's however obvious that the thin and irregular nioiguchi is absolutely not the type of deki expected of Go Yoshihiro. There are also discrepancies elsewhere, e.g., Nakago, which has been reshaped to match the Go's Oshigata. "Den Go" is not a red flag. Den is +/- 5% and needs to be understood in context. There are "Den Go" out there that are superior in deki than "Go". The usage of Den varies across sessions and across smiths. Factors such as Kiwame and Kinzogan affect the use of Den, etc.

Old sources mention Go Yoshihiro and Norishige as natives of Etchu Province, with Go said to have died young. To me, It would seem highly improbable that he was a Yamato Senjuin smith. Name matching doesn't help us as the only signed and dated Yoshihiro blade (YOS143) doesn't match in characters to those of Go in ancient records, and the date (1343) is far off in time, moroever the records make no mention of a resemblance to the work of Go. What about the Yamato influence? The majority of Go's kitae is typically described as itame, often mixed with nagare or mokume. There is only one instance I could find where his kitae is partially blended with masame: the renowned Kabuto-Giri Go. I have also observed that certain works display his ichimai boshi with a subtle hakkikake flavor. Regarding influences, I've had in hand Go's with traits from three different attribution clusters: the Norishige cluster (Mokume/Matsukawa, complex jiba), the Masamune cluster (angular chickei, yubashiri, inazuma), and the Yukimitsu cluster (ko-itame in the Shintogo style). For Go, I have not personally handled an example where Shizu comes to mind, though the Kabuto-Giri Go is noted for this in the NBHTK setsumei record. It is essential to recognize that, while not all blades attributed to Go feature an ichimai boshi, its presence—when combined with the masterful traits typical of other top Soshu smiths—strongly leans toward an attribution to Go. Now where would such Yamato influence come from, if not Senjuin? We can have fun and speculate. We we might imagine the possibility that Shizu and Go, both supposedly active during the Kenmu era, experimented with one another's techniques while working alongside Yukimitsu, Masamune, and Norishige in the Kamakura atelier. However, this idea rests on many unsecured assumptions, including that Shizu apprenticed directly under the Soshu masters and that certain Soshu-den works displaying Yamato influence are accurately attributed to Go. Attribution is uncertain. As seen with signed works by Yukimitsu, his craftsmanship shows considerable variation, making him the prime candidate for pieces where distinguishing traits are less pronounced. His range spans from Shintogo-like hada with a gentle, shallow notare, to a flamboyant midareba incorporating gunome elements, even producing works approaching Hitatsura. This uncertainty is not limited to Yukimitsu. For instance, of the four extant signed tachi by Norishige, two exhibit a shintogo-like fine hada, a far different approach to Matsukawa. Nor was Matsukawa the exclusive domain of Norishige. Hata Chogi, of which we know very little, left us two works indistinguishable on a trait-basis from Norishige's signed tanto. It's wise to think in probabilities. Perhaps the Kabuto-Giri Go, with its distinct Yamato influence and ichimai boshi, was a masterwork of Shizu? We may never know for certain, as the hand behind it is never known for certain. I think that the key to thinking about attribution and influences is to think in probabilities. The best way is to go with the cannon of tradition. After in-hand examination, it could be 60% Go, 40% Shizu. This is certainly the most tractable way, but is the most accurate way? The alternative is going with the historical dark matter. Or in other words, incorporating the lost record. Imagine that it might be 45% Go, 35% Shizu, 4% Yukimitsu on a creative day, 1% the long lost Shintogo student Kuniyasu, and 15% a master whose name has left our records forever. Then replace all these probabilities with distributions encoding uncertainty and you start to reach the limits of useful abstraction. Not much of a means of knowledge advancement since there is no knowledge, only questions. The supreme quality of the Kabuti-Giri Go, however, is beyond doubt. An accepted attribution to a Soshu grandmaster of this caliber signifies the most masterful craftsmanship that reflects the pinnacle of the Soshu tradition, and one amongst the best Nihonto in existence. This brings a bit of nostalgia. Darcy would have enjoyed this thread. As he used to say, we don't have a time machine.

Kudos to the forumites (more patient than me...) that have taken the time to meticulously dispel this misguided belief that Kamakura swords never show core steel. Note that these swords - in spite of the core steel appearing in various forms - are Tokubetsu Juyo. First, Aoe and Rai are prone to showing core steel. Hence, the deterring factor is mitigated. But more importantly, the integrity and regularity of the Jigane are secondary factors. Consider the following traits: A Rai blade with an unexpected drop in clarity of the nioiguchi in a section of the hamon near the boshi A late Aoe blade with ashi that slant only in the upper section of the hamon on one side The unexpected presence of clumped nie in the O-choji of an otherwise flamboyant Ichimonji A fall in the quality and variety of nie near the monouchi of a Soshu blade These are subtle things that Westerners typically wouldn't care about that may cause massive penalties that reverberate both in the attainable level of certification and the end value of the piece on the market in Japan. The market knows this and acts accordingly.

It is an undeniable fact that Rai blades use a multi-layered construction. I posit that this is one of the reason how they outcompeted the Awataguchi school. Simply put, they were able to cut costs of raw material by using a laminated construction. Rai Hada is a distinct discontinuity in the grain of the jihada that appears along the surface following repeated polishing. It is a sign of masterful forging? Not per se, only insofar as it contributes to an attribution to Rai. Now one argue whether this is Shingane (i.e low carbon steel) or medium carbon steel, or a kneaded combination of various materials. I don't find these terminology games to be particularly interesting. And it is confusing to newcomers. Personally I prefer being agnostic on what it is, and speaking simply of core steel, meaning the steel used for the core that shows through the jihada following polishes. Often Shingane is associated with low quality steel. This is not necessarily the case. There is an enormous variation in the quality of core material across periods, schools and smith. And it is also an undeniable that all else being equal, a Rai blade showing intact jihada is preferable to one showing patches of Rai Hada.

You're welcome. Just remember that Shintetsu is never a positive trait, even when it is a kantei trait (e.g., Aoe, Rai). However, when it is a common trait, it is least likely to detract from the overall appraisal of the blade because it is to some degree expected. The same logic applies for Ware, which is common for Hosho, or Nagare elements which are common in Kamakura Soshu works. Such traits would be considered a significant problem in a blade by Osafune Kagemitsu for example, where consistency in the Jigane is considered the smith's forte and a major point of appreciation. The rule of thumb: "If the smith/school is known for certain traits, either positive or negative, ensure that the blade exemplifies the positive, and rest assured that the negative will not detract"

The links were posted previously by Jussi. I'm reposting them for clarity: Tadahiro_1 Tadahiro_2 Tadahiro_3 This is incorrect. There are approximately ~1'000 Jubi and ~12'000 Juyo. Similar situation in Japan. The market is so small that a few whales are sufficient to cause a tremendous impact, and the larger the whale - the higher the odds of a whale museum spawning (e.g., Nagoya Token World). This causes a similar lock-up situation.