Veli

Roy, This smith is listed in the Hizento Handbook (Eguchi Soshin/transl. by Gordon Robson) on page 172, but there is no additional information apart from the period (Keio, Meiji) Veli

Looks interesting! Could you give us the dimensions? Veli

Yes, Hoshu Takada ju Moriiye, as Chris said. I'd like to point out that the Tokubetsu Kicho paper specifically states that this is a Shinto (i.e. not a Koto). Veli

I guess the attribution to Tegai (手掻) suggests that the blade is Nanbokucho or earlier. A Muromachi jidai blade would be attributed as Sue-Tegai (末手掻), wouldn't it? I have myself a mumei wakizashi in Shirasaya that has been attributed to Tegai. Veli

Go to above link Kanji pages/other kanji/tameshigiri and you'll find the name of the test cutter! Veli

Kim, here's my guess how the kanji of the signature look in print :豊後國佐伯住藤原正次 (Bun-go Kuni Sa-eki ju Fuji-wara Masa-tsugu). Try to figure out the corresponding strokes on the mei. Veli

This one is hard to see clearly... Bungo no Kuni Saeki ju Fujiwara Masatsugu? Veli

Yoshinao, I think... Are you trying to read the tsuba upside down :D ? Veli

Could it be Veli

Hi Jan, Always nice to see these beauties :D The shape, where the curvature is prominent close to the kissaki, as well as the nagasa being just a little over 40 cm leads me to think this is a shinto blade. Just a guess... Veli

I am not sure if I understand your comment... What I meant, I have a blade from the rokudai, Vlad has a blade from the godai, and I'd like to compare the workmanship in order to understand how much the traits changed between these two generations. I guess the difference is significant. Veli

I live near Helsinki, so if you happen to visit Finland and have some spare time, just mail or pm me! It is always a pleasure to meet other collectors! Veli

Hi Vlad! I am looking forward to better photos after you have received the blade :D . I would very much like to see the differences in hada between the 5th and 6th generation. There is probably some residual oil on the jihada, and the hadori obscures the nioiguchi, so there are limitations what we can see from the pictures. Pic. #11 may show a small fault (core steel?) or maybe not... The hada looks like the kind that I like very much, kind of silky. Anyway, a signed example by a very good smith with TH papers... I am a bit envious :D Veli

Can you see the watermarks in the original of the picture#3 you posted? Veli

I think the older papers may not have had the punching marks. Do not trust me entirely on this, I based my comment on some pictures of older TH papers: http://new.uniquejapan.com/nbthk-nihon-bijutsu-token-hozon-kyokai-certification-paper-ranking/ http://www.ricecracker.com/japanese_swords/wakizashi/sw8.htm But are the watermarks there? Veli

Hi Vlad, The paper says its Tokubetsu Hozon. If you want to be absolutely certain of authenticity, please tell the agent to check the safety features described here: http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sword_papers.html#japanese_sword_5 I just had a wakizashi attributed by NTHK to Soshu Tsunahiro, but to son of this smith. http://nihontofinland.com/7 BR, Veli

Hi Mariusz, This is a constant source of concern for me, too. I keep my blades and koshirae in a glass/wood cabinet, with a tight lid and consequently very slow moisture exchange with the ambient air. The moisture has to penetrate slowly through solid birch sidewalls, or through the plywood bottom. During the cold and dry season, I regularly insert a 30 cm lenght of clean wood that has been stored outside in a shed and thus has something like 30 mass-% of water in it. This piece of wood slowly evaporates moisture into the air inside the cabinet, and keeps the moisture at a tolerable level. I would hesitate to insert liquid water into the cabinet. The moisture will rise too much/too rapidly, and in the liquid itself there is a possibility of mold growth. Recently I decided to leave one of my shinsa-destined blades behind when travelling to Tampa Shinsa, because the blade has koshirae only, and the rapid moisture change from 1% to 80% would probably have damaged the saya. Despite of these measures, I prefer buying blades in shirasaya instead of high-quality lacquered koshirae. Veli

Unfortunately all information I have is that on the worksheet Veli

Yes! NTHK attributed this blade as Takada school, around Kanbun era. Am I disappointed? No! This was an eye-opener for me. Until now, I haven't realised Takada school swords could have such a uniform and silky-looking ko-mokume. I might have to revise my opinion on Takada school... Some additional pics: http://www.nihontofinland.com/8 Veli

I greatly enjoyed the show, the lectures and meeting people face to face for the first time. I did not make any major investments, but I did buy some books and Bob Benson's uchiko. Furthermore, I just got my blades back from shinsa! Two pinked, two passed. Not bad, actually... Time to fly back to Finland early tomorrow. Veli

You can find the answer from here: http://www.nihontoantiques.com/g21.htm Note that the signature is too different to be of this smith. There were a number of other smiths signing with this mei, however. Veli

The other side reads Shin Ju Go Mai Kobuse Saku, truly 15 times kobuse forged, I think. The translation is on the left side of the Sanmai picture of the blade, as Geraint already pointed out :D The signature looks different from the Sanmai example. We must remember, however, that there were three different smiths signing "Musashi Taro Yasukuni", so gimei or not gimei, that is the question Veli

Hi Jens! Here's the mei of your blade compared to the reference picture (Fujishiro) of Oei period Fujishima Tomoshige of Kaga. Not saying that it is a perfect match, but just wanted to give you a clue what to look for when trying to figure out the strokes. The third kanji "tomo" is the most difficult to resolve... you probably see better with the blade in hand... BR, Veli

Hello Jens! Welcome to NMB! It would help a lot to get your photos in a higher resolution! Please do some cropping, and less picture compression, and please leave out the tracings on the mei, they do not usually help much. If I should make an unreliable guess based on what I see, this could be Fujishima Tomoshige 藤島友重. A number of smiths by this name worked in Kaga and Echizen provinces from 14th to 19th century. Your blade might be sue-koto (14th-16th century). BR, Veli

info@aoi-art.com Veli