My Wakizashi

[D McCutcheon]

Thanks again guys for the translation help :D

 

I have looked at the sword used my books and my miniscule knowledge to compile a profile of the sword that I hope is not totally inaccurate. All spelling mistakes are of course my fault

 

The point is fukuri - tsuka

the tip is 0 kissaki

boshi is not visible

ridgeline is shinogi takashi

ridgeline is narrow

mune is low

curvature is deep (possibly Bizen-zori)

tang shape is ha-hagari kuri jiro

file marks are slightly slanting left katte-sagari

blade shape is shinogi zukuri

no hamon visible and a fair amoung of rust, scratches and dings on blade and edge the sword looks to have been handled roughly and put away wet or damp a few times over the years.

 

I am hoping that some of the features here will help me get a rough date on the sword and help me narrow down the likeliest smith as I have two possibilities for a smiths name sukemasa and sukesada im hoping it will help there too.

 

The saya is rayskin over wood and lacquered or painted black,its cracked lacquer is flaked off and to be honest I cant understand why anyone would waste a nice piece of shagreen by obscuring it under thick black paint, a light die job and a nice clear lacquer would have been much better, the other fittings are in the same state tsuka is wrapped well but fraying the wood seems sound but the shagreen has areas missing and appears to be made from patches rather than one skin cut to size and the tsuba is an unsigned iron or steel job with a fair patination of old rust.

[cabowen]

As I said, it is Sukesada. Please search kazuuchi-mono Bizen swords of the 16th century in google and see if the info fits. From these pictures, most people can not see enough detail to give you a definitive answer.

[D McCutcheon]

Yes pictures were posted more as a general overall picture of sword is there specific areas would be good to get closeups of?

[kusunokimasahige]

Question answered.

[D McCutcheon]

Found a picture of a sword with signature marks similar to those on mine and I agree its sukesada not sukemasa from comparison with those marks. Also the smith name being the only marks on the nakago does suggest its likely a kazu-uchi mono sword. Well feel im making progress

[kusunokimasahige]

Could you post close up pictures of the nakago please ?

 

Very interested.

 

KM

[D McCutcheon]

sure here you go a close up of the nakago

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you !! Now I understand what Chris meant !

 

KM

[D McCutcheon]

Here are some additional photos of my wakizashi I was quite disapointed in the qaulity sadly being able to go in close with a macro and still get light to take the photograph is a problem Im sure I can get my brother in law to do some if I ply him with whisky lol. I mainly focused on rust spots and on the nakago and kissaki

 

 

If bro in law helps I may be able to get a decent view of the mune which also has suffered from rust with a few areas of pitting, theses give a decent view of the tang shape and the shape of the kissaki and ridgeline.

[ancientnoob]

Hi,

 

I brought this type of sword up for discussion a while back. Although the sword is of comparable low quality, and is short of a nihonto art sword, what you have is a fabulous and very old relic/ artifact. Although it might have flaws and considered mass produced. Its still an interesting part of Japanese sword history and worthy of enjoyment.

 

This is what the folks told me about the Kazuuchimono.

 

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19166&p=172668&hilit=kazuuchimono#p172668

 

 

Don't forget to still enjoy the specimen for what it is...a 500 year old weapon.

[D McCutcheon]

Oh hey yeah its pretty awesome to think that a fragile rust prone object has lasted for 500 or so years, From what I can make out from that discussion thread is that my wakizashi is probably a chu saku made for lower ranked samurai since theres a two character signature.

I didnt think when I bought it and I was very careful about buying in the first place that it was a rare masterpiece I was looking for a nice example of a wakizashi well within my price range that I could research and enjoy. I will seriously consider getting a shirasaya made for it and having the blade polished. I think its a lovely little thing and ill probably end up with a few more but its my first real nihonto so its always going to be a bit special to me anyway.

[mr botanical]

It's like a finger pointing at the moon, don't concentrate on the finger or miss all that heavenly glory

The kizu are the finger, try to get creative with light/camera angles, then maybe it will reveal it's self

been studying a blade for 9 months now and just finally started to photograph what I could only glimpse

OR there's just no soul to be seen but I doubt that

[D McCutcheon]

hah yes I wish I was a better photographer or had better gear, I should do that try natural light and other light sources and just experiment