gordpete

Your reading is correct; however, the only reference I can found for this tea house is the one in the Kenroku-en garden in Kanazawa. However, that tea house dates to the Meiji period so the relationship to Fujiwara no Teika is probably the correct one.

This is a feature typical of the Nambokuchô period. And it is indeed done in case the kissaki is broken and then reshaped.

OK, the Kunisada in this signature is 国定 and not 国貞. There is a listing in the Meikan for an Izumi no Kami Kunisada [和泉守国定]; however, the entry says "period and province unknown." Thus, while this might not be a mistaken writing of the wrong "sada" character, there seems to be no information on this smith.

It's also a Mino sword that is signed Sadamune, which is clearly fake.

The reading is Kanetsune and there are many generations of this smith. Without a picture of the whole sword and some close ups of the workmanship, providing a general period of workmanship is not possible. From the shape of the characters and the higaki yasuri, this should be a Kotô smith.

It is indeed. When I get back to Japan in October, I will check my references there and see it you are in luck.

David, allow me to add my two cents worth. As noted, there are a lot of smiths signing the Tomoshige name. Fujishiro has oshigata for the Ôei Tomoshige (3rd gen.) and the Meiô Tomoshige (5th gen.) Although the Meikan gives dates for some of the other Kotô smiths, there are very few published oshigata with these dates. This makes it very difficult to pin down exactly which Tomoshige you have. Also, your Tomoshige does not have the classic Kaga nakago-jiri, which adds another problem for dating. I am presently in the States and do not have access to my library in Japan where I have the Kashû Kotô Taikan, which has a lot of Tomoshige oshigata. Nonetheless, I would suspect that dating this sword will be very difficult.

Hi Paul, yes it does and as a result we are changing the points to 75. This is also based on the rareness of this signature. Gordon

Paul, I would expect that the rating would remain the same, but I will check. It is still very early in the morning in Japan so it will take some time to get an answer back.

Paul, you are most welcome. Brian, many thanks for the kind words. We will be at the DTI again this year along with the Yakatabune event.

Hi Paul, This is Gordon Robson, the shinsa team member who mistranslated this signature. We could not find this signature in the Meikan and believed he was an unlisted smith. I will contact our shinsa team members in Japan and have the period of activity changed from Kanbun to Kanei. The signature on the worksheet is correct, just the translation was an error. Sorry for the confusion and thank you for bringing this to my attention.