Bryce

G'day Guys, Just to be clear, David is referring to the Juyo, Sadamune Utsushi that Edward reposted, not my 1866 dated, tokubetsu hozon papered blade that I posted the closeup photos of. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Here are some better photos of the 1866 dated blade from above. The horimono are very small, but still incredibly detailed. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jag, You have a tanto made by Gassan Sadakatsu using steel smelted by the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company. More information is available on this thread: Gassan Sadakatsu is the son of Gassan Sadakazu. Sadakazu is arguably the most famous of the revived Gassan line of smiths. The Gassan smiths are still forging blades to this day. Your tanto would have been forged around 1940. I am not an expert on the koshirae, but I would think it is authentic. Cheers, Bryce

Fantastic guys. Thanks very much for your help. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I finally got around to getting a better photo of the writing. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Steve. I will try to get a better shot of the writing in the next few days. Was the writer's name Ishikawa Shoshinsen? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Steve, The nakago is simply signed and dated, no poem. The shot of the writing is the best I can do for the moment. Cheers, Bryce

This is a partial translation someone else was able to give me. Sounds like Mr Ishikawa really liked it. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Gassan Sadakazu 1866. These horimono are very small as they are completely contained within the bo-hi, but are still very detailed. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, What do you call a sword description written on a sword bag? This sword bag belongs to a very nice Gassan Sadakazu katana in what looks to be its original koshirae. I can see that Gassan Sadakazu is mentioned and it is dated Showa 3 (1928) and perhaps signed by Mr Ishikawa. Can anyone help me to fill in the many blanks? Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Dave, Just a quick note that I disagree with a couple of points raised in the article. The tanto in figure 9 that the author says is gimei is actually shoshin. The NBTHK paper these to Sadakazu. I have no explanation for why these mei look so different, but Sadakazu did use a number of different stamps throughout his career and the work in these blades does look like Sadakazu's. Also while I agree the katana blade in figures 12-15 was probably made by Sadakatsu, it was also signed by Sadakatsu for his father, rather than being signed by Sadakazu. Cheers, Bryce

Here are some more of the beautiful photos that AOIJapan posted of the kissaki of that blade. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Here is an example together with what I think is the original koshirae and blade. The tsuba and blade are signed by Gassan Sadakazu. The tsuba isn't dated, but the blade is dated 1866. Cheers, Bryce

I find the stamps he used on the tsuba interesting. It suggests that he may have sometimes used different stamps to the few that I have seen marking his blades. Below is a shot of the koshirae that was with the sword. Tsuruta San of AOIJapan thinks that Sadakazu may have made all of the metal work for the koshirae. The fact that he isn't absolutely sure suggests that only the tsuba must be signed. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, One of the reasons why I am fascinated with the Gassan smiths, is that they are the complete package. Not only are they excellent swordsmiths, but they also carve beautiful horimono, make their own habaki and from time to time make their own tsuba. AOIJapan recently had a magnificent example of this by Gassan Sadakazu. The sturdy blade which is forged in masame, is dated 1866 and has beautiful Fudo Myo horimono. The original koshirae includes a tsuba signed by Sadakazu. A similar tsuba is shown in the "Gassan Sadaichi Kaiko Ten" book. Cheers, Bryce