Lesser Known Smith

[Ooitame]

Hello everyone,

I have been trying to answer a few questions about a recently purchased blade and the smith who made it. Ultimately, to answer my
questions I would like to build a knowledge base of his works hopefully in order if they are dated, or possibly by
the blades characteristics (grouping), and be able to compare them. However, I am having trouble finding more info on him and
his works. I know he is ranked as 'Chu Saku' by Fujishiro, so there must be other works I can use to help build a knowledge base.
However, I do not own this book. If anyone can find or has links, references, excerpts, images of his works or anything really
and are kind enough to share, it will be much appreciated.

Smiths name: Oshu Aizu Ju Miyoshi Masanaga (3rd gen.) , Miyoshi. -> Toshiro Ichikyūemon

Findings so far:
http://www.sword-auction.jp/en/content/as17539-%E8%84%87%E5%B7%AE%EF%BC%9A%E5%A5%A5%E5%B7%9E%E4%BC%9A%E6%B4%A5%E4%BD%8F%E4%B8%89%E5%96%84%E6%94%BF%E9%95%B73%E4%BB%A3-wakizashi-ousyu-aizu-jyu-miyoshi-masanaga-3rd-generation
https://books.google.com/books?id=46IYtI0nkiEC&pg=PA357&lpg=PA357&dq=Miyoshi+Masanaga+wazamono&source=bl&ots=BRCc38WXMs&sig=-ii-mI6Ra5_bqY6-hKXaOh4ezQw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiezYXH8Z3YAhWJKiYKHSYlAIoQ6AEIPTAG#v=onepage&q=Miyoshi%20Masanaga%20wazamono&f=false
http://www.nihontocraft.com/Three_Shinto_Cutters.html
http://www.sho-shin.com/shinto-iwashiro.html


Should this endeavor prove fruitful, I will consolidate all info and add it to the forum under a different title.

[TheGermanBastard]

That is a great project that all of us will greatly profit from. Keep up he great work!

[Peter Bleed]

Sword authorities make sure to note successive generations of swordsmiths who are marked by a single name that was passed down in an apparent family line. Such lines are positive for a couple of reasons:1) they substantiate traditional/ideal family values of the Edo era, 2) they reflect enduring - and laudable - feudal support for the line, and 3)practically they tend to have modern market appeal because they sell well to the folks for their area. Obviously the Sendai Kunikanes punch all of those tickets. What seems almost always  to be the case, however, is that these "lines" seems to lose their quality after 2 or 3 generations. That is to say, by the third generation or so the holders of the name always seem to be rated as "chu-saku". (The OBVIOUS exception would be the Hizen Tadayoshis, but they had really great press agents!). The fall in stature might be real. Maybe the fire goes out after a while. It may also have to do with social changes that a marked the Edo period. Mebbe the sword business just wasn't big enough to support excellence. Beyond thos factors, however, sword assessment is a subjective field,so I also have to wonder, if these declines in judgement might not reflect the values and social expectations of recent sword authortities like Fujishiro-sama.

In any case, Indeed, this is a great collector's project. Please keep us informed.

Peter

[Vermithrax16]

Great work so far Eric, and Markus Sesko has many references that could help, all electronic, that will aid your research.

 

I really like the sword you bought, and am happy you are studying nihonto. Let us know if we can help.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Here's another tidbit, Eric: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/MAS1586

[Grey Doffin]

Check The Index of Japanese Sword Literature on the JSS/US website:

http://www.jssus.org/ijsl/

Grey

[Ooitame]

Luis, thank you, hopefully everyone will walk away from this with more knowledge.

 

Peter, thank you, you raise some very interesting points. Hopefully this project will shine some light on it.

 

Jeremiah, thank you, I will try to reach out to Markus, and see if has a book or direction he thinks maybe useful. I might just take you up on the offer

 

Ken, awesome link thank you! Using it I was able to quickly find my smith and add to the research regarding Hawley, and TokoTaikan ratings. I will continue to comb the site for more data.

 https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/MAS1588

 

Grey, thank you for the link! That is an impressive site you have; quite the knowledge base. Many thanks to Andrew and yourself for all the hard work. However, it seems that the references are about Shodai, and Nidai. Sandai seems to be missing. But, to confirm this I will try to track down excerpts from your index.

http://www.jssus.org/ijsl/?&display=entry&table=smiths&page=1&id=1263

http://www.jssus.org/ijsl/?&display=entry&table=smiths&page=1&id=1264

Update***

http://www.jssus.org/ijsl/?&display=entry&table=smiths&page=2&id=1258

Contains Sandai, but dont think it's the right smith, will try to confirm with aforementioned method.

 

Starting to get the feeling this is going to be way harder than I originally expected... I suppose most projects of this nature usually are  . Again thanks for the help so far, please keep it going 

[TheGermanBastard]

You are doing a most fantastic job that we will all greatly benefit from and that could turn out to be very important to the sword collecting community

 

Markus sure will be able to sell you some excellent literaure to further dig into in your quest.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think one of the problems tracking down information is the fact that the smith was not famous. I think it was said on the last thread about the sword. The unfortunate thing is that most reference books will have focus on the well known smiths. I don't have many references about Shintō swords but he is not featured on the few general ones I have. I'd think best bet getting information about him would be looking for some Japanese reference books that focus on this lineage.

 

Fujishiro does not seem to have mei example for the 3rd gen. Just the information that you already know that he was Tōshirō and died 1726.

Nihon Shintō Shi (only 1st)

Nihontō Kōza (only 1st)

Shintō-meikan (only 1st)

Kantei-zenshu (only Nagamichi)

Nagayama (very brief part about Miyoshi smiths)

[TheGermanBastard]

Eric please let us know once you have any news / updates on this thrilling topic. Keep up the good work! Until then we all stay tuned!

[Ooitame]

Hi Jussi, thanks for the time put in. You are correct, turning out to be much harder than anticipated. I will see if I can find that part from Nagayama.

 

Hello Luis and all, I have found one more link about the smith http://jssus.org/nkb/nkb.php

 

Research yet to be done, research how wealthy the area was during this time to determine if they were able to purchase the best Tamahagane, if demand was enough to have the ability to attain and maintain a level of expereince, and compare other areas and their wealth to that of the swords produced (price/quality/time). Account for skewing variables and find other data inputs.

 

Having a much harder time finding photos or drawings of his works. The images I think will be my most valuable tool to answer my questions, any recomendations?

[TheGermanBastard]

This is great news. Fantastic job! Keep up the good work!

[TheGermanBastard]

Maybe you will need to write some small software to do a database and analyze the data. This could prove to be a fundamental work for reference Depending on your research you may consider doing a book publication on this smith.