reinhard

Wrong question. reinhard

Franco, this is, of course, exactly where this blade is pointing to. Being one of the five Tenka Go Ken, "O-Tenta" is one of Japan's most famous swords. Even less educated sword-lovers (and most fakers) heard of this sword. It is published in almost every beginner's book about NihonTo. - Now, and all of a sudden, its "twin brother" pops up out of nowhere... and even with a similar habaki! - It's like an acryl-painting of the Mona Lisa within an old-style frame from Ikea appearing just like that and some people are wondering: "Could this be the real thing?" It's not the amount of mekugi-ana that matters. It is their quality and their placement. On this particular example the intervals are too regular all over the nakago. Somebody tried to fulfill certain expectations without knowing much about the history of shortening blades. He succeded to some extent as it seems. reinhard

Remember the golden rule: It takes one mekugi-ana for Hozon Token two mekugi-ana for Tokubetsu Hozon Token three mekugi-ana for Juyo Token four mekugi-ana for Tokubetsu Juyo Token five mekugi-ana for Bijutsuhin six mekugi-ana for Bunkazai seven mekugi-ana for Kokuho But seriously: This nakago is a laugh. Not because of the number of mekugi-ana but because of their shapes and placement. Old nakago don't look like this. BTW the kinzogan-mei is quite new and the habaki looks brand-new to me and not even of Japanese origin from a distance. reinhard

This seems to be very rare group of smiths almost forgotten. Meikan says: reinhard

After all the "I like.... because of...."- babble, it might be interesting to know what a person, who really knows what he's talking about, has to say about this matter. Mr. Nobuo Ogasawara, retired Head Conservator of the Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan in Tokyo, held a lecture about "MEITO or What Makes a Masterpiece?" in 2002 in Solingen, Germany. Text (ger. and engl.) can be found in: "Ausgewählte Japanische Kunstschwerter"/"Selected Fine Japanese Swords" published by NBTHK-EB and the Klingenmuseum in Solingen. If you want to understand what makes a slim and elegant Rai KUNITOSHI tachi a MeiTo and a 300'000 US$ blade and what makes a huge and heavy Bungo Takada-sword from later Muromachi-period with impressive, long kissaki just a simple weapon worth only a couple of grands, I strongly advice this lecture. Appreciation of NihonTo won't come to you easily. You have to go there, sacrifices included. reinhard

Keep it up, Carlo. You are on the right track. Neither swords nor tosogu nor any other kind of Japan's old culture allow short-cuts. "Fresh, unconventional, new" approaches to old Japan's culture (usually sermonized from a Western point of view) have old tradition, going back to Meiji-days and before. They are leading serious students to nowhere. reinhard

Here you go. My guess would be: "Tenmei shichi-nen/ hinoto-hitsuji fuyu" on one side. This was translated already. "Sasshu Ka-Fu/ Kawakami (or Kawaue) TAKEYOSHI tsukuru" on the other side. Meaning "Kawakami/Kawaue (family name) TAKEYOSHI made this in Kagoshima prefecture in Satsuma province" reinhard

Do we have a new moderator? BTW he should work on his orthography. reinhard

"Sarcastic" is correct, "bitter" is definitely wrong, "old" is disputable and depends on the perspective. I'm 48 years old. But seriously: If you don't want to make a complete fool out of yourself you better pick up some reliable books about history and stop making insinuations. This is neither about (plain) attitude nor about samurai-romantisiscm. It is about knowledge. reinhard

Conclusion of a very simple mind or a primitive way of provoking? Frankly, I don't really care. reinhard

And therefore people hear what they want to hear and all efforts are in vain. reinhard

Relax. All i'm saying is: "Years of experience" is a very stretchy term. I've come across quite a few people claiming to have "years of experience". Digging deeper, it turned out many of them had never gained a higher level of knowledge nor had they ever held works from top-class smiths in their hands but had dealt with dozens or hundreds of bad blades. Those who did acquire a higher level of knowledge are usually aware of their still limited abilities. What Tanobe-san has to say about shoshin and gimei f.e. is representing a level of expertise most people will never reach. Kantei in Japan on a regular basis or not. You see, it's nothing personal for I don't know you and you don't know me either. BTW your surmise is not quite right. I'm spending time in Japan every year and am lucky to study (not only kantei) swords most people never have the opportunity to lay hands on. Some of them can be found in Nippon To Taikan. regards reinhard

"Years of experience" of what? Of handling second and third grade swords?

First of all you are suggesting that every Japanese soldier descended from a samurai family and had some "family relic" at hand. This is sheer nonsense of course, but it is in perfect accordance with the militaristic doctrine of that time. Sons of peasants and kulis were told: "We are all samurai". This was just propaganda and it will probably take some more time to get this crap out all heads, especially the smaller ones. Even many of the subaltern officers who had to carry swords were not of samurai origin. They had to get their swords and mountings from elsewhere. Secondly, the use of swords as weapons plays a minor role during WWII (politely said). Thirdly and most important: Japan's ideology during WWII was not a continuation of samurai-culture, but its perversion in the first degree. reinhard

Strange colors on nakago are most often pointing towards yaki-naoshi (retempering). By (accidental) over-heating and shock-cooling the nakago will eventually display a strange color afterwards. Heating steel to F 410° and plunging it into water its color will stop at a light yellow. Rapid cooling at higher temperatures will result in tones from straw (F440°) to bronze (F510°). I even remember a dark blue nakago I saw once. - This might be a possible explanation. reinhard

This is exactly what uneducated dealers are dreaming of. reinhard

A Kao indeed. reinhard

Peter, before checking details of the mei, you better start with the characteristics and the quality of the work itself. First you need to know when, where and how SORIN worked before checking tiny details of a mei. For his biographical background (quoting): "Egawa SORIN was born in Mito in 1774. He began as a highly renowned metal worker by the name TOSHIMASA. Later, becoming heir in-law of Katsura EIJU who was a leading disciple of Yokoya SOYO he succeeded in combining the two different types of carving methods of Yokoya and Mito schools." You will find a representative example of his great skills in the koshirae (tokubetsu kicho koshirae) he made for a blade by UNSHO. It was lot No.261 in the first of three auctions selling the Compton-collection (Christie's NY, 1992). The two mei on kozuka and kogai from this koshirae look like this: reinhard

"closer to history"..."opinion business" Do you really believe it is as simple as that? reinhard

reinhard

There are no Kokuho (i.e."National Treasure") blades from ShinTo or ShinShinTo times. Juyo Bunkazai ("Important Cultural Property") is the highest level the best of them have attained. However, Ippei YASUYO is a very famous name, his work is extremely rare and faking his mei has been lucrative therefore. Your example is showing a rather poor attempt of doing so. reinhard

NBTHK and NTHK are confused here. Neither European branch nor American branch of NBTHK are offering shinsa. The two sections consist of members only. We are neither qualified nor authorized to hand out papers. Papers are handed out only by the headquarter in Japan for good reasons. NTHK on the other hand is sending people abroad for expertise. reinhard

Pic one: Egawa SORIN (+kao) made this when he was 71 years old. Egawa SORIN is a very big name and his (potential) works need to be cross-checked very carefully. reinhard

Brian, I'm still owing you an explanation. In 1993 the people of Inakudate, Aomori prefecture, tried to find a way to revitalize their village. After experimenting with old and new sorts of rice, they succeeded in creating an image of Mount Iwaki. This image was repeated for the next nine years. Not exactly an example of "Japanese aesthetic for artistic detail" but of painstaking labour following rather simple patterns. In order to attract more tourists design had been changed and the whole thing finally ended up as an attempt of becoming a kind of rural Disneyland for simple minds (see pic attached). Recently there was a local argument about renting parts of the rice-fields for commercial logos (Japan Airlines). Finally it was decided not to. With this background my post might not be that cryptic anymore. If yes, please PM me. reinhard

Andrew, it is probably best to pass on this one. Many reasonable objections have been made. Just in case you are interested in some more: Very thin katana with "fragile" o-kissaki are most often pointing towards naginata-naoshi katana. On real tachi from Embun to Joji era, kissaki are usually well defined even after many polishes. Especially mitsu-gashira (point where shinogi, ko-shinogi and yokote meet) should be easy visible. Not so on naginata(-naoshi), for there has never been a mitsu-gashira from the beginning. Suppose you are dealing with a naginata-naoshi katana, kaeri (turnback of hamon) is the next thing you should look at. Old naginata-naoshi katana usually have little or no kaeri, for the uppermost part of the blade had to be cut off from the mune side in order to straighten the strong sori. - This particular katana displays a very long kaeri though. - Looking at the nakago next, it is covered by very odd rust and patina. Actually it looks very much like a retempered blade. Sori is adding to this impression. Katana in the shape of naginata-naoshi were also made during later periods, especially during ShinShinTo, but their appearance is solid, thick and strong. - As for hada and hamon, nothing valid can be said on the basis of these pics. reinhard