Bryce

G'day Sam, As Con mentioned earlier the second haikan was protected by leather to prevent rubbing, so the absence of wear in this area is not definitive. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Lance, It is a nice type 94 koshirae with the rare pinned kabutogane. If you search the site you will find a thread on "pinned kabutogane". Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Everything already mentioned above suggests this is a type 98. I don't think there are any individual "cast iron" rules, but the combination of all these factors together says type 98. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Sam, It looks like a type 94 to me, especially if the gloss paint is original. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Mark, Thanks for posting. To help you here is a comparison shot of your dragon with a more detailed example by Gassan Sadakatsu dated 1920. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jake, I have a set with very similar theme to yours. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Eric, The bonji on your blade represents the entity Fudo myo-o. I have a Gassan Sadakatsu blade with similar horimono. Your blade is not Gassan work though. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I am always happy to learn something, fire away, show us what you know. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, The Gassan school is famous for its ayasugi hada. Sadayoshi and Sadakazu are credited with rediscovering it, but it was Sadakatsu who refined it to the beautiful uniformity we expect to see today. If we group Sadakazu and Sadakatsu together, I would argue that it isn't Ayasugi hada so much that unites them, but rather, tight, uniform, masame hada. Ayasugi hada never dominated Sadakazu's work, but it is the most common hada for Sadakatsu's Showa period work. Each of these smiths forged blades in all sorts of styles, with some dominating different periods of their working lives, but in general terms, I would describe their work as very controlled, with ko-nie and nioi. Hope this helps. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I don't understand your question. You are asking me what characteristics they have in common, when they have so many that most people can't tell their blades apart? Is this a language thing? Is there going to be a punchline? Is this like "Two Gassan smiths walk into a bar .........". Adam, that looks like a nice blade. It is a pity that Eric doesn't post some better photos of the hada and hamon. Cheers, Bryce

Actually, maybe this is a better way of showing the comparison. I replaced Jacques oshigata, with the photo of a Gassan Sadakatsu katana dated Taisho 10 (1921). Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, To add to what Adam said about Roger and Hizento mei, most examples of Gassan Sadakazu/Sadakatsu mei are easy to pick, but there are a small number where it isn't immediately obvious. We are dealing with humans here, not machines, so there is variation. There is no single thing that differentiates or unites the two, it is the sum total of a large number of characteristics. If I use the oshigata that Jacques posted, which I have already said was signed by Sadakatsu and sandwich between it and another Sadakatsu mei one actually signed by Sadakazu, you can see the differences. So Sadakazu in the middle, Sadakatsu each side. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques and David, I don't own any Fujishiro books. Do you accept that it is possible to recognise a person's handwriting? It is exactly the same with nihonto mei. My sole nihonto focus now is pretty much just Gassan Sadakazu and Gassan Sadakatsu. I look at examples of their blades nearly every day and have done so now for about 5 years. To me, the fact that the oshigata Jacques posted is of a blade signed by Sadakatsu for his father, rather than signed by Sadakazu himself is as obvious to me as the difference between night and day. I have a hard time believing you guys can't see it as well. Previously I have posted about a blade signed Gassan Sadayoshi, which has a Tanobe sayagaki, stating it is actually a work by Sadakazu and also a blade signed Sadakazu, with a Tanobe sayagaki stating it is actually a work by Sadakatsu. I shouldn't say daimei are accepted as shoshin, they actually are shoshin. Cheers, Bryce

G'day David, It isn't an argument it is a simple fact. Daimei/daisaku swords are accepted as shoshin. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, The oshigata above is a daimei by Gassan Sadakatsu for his father Sadakazu. In regards to every mei being identical, here is a collage I put together of eight Sadakazu tanto mei done in this same style, all around the same time. All of these blades are papered to Sadakazu. Are they identical - definitely not. Cheers, Bryce