KungFooey

Hi Lewis, I read a lot about Etchū Norishige following Ian Brooks' amazing find in 2018. I presume he left a school spanning many centuries and this blade could have been made by one of the many smiths in that tradition? Views have tended to think this is probably Edo period, possibly Shin-Shinto. Dee PS: just found photos of one of the original Norishige's blades and I can see what you mean about the hada. (photo added)

Hi Thomas, Thank you! That's a very informative photograph and also a fascinating theory! I'm only learning about Kinju in some depth now as a result of buying this tanto - which, as I've said from the beginning, I know must be immediately considered gimei. However, here is my blade's hada for comparison.

Thank you Sam - I should have it in hand soon. I bid on things from the States and have it sent to my brother who is stationed in Japan. He then sends it on to me or brings it over when he's on leave. I totally agree with your views on buying a gimei blade or not. The reason I bought this one was because of the beauty of the blade itself and the fact it had been put into fresh polish and a good quality shirasaya very recently. That, plus the fact it only cost me $460. If they'd actually been asking the going rate for the swordsmith whose signature is counterfeited upon the blade, then it would've been so far out of my league anyway as to be ridiculous! Regards, Dee

A very eloquent reply, Vincent. Bravo! I tend to become embittered when criticized on this forum and foolishly snap back - yours is by far the better attitude. Moving onto your sword, I for one cannot see a removed stamp. If the previous comments refer to the corroded area just above and to the right of the mekugi-ana, it seems no deeper nor regular than the similar patches just below the hole. Regards, Dee

That's exactly how I feel, Uwe. Thank you for wording it so well! Dee

Thank you so much Jacques! I think both you and David are correct - the mune is iori whereas the real Kinju forged mitsu.

Well, I finally made it onto Wehrmacht Awards and saw the other Hideki Tojo dedication sword posted there. It certainly appears there is currently a cottage industry of forgery going on in Japan; taking possibly genuine Gendaito - or more likely unsigned blades - and then inscribing both a famous smith and an even more famous recipient. I've already said I think the 'Yamato captain sword' is a total fake and outlined the reasons why. I also saw someone taken for $6K on Yahoo - hence this original thread. And now the one on W.A. It was posted by someone who was so very sure of it papering (because he knew "the leading expert on gendaito in the US" who had authenticated it, and then, when it got pink-slipped as 'gimei', whined about the validity of the Japanese Shinsa. 🤔 I truly believe that, if a sword appeared on auction "signed by Kiyamaro and dedicated to Freddie Mercury" some moron would still buy it for mega bucks.

I've always loved the story of the 47 Ronin and one of the most memorable scenes in the movie version I watched as a kid was of one samurai facing off against two of the ronin and almost beating them to a standstill. So I was delighted to pick up the following triptych, again at a pittance compared to what dealers in the States would charge me for a single sheet.

One of two triptychs I picked up online for a fraction of what they would go for in the States. These were printed in 1904 and show a Red Cross station of the Imperial Japanese Army tending to both their own wounded and - interestingly - those of the Russian enemy. It is sad to note that, three decades later, the same army would become infamous for its treatment of POWs.

I hope these help.

Thank you Mark! Both for getting this thread back on track and for explaining your enjoyment of two blades that you either suspected or knew to be gimei. I can totally relate! Dee

Amusingly, for someone who's just been accused of imitating another gender, I always imagine the petulant words "Who cares? I don't." coming out of the mouth of a naughty five-year-old girl with ringlets. 😂

Reinhard, This is a thread I created and you are not welcome on it. Kindly go away. I assure you I will not comment on any of your threads nor interact with you in any other way.

Well Reinhard, I've already been accused of such by others on here so I'll tell you what I think. A woman joins a group of predominantly old men and when she doesn't act like Mary Poppins and fights back (admittedly sometimes being crude in the process) then 'she can't possibly be female and has to be an impostor'. That's about as sexist as it gets. Anyhow, thanks for your deep and meaningful insights about gimei. Dee

May I ask Mark if you suspected they might not paper to the exact mei when you bought them or did you expect them to pass 'as is'? Either way, it must have been frustrating as h&ll to be so close! Dee

Thank you Chris! Your appraisal of my blade is absolutely fascinating! It provides me with both clues as to its origin and the other schools I should look at which possibly influenced its unknown maker. I can just imagine some Bakumatsu period samurai bragging about his "family heirloom Kinju" (which he had commissioned just the month before)! Dee

Thank you dear Piers! If it had been unsigned, I wouldn't have hesitated to buy this blade. I have hardly any knowledge of the great masters, their schools and the attributes of their work. I simply know what appeals to me visually. Something I had always wanted to eventually obtain was a large, hirazukuri tanto or wakizashi in good condition and showing a lot of activity - and here it was at an extremely affordable price. I've learned a lot from this thread and I think it's fairly obvious that the maker was trying to imitate the second generation Kinju rather than the first - the nengo of Jōji(貞治)2 (1363) seems to confirm this. Why he chose the nidai rather than the shodai is a mystery. As to it being an obvious gimei, how many bushi in Japanese history were walking around wearing blades they knew couldn't be the product of the maker whose name they bore? Heck, when you received a Masamune from Tokugawa Ieiyasu, you knew it had probably been made the month before. So, I just feel I'm carrying on a noble, old tradition! Dee

Many thanks Lewis! Here are side by sides of mine with the photos you provided. Dee

I would never presume to invoke Heisenberg's principle of indeterminacy about a Norishige tanto. The energy–time relationship is widely used to relate quantum state lifetime to measured energy widths but its formal derivation is fraught with confusing issues about the nature of time.

But these are Kinju. 😉 From this website: SoshuDen-Museum | Mino Kinjū (美濃金重)

That's exactly what I thought, John. Someone's spent a lot of money on this blade one way or another and the desire to get rid of it quickly, at that price, suggests a big disappointment at shinsa. They are not a dealer, just a private individual with a 100% rating so I thought it was worth buying. (I nearly said "worth the risk" but it wasn't ever a risk as I wasn't thinking of an investment.) Dee

OMG - I'm so very sorry to read this. As I've started to find my way around the forum, certain names have stood out as fonts of knowledge and so I've searched for them and then found similar, awful news about several. Guido was obviously a real character. 😥

Thanks John. Gimei price? $460 including postage to my bro in Japan - so yes, I believe so. However, I'd be insane to believe the quality of the blade is actually close to, or exceeds, Kinju. It simply meets my own aesthetic criteria (rudimentary though they are) so I'm very happy. 😊 I've read a lot by Guido (including the article you recommended) and he's fantastic! Really, really knowledgeable and witty! Where is he nowadays? Dee

This is a Google Drive link which was on the seller's listing giving lots more photos for those who are interested. 😊 https://drive.google...fN7OgHm3?usp=sharing

Apart from those 😉