waljamada

Some papered examples of his mei:

I recently purchased this blade I believe to be signed Musashi no Kami Fujiwara Kanenaka (武蔵守藤原兼中). Its not condition free but was the first blade I found in the wild in my home state. Blade has a 27" nagasa and was shortened with 2 mekugi ana. Was told it was brought back by a soldier, used to be coated in cosmoline and came in a shirasaya that is split with sayagaki. Has a gold foil cat scratch habaki and overall in decent old polish. Biggest issue is the kissaki where some rust formed from the old shirasaya debris and a small bit broken off the tip. Got it for a worth while price for its condition in my opinion. Have seen some blades of his get Toku Hozon and I believe rated 2.5 million yen so hopefully this blade is not gimei. Any thoughts on the mei or any aspects of the blade? Ill post a video and pictures below of the blade and here is a description of the smith: Link to the Video I took of the blade: https://youtu.be/Olg...?si=zEtgcF8is8Fz81DL This blade was signed by Musashi no Kami Fujiwara Kanenaka(武蔵守藤原兼中) during the early Edo period. There is also an inscription on the backside of the tang, saying that it was made in Echizen province(today’s Fukui prefecture). It is said that Kanenaka was a descendant of Magoroku Kanemoto, one of the most famous swordsmiths in Mino province(today’s Gifu prefecture). He was born in the 8th year of the Keicho era(1603) and lived until the Tenwa era(1681-1684). He originally started his career in Mino province. He forged swords in Echizen province(today’s Fukui prefecture) during the Eiroku era(1658-1670). There was also a record of him forging swords in Edo city. Since this was forged in Echizen, we assume it was created about 340-370 years ago. Echizen Province was prosperous during the Edo period, being ruled by the Echizen Matsudaira clan, a direct retainer of Tokugawa clan who ruled the Edo government. Many skilled swordsmiths moved to Echizen from different regions because of high demand among Samurai who lived there. Among them, there were many renowned swordsmiths who were originally from the Mino province(Gifu prefecture), such as Kanenaka. They are called Echizen Seki swordsmiths. Musashi no Kami was an honorable title that was only given to highly-skilled swordsmiths back then. We believe Kanenaka’s artistry was excellent enough to be recognized back then.

My kind of blade. Excellent offering!

Bought a blade from Brandon before and he's got an excellent eye for gendaito blades and is an excellent seller/collector with an aim on the highest quality gendaito smiths. Just sayin...

Hey Stephen, I'm curious about the story and wonder how the other's blades came out. I'm having a blade polished currently with Woody and asked for sashikomi as I'm just not convinced with the hadori style. Heavy hadori seems like painting over fine lines with a fat brush. I hope the hamon still shines through at the right light!

With this blade using the anti rust steel, is it similar to the arsenal anti rust naval blades in that the hamon is cosmetic and no real visible hada? Or was it made with traditional methods and just an untraditional steel? You say it has a visible hada etc...?

Wanted to ask when someone receives their shinsa papers could you please post here? Want to know when they start coming in, and if after some time passes and mine don't arrive, know that I should perhaps follow up on them. Adam

Remembered coming across a type 98 with lacquered bohi blade on eBay maaaany moons ago. Dug through my "sword" screenshots and actually found the pics!

Greetings all, Hoping for some assistance and thank you very much in advance for any help. The description mentions it was special ordered and wondering if this is reflected in the mei. The ad lists swordsmith Bishuju Mano Kuniyasu as the maker and mentioned as one with a small body of work. Anyone heard of this smith? Please see photos below.

That sayagaki alone is a piece of art!

Bruce, I think it was a lacquered saya but I don't remember the details. It was on eBay years ago for 2k and no one bid on it. Haven't seen it since.

Bruce, Yeah it seems to be a "it was done" and "they do exist". I don't know if anything more will be found out because as you said it may have just come down to choice and whims. The only historical connection I've come across was that mention in one of the descriptions mentioning a 1938 Campaign in China during which I'm sure they didn't just use fully leather fittings as it would then be a wider known attribution....so perhaps "it was done" will do.

This one kinda fits. Nagamitsu blade in mostly type 44 fittings.

Chris, Yeah came across it on eBay. Blade is in kind of rough shape but the koshirae is in wonderful condition. The ridged wood and leather wrapped tsuka actually has a solidly good grip on it so it is definetly function over form.

Did find this. Mentioned leather tsukas as part of a 1938 campaign. Could also be as simple as just repurposing a tsuka wrap as a full tsuka.

A few Chicago Sword Shows back I bought a wakizashi in "gunto" koshirae with a fully leather koshirae including tsuka. Never really saw another one until coming across one today snd thought I'd check to see if anyone else has one. Always figured it was just a simple utilitarian build out of either need of assembly speed, lack of resources etc... For example the tsuka construction is simply just ridged wood wrapped in the leather sheath. Used to think it was possibly a "tanker" variation but I think the latest opinion on that is that category may or may not even exist. Is there any additional info on such koshirae? Are they acknowledged as a "type"? First pics are from one on eBay I just across. The tsuba is obviously not gunto. The tsuba on mine is a smaller gunto tsuba. Second sword pics are my wakizashi. Has a mumei blade but NTHK papered to 2nd gen Nobutaka.

Small thing I've learned on the photo resizing bit is if the picture is too big of a file size and it's on your phone then take a screenshot of it to decrease the file size. Quick easy and painless.

So posted this on another forum but this seems to be the more proper home for it: RESULTS ARE IN: 1) The Kanekuni failed shinsa and was ruled as gimei with a wider possible attribution to Mino Den. It was kantei'd to be from the Oei Era. I didn't have a strong faith in the signature on this one and the age via the shinsa was a bit older than I originally thought it was. I pegged it as late 1400s early 1500s, so I was close. 2) The Kunitsugu passed shinsa with 73 points to Etchu Uda Kunitsugu also from the Oei Era. Out of the two I'm glad this was the one that papered. This was my favorite of my unpapered blades. Ōei (応永) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, "year name") after Meitoku and before Shōchō. This period spanned the years from July 1394 through April 1428. Reigning emperors were Go-Komatsu-tennō (後小松天皇,) and Shōkō-tennō (称光天皇). So had a 50% success rate on the Meis but I'm still glad that the Gimei Kanekuni at least has a "confirmed" age. Also the NTHK point system was unfamiliar to me so I had to research it. It seems a 73 pointer to be a lower level "important" ranking. Below is a pic of the Kunitsugu blade that passed.

Thanks Steve and John, Thank you both for your input and kind statements. This for me was to do my little part in helping out the nihonto in my care and well worth the experience. Was cool to see the shinsa team at work, all the efforts of the organizers come together, all the vendors and the enthusiasts coming together.

Really enjoyed the show! Lots of vendors, lots of wonderful things to see and met some great people. Had a shinsa buddy that I met going up to the room and then went to get our results together. (He had 4 passes and I had 1 out of my 2 blades pass) Made a friend of mine go with me to show him the nihonto ropes and saw familiar vendor faces. Always fun to see which guys bring what and getting a sense of their "eye" for blades. Didn't end up buying anything this year but loved just being there.

RESULTS ARE IN: 1) The Kanekuni failed shinsa and was ruled as gimei with a wider possible attribution to Mino Den. It was kantei'd to be from the Oei Era. 2) The Kunitsugu passed shinsa with 73 points to Etchu Uda Kunitsugu also from the Oei Era. Ōei (応永) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, "year name") after Meitoku and before Shōchō. This period spanned the years from July 1394 through April 1428. Reigning emperors were Go-Komatsu-tennō (後小松天皇,) and Shōkō-tennō (称光天皇). So we had a 50% success rate on the Meis but I'm still glad that the Gimei Kanekuni at least has a "confirmed" age.

Well not quite as pro level as Mr. Paul Martin. But It'll do.....it'll do...

Welp, time to paper saya up and prepare for my Sunday trip to the Chicago Sword Show. I decided to go with the Kunitsugu and the Kanekado. My logic goes as following....1) With so many generations etc..it takes someone with knowledge and/or resources to narrow things down. 2) I personally have the most curiosity about those 2 blades 3) The traveling shinsa team may have more resources on hand that may cover these two smiths unlike... 4)The Michimisasa being such an "unknown" smith I think would be difficult for a traveling shinsa team without full resources at hand. 5) I want to take the tsuba to shinsa one day and I wish IWell, just purchased three slots...but I'd personally rather have the blades papered (if things go well) than the tsuba. So next time! Thank you to all those who weighed in to help me navigate this! I greatly appreciate it. Will post an update after the judgements.

I've emotionally prepared myself to be dissapointed but still optiministically hopeful at the same time. I view all my submission options being able to go either way.

John, The tsuba is definetly tempting because of the name attached. I don't have any papered tsubas but do have a nbthk white papered koshirae which I do enjoy. That tsuba came on the Ashu Ju Michimasa blade and I actually love the koshirae of that blade so having the tsuba authenticated would be a nice treat. The tsuba never did inspire much feedback on relevant forums/groups which maybe says something though. I do want to try and get the items that would best benefit from a shinsa done and I dont know enough to decide if the tsuba would shine a bit brighter being papered. As to the tsuba itself I did receive some help with some of the translation. "I think the inscription on the back is 寒山行旅 kanzan kōryo, meaning “going on a trip to cold mountains”. Engraved are 秋江 (shūkō) and 帆彩？ (hosai?), which I think allude to a Chinese painting, or a common theme in Chinese painting. I think it says 秋江帆影 shūkō han'ei, which is an actual theme for Chinese and Japanese classic pictures." Then I did find one verified signature of this maker on a kozuka I'll post below next to the mei on the tsuba and they have differences.