Lewis B

Very true. First time I came across the term 'Utsuri' was in relation to a honyaki chef knife I purchased 7 years ago. The maker had referred to this feature in his description for the W2 tool steel blade as an indicator of the perfect heat treatment conditions.

Price?

I think it can form with both particles. Nie-utsuri being nie based.

Markus Sesko has a nice essay on the subject. https://markussesko.com/2013/08/22/some-thoughts-on-utsuri/

ChatGPT's opinion "It’s believed to be caused by slight variations in the composition of the steel used in the forging process. The technique of folding steel during the forging process (which is traditional in Japanese swordmaking) can result in these patterns appearing on the blade."

I seem to remember reading it was a thin covering of nie intended by the maker to instill additional strength in the blade thus making it less likely to fail under a combat situation.

MASACHIKA (正近), Eiroku (永禄, 1558-1570), Bingo – “Bishū Mihara-jū Kai Masachika saku” (備州三原住貝 正近作), “Bishū Mihara-jūnin Kai Masachika saku” (備州三原住人貝正近作), “Bishū Mihara-jū Kai Masachika taishoku jōgo ō-mochi-kurai shikaredomo kaji heta nari” (備州三原住貝正近大食上戸大餅喰然共 鍛冶下手也, “bad work of Kai Masachika from Bingo´s Mihara because made full of food”), this joking signature is found on the most famous masterwork of Masachika, the saying taishoku jōgo ō-mochi kurai applies to someone who is already full of food and sake but who still eats a dessert in the form of a mochi Seems like he had a big sense of humour.

Forging kitae ware.

Yes, I thought the merciful thing to do was to lop off their heads in feudal Japan. Thats what the 2nd was there to do during an act of harakiri, not stab them in the ankle with a blunt chopstick/hair adornment tool.

All depends if you are looking to buy or have some quiet time with your favourite blade. Friday will be more relaxed and give you first crack of the whip. Saturday after lunch was the busiest last year.

Thats certainly possible given the layout at the last event, but I would check with the organizers first.

I linked to the listing above. Lots of photos on the dealer site. Unsigned but it does have NBTHK papers for Omori.

I too find the design feature especially elegant as illustrated in your example. Looking more closely at the images in the listing I think its a silver insert as shown in Dale's but the facing edges have been stained black (you can see some run over in the side images) such that only the inner surface retains its shiny silver colour.

I will be attending Friday and Saturday and would be happy to meet up with other NMB members.

Construction appears to be different. I'm not seeing a silver insert. This is the original listing https://eirakudo.shop/487812

Gorgeous workmanship. What was interesting was the silver finish inside the various hitsu ana. Was that a common design feature?

Although not my style that Koshirae is super nice. And congrats on the nuptials.

And in Germany even if you have that evidence you have to demonstrate a particular historical significance for the object eg a blade by a founder of a school or Gokuden. One way or another the gov gets their piece of the pie.

The bad news is that it's cracked along the grain and not along the seam. If the latter it can fixed using Sakura Nori (rice glue) which is the traditional adhesive for shirasaya. You could try using it to fill the crack and then strongly bind until dry, but I have a feeling this will not be a permanent solution especially given your climate with its high heat and humidity. I think your best bet is to find a local togishi and see if they have a few options.

Links not working.

Can't be 100% certain from those pictures but have you considered that it might be a forging feature? Was it there when you got the blade?

The Rai Kunitoshi...... wowzers. The mumei Yoshioka Ichimonji was also strong.

Yes, they can occur at the time of manufacture but they can also occur far later in the blades history (unknown to the swordmaker) which is the point I was trying to make. I highly doubt the original buyer hundreds of years ago, would have accepted such a defect. After all a broken blade could have been the difference between life and death.

Hagire can occur decades and centuries after it was made. A tension in the ha during the forging or quenching can eventually lead to this fatal flaw. If the blade is sai ha (retempured) that could also result in hagire. Basically the smith may not have been aware there is an issue so can't take full responsibility.

Thanks for the headsup. Looks worse on the ura side.