am interested in any written sources on Bungo swordsmiths. have a suriage tachi in navy mounts (Sakai mon in silver) that 2 reputable sources say is Bungo Takada (Robson for one). a very tight ko-itame/ko-mokume grain, shaped exactly like the famed Munechika blade. remains of a gimei Hizen signature (all but parts of the Hizen characters themselves are lost to the suriage). narrow suguha with ko-midare, ko-choji and various other tiny activities in nie - lots of kinsuji and chikei. i assume the darkness of Bungo Takada steel is based on ores from that province rather than any eccentric smelting process; do the Kamakura era Bungo smiths also have dark steel? any info would be appreciated. goodwine
