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Edo Period Antique Japanese Sword Wakizashi Unsigned Rare Unokubi Zukuri鵜の首造 | eBay Still available.

Edo period Mumei Unokubi Wakizashi still available. Others are sold.

More pictures

Greetings all！ I just want to share a recently acquired tanto, made by Izumi no Kami Kanesada和泉守兼定 （Seki Kanesada, 2nd generation) This tanto is his early work.

兼工房_日本刀鍛冶の技術と沖縄伝統漆工芸の融合_沖縄県南城市 (kaneruor.jp) The answer is Yes. Here is his website.

some more photos

Hi guys, I have some wakizashi and Yari for sale. Two Edo period Mumei Wakizashi and One Muromachi Yari. Here are my ebay links. Feel free to ask questions or make offer. Edo Period Japanese Sword Wakizashi Unsigned Seki Zenjo関善定 w/NBTHK Paper | eBay Edo Period Antique Japanese Sword Wakizashi Unsigned Rare Unokubi Zukuri鵜の首造 | eBay AntiqueJapanese Katana Spear Yari Muromachi period KaneIe兼舎Signed w/ NBTHK Paper | eBay

That green paper is not even a NBTHK paper

I read this article, but this statement has no evidence. I think this is an incorrect interpretation of the inscription（父新免号無二為十手之家武蔵受家業朝鑚暮研） 父新免号無二為十手之家武蔵受家業朝鑚暮研= His father Shinmen Muni is a Master of Jutte(十手)，Miyamoto Musashi learned the skill of Jitte and practiced every day. There is nothing related to the family business or business name. In fact, the author misunderstood the words（十手之家） as swordsman family. The correct translation of 十手之家 should be Master of Jutte. Also, there is another article says one record show that Musashi's father is 宮本無二之助 who claimed to be Musashi-no-Kami. But according to this record the title Musashi-no-Kami is only used in a few members of the Jutte school, so it is not a family business name, and it is contradicting other records.(Well, I read all articles on that website. Some authors claim that Shinmen Musashi no Kami is the business name of the Shinmen Muni's family, but they fail to provide directly evidence. This is the only record says 宮本無二之助 also known as Musashi-no-Kami武蔵守) In sum, if you believe that the title Musashi-no-Kami is a family business name (actually this is also a kind of self-proclaimed courtesy title) which is also used by Musashi's father. Then you have to assume that 宮本無二之助 and 新免無二 are same person. If so, you have to recognize a lot of conflicting records (So it is very unlikely to be true). And even Musashi and his father both used the title Musashi no Kami as business name, it still a proclaimed courtesy title since it is not recognized by the Imperial court. Also, there is no clear line between later Sengoku period and early Edo period. Musashi was born on later Sengoku period, so he still keeps old tradition of claiming a proclaimed courtesy title. Anyway, since you already noticed that people in Sengoku period do use some courtesy title like XXXX no Kami as their business/office name without permission, you should aware the courtesy titles like XXX no Kami on the sword don't have to be an official granted courtesy title.

My answers： 1. A swordsmith is likely to write a courtesy title without permission on a sword in Muromachi period and Sengoku period. But it is less likely to do so in Edo period. 2. The early history of Kanesada兼定 school is a mystery. The traditional view is that the Kanesada兼定 had three generations before Edo period, but this view(and the whole genealogy of Kanesada) has been challenged by a number of historians. There is now evidence that other swordsmiths(別人兼定) who used this signature Kanesada兼定 have not been recorded. See below articles: http://www.nihonto-club.net/kantei/cool_5/kaisetsu5_6.html http://www.nbthk-gf.or.jp/kanesadasyokimei/kanesadasyokimei.html 3. Miyamoto Musashi claim to be Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu(新免武蔵守藤原玄信) in his book The Book of Five Rings五輪書，without permission. Someone claim to be a courtesy title without permission called 自官 in Japanese. 4. As I know, Miyamoto Musashi's father Shinmen Munisai 新免無二斎 didn't use the title Musashi no Kami武蔵守. So, I don't see Miyamoto Musashi has any connection to the title.

Miyamoto Musashi(宮本武藏), I guess you heard this name. Another of his name is Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu(新免武蔵守藤原玄信), actually he claims to be Musashi no Kami(武藏守). By the Muromachi period and Sengoku period, many people granted themself honorary titles without permission of imperial court. When the legitimacy of their title is officially questioned, they can easily claim it as a part of their first name and avoid punishment. So, so called Official Names (官名) is just a tricky that allows them to claim a title that doesn't really belong to them while avoiding legal problems. Below links are explanation why Official Names actually are self-proclaimed honorary titles 仮名 (通称) - Wikipedia 百官名 - Wikipedia Also, these self-proclaimed honorary titles were officially banned by the government during the Meiji era.

This is normal in Sengoku period, especially in Osafune school. For example, Bizen Osafune-jū Sahyōe no Jō Kagemitsu備前国長船住左兵衛尉景光 claim to be Sahyōe no Jō左兵衛尉 Bishū Osafune-jū Uemon no Jō Yasumitsu備州長船住右衛門尉康光 claim to be Uemon no Jō右衛門尉 Bizen koku jyu Osafune Yosouzaemon no jo Sukesada備前国住長船与三左衛門尉祐定 claim to be Zaemon no jo左衛門尉 Bizen koku jyu Osafune Sakyosin Munemitsu備前国住長船左京進宗光 claim to be Sakyosin左京進 In fact, only a few titles were officially recognized by the imperial court such as Izumi no kami Kanesada‘s和泉守兼定 title Izumi no kami和泉守 This was a popular behavior at that time so many people (not only swordsmith) like to grant themselves titles. So here is a mirror with a signature "Higo no Kami肥後守"

100% gimei. This signature is imitating Awataguchi Yoshimitsu. But the skill is too low to be true.

It depends on situation. In sengoku period many swordsmiths made up their own courtesy titles(For example, Osafune Sukesada school). But this was rare in the Edo period.

This is what I mean. Different title + Same name =Different Smith, not gimei.

As I said, Osafune Kiyomitsu（長船清光），Kashuu Kiyomitsu（加州清光）and Harimadaijou Fujiwara Kiyomitsu（播磨大掾藤原清光）， they have the same name Kiyomitsu , but they are not gimei. Since this smith, Mino no Kami Kanesada(美濃守兼定), has a different title with anyone in the famous Kanesada family line, the most likely explanation is that he is another person not related to this family. If he didn't claim he is one of the famous Kanesada, you can't call it gimei. Also, Mino (美濃) , Nōshū (濃州) or Noshu-ju(美濃住) means xxx of Mino/Noshu, and Noshu seki-ju(濃州関住)means xxxof seki, Noshu, these words are not title! But Mino no Kami(美濃守) is totally different, it means the Governor of Mino, which is an honorary title granted by Daimyo, Shogun or Imperial court. As Piers said, these honorary titles already lost their meaning.

If you carefully researched these titles, you would find that most titles have nothing to do with the smith's life experience. Even if you can find a connection in some people, it's just a coincidence.

No, this is just an honorary title so the name itself has no real meaning. For example, Syume no Kami Ippei Yasuyo（主馬首一平安代）, his title Syume no Kami(主馬首)is a position which is responsible for raising horses. Ippei Yasuyo was granted this title doesn't mean he raised horses for the imperial court.

Also I need to point out that it is normal for completely unrelated smiths to use the same name by coincidence. I can give many examples：Osafune Kiyomitsu（長船清光），Kashuu Kiyomitsu（加州清光）and Harimadaijou Fujiwara Kiyomitsu（播磨大掾藤原清光）， they have the same name Kiyomitsu but are smiths from different schools.

In Japan, this is a common sense that an imperial court's title is unrelated to people's place of residence unless he is a Daimyo（For example, Izumi no kami kanesada cannot be associated with the place Izumi, and Tango no Kami Kanemichi also cannot be associated with the place Tango）. So, a title "Mino no kami" cannot be related to any Mino swordsmith, and it is impossible to add any value. In my view, the only reasonable explanation is that there was indeed a smith with this name Mino no Kami Kanesada(美濃守兼定) in history, but he is not related to the famous Kanesada of Mino, just use the same name by coincidence.

Hi Shugyosha, I see no reason to assume the title or signature is false. Title is granted by Daimyo, Shogun or Imperial court, it's unlikely the smith makes up a title himself. Also, there's no reason for someone making a gimei to make up a title that doesn't belong to the smith.

In my view this is an Early Edo period wakizashi(Shinto) made by Mino no Kami Kanesada(美濃守兼定) I think this smith, Mino no Kami Kanesada(美濃守兼定), is just a random smith who use same name with famous Kanesada by coincidence, because no one in the famous Kanesada family has the title Mino no Kami(美濃守). So it cannot be a gimei.