Ray Singer

拾月 = 10th month An auspicious day in October, 1942.

Hi all, I recently received a large collection of Japanese sword books. Some have already sold, but please see below for a list of remaining references. Military Swords of Japan - Fuller & Gregory - $125.00 * Arts of the Japanese Sword - $120.00 * 100 Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Compton - $125.00 * Nipponto Art Swords of Japan (Compton) - $125.00 * Shinto & Shinshinto kantei (Sesko) - $80.00 * Japanese Swords in the Museum of Fine Arts - $450.00 * HOLD Shin Nihonto no Kantei Nyumon (Afu English Translations) - $125.00 * Japanese Art Signatures - J. Self and N. Hirose (r.1987) - $110.00 * Shinshinto Taikan - $450.00 * HOLD Gendaito Meisaku Zuikan - $375.00 * Gendai Toko-Kinko-Shykukata Soran - $50.00 * Gendai Toko Meikan - $75.00 * Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths is $100* HOLD The New Generation is $125 * HOLD * Shipping & insurance additional. Best regards, Ray

The attribution and mei is to Rai Kunimitsu (not Kunitsugu), but this does not appear to be an authentic example of his mei.

There absolutely are examples of the Masamune school, his teacher and immediate students, which continue to emerge from the woodwork. However I wouid not expect to find a legitimate example of a Masamune, being presented as a Masamune, from the online auctions. The majority of the swords on Yahoo Japan, Ebay, etc being offered for sale out of Japan with sayagaki kinzogan-mei and kinpun-mei attributing to Masamune and his important disciples are fakes (misrepresented items).

This appears to be a fake Hon'ami kinpun-mei purporting to be by Hon'ami Kotoku, using his kao. Best regards, Ray

Noshu Seki ju Kojima Katsumasa saku. https://www.google.com/search?q="katsumasa"+site%3Amilitaria.co.za%2Fnmb&sca_esv=466299774e926d41&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS1136US1136&sxsrf=AE3TifMzTHJWEbwPPAiDq7onW05EExDk_Q%3A1761223903873&ei=3yT6aIuENeuFwbkPmPPyuQo&ved=0ahUKEwjL76OprrqQAxXrQjABHZi5PKcQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq="katsumasa"+site%3Amilitaria.co.za%2Fnmb&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiJCJrYXRzdW1hc2EiIHNpdGU6bWlsaXRhcmlhLmNvLnphL25tYkjosQFQxW1YlK8BcAJ4AJABAJgBPKABxAOqAQE4uAEDyAEA-AEC-AEBmAIAoAIAmAMAiAYBkgcAoAfoArIHALgHAMIHAMgHAA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

Musashi Daijo is a formal title. Korekazu is the name of the swordsmith himself. https://markussesko.com/2013/02/19/how-honorary-titles-were-conferred/

Musashi Daijo Korekazu - 武蔵大掾是一 https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KOR17

Okada Kanesada saku https://www.google.com/search?q=Okada+Kanesada+site%3Awww.militaria.co.za&oq=Okada+Kanesada+site%3Awww.militaria.co.za+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAjIHCAIQIRiPAjIHCAMQIRiPAtIBCTEwMTI0ajBqN6gCFLACAfEFhppvZqzPTbLxBYaab2asz02y&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

I believe it is Nakajima Masayasu

Please see below for another example.

It can go both ways. Sometimes a nakago-jiri might be slightly truncated and the hamachi/munemachi left in the same position. In other cases, the nakago-jiri might be untouched leaving a longer (sometimes exceedingly long) nakago. I believe there was an early Rai tachi in the Compton collection that had an ubu nakago-jiri and a raised machi that left the nakago with an exaggerated length. All things considered, I believe that machi-okuri is less impactful to shinsa outcomes than modifications to the nakago-jiri, but these things becomes less-and-less important the older the sword is (ie. o-suriage is acceptable for a Nanbokucho blade that is otherwise a juyo candidate, and even moreso for Kamakura-jidai, etc).

Sebuh, What immediately comes to mind is that the Osaka Gassan smiths purportedly created their signature ayasugi-hada by drilling a linear series of indentations into the steel, which were then hammered flat. This treatment strikes me as what a sunobe might look like before it was hammered down (midway through the process of creating ayasugi-hada). That at least is my speculation. Best regards, Ray

With Jussi's juyo oshigata as a reference, I think this shows that it would be impossible for current nakago-jiri to be original. As said above, the current nakago-jiri would be uncharacteristic and the nakago itself too short to be functional.

The later a sword is, the more that condition is strictly considered. There isn't an absolute rule about shinto and later blades being ubu. For example, suriage Nankai Shigekuni have passed juyo. However, suriage is a disadvantage for Muromachi period works.

My impression from the oshigata is that the lower mekugi-ana below the mei (now plugged) is the ubu-ana (the original mekugi-ana). If so, the upper mekugi-ana would have been added when the nakago was modified and shortened from the nakago-jiri end. This does appear to be suriage to my eyes.

Can you confirm which Kanenobu this is attributed to? There are a few, including: Naoe Shizu Kanenobu, Shigaseki Kanenobu and Seki/Mino Kanenobu. You may find it challenging to pass Juyo for a suriage machiokuri blade if it is Muromachi jidai.

Mei: Chikuzen (no) kami Nobuhide Date: Keio gannen hachi gatsu hi (a day in the 8th month of the year 1865) Nobuhide was an extremely famous swordsmith and student of Kiyomaro. Unfortunately the inscription on your sword does not appear to be authentic but you can research further and see authenticated examples online. https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/NOB174

武蔵大掾是一 = Musashi Daijō Korekazu https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=武蔵大掾是一

武蔵大掾是一 = Musashi Daijō Korekazu https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=武蔵大掾是一

The swordsmith name is Kaneyoshi. He is the individual who made the sword. There are no other names, just Kaneyoshi and the date I shared above.

ChatGPT and other AI tools are not the best solution for translating Japanese sword inscriptions. Please see below. 播磨大掾藤原清光 - Harima Daijō fujiwara Kiyomitsu https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=播磨大掾藤原清光

The Ko-Gassan was sold. Best regards, Ray

Signed Kaneyoshi and dated a day in May, 1944. It appears to be authentic.

Here is one that was shared here recently. Separately, I recently accepted ubu signed Kongobyoe wakizashi and tanto on consignment. Best regards, Ray