AlexiG

Hi Eric, are you asking why the price jumped of a specific tanto you are interested in? Or are you asking why a tanto you like is expensive? My cursory look as of late is that only prices in USD jumped as the USD/JPY exchange rate changed substantially over the last month, but the prices in yen are still the same, from what I can tell. As you probably know, a tanto from a well-known smith/school may cost you very dearly depending on quality and condition. It indicates you have a good taste Best, Alexi

I have bought couple of blades from Tsuruta San and am I currently contemplating another purchase. I visit the site multiple times a day Not the only Japanese shop I have bought from. Communication is prompt and very professional. Prices reflect what they have and if you follow their pieces (I do for the things I care about) they sell, so the prices are not way off fair market value. Just my 2c. Best, Alexi

Much obliged! Thanks! Alexi

To answer my own question, based on this post which has a certificate associated with Yoshikawa Kentaro Sensei, Yoshikawa Kentaro was part of the shinsa team above since both seals on the Gassan Sadakazu certificate are on mine as well (bottom and third from the bottom). I will keep digging.... Alexi P.S. After some more digging, and actually looking at the kanji in the seal, it seems that the bottom seal is Yoshikawa Kentaro sensei's. If Anyone figures out the other seals, let me know.

This may be a bit esoteric, but I figured I'd ask before I start emailing NTHK. I am interested in identifying the judges that stamped this kanteisho certificate. At least the senior member of the group. Any resource that will allow me to link the seals to names? This belongs to a signed, ubu, sword I own, so it is not a "should-I-buy-this-sword" thread. Just trying to understand who appraised. If my only recourse is to reach out to NTHK please let me know. The certificate was issued in 1996 (heisei 8), I assume in Japan since this is where the sword was. Thanks, Alexi

Yep. The author argued in one of the many articles that there was a lot of piracy and illegal imports. One trick was to use iron as "ballast" on the ships in one direction and replace with something else that was heavy in the other direction, so they did not have to declare the iron as imported goods it. Supposedly a new shipwreck was found, and a lot of iron was on board, which the author used as a further evidence of the theory. The theory could make sense, but yes more data will be nice. Best, Alexi

It is a bit difficult to see, but may be kitae ware (The Katana Kizu: A flaw of the Japanese Sword | Tozando). Likely not fatal, just cosmetic. I assume you are referring to what appears as a gap in the lamination running parallel to the edge at the hamon boundary (picture below). Something is off about the patina on the nakago but maybe it's just me.

I have not found a ton in English but have had a lot of fun reading these articles and links there-in. Google translate does an OK job. Names and sword nomenclature are a bit tricky but with a bit of effort I found these articles quite interesting and illuminating. I think they will be divisive as according to the author, before Shinto most (but not all) steel was imported, and before Shinto most but not all swords were of maru-kitae construction. Some of that was mentioned on another post here and here but the Cu and Ti data seem credible (Continental/Korean steal has high Cu content, Japanese has very low Cu content). Base material of Japanese swords Iron Market in Medieval Japan Here is a link to a technical paper on utsuri (A Hypothesis for the Mechanism that Produces the Utsuri Pattern on Japanese Swords). Have not gotten that article yet so cannot comment on how useful it is in understanding utsuri. Best, Alexi

Hi Paul, Robert Benson can also mediate sending your sword for shinsa. He helped me with mine. The total cost was ~ 1k per sword, and it took 6-9months to get my blades back, at least that was my experience sending 3 swords for Hozon/ Tokubetsu Hozon shinsa in 2023. You can find schedule here (https://www.touken.or.jp/shinsa/schedule.html). If you target 2025, June, August, September, November and Dec may be viable options. All the best, Alexi

Hi Charlie, I find the uniform thickness at moto-kasane and saki-kasane a bit troubling. In my limited experience, have not seen a traditional katana without taper and would indicate that it is very tip heavy and potentially harder to control (but could be a beast of a cutter, as Koichi mentioned). The one detail is how is it measured. There is a design where the koshinogi widens as it meets the mune. If measured there it may appear as if there is no taper, although overall there is. I have two swords like that from Bugei (decent Chinese manufacture). Its called mune-saki (or matsuba-saki). Is the sword of interest like that? For the record the Bugei swords still taper by 1mm when measured at the widest of the saki-kasane. Depending on your level of experience, 900g may be on the heavy side. Consult with your sensei. Best, Alexi

The Kapp book was referenced in the Sesko article but here is the actual text from the book. Yoshindo Yoshihara is one of the modern smiths that can produce utsure and so can his student Oho Yoshimitsu (technically Yoshimitsu was his brother's student). The theory is heating the blade in distinct thermal bands along the edge given appropriate steel composition. FYI in case it helps the conversation. Best, alexi

Very sad to hear! I only knew him from his posts here. I share his obsession with masame hada. His post of the Norikatsu tanto made me start paying attention to the Mito smiths. It is a loss for the community. Alexi

Hi Hiadir, I will offer an oversimplified answer based on few references. Carbon content varies in tamahagane. Part of the mastery of swordsmiths is to separate the pieces based on carbon content and select the appropriate pieces that meet their needs before they start forging. There are methods to both increase and decrease carbon content during forging to get the desired results. I have seen good descriptions of the process in English from Yoshindo Yoshihara's books published with Leaon and Hiroko Kapp. (The Craft of the Japanese sword) If memory serves me right, he starts at about 1.2% carbon and wants to end at 0.7 % at the time of quenching. His brother though, supposedly preferred ~0.6% carbon. My guess is that these values refer to the outer, edge steel. I assume that varies from maker to maker and school to school. How to the smiths "know" the carbon content without modern gadgets? Great question. I think how brittle the tamahagane is initially gives some indication for sorting. Beyond that I imagine it is about experience and how the steel responds to forging. I am speculating here I hope this helps. Alexi

It all depends on the composition of the steel. There was a video of working on a billet of tamahagane steel and it is malleable and foldable at a given Japanese forge temperature, while western steel was very brittle with the same process. Bugei use a mix of T-10 and 1055 steels for their swords and they are managing multiple folds OK. Many Japanese smiths have forged pieces with western steel successfully. Not sure how they managed it but my suspicion is that they worked at higher temperature. Some of that is in this thread:

@Peter Bleed @Vermithrax16 Checking if new information has surfaced regarding the mid-Kunikane generations since 2010 (the date of the quote from Peter below). My specific question is as follows: Does anyone have examples of papered blades from Kunikane 4-9? The books I have do not list any (Sendai Mekan and Sendai Han no Meicou Kunikane 仙台藩の名工 国包), yet Sesko lists signatures for gen 4 and 5 (奥州仙台住国包). I have only seen papered examples of Gen 2 with that signature. If in your research you have seen any papered examples of gens 4-9 please share. What information did Sesko find that allowed him to list signatures for Gens 4 and 5? The context for this is another "Shinsa story" but that is for another thread. Best, Alexi