Do you use your nihonto for tameshigiri?

[chrisf]

Kunitaro san,

Many thanks for posting the images and all the information on your sword which is a very dynamic looking blade.May I ask for some more of your time as it would be interesting and informative for us to learn about your background in the use of swords and if you belong to a particular ryu or sword club.

Also on a more practical note would you be kind enough to explain what materials you use for cleaning your blade after use? Do you use ordinary uchiko or something more like finishing stone?

When cutting do you bind the tsuka with anything else or just use it as it is?

Sincere thanks to you for your participation.

[Hans Kondor]

Chris,

 

it would be good if you would understand that I didn't want to insult anybody with my question. My knowledge about japanase swords are very limited, thats why I am asking questions on the forum.

I just told a story about a guy I know who cut his finger when he did a nukitsuke.

I myself used iaito when I practised iaido, it was not allowed to use sharp blade. I am practising at home with sharp sword also, but do the noto and nukitsuke much slower than with iaito yet. All my respect to those who are only practise with sharp blade, hope I will reach that stage one day too.

 

I would have several questions about Kunitaro's sword which maybe you will also not like as I don't know the exact terms for what I would be interested in, but where could I have learn it if not from here?

 

Kind Regards,

Hans

[runagmc]

Hans, don't worry about it... there are no stupid questions as long as you are learning from the answers...

[Hans Kondor]

Hello,

 

what is interested me is, on Kunitaro's pictures the blade looks like it has a dark hamon. (I don't know what its name sorry). I guess its the clay temper line. So far I have only seen very whitish, milky pattern on original Japanese swords, even on cheap examples, the name of that bright colour pattern is hadori if I know well.

I would have several questions about this. I have some swords, not original Japanese blades which has in my opinion a similar darker hamon. If I read it right the hadori polish comes over that dark hamon.

Is it true that cutting objects damages that hadori polish? If yes, why most of the Japanese swords have it?

[kunitaro]

Dear Chris san,

mmm, i have no back ground of my sword technique,,,i am not going talk about my family back ground though.

and I am not belong to any Dojo or school. My main interest is Old Master pieces.

my parents force me to start Judo when i was 7, and i stared Kendo at 9.

when i was teenager, living in Fukuoka city in 70'. Kajiwara Kotoken was living near my house, He is a master sword polisher, so, i was visiting him. to see the sword polishing, then i could try sword cutting at his garden, i liked it, so i was doing it with his son. then i bought a sword for cutting.... i am not sure What kind of Ryu,, I blieve that He is Kotoken 2nd, His father was Teaching sword fight to JP army. he was famous sword man in Japan.

I remember that mr.Kajiwara was using Real Shinto master piece, Omi Daijo Tadayoshi Katana ( i think that was Juyo blade) for popular demonstration or TV show. He cut 30-40 makiwaras with it, and no scratch on blade....

 

after this, Kunimasa Matsuba is my teacher, He is Aikido 7 dan, Kendo 5 dan, Koryu-kenjutsu, i think he leaned Jiki-Shinkage-ryu. behind his house in Miyazaki, is large Bamboo hill. He is cutting so much amount of bamboo with his own made sword. a lot of sword masters are visiting him, and cutting together, leaning from each other.

I think that he is almost only one who is a master Budo and sword smith.

 

and my second teacher is Isao Machi. he is much younger than me, and a bit commercial now...

He is a professional Antique sword polisher. very good polisher.

and in Iai field, he was well known since he was young from Eishin-ryu,He was(is) kind of genius.

now, he has 7 chidren ! ( late 30') ! so he has to work hard.

however, His skill and accuracy is highest level in Japan.

BTW,

Last week, We were talking about organizing a Tameshigiri workshop in Europe.

with good swords.

 

Best regards,

[kunitaro]

what is interested me is, on Kunitaro's pictures the blade looks like it has a dark hamon. (I don't know what its name sorry). I guess its the clay temper line. So far I have only seen very whitish, milky pattern on original Japanese swords, even on cheap examples, the name of that bright colour pattern is hadori if I know well.

 

My sword is not done as art sword polish,

The stage of Polishing is Nagura stone, before Uchigumori,

at this stage, Jitetsu looks white, and Ha looks black.

temper line is called Nioi-kuchi, you can not see it on that Photo from straight angle,

but, if you see the blade through Light (like examing sword), you can see.

to showing those activity,

after Basic ploish, They use finger stone, Shiage Togi, Jizuya stone. and put powder of Carbon something with oil to make the Jitetsu darker, and after, they use Ha-zuya stone, to make the Ha parts white,

These work shows more Activity on Ji and Ha.

it is called Kesho-Togi ( make up polish)

This is started around Meiji Period, when the sword is not for use anymore,

So, Normal (?) sword polish you see today is for Art polish to see them.

this takes a lot of time and work, which you don't need for using it.

so, my sword which you see. is using condition,

after 20years, when this blade get tired, i can give good art polish for retirement of this blade.

i will be able to enjoy all activity on my blade.

 

 

I would have several questions about this. I have some swords, not original Japanese blades which has in my opinion a similar darker hamon. If I read it right the hadori polish comes over that dark hamon.

 

i don't know so much about chinese blade.

is the T10 tool steel Stainless Steel ?

if its so, then there is no Hamon, only etching. make it looks like.

if its pure carbon steel, then possible Oil tempered, because, there is no Nie.

however, oil tempering is also, need skill. so, i think that also etching.

 

but the point is that the blade has No-haniku, the surface of the blade is flat. or funny shape.

When you see the Sugata, it has no Funbari, I think the balance is not right,

and Kissaki shape and Yokote line.

so, it is looks like Nihonto, but for cutting, it function different...

you need sharp cutting edge cutting soft target, but you can not cut hard target with it.

 

Is it true that cutting objects damages that hadori polish? If yes, why most of the Japanese swords have it?

 

Yes, If you have art polish, you can see very small scratches,

so, normal art polish is not for Using. It is for looking.

 

and the price difference of the sword between Art sword and fighting sword is that cost of polishing and Koshirae.

the cost of the blade itself is not much different.

 

hope i am answering ok.

Best regards,

[Hans Kondor]

Dear Kunitaro,

 

thank you very much for the informative answer!

 

On my pictures there were more blades, some of them made from T10 toolsteel, one of them made by san-mai technic all made from carbon steel.

I don't know much abozt the process, all I know is that they were hand polished on Japanese wetstones and had a Yaki-ire and Yaki-modoshi tempering process.

 

What do you mean when you say hard target? Plate armor?

 

So if the art polish process which you said started around the Meiji era, it means that the older blades for example from the Koto period, don't have an art polish at the beginning, they were "added" to the blade later?

 

Kind Regards,

Hans

[kunitaro]

Dear Hans san,

 

Industrial Steel tools are also Yakiire and Yakinamashi. which is quenching.

but, it is for whole material. not cray tempering for Hamon.

Same as Hunting Knives.

 

And Polishing.

as they said that Hand Polish.

but, maybe doing with hand, but, as you see the surface,Polishing stone round Disk with motor, side way of grinder.

you can find maybe Youtube, search "Japanese knfie polish"

I am saying it, because, the way of polishing is very special and need high skill.

so, it is not fit with mas production product,

and remain or control Haniku, need high skill. This parts, Copy can never be done, till now.

 

Old time,,,, before Edo period,

Almost same as now till before Ha-doti (make Ha white)

They were using only different kind of stone for ha, there was no White parts, only showing Hamon and Nioi-kuchi parts,

It is called "Sashikomi-togi," It is popular today, but, Modern Sahshikomi is a bit different from formar time,

I have seen very old collection (Kokuho and Juyo-bijutsuhin) with Old Master polish, very rare, but, there is some old master polish is preserved.

After Meiji period, there was a lot of new technique has been developed, to showing Activities of the blade better,

 

 

 

Best

[kunitaro]

Dear Hans,

 

And Sanmai construction.

It is great Invention in Kitchin knife industry in Japan.

This is also came from knowledge of Japanese sword making.

They use high carbon steel in middle, and normally, they use stainless steel on side.

so, the cutting edge is hard high carbon steel and body is stainless or softer steel.

maybe you can google "Japanese Kitchen knife"

However, it is not Japanese sword is constructed.

 

Best

[kunitaro]

Dear Hans,

 

One more important thing, i want you to see and compare is

"FUNBARI"

the taper shape like Eiffel or Tokyo Tower.

you can see from the photo of whole blade.

 

All of Ubu (original) sword has Funbari at bottom of the blade(near nakago),

so, you can see if it is Ubu or o-Suriage without taking Tsuka out.

 

And There is Funbari at nakago as well ( see the photo of Nakago).

 

And !!! There is Funbari at Monouchi as well !!!

compare photos.

shape of Monouchi, mine and yours.

 

those three Funbari shape is one important dynamics of Japanese sword and makes 100 times more stronger and functional.

When you know about it, and exam carefully, it is not so difficult to SEE, But it is very very very difficult to MAKE it.

When all those shape are balanced, the sword looks super impressive, not only looks, it is most functional and effective.

 

when sword is polished many time, the blade edge side get skinner, you shape ha side of nakago, to remain Hamachi,

when you polished Mune saide, also, you shape mune side of nakago, then you loose Funbari of blade and nakago,

Nomouchi as well,,,

so, you can see how tired the blade is, checking by Funbari as well,

less Funbari, less function, less Value as well.

 

hope my answer will open door for you.

 

best,

[Hans Kondor]

Dear Kunitaro,

 

thank you very much for your replies!

 

Only one more question about the polish. If an art polish was made to the blade, but the owner had to use his sword again in battle, could the polisher remove that art polish from the blade or just after the sword was not used again it got another art polish to remove the "damages".

So what I am trying to asking that was it possible to bring back the "true" hamon of the blade?

[Hans Kondor]

Kunitaro san,

 

about the Funbari, I had to search a bit, but now I think I understand what you are talkiing about.

 

There is one blade I can't decide whether it has funbari or not. Can you please guys help me to judge?

 

Best Regards,

Hans

[kunitaro]

about art polish.

in case, if you need to use your weapon,

you don't worry scratch on your blade.

only worry is breaking blade.

so, the edge shouldn't be sharp like kitcen knife.

any super blade can break the edge, if it is too thin or sharp.

for emergency, you can push your sword into ground or into sand, make the edge a bit loose. then less risk of tipping the edge, if you have bigger hakobore, you have risk of breaking sword from there.

 

about Funbari,

is the shapeof Eiffle tower.

the curve of the tower is not equaly cuved.

at the end, curve become stronger....

That is Funbari.

( sorry for my poor English)

 

as you see your photo.

the width of the blade is becoming almost equaly wider from yokote to Habaki.

The curve and width of the blade become stronger near Habaki. and Habaki should be a bit wider than blade. as Fuchi.

when you see the Habaki of your sword, Ha side, Habaki is less wide...

so, it is agaist Funbari.

tsuba area must be the strongest parts fo the sword. if it is not strong enough for ather parts, it might break there.... not only breaking sword is risk.

twisting the blade is also dedaly damage. if the blade bend, you can fix it, and keep using it.

but, you twist the blade, you can not use it, and almost impossible to fix.

the Funbari is protecting from this as well.

 

Best

[Hans Kondor]

Thank you for the additional information Kunitaro, you helped me a lot in the future when I'll be able to buy a original blade what to looking after!

[kunitaro]

Thank you for reading,

 

Best regards,

[k morita]

Kunitaro san,

You are a great martial artist!!! :D

 

In my understanding,the term "Funbari" applies to only koshimoto of a blade,and not means difference差 of width of a blade刃幅 from moto元 to saki先.

Recognition of the importance of Funbari of sword is the same with you.

Past posting:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12930&p=111106&hilit=funbari#p111106

[Jussi Ekholm]

Thank you very much Kunitaro san for all the information you shared in this thread.

 

I can shed bit light about the modern Chinese made replicas. In most cases you have something that bears little resemblance to authentic Japanese sword. Sure for inexperienced collectors looking for "Japanese style swords" they look and feel as authentic swords, but there are many fine details that these swords are missing.

 

Most of these are made from monosteel or in the last few years (I haven't paid that much attention to these Chinese replicas anymore) different lamination methods have became more common. The way these swords are made, corners are cut. Chinese forges offer Japanese style blades at low cost (so low it's sometimes hard to believe they make profit), but there are lots of buts...

 

Some of these swords simply have even sugata that lacks finesse, so to say. Some better examples are modeled after good examples, and with people who have knowledge. However their problem comes with rising cost. There are people working with Chinese replica swords that have the knowledge to make pretty nice copies of authentic Japanese swords. But... they cannot use that in full, as if they would pay so much attention to the blades, they would cost lot more than majority of people are willing to pay for it.

 

Kunitaro san gave great insight on some important features of Japanese sword, and I'll try to explain how those things are with Chinese made "shinken".

 

Niku - This is somewhat hard term to grasp. I feel quite confident to say that the vast majority of Chinese made blades don't have niku. I've recently studied niku quite a bit (with my very limited amount of swords), but seeing and studying authentic Japanese sword hira-ji and Chinese replica hira-ji they are completely different. Like Kunitaro san explained the polishing process of Japanese sword is very complicated, but the polishing process of Chinese replica is very simple. Chinese replica swords that I have seen are flat hira-ji, excluding the rare few "higher end production swords". This is thing that is very hard to understand without seeing it in person, but the difference is huge. Many "shinken" are designed to cut mats, which further explains the lack of niku.

 

Fumbari (or is it proper to write funbari?) - This is feature I have never seen in a Chinese made replica blade. Because they make the swords cheap, they have to cut corners, as Kunitaro said it's very hard to make. Fumbari is very beautiful sight, now that I have old tachi with amazing fumbari it's a sight to behold. Chinese replicas don't have this kind of beauty.

 

Kissaki/Yokote - Many Chinese replicas still have improper kissaki. Yokote, ko-shinogi, fukura etc. are off. Some forges have improved this and the better ones had better resemblance from the beginning.

 

Polish - I believe all Chinese forges use various etching processes to enhance the hamon. Those made from various carbon steels have indeed true hamon if they are differentially hardened, some are through hardened with make up hamon.

 

Average Chinese replica blade will resemble a Japanese sword more or less, and most likely it will cut mats well. However it lacks many fine details of Japanese sword. However there are smiths in China who have studied under Japanese smiths, swords made by them and higher end production swords they are involved in resemble much more true nihonto. I have never owned these "top-Chinese products" as they are very expensive and I rather save for nihonto related stuff. But I just wanted to note that there are products of various level in China.

 

How all these small details affect the difference in cutting, unfortunately I cannot say as I'm no engineer and I think swords are individuals. I have never cut with a nihonto, and I kinda think a person with such limited skill as mine does not deserve to cut with a blade of such quality.

 

Kunitaro san that thought about Tameshigiri seminar in Europe is great. I've seen and read things about Isao Machii sensei, and it would be amazing to see demonstration and explanation of cutting mechanics by him and you.

 

My apologies that I talked so much about Chinese production stuff, but I think that it's somewhat relevant to this thread.

[kunitaro]

Morita sensei,

Thank you very much for your follow up.

when we hear "Funbari" as Japanese, we can already recognize the point of meaning which is Funbaru Sugata.

It is the Ultimate functional beauty.

 

i knew it in my head, in real,i leaned it when i was at an old master Saya maker's place, He was giving advise to a young sword smith about Sugata. He was talking about only dynamics of Line and Curve from perspective of making Saya.

Sayashi is master of Sugata, because, they are not judging Sugata by looking, they are shaping Functional Saya by hand. so, people who made a lot of Meito, they understand the Sugata.

 

Best regards,

 

PS: Funbari is not only the shape of the blade, Kasane parts as well.

From Saki-kasane to Moto-kasane, should not be equal taper shape.

it should be Funbari near Koshimoto, as well as Sugata of side shape.

 

a lot of modern Japanes sword smith (and polishers)are trying to make a copy of the blade from heian-kamakura period.

they understand it, but still can not archive it.

 

mmm.

[runagmc]

To cut down on confusion, often the terms profile taper ( moto-haba to saki-haba) and distal taper (moto-kasane to saki-kasane)are used...

 

That way the term funbari can be reserved to describe a widening at the koshi-moto toward the ha-machi...

[kunitaro]

Dear Jussi and Adam,

 

Thank you for both following my poor english up !

I am glad. be cause, it is confirmation of understanding.

 

When you start to give Attention to those feature, Your Eye for Sword become higher level.

If many people understand the feature, and demand higher quality.　Manufacture have to follow.

 

Katana is The Soul of Samurai.

 

No Compromise.

 

Best regards,

[Ken-Hawaii]

Kunitaro-san, you are going to be an excellent resource on this forum, & your English is just fine. I am not certain that your initial exposure to Nihonto is unique among forum members, but I haven't heard of anyone else who learned about blades directly from togishi & other sensei.

 

Brian & Jean, has a survey been done to find out how our members became interested in the art of the sword? I couldn't find one with a cursory search.

 

Ken

[Toryu2020]

Ken -

I think if you troll thru the New Member Introductions you'll see the personal histories posted. Always nice to check in there once in awhile and see who is joining up...

-t

[Lingonberry]

I encountered an individual who gave a seminar at an anime convention about how to purchase a good sword (not really my kind of scene but I went because many friends of mine go.) This "expert" claimed to use a 700 year old blade worth $30,000 for tameshigiri, claiming that no nihonto were made as art objects and that he was "honoring" the sword by using it for it's intended purpose. He was a very interesting character to put it politely...

 

I'm not very familiar with martial arts but I was wondering... the guy who gave the seminar claimed that using a sword for cutting practice claimed that doing so did no harm to the blade in any way. I've seen pictures of iaito which appear to be scuffed and scratched and, presumably, the blade would get duller with each use. Is it not safe to say that using a nihonto damages it? The reason I ask is because I'd like facts to use in any future discussions on this topic. In other words, I'd like to make an informed and polite argument in favor of using shinken, shinsakuto, etc... instead of old nihonto for cutting practice.

[Toryu2020]

Adam -

 

It is a very romantic notion that a sword desires to be used and to lock it up in a shirasaya to be venerated as a piece of art is somehow cruel. If anything the sword has earned its rest and should no longer suffer any abuse, especially if it has lasted some 700 years.

 

I would say depending on the targets used and the skill of the user, as Kunitaro has pointed out, it is possible to use an older blade and not cause damage. However it is a very rare individual that does not cause wear and tear when using a sword for tameshigiri or even iai. Even if your draw and return are super precise, the regular use of uchiko and the contact with the oils of the hand will dull a polish. If only for iai practice the wear is minimal given the life of a sword but still it is wear and if we are the gurantors of the future of the blade we should first do no harm.

 

It is for the very reasons above we do not recommend use of older blades for Iai practice. There are shinken and iaito available that will give the student the same experience without putting possibly important works at risk.

 

mho

-t

[cabowen]

I knew an iai sensei in Japan that used an ichimonji regularly for both iai and tameshigiri. I often gave him a hard time about it...he always laughed it off, telling me he knew what he was doing. Then one day while cutting rolled tatami he hit a staple and chipped the blade rather deeply. Accidents can happen to anyone. There is no good reason to use an antique blade for cutting when modern alternatives are easily, cheaply, had....

[Hans Kondor]

Hello guys,

 

as most of you agree with that Nihonto should be not used for practise, could you share with us what kind of blade are you use for cutting practise?

 

Shinsakuto, chinese swords were already mentioned. I forgot to ask that what do you think about the higher quality made shinken for example made by Rick Barett, Howard Clark. These swords are usually not cheap.

 

Pictures are also welcome from the blades are you using!

[kunitaro]

Hello,

 

I wrote that Kotoken Kajiwara used Oomi-Daijo Tadayoshi.

For TV show (Special occasion= thousand of people will watch)

maybe less than 10 times in his life time.

 

As we know, Hizen blade is one of most beautiful Sugata, and beautiful Jitetsu.

He used it to show How Hizen-to Cut to Hizen-to lover.....

He told me, Hizen-to's Shape and Jitetsu make best cut. Not many people saw it.

Hizen-to lover can recognize that is Hizen-to in TV.

Then one of his client (he is polisher) offered his Tadayoshi, because, The owner of the sword wanted his sword on TV.

 

After TV show, the owner was so proud, and people who were talking the Hizen-to is only looks good but, doesn't cut well because, bra bra btra, they became quiet.

 

I wrote this because, it is very special occasion. and Some people said He is crazy,

but he did not do it for his showing off but for Hizen-to and Hizen-to lover.

 

Dear Adam san,

Manga Festival is same as Japan Expo Paris ?

Because, Kunimasa Matsuba did demonstration on Japan expo.

I think that was 2006 or 2005 ? (not sure) 2 times ( 2year).

He used his sword, never used old sword,

 

Other option,

There is Sword on market, without certification paper in Japan.

there is many fake sword ( NBTHK or NTHK doesn' t issue Hozon paper).

Osuriage mumei, Gimei, etc.. Which is made from Shinsaku-to, ( 2nd hand Nihonto)

Made from is meaning, Cut nakago jiri, put patina nakago, make extra hole, cut Signature. etc.

Those swords are cheap on market,,,

it can be used iai or cutting, however you have to make sure good safe Koshirae, antique Koshirae is not safe,

also, There is Saiba (Retempered) Blade, which is No Value as Antique object. but as weapon is functional.

this kind of blade is also can be used, ( retempered blade is sometime funny sori),,

 

myself, have never heard using Old kamakura blade for Tameshigiri.

 

Dear Hans,

Old people are saying that Sue-koto, Mino-den blade cuts best.

Bcause, light weight, wide Hiraji nallower Shinogi, Thinner Hira-niku, ( Muramasa)

but, It is not good for training, and the Blade will finish quicker,

 

Best

[Lingonberry]

Kunitaro-san,

 

The gentleman in question was an American who claimed to have bought the sword from a WWII veteran at a gun show for a few hundred dollars. It was supposedly a valuable family sword that a Naval officer brought to war. The man who gave the seminar said the sword was in very bad condition so he sent it to a togishi in California to have it restored. He claimed it was the togishi told him that it was rougly 700 years old and worth $30,000. Frankly, I think this guy was stretching the truth a little...

[kunitaro]

Adam san,

 

That is different subject,

Gold hunting story,

 

It was happening sometime in 50' and 60'

Because, there was many many swords were taken after ww2.

to US from JP, UK NL from Indonesia etc.

There was not many people were interested in JP sword and almost No Japanese (sword expert) were there.

JP swords were cheap (maybe 50-100USD), so, small amount of collectors were holding big collection (100-200swords)

original Western people didn't know what JP swords are.only a few high ranking military officers and weapon history experts knew that JP sword is something special.

 

in 70', there was a few Japanese (who knows about sword) outside of JP, and starting recognized what the Japanese swords are...

most of good Ronin swords (which has no owner) in unknown market were bought by sword lovers,

 

for example,,,

It was a Wakizashi in Gunto mount (out from Indonesia) on sales at Sotheby's Amsterdam in 1979.

the blade was osuriage and it had Gaku-mei ( cut off signature, and put it on suriage nakago ),

( Anybody who has the Catalog, Please let me know !!! )

The Founder of the Dutch Token Society mr. Mitsuro Toga Katsuyama bought it.

It was sold for 90 Dutch Guilders (about 100USD?), and it was sent to Japan.

The signature (gaku-mei) is genuine "Sadakiyo" of "Hosho school" from Kamakura period.

Of course, mr.Katsuyama knew it.

One of his student mr.Han Bin Sion who became a chairman of Dutch Token after mr.Katsuyama.

He couldn't go to the Auction. so, he missed.

 

in 2001 (?), the blade showed up with Juyo paper for sale for 4.500.000JPY by mr.Shibata in Tokyo.

mr.Han Bin Sion was missing the blade, because, it was out from Indonesia ( he is from Indonesia )

mr.Shibata didn't want to send it out of Japan

so, mr.Han Bin Sion sent me (and my friend) to Japan to get it. so we did.

the Signature from Hosho school are very rare. and the blade has very thick looooong Kinsuji on Motouchi, and super Hakikake.

Super master piece. so, i stopped by NBTHK, showed it to mr.Tanobe before we return to NL.

He was very impressed by the blade and told me that the blade will be able to get Tokubetsu Juyo,

so, we brought it back to mr.Han with very good comment from mr.Tanobe.

mr.Han was very happy for the sword to be back in NL., didn't care how much he paid.

He made a big article and lecture about the Yamato-den swords, i translated and posted Token Bijutsu. ( you can find it in Token Bijutsu somewhere 2002 or 2003 ?? )

 

After a few years, the wife of mr.Han Bin Sion passed away, and about 6 month later, mr.Han Bin Sion himself passed away with great collection.

A man went to mr.Han's family and took Right for sale, he did unfair auction. and he couldn't recognize the quality of the blade.

The blade was sold very low price and out of NL.

after, Another person bought it back to NL.

Hope it will stay.

The only pity is that The Family of mr.Han didn't receive reasonable money....

 

Back to late 80' to early 90',

Japan hit Economic peak.

as we know, many art dealers went to west, bought a lot of expensive art object,

same time, a lot of Japanese sword experts dealer went to Europe and US with a lot of money, bought most of master pieces back to JP.

When people who sold their collection saw the price of item which they sold was more than 10 times or sometimes 100 times in Japan, They start to study the sword very seriously.

Together with Internet, the price of Antique Japanese sword became open for international market.

Then Gold hunting legend was over.

the price of low quality swords goes down ( keep going down now ) and High Quality Masterpieces are going up.

 

However, Old master said "you can not find a sword, A sword must find you."

 

A bit out of Subject.....

 

Let us go back to Tameshigiri topic.

[Jean]

Kunitaro sama,

 

The story seen from Han Bing Siong

 

 

 

Reunion after Thirty Years

HAN BING SIONG

 

Traditionally sword students distinguish five different major styles in Japanese swords according to the provinces. Some like Nagayama Kokan sensei, say there are six styles the Shinto being the sixth. Peculiarly, many Japanese sources in specifying the Goka Den first refer to the Yamashiro den, then to the Yamato den. Bizen den, Soshu den and Mino den in this sequence.

 

Those sources, however, are unanymous as regards the Kogarasu Maru by Amakuni, presently in the Imperial collection, being the oldest curved Japanese sword. They are also unanymous on the point that Amakuni was a swordsmith of Yamato province. So why mentioning Yamashiro first rather than Yamato ? Moreover, as the book Shosoin no Token (p.xiii) points out the Yamashiro den must have its origin in Yamato, because swords of sanjo Munechika and Awataguchi Kuniyoshi, both prominent early swordsmiths of Yamashiro province, have niju ba. Nijuba is a typical Yamato feature which in turn was inherited from the swordsmiths of the Nara period who made the still uncurved jokoto which are preserved in the Shosoin, the Imperial Repository of ancient relics in Nara.

 

In view of this I personally prefer to mention the Yamato den as the first of the Gokaden instead of the Yamashiro den. This was done, too, by Bon Dale, the first sensei I have had, who complied the catalogue of the Oxford swordexhibition in 1968. Sato Kanzan sensei and the Nihonto Koza (Vol.5 p.88 differently from Vol.1 p. loo) did the same. It is also in accordance with the catalogue of the exhibition of Yamato swords in the Japanese Swordmuseum held in September 2000 in Tokyo. The swords of Yamato Yamato swords distinguish themselves from the swords made in the other styles in that their shinogi ji is relatively broad It is a characteristic, which for discerning it, often requires a sharp eye and a keen sense of proportions. In this respect the Yamato swords can also be traced back to the Shosoin jokoto of the Nara period. Another speciality of Yamato swords is, that, if compared with the swords made in Yamashiro and Bizen, the greater part of them are unsigned. This is also the case as regards the jokoto of the Nara era.

 

To understand the reason why the majority of the Yamato swords are unsigned, we should pay attention to the history of Japan as summarized by Stephan Turnbull. We usually, and quite understandably, accociate the Japanese Sword with the samurai. But beside the samurai in old Japan there was another category of warriors: the sohei and the gakuso, the latter being kin of the nobility. These were the warrior monks or warrior priests. At that time the temples Horiuji, Todaiji and Kofukuji, established in Yamato province in the 7th Century, had achieved enormous wealth and excercised great political influence. This influence was even so great that in order to evade it the Emperor decided to move the capital from Nara to Kyoto. In the absence of police, the great wealth the temples had achieved, required protection against raids by local chieftains. Besides, the temples also had to face a threat from the government due to the kishin. The peasants had to pay heavy taxes to the government, and in order to evade these the peasants nominally transferred their land to the temples, which were exempt from taxes. By the end of the 10th century, however, kishin had become so widespread, that almost no land was left over to levy taxes on, so the government planned to confiscate those lands, which the temples resisted. For these reasons the temples armed their monks and priests and trained them in the arts of war.

 

During the early 12th century the sohei constituted the most formidable standing army in the Kinai provinces. Unlike the samurai the monks were not averse to show their military strength in the capital. The earliest record of the warrior monks was in 981 when monks of Kofukuji marched through the streets of the capital. In the famous war between the Taira and the Minamoto, the latter allied with warrior monks of Miidera, a temple near Kyoto, and when withdrawing southwards joined another monk army from Nara. The greatest tragic in this war was the burning down of the great Todaiji in Nara in 1181, including the great bronze Buddha, by Taira Shigehira, son of Kyomori, when his cavalry failed to break through the defences of the sohei. One thousand monks were then killed.

 

Gochin no Tajima's fight against the Taira at the bridge crossing the Ujikawa illustrates that these warrior monks were fighters as fierce as the samurai. During this fight Tajima ducked to avoid the higher arrows and lept over those that flew low, cutting through those that flew straight. This earned him the name of Tajima the Arrow Cutter. Another monk, Tsutsui Jomyo, first killed 12 and wounded 11 Taira by his arrows, then killed 6 with his naginata, and after this had broken he used his sword killing 9. After the fight he saw that his own armour was hit by 63 arrows.

 

The well known Benkei, often depicted on swordfittings, was also a sohei. Benkei fought against Minamoto Yoshitsune on a bridge, but later became his loyal follower. The 'final solution' only came in 1571 when Oda Nobunaga massacred 20.000 sohei of Enryakuji on Mount Hiei in the northwest of Kyoto. The point is, that for arming their sohei and gakuso the temples had their own swordsmiths. As Kanzan sensei put it, these swordsmiths belonged to the temples, which I presume, means that they worked anonymously without being allowed to sign their swords. Or, as the swords were exclusively for the own use of temples, there was not any need for signing them. When they once in a while did sign their swords, they just put the name of the temple on the sword. There are quite a number of swords bearing the signature Senjuin. There are also some signed Taima.

 

A similar situation was in Dewa province where the Gassan swordsmiths were part of the temples, too. Consequently, old Gassan swords are unsigned. According to Ogawa Morihiro san the Gassan swordsmiths started to sign their swords simply with Gassan, when the swords were made available by the temples to outsiders, like a member of the Southern Imperial Court and his allies fighting the Northern Court.

 

Perhaps this was also the case in Yamato. And as a further development, probably gradually the temples allowed their swordsmiths to make their swords available to others individually. So in the late Kamakura period we see a number of signed swords by Tegai Kanenaga appearing, and to a lesser extent also signed swords by Shikake Norinaga. Signed swords of the Senjuin, Taima, and Hosho, however, remain to be extremely scarce. A collector should consider himself extremely lucky if he happens to have a signed Senjuin, Taima or Hosho sword in his collection. During the Muromachi period this situation changed in that we see an increase of signed swords of the later generations of the Tegai, called Sue Tegai.

 

As most swordsmiths in Yamato province during the previous period worked anonymously, consequently but a few of them were known at the time. Probably this is why among the swordsmiths who were summoned to teach Gotoba Tenno the art of sword forging, there was only one from Yamato: Shigehiro of the Senjuin school. As so few Yamato swordsmiths were recorded, the number mentioned in the rank system of Fujishiro Yoshio sensei and Shibata Mitsuo sensei is therefore also small if compared with the other schools. Kuniyuki of the Taima is classified as saijo saku (top) class and the forementioned Shigehiro of Senjuin is of jojo saku (very superior) class like Senjuin Yukinobu and Ryumon Nobuyoshi. Tegai Kanenaga and Kaneuji, wellknown as Yamato Shizu, who came from the Tegai, Hosho Sadayoshi, Taima Cho Aritoshi, Tomotsuna, Tomonaga and Tomokiyo are also jo jo saku, while Shikake Norinaga is of jo saku (superior) class. Presumably there is another Yamato sword smith of saijo saku class beside Taima Kuniyuki: Hosho Sadatsugu who was unrecorded until Homma sensei discovered a sword of his in the collection of the Kishu Tokugawa family. In Homma sensei's opinion that sword is superior even to the best sword of Hosho Sadayoshi. The other swordsmiths of the Hosho, Sadakiyo, Sadaoki, Sadamitsu and Sadazane are jo saku.

 

The Hosho

 

I mentioned 5 schools in Yamato province: Senjuin, Taima, Tegai, Hosho and Shikake. As the Senjuin already started in the Heian period, it is quite right to mention them first. The Nihonto Zenshu (Vol.3) and the Nihonto Koza (Vol.5 differently from Vol.2 p.110), however discuss the Hosho before the other schools. This raises the question, in what respect the Hosho could have been so special to discuss them first ? The answer to this question will answer as well the question: why this special kanshokai on the Yamato Hosho tradition ?

 

A minor point in which the Hosho distinguish themselves from the other four schools, is that their name is not a place name. Taima is the name of a place and the temple there, Senjuin, Tegai and Shikake as well refer to certain locations. The name Senjuin is derived from the Senju valley near the Sen judo, a temple associated with the Todaiji in Nara. Tegai is associated with the place where the workshop of this school was situated: in front of the Tengai gate of the Todaiji. Shikake is the name of three different places, one being an area in the precincts of Nara with a temple associated with Todaiji. The place where the Hosho smiths worked, however, was Takechi, Hosho most probably being a family name. It is included in the signature on a tanto by Hosho Sadamune (Juyo Bijutsuhin, Nihonto Koza Vol.2), whose name was Hosho Goro. Presumably it is his one and only sword, because in doing kantei according to Tanobe Michihiro sensei it is wise never to mention Hosho Sadamune.

 

Hosho Goro is also the name of two other Hosho swordsmiths: Kunimitsu, traditionally considered to be the founder of the school, of whom no swords have been found up till now, and Sadayoshi, either Kunimitsu's or Sadamune' s son. The Japanese sources do not mention any temple to which the Hosho belonged. I know it is speculative, but could it perhaps be that the Hosho were the very few swordsmiths in Yamato working independently from the temples ? Then their swords presumably were made for samurai and not for war monks. The most important distinguishing feature, however, is the ji mon or kitae. The swords of Senjuin, Taima, Tegai and Shikake in general have itame hada or itame hada mixed with masame hada. In this they resemble the jokoto in the Shosoin and may be considered as a continuation of the style of those jokoto.

 

The Shosoin jokoto have itame hada mixed with masame, a few have itame hada, but the hoko and tosu (knifes not longer than 16 cm) aside, none have masame hada (Shosoin no Token p.xi). This means that, apart from ken and yari which probably are later developments of the hoko, for the very first time in the history of the Japanese Sword the Hosho made masame hada on swords longer than 16 cm. the general rule for their school. Masame hada so became the speciality of the Hosho school by which their swords can be recognized. Although exclusively a Hosho characteristic, most interestingly the textbooks in describing the Goka Den do mention the masame as typical workmanship of the Yamato Den as a whole.

 

Of course now and then smiths of the other Yamato schools made masame, too, but this they did very rarely. The Juyo Token nado Zufu series I have is not complete, of the 45 volumes I only have 40. But I checked 82 Shikake Mumei Juyo and found only 5 with masame. Leaving 3 ken and 1 yari aside for the reasons already mentioned, the number of Senjuin Mumei Juyo I found with masame is only 3 out of 80. The Taima have even less masame: only 2 out of the 159 Taima Mumei Juyo turned out to be made with masame. The number of the Tegai Mumei Juyo is small: 48 of which only one, yes only one, has masame. I also checked the Juyo Token signed by or attributed to Tegai Kanenaga, out of the 35 only one has masame hada. This sword belongs to Colonel Dean S. Hartley. Probably because the masame is not typical for Kanenaga, the sword is attributed to him with the indication 'den'. As Tanobe Michihiro sensei has recently explained to the US polisher Robert Benson, 'den' is mentioned if an unsigned blade either lacks a characteristic, or has an additonal feature not typical for the swordsmith. The same was done to the Mumei Juyo katana with masame attributed to Tegai Kanetoshi which is part of the collection of Mr. Andrew Quirt. Admittedly there is a signed Juyo Bunkazai Kanetoshi with masame hada, but this blade is a ken. A well known tachi signed Senjuin Yasushige, too, has masame hada. Ogasawara Nobuo sensei, Hiroi Yuichi sensei (Nihonto Taikan Vol.1) and Koizumi Tomitaro sensei (Nihonto Zenshu Vol.3 p.18) posit that this sword makes the impression of being a Hosho sword. As regards one of the 3 Senjuin Mumei Juyo with masame which I found, the Juyo Token nadu Zufu (Vol.30) says the same.

 

So it is clear that the Hosho swordsmiths were the first to make masame hada the trade mark of their school. It is therefore tempting to call masame hada: Hosho hada, like we call the ayasugi hada of the Gassan school Gassan hada. As this kanshokai deals with the Hosho style from Kamakura till the present, and as masame hada, so I personally assume, may be called Hosho hada, in this session there are swords with masame made by swordsmiths who are not at all associated with the Yamato Hosho school. But of course besides we have not omitted to include the few swords we happen to have which are truely representative of the Yamato Hosho tradition through the ages.

 

Another reason to organize this meeting is that the number of Hosho blades outside Japan is exceedingly small. In the US I only know of one Mumei Juyo Hosho katana, the one in Dr. Lewert's collection, which I was allowed to handle in 1979. Here in Europe as far as I know up till recently there was but one Mumei Juyo katana, the one in Mr. Indlekofer's collection. So the total number of Hosho Juyo swords outside Japan was only two! Only in the last Juyo shinsa another foreigner was awarded the Juyo designation for a third Mumei Hosho katana. It is true, in Great Britain there are or were 4 katana, three of them being attributed to Hosho Sadamune and the fourth being signed Yamato no kuni Takechi no junin Fujiwara no Sadamune. The first three were part respectively of the Sir Frank Bowden collection, the Graig, and later the Michael Dean collection, and the Bower collection. The signed Sadamune is or was in the Liverpool Museum. The authenticity of these i four swords, however, has still to be assessed by the Japanese experts. In view of Tanobe sensei's remarks on Hosho Sadamune the chance of the signed sword being authentic is extremely slim, while the other attributions will probably be inaccurate as well. Mr. Sinclaire has told me about a fifth Hosho blade in Great Britain, a tanto by Hosho Sadayoshi, but this tanto, too, still has to be authenticated in Japan. The extreme scarcity of authentic Hosho swords certainly justifies as well this kanshokai dedicated to Yamato Hosho swords. Hopefully it will prove to be both interesting and instructive.

 

As I will explain later, something else, however, has been the immediate impetus for holding this meeting.

 

On show at the tables were 9 swords, which were put at random and not in chronological order, with the tsuka not removed:

 

Katana Mumei Kanemaki

Katana Mei Ishido Korekazu Manji gannen

Tanto Mumei Sue Hosho

Tanto Mei Yoshindo

Katana Mei Katsumura Norikatsu Bunkyu sannen

Wakizashi Mei Yamashiro no kami Kunikane, nidai

Wakizashi Gakumei Hosho Sadakiyo

Ko Wakizashi Mei Kunikane Sendai Kanetsugu

Katana Mei Gassan Sadakazu Keio ninen

 

So 5 out of the 9 swords were representantive of the Yamato Hosho tradition in the Kamakura, Muromachi, Shinto and Shinshinto periods.

 

Those present on the meeting were invited to fill up a form and indicate in which period each sword was made: Kamakura, Nambokucho, Muromachi, Shinto, Shinshinto or Gendaito.

 

Sword No. 7 in this display is the oldest, it is of the late Kamakura period, around 1324. It is a cut down tachi, but fortunately the owner realised the importance of the signature, and had it cut out and inserted into the 5 suriage nakago. The gakumei reads: Fujiwara Sadakiyo. As far as I could check the Japanese sources, there are 7 signed swords by this smith, but this blade is the one and only signed sword of this length. All others are tanto or ko wakizashi. Kinzan sensei (this is Tanobe Michihiro sensei) in his sayagaki declared it to be chin chin cho cho: very extremely rare. In fact it presently is the one and only signed Hosho outside Japan.

 

This kanshokai is to celebrate the sword's come back to the Netherlands after thirty years. It turned up in Amsterdam and was auctioned there on February 8 1972 for the ridiculous price of Dfl. 90 1 Yes, ninety guilders. Even more ridiculous was that I did not take the trouble to go to that auction. I had viewed the sword and remember that it was rubbed clean, as is so often done in Holland. The steel surface was completely healthy and intact without any cracks which up till then I often had seen on koto. I therefore suspected it to be shinto. After all, signatures can always be taken away from broken swords and put on younger blades, so I thought. Moreover, as you have seen, the signature is in such an excellent condition that it looks like brand new.

 

I have seldom seen such an intact and sharp signature from the Kamakura period. In retrospect this must have increased my suspicions. Worst of all, in the books I had at the time, I could only find one example of Fujiwara Sadakiyo's signature which was an enlarged photograph (Nihonto Zenshu Vol.9). The characters looked larger than those on this sword. Signed swords of this smith are so rare that Fujishiro Yoshio sensei did not include an oshigata in his book. I remember still vividly that when I woke up that morning of February 8 1972, I knew it was the day of the auction, but was torn between going to Amsterdam to get the sword and letting it go. At last I decided to let the sword go because of a staff meeting I had to attend at the ministry.

 

What I totally failed to discern was the sword's typical Yamato sugata with the broad shinogi ji, not to speak of its tachi shape. Besides I neither noticed the fine niju habaki covered with gold plate. Probably it then was covered with grease.

 

The shock came 8 years later when I browsed through the Juyo Token nado Zufu (vol.26) and saw the gakumei I had seen in Amsterdam. What a tremendous shock: I had missed an extremely rare Juyo Token which I could have acquired for only ninety guilders! Even worse, it is the first and up till now the only sword that during World War II was in my native country Indonesia, that has become Juyo Token 1 For many years thereafter I had immense remorse for my stupidity and indolence, even to the extent that I tried to find out its whereabouts in Japan. It was like searching a needle in a haystack. But then to my great surprise last August the sword turned up in a kantei on paper in Rei. I immediately recognized the sword and hurried to send my conclusion, inquiring whether it was perhaps for sale. I had not expected it, but it was indeed available! It seemed very incredible indeed. As the blade was used for the kantei, it had not yet been advertised, so I was the very first and the only one who knew about it. Although several years before I had decided to cease collecting and to reduce my collection gradually, the temptation was too great to resist.

 

But as it soon turned out I was jubilant too quickly. The swordshop had no intention whatsoever to sell swords to foreigners. In the meantime a Japanese customer arrived. It all looked like as if I was to miss this sword for a second time. But then help came from a totally unexpected side. Two members of our society, Mr Fujimoto and Mr Kleinnagelvoort were just about to leave for Japan to attend the NBTHK Token Taikai in Kobe. They offered me to visit the dealer, take up the sword and arrange its despatch to Holland. Mr. Fujimoto immediately called the dealer by telephone, and the dealer agreed: the sword was mine at last I It was immediately removed from the showroom. You can imagine what a thrill it was when I took it in my hands after thirty years, especially when I saw how beautiful and healthy the sword was ! This reunion after thirty years, you will agree, is miraculous indeed, and so I decided to celebrate it with this special kanshokai.

 

As regards the quality of the blade itself, Shinzan sensei in addition put on the saya: hon saku ji ha tenkei katsu deki koto no hoka yu the ji, the ha and the type are made in an exceedingly superior way. Let us try to find out what is so special, apart from it being the only signed o wakizashi of Sadakiyo.

 

When viewing this blade the first feature which immediately catches the eye is of course the strong flowing masame hada, slightly bending upwards near the kissaki. Differently from what is explained as regards an orikaeshi raei Tegai Kanenaga in Sweden, Hosho masame is not straight. It is flowing. And most conspicuous in the sword are the very long and thick chikei showing in the steel. Chikei are shining lines of me in the steel for which the great Masamune was famous.

 

As I found out not all Hosho blades have this feature. I checked the descriptions of 7 Sadakiyo signed blades and only two of them have chikei. The gakumei o wakizashi we have here is one of the two. Then I proceeded in checking 31 Hosho Mumei Juyo. of which only 7 have chikei. I then checked all signed blades of the other Hosho smiths and found chikei only on four of them the sword by Sadatsugu which Homma sensei considers to be the best of all Hosho, the Meibutsu Hosho by Sadayoshi, the Hosho Sadamune and one Juyo Token Sadaoki.

 

Secondly, the steel of this sword is extremely well forged. It seems to be very difficult to perfectly forge all layers of masame. Masame therefore often shows tate ware or cracks. In general these are considered to be kizu or flaws, although being no serious flaws because they are lengthwise cracks. Tate ware in Hosho masame, however, are not considered a flaw, they are accepted as a Hosho characteristic instead and called masa ware. Characteristic or not, the blade on show here does not have any. What it does have are just a few scratches, but they are not open cracks. The cracks of masa ware are usually accompanied by small holes. This sword shows a few holes which fortunately have not developed into cracks.

 

In the kantei for which this sword was used another feature is mentioned indicating high quality. The ji nie is thick, ji nie atsui. In the Juyo Token nado Zufu description the denotion atsui is omitted. In my very limited experience I have seen ji nie atsui like this only on a sword by the famous Tsuda Sukehiro of Osaka. The kantei's explanation mentions a second most important feature: the appearance of the steel is uruoi or moist. According to Yamanaka (October 1968) the blades of great masters like Masamune, Sa and Yoshimitsu are uruoi. One can only learn how uruoi looks like when it is pointed out on an actual example. This is the opportunity to see such an example.

 

Lastly, the yakiba is also very well and consistently made, although, apart from the long kinsuji and the ko gunome tsurete, it is very restrained, delicate and quiet. In this sword the hotsure is only seen in a few places and the uchinoke are extremely fine. Although beautifully healthy, the boshi to my mind is atypical because instead of being yakitsume, it is ko maru kaeru, although it does have the hakikake as expected.

 

The next oldest sword in this display was No.3, again a genuine Hosho blade. It is of the Muromachi period and hence called Sue Hosho. When we compiled the first Solingen catalogue in 1984 we still assumed that the Hosho school ceased to exist at the end of the Nambokucho period. As Tanobe sensei points out, it is true, only of the Tegai a great number of swordsmiths continued working in the Muromachi period, called Sue Tegai, frequently making masame hada. Of the Senjuin and Taima there were practically no swordsmiths in that period, and of the Hosho and Shikake there are not so many Muromachi swords either. So this tanto is also rather a rare item. Indicating the period is the rather sudden uchi sori. The workmanship of this Sue Hosho is of lesser quality than the Sadakiyo: no chikei and no uruoi. Moreover, it does have some masa ware. Noteworthy is that the flowing masame is bending downwards toward the ha machi and upwards following the boshi.

 

Next comes No.6, a wakizashi made around 1667-1672 by Yamato no kami Kunikane, a smith of jo jo saku in Sendai, Mutsu province. His father, Yamato Daijo Kunikane, of saijo saku rank, considered himself to be a descendant of Hosho Goro Sadamune. Hence this sword is Shinto Yamato Hosho. The flowing masame hada on this sword is much less conspicuous than that of Sadakiyo and the Sue Hosho. On ura side it even can easily be mistaken for tightly forged ko itame. Only when viewing it without direct light on the blade, the ko itame grains appear to be arranged in masame formations. Tanobe sensei has pointed out the difference in patterns between Sadayoshi, Sadakiyo and Sadaoki: the first made them very large, the second made them both large and small while the third usually made small ones. Probably Shinto Hosho smiths were inclined to follow Sadaoki. There is one Mumei Juyo Sadaoki with ko itame tsumi nagare te masa kakari, of which the masame is komakaku yoku tsumi, that is the major part being tightly forged ko itame with fine masame (Juyo Token nado Zufu Vol.35). It is often pointed out in kantei that differently from the real Hosho, Kunikane's swords seldom have chikei. On this sword, however, there are chikei, a few of which are long, although very tiny. On the other hand, as we have seen, the majority of the real Hosho neither have chikei.

 

This Shinto Hosho even has a few tiny scratchlike masa ware. Really different, however, is the quality of the yakiba. This sword's nioiguchi is fukaku akaruku saeru: wide, bright and clear. This raises the question, could this be the result of a difference in temperature when heating before yaki ire ? If so, is the ha saki of the Shinto Hosho, although visually more beautiful, not more brittle than the Kamakura Hosho and thus more apt to break ? Could the reason be that the old Hosho swords were primarily made to survive real battle rather than to be beautiful ? Otherwise the Hosho style is clearly implemented in this Shinto Hosho. The hamon shows nijuba, kuichigai ha, and sunagashi beside kinsuji; the boshi is yakitsume fu with hakekake as well.

 

No.l is another Shinto, although perhaps younger than No.6. The sword is Mumei and according to the Hozon kanteisho made by Kashu Kanemaki. Indeed in Kaga province the Kanewaka school due to the Yamato influence sometimes made swords with masame. In this case as well the masame is flowing.

 

Next come the shinshinto blades. Comparatively the oldest of the shinshinto is No.8, the hira tsukuri ko wakizashi. jointly made by Kunikane and Kanetsugu, both of Sendai. Yamashiro daijo Kunikane school had 14 generations who all were in the service of the Date daimyo of Sendai. The United Kingdom Sword Register's compiler attnbu tes this sword to the 10th generation. However, as there are swords by Kanetsugu in Sendai, dated Kaei (1848-1854), probably this Kunikane is the 13th generation of whom there are also swords dated Kaei period. This sword therefore is Shinshinto Yamato Hosho. Conspicuous in this blade are the sunagashi in the yakiba. The masame hada is nagare.

 

The next shinshinto is No.5, dated Bunkyu 3, 1863, and made by Katsumura Norikatsu, a smith of jo saku rank working in Mito in Hitachi province. Norikatsu started making swords with itame hada in the style of his teacher, Norimune, of whose name he took the character Nori. Later he adopted the Yamato Hosho style as a rule and is therefore considered as Shinshinto Yamato Hosho. He forged blades for Tokugawa Nariaki, the Mito daimyo who is known as a swordsmith under the name Mito Rekko. Probably the latter confined himself to yaki ire. This blade is impressive because of the enormous activities in the workmanship. The hamon comprising rows of ashi and yo, niju ba, kuichigai ha, sunagashi and kinsuji. The boshi, too, is full of hakikake ,on ura. and with kinsuji and some hakekake on omote. The kitae has an abundance of ji nie and chikei. The ji nie, although not as thick as those of Sadakiyo, are also ji nie atsui. Most exceptional is, that the ji nie in my opinion actually formes nie utsuri. Iida Kazuo sensei confirmed this in 1983. It has antai.

 

Nie utsuri is considered a characteristic of the Yamashiro den, but Yamato swordsmiths sometimes made it, too. I found nie utsuri on 2 blades by Sadakiyo, 1 blade by Sadaoki, and another by Sadamitsu. Of the Mumei Juyo I checked, there are 5 Senjuin, 4 Taima, 1 Tegai and 4 Shikake showing nie utsuri. The Mumei Tegai Kanetoshi of Mr. Quirt also has nie utsuri. 2 Hosho have the regular utsuri. This sword has been very long, around 83 cm, but due to it length it was regrettably shortened about 8 cm. Even so its shape is still impressive. An identification point is the long ashi which indicate that this sword is obviously shinshinto. Besides, the steel on close examination turns out to have many patches of muji hada. The masame itself is very fine. It is only thanks to the clusters of nie and yubashiri following the pattern that it is very clearly visible.

 

Katsumura Norikatsu beside being a pupil of Norimune and Hosokawa Masayoshi, was also instructed by Ishido Korekazu. We are so lucky to have No. 2 in the Netherlands, a sword by this Korekazu which is made in the Yamato Hosho style, so we have the opportunity to compare the work of the master with that of his pupil. Most Japanese sources say, that Korekazu made his blades with itame hada or ko itame in Soshu den and Bizen den. limura Kajo sensei is the only expert putting forward that Korekazu, although very rarely, also made masame hada. So in this context this sword is a very unique example as well. It shows all characteristics of Yamato Hosho except for the shinogi ji. A characteristic of Korekazu is his very narrow shinogi ji. The hamon has a lot of ashi, and shows kuichigai, hotsure, niju ba, sanju ba, uchi no ke, sunagashi and kinsuji. The kitae is masame with plenty ji nie. Like the blade of Norikatsu this sword has muji hada as well. There are also chikei and yubashiri.

 

Then we have sword No.9, bearing the inscription Gassan Sadakazu. As mentioned, the typical hada of the Gassan school is ayasugi hada. Gassan Sadakazu, however, also made blades with masame. This is quite understandable, because for producing ayasugi hada you have to make masame hada first. By filing out parts of the masame steel and then by hammering the surface flat, ayasugi comes forth from the masame. Filing off parts from the steel of course weakens it, so this is another example of visual beauty being achieved at the expense of the quality of the blade as a weapon.

 

Lastly we have No.4, a tanto made by no less a person than the present Mukansha swordsmith Yoshihara Yoshindo, who earned many high awards. Together with his brother he was one of the first to succeed in making utsuri again. This blade, however, has no utsuri. It has masame hada, which is straight rather than flowing and does not bend downward to the ha machi nor follows the boshi upwards. Hence it is not fully in accordance with the Yamato Hosho tradition. However, it does have masa ware, and the smith did his best to make the boshi yakitsume."

 

 

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