Toryu2020

This is a reprint, I'm thinking it was a chatski given out at a sword shop but I cannot remember where...

Many times they do not put fake signatures on crap swords - looks great! -t

There was one in Australia a few years back but beyond my budget. He is very highly sought after in Japan as well, so not a lot in circulation. In five years in Japan going to four or more kantei-kai a month I never saw one. Don't recall seeing any pop up in the Dai To-ken Ichi catalogues either. Only ever saw the one blade in the TNM exhibit in 1997 and it was spectacular... -t

I think to find one in any mounts would be a dream for most... -t

Imozuru is used in descriptions for Satsuma swords never heard it used to describe any other school. Someone reading your note may be lead to see this as a Satsuma work when it is not. Inazuma are short lines that cross from the hamon into the ji so they are squiggly and often angled not vertical in parallel with with the cutting edge. I would stick with Tokuno since he was talking about this specific sword... -t

George - Is the description from Markus a translation of some document associated with your sword or his own attribution? Or are you attaching his description to what you are seeing on your sword? Again I would point to the tanto above (dated Taisho 10). There is one long line with breaks accompanied by shorter parrallel lines that come in and out, which to me sounds like what you are describing in your piece... -t (trying to help really!)

George - It is not one single unbroken line (in your first oshigata above) - it is several lines (perhaps running along the same fold) with shorter lines coming in and out in parrallel - surely he saw the blade in hand and saw the lines as sunagashi - while the illustration may make it look like a kinsuji - this is why it is always nice to have the photo and an oshigata. Is there a particular sword driving these questions? Would be nice to see the item in question... -t

What you are seeing is a kinsuji (in my opinion) - "Imozuru" is a derogatory term meant to point to Satsuma work specifically - "Satsuma potato" is a derogatory term and kantei guys played on this to describe the work on Satsuma blades (they may be inferior to kinsuji in other works but I don't think so) - The kinsuji in Satsuma swords is really long, but you won't find really long kinsuji referred to as imozuru in other artists EG; Shinkai... -t

123 plays by Aristophenes alone!!

Thats just it - the rules are simple the exceptions are legion... -t

David - It goes pretty much as Ken has said - early blades are assumed to be tachi - UNLESS they have been cut down into katana or wakizashi - then the paper will say katana/wakizashi even though everyone knows it started life as a tachi. Post 1600 - every blade is assumed to be a katana - even with tachi mei (think Hizen) - UNLESS the general practice of the smith was to sign katana mei but you get a one off tachi mei (as happens in Shinshinto) These were the rules explained to me by a Shibu-Cho of the Kamakura Branch of the NBTHK - but he went on to say there was a period when the NBTHK started calling obviously early blades tachi even though they were osuriage mumei - this went on for a time and now we're back to the rule as stated above. Like everything else in Nihonto, "The rules are easy the exceptions are what will kill you..." -tch

Unbelievable. Thank you Ted, Curran, please keep us informed when its appropriate.

Nice Dotanuki.

Thanks Mal - you can message me here or email toryu@toryu-mon.com - your book is archived here is it not? -t

Looking for oshigata of all generations of Daido (大道) especially interested in the Shinshinto Yamashiro smith - 山城住権正藤原大道 - any help from this board appreciated. -tch

Do we know it's him writing the blog? This doesn't sound right...

Very difficult to assign a single mon to a single family - there being many generations, daughters and sons given to other families and the right to wear the mon given to many retainers. The important families had primary and secondary mon and seeing these in combination can point us to the right family - sometimes. Three mon together is even better. Unfortunately in this case these are very common mon on their own. Checking the Taisei Bukan, there is only one family using the combination of the kirimon and tsurumaru, the 9th lord of Harima Mikazuki Han, Mori Toshishige - however they do not seem to have used the mitsudomoe - rather you see the character "Ju" (as in the number ten) - if there is any connection it may be some retainer of this Han... -t

A perfect illustration of the folly of trying to associate a mon with any single family... -tch

Paz - I think the best you can say is there may be some relation - given the quality of what we can see, it may (and its a big IF) it may have been someone who served the family that used this mon. Over two hundred and fifty years there would have been dozens of branch families and retainer families given permission to use the mon - sometimes it is on "parade" items used for sankin kotai - seriously without other corroborating information it is just a nice mon... -t

Daimyo families had primary and secondary mon - sometimes as many as four - truth is that unless the particular mon is singularly unique to a single family you cannot ascribe any mon to any person, family or line. Should you find an item of quality that includes two or more mon then the probabilities are much higher but it is still just supposition without other evidence. Swords had an incredible currency over the years - some families patronized their local swordsmiths and boasted many blades by their hometown artist in their collections - many families had swords from all over and almost none from local smiths, even when they were directly employed by that family... -t

Taking care of your parents can be the toughest job in the world and don't get me started on Cats! Just know you have a family here and we're happy to do what little we can for you... -t

Liberal civil rights activist and politician of the Meiji and Taisho periods. Born on July 7, 1852 in the Miharu domain (Fukushima Prefecture). His name was Banshu. After the establishment of the new government, he served in Wakamatsu Prefecture and the Miharu domain office, and later served as head of the Tokiwa household and head of the Ishikawa ward. During his tenure as the head of the Tokiwa household and the head of the Ishikawa ward, he was enlightened by Mill's ideas and made efforts to establish the Minkaikai and the Seiyosha political association. In the meantime, in April 1881, he was elected to the Diet. In April 1881, at the age of just 31, he became the chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly and fought hard for the establishment of local autonomy. In 1889, he was pardoned by the Constitution and released from prison. During this period, he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1903 and as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in the second Shigenobu Okuma Cabinet in 1915. He left the Liberal Party, which he had been deeply involved with since its founding in 1897, and frequently changed his party affiliation, which led to some suspicion of his political manners, but he never lost the principle of "universal suffrage" that he had nurtured during the Civil Rights Movement. However, he did not consistently lose the idea of "universal suffrage" that he had developed during the Civil Rights Movement, and he worked actively to realize it. He died on December 29, 1923, while still a member of the Diet. His grave is at Gokokuji Temple in Tokyo. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

So I dunno - could be a gift "to" rather than from - also Kinnen is often translated as "Memorial" but Kono Hironaka did not die until the 1920's so its not clear what is being celebrated - my thinking is the kao may belong to Mr Kamata who seems to be the author - the unclear characters are for a Bizen Osafune somebody, perhaps that was an old sayagaki that was removed to add this one? 河野広中公の愛刀則光太刀と一組揃の名刀也 明治３４年正月元旦 河野代議士より贈興紀念也　　 鎌田代 Kono Hironaka's favorite sword, Norimitsu, and a pair of other famous swords. New Year's Day, 1901 A commemorative gift from Congressional Representative Kono.　　 Kamata (signed)　 I'm sure somebody or maybe Nobody will correct my mistakes... -t

George - I am afraid this signature, mon and yasuri do not compare well to the examples in Fujishiro. What activity/features are you seeing in the blade besides a sugu-ha hamon? -t

I'm sure youre aware (but this is the internet...) The inscription says "Futatsu do ochiru" which means "Cut two bodies" if it said "Ni no do" that would be the location of the cut as seen in the illustration. Since we cannot see the artists signature nor any seal or other mention of the cutter - I would not give this lots of weight in my considerations... -t