Kogatana Shirasaya And Habaki

[Heringsdorf]

Some pictures of a shirasaya with tsunokuchi for a kogatana.

Has a solid gold habaki.

All work was done by John Tirado.

 

Also I would appreciate any input concerning the mei.

Yamashiro no kami fujiwara Toshinaga.

[Ryan]

I found a listing for a wakizashi with hozon papers. Doesn't seem like a match to my eyes. Did you purchase it from Nihonto.us? 

 

http://www.tokka.biz/sword/toshinaga.html

[Heringsdorf]

Yes I got it from Nihonto.us

[Ryan]

My understanding is that a lot of kogatana out there are gimei. It certainly looks like a nice blade though. Did Mr. Tirado make the habaki as well?

[Ken-Hawaii]

Very nice, Max.  I have a couple of kogatana sitting around, & was thinking of mounting them, but this idea is better.  Thanks!

 

Ken

 

[Heringsdorf]

Ryan, yes John Tirado also made the habaki.

 

I showed this pice to Markus Sesko, and he thinks that this might be shoshin and not a gimei kogatana.

He also told me that smiths usually signed kogatana differently than the bigger blades, due to space limitation.

Also the gimei kogatana tend to be of low quality and this one is of medium-high quality, further supporting the notion that this is shoshin.

[Heringsdorf]

Very nice, Max.  I have a couple of kogatana sitting around, & was thinking of mounting them, but this idea is better.  Thanks!

 

Ken

Hello Ken,

 

I'm glad you like this. I thought this to be the best approach for a better quality kogatana in full polish.

[Jean]

Ryan,

 

I would not say that most kogatana are gimei, but rather that they bear the mei of famous swordsmiths it is not an attempt to fool the Customer as most people interesting in these blades, are aware of this fact...

[Darcy]

Ryan,

 

I would not say that most kogatana are gimei, but rather that they bear the mei of famous swordsmiths it is not an attempt to fool the Customer as most people interesting in these blades, are aware of this fact...

 

 

I would say it's kind of an homage. And then every now and then you get a real one and it's nice. Then every now and then you see a serious one.

 

[Heringsdorf]

Nice kogatana Darcy.

 

I always wondered why only one side is polished on the kogatana, any reasons?

Wasn't able to find a clear answer to this.

[Stephen]

Max, mainly then polish the hamon side and not lose the mei on the other

[John A Stuart]

Yes, when I was taught how to harden a kogatana we were directed to chisel the mei before yakiire. I suspect because it is more efficient to carve when the metal is safe from becoming too hard. John

[Jean]

The best one I have seen is a kogatana in sudareba. I am quite happy with my small collection, kogatana made by Mino smiths around 1680 who were dedicated to kogatana forging . They are in shirasaya.

[Jean]

A few pictures taken quickly with my ipad:

[Darcy]

The one I posted is by Kotetsu and is Juyo Token (it's not mine). There are not very many Juyo kogatana.

 

I'm not sure about the bevel and why it's on one side. Theories say that you can get a cleaner cut like this. Hocho have it and are mostly right handed though you can get a left handed one. Makes it cut similar to a chisel I guess.

 

It's easier to maintain the edge too I think for someone who wants to sharpen their knife who has no particular skill. You just work on the bevel side.  

[John A Stuart]

I've a few, but, this is my fav. John