Veli

Well, here's my favourite low-cost blade with very little value to other collectors: a shinto, O-suriage wakizashi : yet I love that poor little blade: it was once forged by a skilled smith, who produced konuka hada and bright suguha hamon in nie. Quite flawless apart from being suriage. Not difficult to see which Shinto school it seems to belong... BR, Veli

Is that "ichi" above the mekugiana? Veli

The signature matches sandai, not nidai. Veli

Hi Edward, There are only a few who signed this way. Veli

Maybe Bizen (no) Kuni ju Osafune Shichibejo Sukesada... Please check around SUK879, SUK887 (probably not that one), SUK 909... BR, Veli

You are welcome! To be honest, I am just an ignorant beginner with a lot of good books! Let's wait for the comments of the more experienced members... EDIT: I just realised you had posted pics of the sword on another thread. Looks really nice. If this was your first purchase... BR, Veli

Fujishiro saved the day once more! In my humble opinion, this is a close match: Hawley KAN432, 3rd generation Kaneyasu, signed earlier Kaneshige (Hawley KAN 317), also in left-hand style. Active around Kan-bun. Jo-saku by Fujishiro, 30 pts Hawley, thus a skilled smith. BR, Veli

That's the right answer! Mutsu (no) Kami! Well done! BR, Veli

Hi! As Jean said, this is not too difficult: the kanji are clearly written and also often encountered ones. I'd like to make one note, however: The kanji are in left hand writing, usually you see it as a mirror image of this one... Please try once more! If you cannot find the answer, you'll get it this afternoon... As Jean said: Province (1. and 2. kanji together) and title (3. kanji) Kanbatte kudasai! BR, Veli

Hi Moss, Now martensite crystals will be clearly visible only at illuminating angles very close to specular reflection. If you wish to maintain the reflection angle nearly constant over a long section of the blade, and simultaneously avoid directly reflected light, you should increase the distance between the light source and the blade, as well as the distance between the blade and the camera optics. Give it a try, if your optical zoom allows. Just my 2c... BR, Veli

As a beginner I am now and then entitled to a dumb question Any idea which generation? BR, Veli

I watched the news with sadness and awe. I rejoice with those whose family is safe; I pray for safe return of those who are missing, and humbly offer my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Veli

Robert, Nice data! Did you use Auger electron spectroscopy or what? X-ray fluorescence analysis is the one I have sometimes thought of using (absolutely nondestructive, too), but the spectral peaks in your graph do not look like X-ray spectrum? John, I have seen some optical emission analysers with arc excitation, and they seemed to do damage compared to unsuccessful spot welding... I have always wondered whether metal analysis would be worthwhile. I think it would be, if there was a database of comparable analysis from a large number of known samples... BR, Veli

Gentlemen, I do not mean to propose ending the discussion (whether concerning nihon-to, whiskey or nice building projects ), but I think it is time to express my gratitude to all of you who took part in this discussion. The comments, especially the critical ones, forced me to look for essential information I otherwise would have omitted. I could post better pictures, but that would mean flooding the forum with a dozen of 1 Mb files, yet the information would still be insufficient. If there will be a shinsa in Europe next year, I'll bring this one (and several other blades) in. If not, I'll probably have to endure the hassle with the customs and visit the U.S. I do not expect this to be any kind of a treasure, but it is a blade with distinct and unique features, and I shall be happy to pay a couple of hundred € for expert opinion, just to learn. The date of the paper, Showa 48 nen 3 gatsu, coincide with the period when NBTHK had suspended shinsa at local branches (ref. Nihontocraft website). I guess this is a positive, though not a decisive, factor in terms of reliability of the papers. In any case: BR, Veli

Jason, Please go to the Nihonto Kanji Pages -> Nihonto Kanji -> Common Kanji and re-check the kanji for "day" and "month"... BR, Veli

Jean, I cannot provide any guarantee - not even to myself - that the utsuri on my blade is proper bo-utsuri and not shirake utsuri arising from tiredness. But to state that all utsuri should reach up to the shinogi... I think this statement needs more research and references than those already discussed. Futatsuji-hi can be seen at least in the works of Omiya school, too (Connoisseurs p. 184): http://www.katanagallery.com/details_oeuvres.php?oeuvres_id=18 As for the hada at the position of the utsuri, please refer to 3rd picture of my 2nd mail "5_hada.jpg". BR, Veli

I do agree with Jean in saying that the phenomenon discussed here cannot be the midare utsuri encountered especially in earlier Bizen-to, since that is indeed supposed to start from the shinogi. However, it does have a significant resemblance to the bo-utsuri illustrated by Nakahara. The bo-utsuri (if that is what we see) seems to date this blade to late Nambokucho (Kozori group only) or Oei periods (Oei-Bizen), just as John stated. BR, Veli

I was trying to refer to these, especially to Nakahara's illustration of Bo-utsuri: BR, Veli

True, the quality of the utsuri is not at the level I'd wish it to be. However, please see page 50 of Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords by Nakahara! BR, Veli

John, You expressed one of my main concerns about the quality of the utsuri: could it be the type of shirake utsuri encountered in tired blades? Two facts speak against this, however: The utsuri is brightest on the healthiest-looking parts of the blade; furthermore, the utsuri flashes into sight only under lighting conditions that are required to properly see the nioiguchi. In any case the utsuri on my blade is nothing compared to the one illustrated in the drawing you posted. BR, Veli

Sorry for the very poor menuki photo. Here's a better one: the menuki theme is sansaru, not shishi! I also uploaded a couple of utsuri photos as well as one koshirae photo into flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/60209685@N06/ I am not happy with the resolution, however. Any suggestions about the best photo sharing site in terms of max. resolution??? BR, Veli

John, let's say that the timing of the blade in Nambokucho period is a working hypothesis, which I am ready to revise, should evidence point to a later date. Bizen Kozori group continued to early Muromachi period, but I haven't heard it reaching to as late a date as Momoyama... The blade's hamon pattern is somewhat subdued compared to mainline Bizen schools, which is one of the characteristics of the Kozori group. If we assume that the futatsuji-hi ends roughly at the position of the original hamachi, the original nagasa has been up to 85 cm, which is rather long for a (late) Muromachi blade, but typical for Nambokucho blades. Furthermore, if you trace the curvature of the hi instead that of the nakago, you can see that originally the steepest curvature was near the original hamachi. This, I think, also points to a rather early type of sugata. The kissaki is not an O-kissaki, but still somewhat longer than average. The blade is tired, but still displays a beautiful hada, and very few forging flaws. Also, utsuri can be clearly seen. I would say the workmanship is decent, though I would not call this a masterpiece. I would be thankful if you'd let me know your ideas of the timing of this blade. Please take a look at the picture below. There you can see the curvature of the hi being different from the curvature of the nakago. Henk-Jan, In the above picture you can see the menuki, which was not visible in previous photos. Please let me know if you want photos of some specific detail. Jason, the price was equal to the cost of a decent polishing for two daito :D BR, Veli

Maybe 兼清 Kanekiyo? BR, Veli

Thank you Morita-san, George, Malcolm. Seems that the Kuzushiji yōrei jiten is readily available in Japan. BR, Veli

If you haven't seen "When the last sword is drawn", I'd recommend it strongly... ( I certainly would not recommend watching "The last samurai...) BR, Veli