cabowen

They slip through the system from time to time....

While I don't necessarily believe the blade was made in the 1930's, what Mark has said bears listening to....Save your shinsa money and take it to the club meeting for confirmation....I am sure you will hear Mark's comments confirmed...

As someone has said, it looks like a naginata-naoshi....please look up naginata-zukuri for comparison. Akihiro is a famous Soshu smith and an oft faked signature. I would venture that is what this is....It looks like it might be a late koto blade....hard to say for certain from photos....could be early shinto as well....

signed Akihiro...

Perhaps one important difference is that swords are no longer able to be worn in public nor are they able to be used for their intended purpose.....by anyone....

Without seeing the sword in hand it is difficult to say for certainty that the mei has been removed. With the limits placed on production in Japan, smiths have been known to sell unsigned works under the table. Rare, but it has happened.

This is the basis for a never ending debate without any absolute answer.... The main reasons, as I have been led to believe, that they are not paid a whole of attention by sword collectors in general comes down to: -they are expensive. most collectors would rather spend the money on a sword with history. -they are made to be admired rather than used. Do not think though that they do not have their fans. I know that Tanobe san of the NBTHK has a large collection of shinsakuto.....And there are many others in Japan that admire and collect them. After the war, in an effort to save swords, the Japanese authorities convinced the US occupation that swords were not simply weapons, but art. This was the beginning of the transformation. They have been "art" ever since. In the early showa period there was an annual imperial art exhibition. In showa 9, if memory serves me, Kurihara Akihide successfully lobbied for the inclusion of swords along with the usual items. Due to the controversy that ensued, this was the first and last time swords would be included. This is the genesis of the independent yearly war-era shinsakuto exhibit promoted by Kurihara thereafter...

Most likely tamahagane, though the one I had by kanetsugu was inscribed that is was made with steel he made using satetsu from some local river...

Looks exactly like a shinsakuto I once owned by a Kyushu smith who signs Akamatsu Taro Kanetsugu. His family name is Kimura....I believe his student signs Kanehiro and works in an identical style... I would bet the farm this is a shinsakuto....

a ware is a forging flaw-literally a fissure or crack. It happens when a fold is not completely welded shut resulting in an open seam. It doesn't involve core steel....

I'm pretty sure it is indeed Tsuguhira.. 継平 Here's the mei of the sandai Fujita Tsuguhira for comparison: On page 293 of the book Tsuba no Bi (Kashima, Hayashi and Matsunaga) there is a tosho tsuba signed "Omi no Kami Tsuguhira"... Hard to read but this is a kanteisho for a tosho tsuba made by Fujita Tsuguhira... So I think it is quite possible indeed that this was made by the tosho Fujita Tsuguhira....

I don't believe this kumiai actually did any marketing or had any sort of control. More or less just an association that the smiths belonged to, like the modern All Japan Swordsmith's Association. Probably mostly social....I am sure you are aware of how most Japanese love to be a part of a group...

You will not have much luck contacting Mr. Rad Smith as he has been deceased for many years now....

Believe the earliest blades found in Japan are thought to have come from the continent (China and Korea). They have forged steel blades with hamon...

The Nihon Tobu Tanren Tokogyo Kumiai was not a sword making operation but a trade association (kumiai) of smiths. Tomokiyo trained under Akitomo of the Denshujo (run by Kurihara Akihide). He took one kanji from his teacher (友) and the other, well, he was from Shinshu so you can guess where the other probably came from....I have seen several of his blades and, as your blade will attest, he was indeed a skilled smith. His mei varies (as indicated above) along with his sugata (from slender tachi to Keicho shinto-like). The fact that he was rather young during the war years and worked in the hinterland most likely contributed to his obscurity. This sword would indeed benefit immensely from a professional, high quality polish.

Mei is Tsuguhira. Possibly one of the shinto swordsmiths who used that mei...

I'm not arguing your explanation at all-I understand your point that both the plum and apricot are of the plum genus and botanist call the plum the Japanese apricot.... In Japan, ordinary people talking about plums used the word ume, when they were talking about apricots, they used the word anzu.....just sayin', this is everyday usage... In any case, I appreciate your clarification. Most interesting....

beautifully cut....I would venture the blade is quite nice...

Never seen that before! Thanks!

I don't pay too much attention to them but it seems to me I may have seen an oil quenched hamon on one once upon a time....Usually they have an etched "hamon"...

Here are some pictures: anzu fruit (apricot) Anzu (apricot) in blossom Ume (plum) in blossom I had an apricot (anzu) tree outside my kitchen window in Japan....the scent was wonderful...

Maybe a personal name: 備陽長？郎

You would have to submit the sword to the government to get the Kokuho rating. It is not given out by any of the sword organizations. If you are foolish enough to submit a sword to the government and it receives the rating, maybe you deserve not to be able to export it..... I have never heard of anyone importing a sword and having it taken by the government because of kokuho status.

Ume is the Japanese plum, anzu, the Japanese apricot. Tsubaki is the camellia. When the flower has bloomed, the head of the flower drops in one piece, like a severed head. Thus, this flower is associated with the samurai and adds another facet to the name of the star of the Kurosawa classic, "Tsubaki Sanjuro".....

Forging can produce hada, but never hamon. The hamon is created when the blade is differentially hardened via a clay coating, heating, and quenching. Machine made blades can be quenched and usually are in oil. This can produce a hamon but it is different than the traditional water quench.