Bryce

G'day Guys, Here is one from the internet. Shinshinto blade. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Here are a couple of mine. The first I think is called toyama umebachi. Haven't indentified the second yet. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, Thank you for posting this in the translation section. Hopefully someone can shed some light on it. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I thought I would copy Ray's photos of his similar shin gunto koshirae from the other thread to this one to keep them together. Cheers, Bryce

Very nice Neil, Any chance of some further pics of the blade and nakago? Cheers, Bryce

G'day George, Thanks for posting that. Very similar indeed! Mine has a steel scabbard, only 6 seppa and a shinshinto Bizen blade. If we can get a positive id on the kanji we may be able to do some further research. Cheers, Bryce

After noticing that Ray's habaki was also numbered, I had a look at mine and sure enough it is numbered as well. Interesting the mix of Japanese and decimal numerals. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks mate.

Thanks Steve, If that is the craftsman's name, I wonder what the other set of kanji refers to? Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Bruce, Ray singer posted a photo of one of his shin gunto tsukas in the "Show Us Your High Class Gunto" thread, with the same kanji. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Had a closer look at one of my shin gunto the other day. On the tsuka, as well as the assembly numbers there are additional kanji, which I assume must belong to either the tsuka maker or perhaps the workshop it was put together in. I know this has been discussed somewhere before, but can't find the thread. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, I own this sword now. Here are a couple of better pictures. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks John, Thinking about it some more, the fact that the sarute is gone suggests the original was most likely silk cord. I think it is unlikely that a metal sarute would simply fall out or fail. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Here are some shots of my large shin gunto. It is just under 41.5 inches overall with a 29 inch nagasa and a steel saya. Looking at my small collection there appears to be an inverse relationship between tsuka length and blade length. My shortest blade has the longest tsuka and vice versa. Looks like there was an effort to keep them all a similar overall length, despite the blade length. This one is missing its sarute. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what type of sarute it would most likely have been? Cheers, Bryce

Thank you for clarifying that Guido and thanks also to Uwe and Geraint for the original reading. G'day Stephen, I bought this from Grey, but don't have it in hand yet. Here is a link to the sales listing. I will post some more pics when it arrives. www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/swords/k75-29-katana-yokoyama-sukenao-custom-gunto-koshirae# Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Can anyone answer Grey's question above? Cheers, Bryce

According to Sesko (2012) there was a Sukekuni from Harima who was a student of Yokoyama Sukenaga. I guess he must have moved to Harima from Bizen at some stage. Could it have been him? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I was wondering if any one could help me to decipher the mei on a recent acquisition. It appears to read: Bizen Osafune Ju Sukekuni Sandai Sukenao Did two smiths make this sword as in Sukekuni and Sukenao, or does the name refer to a single smith only? Thanks to Grey for the pictures. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Paul, that is a great story and very similar to my experience. I figured I couldn't be the only person this has happened to. In my defence, it is possible that this blade arrived just before I realized I needed my first pair of reading glasses. On a different tack, how would you describe this hamon? I know it is choji, but could it also be described as a different interpretation of sanbonsugi? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Thank you for your replies. I will take on board your advice about over oiling. I live in a very hot, humid and coastal environment, so I figured more was better than not enough. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I have had this katana in my collection for 5 years now. It was my first nihonto. The blade is mumei and attributed by the NTHK den shinshinto Kanesaki. When it arrived I was a little underwhelmed. I was expecting perfection, but the blade has a number of small ware. For years I was unable to see past these imperfections, but each time I looked at it I began to see a little more of the blade's beauty. Recently I took the blade out to re-oil it and took it out into the sun to have another look. For the first time I have been able to see the true beauty of the blade. The flowing lines of nie amongst the nioi combine to create a 3D effect, so that it appears you can actually see into the steel. Not sure why I was never able to see this before. As always, the photos I was able to take can't capture the full effect you see with the naked eye. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Guys, When I posted this I was thinking specifically of ubu mumei. I can understand why the lack of a signature makes a mumei blade worth less than a signed one for all of the reasons you have outlined above. What I don't understand is the thinking that an ubu mumei blade must be inferior to a signed one. To my way of thinking it means a collector can buy a good quality blade at a much lower price than a similar signed one. No harm in that. I collect British swords from the early 1800's. Most of these are signed by the maker, but many are not. Those that aren't signed tend to be high quality swords from some of the best makers of the day. I wouldn't consider not buying a good sword simply because it wasn't signed. Collecting British swords is a lot different to collecting nihonto, but my point is there must have been valid reasons for a maker to not sign a sword, we just don't know what they were. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Why do mumei Shinto blades seem to be viewed with distaste, while mumei blades from other periods are not? I am a little confused as members often say "buy the blade not the name". Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I have noticed that the blade has a couple of small mokume burls that have a darker/flatter "look" inside them. Is this likely to be shingane showing thru the skin steel? Cheers, Bryce

Here you go John. Cheers, Bryce