Bryce

G'day Guys, No one has posted on this thread for a long time, so I thought I would add my boxed Gassan Sadakatsu, with nice type 94 koshirae. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Paul, I appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Paul, You and others on this forum in the past have mentioned blades having a bad shape. I assume this refers to aesthetics and has nothing to do with the practical performance of the blade. As you have said you like early koto blades does this mean you prefer the blade shapes that were common in this time period? What is a bad shape and what is a good shape? I am not trying to take the piss or anything, but am simply trying to learn. One thing I do know is that what we like is very subjective and changes over time. Below are three examples of Gassan Sadakatsu's blades. How would you describe the shapes of these blades, good, bad or indifferent? I like all three. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Sam, Tsuruta san of AOIJapan described this one as kaen. Cheers, Bryce

The hada on the 1938 example (top) is very similar to this 1943 example (bottom) with ayasugi. I guess the smithing process is identical up to the point where the layers are mechanically manipulated into the wave pattern. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Below are two different examples of Gassan Sadakatsu's masame hada. The top blade is dated 1940 and has very tight masame hada, with little contrast between layers. The bottom blade is dated 1938 and has high contrast between layers. I believe he achieved this contrast by combining different steels in alternating layers. This is the type of contrast you usually see in his ayasugi examples. I assume he used a single type of steel in the top blade. Cheers, Bryce

Come on Nobody, you have to give us some better photos than that. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Here is a shot of the boshi. Cheers, Bryce

Wow. This seems to confirm all the stories about military swords being destroyed upon their return to Japan in the past. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, One of my favourite blades, an early Gassan Sadakatsu made in 1921 when he was still in his Bizen den phase. It has a nagasa of 68.4 cm and koshi sori of 1.7cm. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I went thru the rest of the fittings and unfortunately none are any clearer than what I have already posted. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Volker, Here is one by Kojima Kanemichi dated December 8 1942. It was made for Mr Minoru Nokura to commemorate the first anniversary of the start of the Pacific war (bombing of Pearl Harbour). Cheers, Bryce

In my opinion the two words are interchangeable. I have a gendaito where the smith signed saku on one side, but used kitau when referring to who the sword was made for on the other side of the nakago. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Uwe, I agree, there is an additional stroke on the seppa marking. I will try to capture some better images from the other fittings. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, On further reflection I don't think you can capture the complexity of this subject in a simple document the same way you can with stamps. As the kao are all hand chiselled, each one is slightly different and they changed over time. You can't really look at the kao of a smith in isolation from the mei and blade. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, Close, but no cigar. The left hand image looks to be Gassan Sadakatsu not Sadakazu. Below are images of Sadakazu's kao from 1867(left) and 1904(right). The middle one in your photos is Sadakatsu's from 1940, but his earlier kao was a little different. I am not as familiar with Sadamitsu so need to do a little more checking, but I wouldn't call your example "textbook". Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, The following are from a shin gunto koshirae made for a Gassan Sadakatsu blade. The fittings all have these matching markings which I think are 月 2 特. I think the 月 is short for Gassan , 2 an assembly number and 特 something to do with special? Am I on the right track? In addition the tsuka has kanji in purple ink which may have something to do with the maru ni tachibana mon on the kabutogane. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks John, It has a maru ni tachibana mon. I guess that first kanji could be tachibana? Cheers, Bryce

That last kanji may be 特 special? Cheers, Bryce

On a Japanese auction site I found an almost identical set of koshirae, that was sold as being from a Gassan Sadakatsu blade. The tsuba on this set also had the Suya Shoten stamp. The fittings all had similar markings which appear to be 月山 3. I guess the markings on mine are similar but the 月山 has been shortened to just 月. I am not sure what the last kanji stands for. I wonder if Suya Shoten were Gassan Sadakatsu's koshirae supplier of choice? Cheers, Bryce

No worries Bruce. The fittings are all similarly marked, but I think it is more than just a number. The tsuba has the Suya Shoten stamp. I am sure I have seen an ink stamp on the tsuka like this before, but don't know where. Anyone have any ideas? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, I am not sure I follow you? The nagasa is 68.5cm. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Tanto by Gassan Sadakatsu are often found in their original boxes complete with hakogaki. It is much rarer to find his long blades still in their original box. Here is an example still in the box, with hakogaki by Sadakatsu attesting that it was made using Masamune's secret process. Even better is the fact that the original type 94 shin gunto koshirae is still with it. When someone ordered a blade and koshirae from Gassan Sadakatsu, this is how they would have received it. It is dated May 1938. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Just to add to this thread, I have documented 7 katana commemorating this occasion. I have probably seen at least the same number of tanto, although I haven't kept records of these. The 7 katana I have documented are all very similar, all signed the same way and done in ayasugi. As mentioned in other threads, Sadakatsu was a marketing genius as well as a fantastic smith. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Arik, Actually it says Gassan Sadakazu, but it was probably signed by Sadakatsu for his father Sadakazu. I would love to see photos of the whole blade. Cheers, Bryce