anyone care to venture a guess oil/water???

[Cello]

Anyone care to venture a guess with the two not so great photos I have of this katana to weather it's oil or water quenched??I can't see the dark peaks of an oil quench and it's too poor a photo to see nie/noi...... Any opinions would be great(other then post a better picture LOL)............Thanks

[Veli]

Hello Marcello!

 

My first impression is that this is an oil-quenched, non-traditional blade. I think I have seen some Showato with this kind of narrow misty temper line and somewhat featureless steel. But you should know better than to trust my opinion

 

Veli

[JDinMT]

My thoughts, based on what can be seen, is that there's a possibility it may be traditionally made. Where the flash hits the blade it looks like a possible wide nioi line and there appears to be tobiyaki like activity in spots along the hamon. Unfortunately it also looks like it was "cleaned" with modern abrasives which doesn't help and if the hada is tight at all that would hide it.

 

Again just my thoughts

 

John D.

[Cello]

John that was going to be my next question..Does the presence of the tobiyaki indicate traditional methods?The nagasa is 26" do you know if there was a standard size for gunto mounting?It seems they are 24''-24 3/4" ,Iknow there are always exceptions but was wondering if there was a general rule of thumb??

[J Reid]

Just because there may be tobiyaki does not indicate much. I am sure that oil quenched blades could have tobiyaki as well seeing as how it is just tempered spots on the ji. Based on what I currently see, I would guess oil quenched. But without more pictures no one could be positive.

[SwordGuyJoe]

Based on the pics ( :| ) I would say showato.

[Doug]

I say given the steel color, what hada I'm imaging I'm seeing, and the rather narrow hamon and it's features I think late koto early Shinto. The sugata (can be seen on eBay listing) seems a little slight to be earlier although this is always hard to appreciate in pictures. Probably not a bad buy but my concern was that the hamon being so close could slip off anywhere and then you'd be outta luck. Hopefully, someone tells him how to pull the handle and end the suspense.

 

Doug

[Cello]

I'm a gambling man lol.... The seller accepted my lower offer so I will have an answer shortly!He does offer 14day return so if it falls off I'm sure he will take it back,as he has a good feedback history....

[Cello]

ok so I the blade out had to split the Tsuka to get the jammed blade out not big deal so I d believe the seller couldn't have removed the blade and wasn't lying as some do on ebay.I certain he could see the lack of rust on the edge of nagako which is why he assumed WWII and sold it with out dismantling the saya...A nice surprise for the offer he accepted on it IMHO.So here it is!! any help with the Mei I seem to be having trouble again Hira.....???......Yuki...??

[Lance]

The first 2 characters look to read Yakumo, part of the smith's name that I could make out looks to be Masa. This reminded me of a smith listed in John Slough's oshigata book (page 101) who also used Yakumo (Shimane) in his signature, named Amatsu Masakiyo. It says he became the head swordsmith for the Izumo Seiko Works company in 1942 and also was a Rikugun Jumei Tosho. Between the use of Masa and Yakumo, filework on the tang and overall style of signature being so close I'm guessing your sword was made by another smith or pupil from the same workshop ? Below is a picture for comparison and what I was able to make out character-wise, I'm sure someone will be along to fill in the blanks and/or correct my mistakes.

 

Hope this useful,

Lance

[cabowen]

Nice find!

 

Indeed, this is a student of Amazu Masakiyo, who was a good smith with several pupils. I have seen many of his blades and a few of his students and while I wouldn't put them in the top rank, they are not far behind.

 

This blade is signed "Yakumo" then Yokota Masahiro saku. I think you can be confident that it is traditionally made. Dated May, 1945. Rare blade as this smith didn't seem to make many.

[Cello]

Many thanks lance and Chris...!! Chris you always come through for me on the board your a wealth of knowledge I appreciate your help always! So would it be fare to say I should send this to polish if I find no ware??. The Mei definitely looks as if a teacher signed the date and the yakumo. Do you know what the I on the mune means if anything??

[cabowen]

You are most welcome, glad to be of help....

 

As for polish, not sure if it makes economic sense at this point, but maybe in the future.

 

The mark on the nakago mune is a military arsenal mark. Not sure which one- maybe one of the gunto mavens will comment....

[Cello]

Yes I've noticed the decline in value of complete polished blades but have noticed a up tick in sales of blades in need of TLC or in lesser states of condition.I'm more into collecting old historical items this one was a gamble to make a quick flip and a learning experience.So I may just resell the sword with the newly learned information and the knowledge gained while hopefully making a small profit :D if possible!

[Kiipu]

  On 5/17/2013 at 9:52 PM, Cello said:

So here it is!! any help with the Mei I seem to be having trouble again Hira.....???......Yuki...??

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八雲横田正留作 Yakumo Yokota Masatome saku.

昭和二十年五月 May 1945.

江 Kokura Arsenal final inspection mark.

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 5/30/2024 at 9:47 PM, Kiipu said:

江 Kokura Arsenal final inspection mark.

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Specifically, Matsue Supervisory Unit of Kokura Army Arsenal.  Modern Matsue is (Japanese: 松江市) is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. 
 

@mecox