Hamon. Should it end/start at the hamachi or not ?

[kusunokimasahige]

Hello all,

 

Just came across this image (kanehide gendai) on FB :

 

 

I always was under the impression the hamon should not ever run over the hamachi and onto the nakago.

 

But I am seeing time and again on several images of polished swords (by current polishers) that it often does.

 

So what is the standard here ?

 

Is this for instance a way a polisher might "sign" his work ? Or is it just wrong/an error ?

 

These things confuse me.

 

KM

[Geraint]

Hi Henk Jan.

 

Never say, "Never!", where nihonto are concerned. One of the problems with the internet is that we can only see some of what a sword has to offer us. If you take a look at Aoi Art you will see that Tsuruta san almost always provides oshigata of the blades which will let you see the way the hamon behaves at the machi, as will any of the many texts that show oshigata. A brilliant starting point would be the volumes of Art and the Sword produced by the JSS-US. If we rely on photographs or scans we are at the mercy of the polisher to some extent.

 

Simple answer is that your observations are correct, not all hamon stop at the machi, even on blades with ubu nakago.

 

Have fun!

[runagmc]

HJ, I'm not sure what gave you that impression, but it's usually the case that the hamon goes beyond the machi. Anything in front of the machi would be considered yaki-otoshi, which is not very common...

[cabowen]

The photo of the Kanehide above is the norm. If the hamon runs off the edge just before the hamachi, it is called yaki-otoshi and is rare in newer blades, sometimes seen in koto.

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you all for your information. I cannot recall where I read it at present.

 

Best wishes,

 

KM