KungFooey

Interesting! Is the same true of other horimono (should be recut)? This blade has hozon papers so the NBTHK overlooked the hi at that level - probably not at TH. Thanks! Dee

Mmm, ten years too early. 🤔

Me again, I was looking at a blade with a torokusho allegedly from Showa 16. Were they actually issued that early before the end of the war? Thanks! Dee

Thank you so much Thomas!

I never stop shopping. Thanks John!

Hi all, Back with yet another question. On a Koto blade in otherwise good condition, are futasuji-hi which have lost their parallel ends due to repeated polishing considered acceptable or a flaw? (Please look at photo to see what I mean.) Thanks! Dee

That's a nice way to look at it Stephen - thank you again! You're absolutely right though; I found another swordsmith of the same Ikkansai group who also has to make little tamahagane knives to make ends meet. Swordsmith・TAKEHANA IKKANSAI Shigehisa Tamahagane Kanmuriotoshi Unokubi-zukuri 180㎜ | Japanese Cutlery Pro Store

Hi, I'm probably going to get downvoted for this - but hey, I'm used to that by now. My own personal feeling is that, if you're coming on this forum trying to find justification for starting a new hobby or vindication as to why you should collect something, then you probably don't have enough of an interest in the subject in the first place. I'd stick with stamps if I were you - it sounds like you already have knowledge in that field and it will save you some very costly mistakes (I speak from experience).

Surely, it depends on whether they used a power hammer or traditional sakites? If the latter, how many apprentices did they have? Was a sword a special commission or not? All these factors would have affected production time.

Hi Patrice, You have a truly beautiful set there! The kao is the maker's personal symbol - the last character.

IKKANSAI - DOH!!!!! I can't sleep and so I've been doing some research and suddenly the name Ikkansai dropped into place. 🙄 Miyairi Ikkansai Shigetoshi ⬇️ Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu ⬇️ Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa ⬇️ Arai Ikkansai Masayoshi ⬇️ Arai Ikkansai Kazuyuki I'm so dumb sometimes! Dee

Thanks Stephen! 😊

Your wish is my command!

Hi everyone, I'd be real grateful if anyone could tell me anything about the lineage of a modern day swordsmith in Saitama called Ikkansai Kazuyuki (一貫斉和之). He doesn't seem particularly notable but this is what I've been able to establish so far: his real name is Arai Kazuyuki (新井和之) and he is the son of swordsmith Arai Ikkansai Masayoshi. I've only found two or three blades dated between Heisei 6 and Heisei 21. Any additional details would be very welcome! The reason for asking is I just treated myself to a beautiful little tanto made by this smith and would like to find out more about him. 😊 Many thanks in advance!! Dee

5. Not with a broken arm due to a dog/bicycle collision.

Special request of the soldier or the family member who ordered it?

Wow Hamish! No wonder they cancelled before I won at under 300 bucks!!! 😂😂😂

That is absolutely beautiful Volker! ❤️ And thank you so much for all the fascinating info!!! Dee

Last 2 pics of second tanto and the swordsmith Hisakatsu:

Second tanto:

Last 3 pics of first tanto:

Hi all, As some of you might know, one of the biggest drawbacks of using Yahoo! Auction in Japan is that the seller has the power to simply terminate an auction if they feel the object is going for too little money. Why the hell they don't just set a minimum price is beyond me. 🤬Anyhow, this really frustrating occurrence happened to me yesterday; I was the winning bidder on a truly unique item and it got stopped in the last 10 seconds because the seller got greedy and wanted more money. I was spitting blood! 🤬🤬🤬 Nonetheless, I feel obliged to dear@Bruce Pennington to post the photos from this auction and an almost identical one (by the same f@£?@ seller) because I believe that they are a significant addendum to his excellent research on the mantetsu sword. They are very small (approx 16cm) tanto in shirasaya and presentation boxes, "forged at the foot of Mt. Ishishiro" by Hisakatsu Takeshima in 1936. Engraved with a Buddhist phoenix symbol, they are intended as good luck talismans for the two soldiers named on each respective nakago. In Showa 13 (1938), Hisakatsu was assigned to the Sword Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of the Southern Manchurian Railway Co., Ltd., and taught the forging of the Koa Isshin sword until the end of the war. First example: (which I was cheated out of🤬):

Number 2 and number 6 in the first photo. Thanks for taking one for the team, Hamish! Dee

In that case Brian, I wholeheartedly echo your wish that he was still with us.

From what I've read of Ford's fascinating and scholarly posts, he wouldn't have wasted a single second's precious oxygen even glancing at these totally unproven - and interminably ceaseless - 'theories'.