Ray Singer

This is an excellent and healthy tanto from one of the Sukesada from the Osafune school in Bizen, working during the Tensho period. In this case, the blade is specifically dated to Tensho 4 (1576, the eighth month). The Sue-Bizen smiths were known to produce high quality works in moroba-zukuri, and his is a fine example. The jihada is a tight itame and the hamon is suguha with ashi. Here are a few options among the Tensho jidai Sukesada. SUKESADA (祐定), 3rd gen. Hikobei, Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Hikobei no Jō Sukesada Ashū Miyoshi-gun ni oite kore o saku” (備前国住長船彦兵衛尉祐定於阿州三好郡作之, “made by Hikobei no Jō Sukesada from Bizen Osafune in the Miyoshi district of Awa province”), “Ashū Miyoshi-gun Ikeda-jū Ōnishi Hikobei no Jō Sukesada” (阿州三好郡池田住大西彦兵衛尉祐定), third son of Genbei Sukesada (源兵衛祐定), he was adopted by the childless 2nd gen. Hikobei Sukesada (彦兵衛祐定) as successor, he worked for Nakamura Ukon (中村右近) who was a retainer of the Hachisuka family (蜂須賀) which ruled Awa´s Tokushima fief (徳島藩) SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni Osafune Yosōzaemon no Jō Sukesada” (備前国長船与三左衛門尉祐定), third son of the 1st gen. Yosōzaemon Sukesada, it is said that he signed first with Sukemitsu (祐光) SUKESADA (祐定), 2nd gen. Jirōshirō, Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Jirōshirō Sukesada kore o saku” (備前国住長船二郎四郎祐定作之), first name Jirōshirō (二郎四郎) SUKESADA (祐定), 2nd gen. Shichirōemon, Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni Osafune-jū Nakagawa Shichirōemon no Jō Sukesada saku” (備前国長船住中川七郎衛門尉祐定作), “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Shichirōemon no Jō Sukesada” (備前国住長船七郎衛門尉祐定), first name Shichirōemon (七郎衛門), family name Nakagawa (中川), jō-saku SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Sukesada” (備前国住長船 祐定), “Bizen no Kuni Osafune-jū Ube Sukesada kore o saku” (備前国長船住宇部祐定作之), first name Ube (宇部) SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni Osafune-jū Nakagawa Shichirōzaemon no Jō Sukesada saku” (備前国長船住中川七郎左衛門尉祐定作), “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Shichirōzaemon Sukesada” (備前国住長船七郎左衛門祐定), first name Shichirōzaemon (七郎左衛門), son of Yosōzaemon Sukesada, maybe the same smith as the 2nd gen. Shichirōemon SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Sukesada” (備前国住長船祐定), “Bishū Osafune Sukesada” (備州長船祐定), “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Saemon no Jō Sukesada saku” (備前国住長船左衛門尉祐定), first name Saemon (左衛門) SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Sukesada” (備前国住長船祐定), “Bishū Osafune Sukesada” (備州長船祐定), “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Shichirō´emon no Jō Sukesada” (備前国住長船七郎右衛門尉祐定), first name Shichirō´emon (七郎右衛門), son of the 2nd gen. Genbei Sukesada, he worked for Kobayakawa Hideaki (小早川秀秋, 1582-1602), the daimyō of Bizen´s Okayama fief (岡山藩), wazamono SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni Osafune Takagi Shichibei no Jō Sukesada” (備前国長船高木七兵衛尉祐定), “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Shichibei no Jō Sukesada” (備前国住長船七兵衛尉 祐定), first name Shichibei (七兵衛), family name Takagi (高木) SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni-jū Osafune Mataemon no Jō Sukesada saku” (備前国住長船又衛門尉祐定作), first name Mataemon (又衛門) SUKESADA (祐定), Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni Osafune Tōshirō Sukesada” (備前国長船藤四郎祐定), “Bizen no Kuni-jū Sukesada” (備前国住長船祐定), “Bishū Osafune Sukesada” (備州長船 祐定), first name Tōshirō (藤四郎), according to tradition the fourth son of the 2nd gen. Genbei Sukesada, he was later adopted by Shichirō´emon Sukesada and bore the family name Yokoyama (横山), he adopted later also the hereditary name Shichirō´emon (七郎右衛門), ō-wazamono, jō-saku $4,250.00 + shipping & PayPal

Gassaku gendaito tanto by the smiths Kanetoshi and Kanetoki, with nicely done boy’s day theme horimono. Papers by the Living National Treasure polisher Fujishiro Matsuo. $4,250.00 + shipping & PayPal

Kyu-gunto in good condition koshirae with an old So-den Bizen style blade. Osuriage mumei. There is an NTHK kanteisho to Hirotaka, but the blade looks very much koto and has a complete nie-deki choji-midare hamon (with a resemblance to the style of Kencho/Chogi). The Shinto attribution given on the papers is very surprising, and although the blade is tired in a few areas the quality of workmanship is excellent. $1,995 + shipping & PayPal

Very exceptional koto wakizashi with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon kanteisho to Kanenobu and older papers to Naoe Shizu. The sword has a wild and active gunome-midare hamon in neo deki filled with kinsuji and sunanagashi. The blade has great jitetsu with lots of chikei everywhere. The blade is nicely shaped and has well executed bo-hi and soe-hi. In shirasaya with high quality silver polish. There is a new solid silver habaki and the original antique fold foil habaki is mounted on the koshirae. This is a very nice package for someone looking for a high quality koto blade with antique Edo period koshirae. $7,500 + shipping & PayPal

I am still at 秀次 but maybe others have a different idea.

Maybe 備州住友久 - Bishū ju Tomohisa

Unfortunately my impression is that this is a Chinese fake.

James, please see below. http://www.jssus.org...japanese_swords.html

Kunishige

It certainly seems to be in good enough polish to submit, however please note that if an inscription is not readable enough they may simply write on the papers that the nakago has unidentifiable kanji.

I did a quick search and do not see any other smiths documented aside from Hidetoki who used the 山城守 title and whose name starts Hide. A few thoughts. The last kanji looks a bit like tsugu (次) - 山城守秀次 If there were four kanji or if the fifth were saku, I would read this as 山城守秀 - Yamashiro Morihide, but it does appear to be a title so the question is what that last kanji is The blade appears to be Shinto

Looks like 山城守秀__. Yamashiro (no) kami Hide__ There is a 秀辰 (Hidetoki) but I am not so sure the last kanji looks like toki. Here is Markus' writeup on Hidetoki. HIDETOKI (秀辰), 1st gen., Shōhō (正保, 1644-1648), Settsu – “Seki-jū Yamashiro no Kami Fujiwara Hidetoki” (関住山城守藤原秀辰), “Yamashiro no Kami Fujiwara Hidetoki” (山城守藤原秀辰), “Yamashiro no Kami Hidetoki” (山城守秀辰), he came originally from Mino province and belonged to the local Toku´in school (得印), first name Gonbei (権兵衛), he studied under the 3rd gen. Masatsune (政常) and went later to Ōsaka but worked also in Edo, wazamono, chūjō-saku HIDETOKI (秀辰), 2nd gen., Enpō (延宝, 1673-1681), Musashi – “Hitachi no Kami Hidetoki” (常陸守秀辰), “Yamashiro no Kami Fujiwara Hidetoki” (山城守藤原秀辰), “Hidetoki” (秀辰), first name Zen´emon (善右衛門), he later took over the first name Gonbei (権兵衛), according to a theory he was the son of Ōmi no Kami Fujiwara Kiyoshige (近江守藤原清重), he moved later in his career from Ōsaka to Edo

https://www.google.com/search?q="水心子正秀"+"日本刀"&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj11dG1jv6EAxVxkLAFHY_mDagQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq="水心子正秀"+"日本刀"&gs_lp=EgNpbWciHSLmsLTlv4PlrZDmraPnp4AiICLml6XmnKzliIAiSO8lUPQBWMojcAB4AJABAJgBc6ABmAOqAQM1LjG4AQPIAQD4AQGKAgtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ICBhAAGAcYHsICBBAAGB6IBgE&sclient=img&ei=y1v4ZbXEOPGgwt0Pj823wAo&bih=798&biw=1222&prmd=ivsnmbtz&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS954US954

As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of information online. If you search and find one with an associated paper then it is likely an authentic example you can study for reference. https://www.google.com/search?q="suishinshi+Masahide"+site%3Aaoijapan.net&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS954US954&oq="suishinshi+Masahide"+site%3Aaoijapan.net&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDY4MDNqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

This is what I was seeing as far as placement:

From what I can see this is a traditional bukezukuri koshirae (mounting) which was adapted to be carried into World War II. I would suggest shinsa if you would like to validate the inscription.

You can try isopropyl alcohol to remove the accumulated material. Don't do anything otherwise to polish on your own or remove any stains in the blade.

Your translation is correct. Suishinshi masahide (KAO) Bunka san nen hachi gatsu hi (a day in the eighth month of 1806).

https://www.google.com/search?q="masahide"+site%3Anihontomessageboard.com&client=ms-android-google&sca_esv=a32461fe05b6239e&sxsrf=ACQVn08eUObbGq7TbLppAKmvG78NH7CD1Q%3A1710765556058&ei=9DX4ZeeXA_GAkvQPpaKviAI&oq="masahide"+site%3Anihontomessageboard.com&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIicibWFzYWhpZGUiIHNpdGU6bmlob250b21lc3NhZ2Vib2FyZC5jb21IgiZQhRJYkCFwAHgAkAEAmAGAAaABmgmqAQM3LjW4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCIBgGSBwCgB5wE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#ip=1

I'm surprised that you would struggle to find information, he was an extremely famous smith and there is quite a bit of material online and here within this group if you search. You said that your sword was made in 1806 and from World WWII. You are saying that it is in WWII gunto koshirae? https://www.google.com/search?q="suishinshi+Masahide"&oq="suishinshi+Masahide"+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMggIBRAAGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB7SAQg2ODM3ajBqN6gCALACAA&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#ip=1

My guess is Bizen no kuni Osafune Sukesada Tensho go nen ___

Yes

Bungo ju Yukinaga

The individual sets are now on Amazon as well. I am still working though the process for international Amazon sites (they don't make it easy) but the US Amazon has all three now. Names (Mei) - $25 https://www.amazon.c...2T4?ref=myi_title_dp Places (Kuni) - $25 https://www.amazon.c...71G?ref=myi_title_dp Time periods (Nengo) - $25 https://www.amazon.c...SL5?ref=myi_title_dp For any international buyers, please message me directly for a shipping quote. Best regards, Ray

Modern fake of an Enomoto Sadayoshi Sadahito gassaku shinsakuto.