ChrisW

No idea. I've not yet seen this one in person and the photos are all he's given me to work with. But I fear for his sake that you may be right. Anyone else?

Hey guys, Posting this for a friend who is not tech savvy. He wants to know who this smith is. He believes it to be a gendai smith by the name of Okano Mitsuhiro. I attempted to look them up and found nothing. Anyone got a lead on this smith or has he discovered one that's fallen out of the meikan? Also, what kamon is that? It appears to be cast into the piece, rather than attached like a usual one. 27" nagasa with an attractive sanbonsugi hamon. Very minty Type 98 mounts. Thanks!

Congrats on your new custodianship!

No such thing as a 'spot polish'. If a sword is to remain in good health with crisp geometry, then a full polish is done.

Congrats Dan! See it at the meeting.

Dang! Well, there was just so many tables to see. Didn't get through it all. I didn't leave empty-handed though. Picked up a signed naginata-naoshi blade that Nick Nakamura told me is signed "Moriyuki" and I got it for very little. So I didn't do too bad!

No problem Dan! But if you're not planning on holding onto that ken, you should let me have first crack at a trade/purchase since ken are sort of a big soft spot for me!

I'll get some pictures up when I am able!

I've got two ken actually. One signed "Yukihira", early Kamakura piece. Another, mumei but probably Yamato and late Muromachi. I like the one you've got Dan! I wish you had messaged me about it after the show!

Far as I know, there are 11 generations of Shigekuni which date back about 400 years. The most famous being Nanki Shigekuni 1st generation. Hawley has him at 115 points and 15m yen in Toko Taikan, Sai-Jo Saku in Fujishiro. The 11th generation stopped working in the Ansei era and there are no more recorded after that. https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/SHI206 Would be a dream come true if this blade were him! But that is unlikely to be the case. But you still have many other to compare to and see how they compare. If you'll be at the Chicago show, I'll have a papered 11th generation Shigekuni yoroi-doshi that you can compare this blade to and see how the workmanship compares to mine. Shigekuni blades were known for being well made with lots of activity in the hamon and boshi.

Not to get your hopes up, but it sounds like Suishinshi Masahide. Which would be a big name and unusual. I can't speak about the veracity of the mei though.

Yeah! Just let me know early in that month and I'll get you our meeting date. We usually schedule the next month's meeting at the end of the most recent meeting so we can arrange for the most convenient time for our members.

The Show of Shows was definitely overpriced on a lot of things, but there were deals to be had! Just had to keep a sharp eye out. I picked up a signed naginata-naoshi for relatively little and I got to hang out with some good friends. I didn't get to meet you, so if you're coming to the Chicago Show this year, do stop by the Indiana Token Kai table and say hi to us. ~Chris

Looks like a thin and narrow fukure.

If you like, the Indiana Token Kai has monthly meetings. We are based in central Indiana. Message me if you'd like more info! Our next meeting is on the 24th this month.

I ask because if it is fairly thick, then it might be considered a yoroi-doshi aka an "armor piercing" tanto. But this appears to be a normal tanto. I wouldn't call it a kaiken unless it comes in appropriate koshirae. It is the koshirae that makes a kaiken what it is if I recall correctly.

How thick is the mune of the blade near the machi?

@Bruce Pennington@Stephen@Brian Well, I finally got around to taking some quick photos. I've photographed them as a pair, but they're two very different blades. Both in army mounts though. The wakizashi is a 21.5" blade signed simply "Nobuyoshi" and could be any of the late 1500 to middle 1600's Nobuyoshi. It has a very active choji hamon with a lot of tobiyaki. Dan from my ITK group likes to call it "florid choji". I like to think its almost like paint or blood dripping. Nothing special about the mounts other than the condition being very good with much of the gold plate/wash present. Good portions of the chrome on the saya is gone, but the condition is stable. The longer blade is a 25.75" cut-down tachi which I believe is from the Late Kamakura era. It appears to have been around the 30 to 31" mark originally. The nakago has three mekugi-ana and retains about 1.5" of the original length of the nakago. The hamon is a very narrow razor-thin suguha and is very difficult to capture. The mounts have a kamon on the backstrap. I believe it is a Tokugawa crest. It is missing one seppa unfortunately. But the chrome plating is near immaculate on the saya. That's about all I know of the two. I'd welcome opinions on school of the longer blade as I've no idea without visible hada and a barely visible hamon through the clouding. Edit: apologies for the photos as usual. Working with a phone camera and then an image compressor means much is lost. They'll both be with me at the Chicago show this year again too.

Almost certainly gimei, here are a couple of Hirokuni examples: https://www.samuraim...u-hozon-certificate/ https://www.samuraim...u-hozon-certificate/ Hirokuni worked in the late 1680's to early 1710's or so. There is also a Mukansa that has the name of Hirokuni, but obviously he had nothing to do with this blade. As for the age of this blade, what is the nagasa? It looks to be a cut down tachi at least. Probably early 1600's? Hard to tell as the patination doesn't look correct. Definitely machi-okuri but also suriage by a lot. The mei is a later addition in my opinion.

This blade was bought from Komonjo, the pictures at the top of this post are a giveaway. And while, rarely, he sells some nice things. A lot of his blades come from Japan for resale in a western market without papers which should tell you all you need to know.

Looks like a bad fake/assemblage to me. The proportions all seem off and "squished". The scabbard might be real, but I don't think its a kyu gunto scabbard. The Tokugawa kamon on the fuchi should be a giveaway that this isn't a serious piece as well. The seppa is also hilariously thick. The backstrap and grip might be real, but they look like they've been butchered pretty badly to fit. The blade, if real, is abused and beyond saving. Stay far away from this one!

The only way it'll get worse is if you have the blade polished.

Long longitudinal split along the grain of the metal? That's called a ware and they're fairly common in traditionally forged Japanese swords. Not a lot of concern to be had here unless it is really wide or close to the hamon. For more information: http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/kizu.htm

Believe me, if said Bubba was anywhere near me and I got wind of this being done, I'd have had his hands "demilitarized".

RIP It would have been better to have been left in a relic condition than whatever was done to it.