New Sword

[EdWolf]

Hi to all,

Last week I have purchased a nice blade. The nagasa is 61.5 cm long so I think we can call it a katana. The blade has a nice curvature. The blade is unsigned. Probably lost caused by shortening the blade? I have tried to take some good images. Hope you like it. Feel free to comment.

Best regards,

Ed

[EdWolf]

and some more pictures.

 

Best regards, Ed

[Ken-Hawaii]

Ed, try at least one shot of the full bare blade. Sugata is how we determine jidai.

[EdWolf]

Hi Ken, thanks for your reply. I will post a picture of the bare blade as soon as possible.

Best regards, Ed

[EdWolf]

Two pictures of the bare blade. Hopefully the quality is good enough. Taking pictures of the blade is the hardest thing to do. The auto focus is not working properly and my hands are not steady enough for manual focus.

If other pictures are required, please let me know.

Best regards, Ed

[Ken-Hawaii]

The sugata looks Muromachi, both mekugiana are drilled, rather than chiseled, & without seeing any up-close & in-focus details of the boshi, that's my estimate, Ed.

 

Yeah, shooting blades is darn hard. There are a number of threads on that topic, so do a quick search to pick up some ideas.

[EdWolf]

Hi Ken, Muromachi was my impression too. The spacing between the mekugi Ana is relatively large, so the original blade length was above 70 cm for sure. I don't even think that the lowest mekugi ana is the original mekugi ana. I think it's lost when the blade was shortened.

I have read several threads about taking pictures of blades but in reality it's not that easy. Thanks a lot for your reply. I really appreciate it!

Best regards, Ed

[Jussi Ekholm]

How large is the curvature of the sword?

 

If the sword is ubu I'd think it as late Muromachi sword from early 1500's. If it has been greatly shortened then I think it has had massive curvature and perhaps early Muromachi might be better guess.

[EdWolf]

Hi Jussi,

Thanks for your reply and your thoughts. The current Sori is 2.3 cm. I don't think it is Ubu.

Best regards, Ed

[Marius]

Uchigatana, late Muromachi, ubu. I have no idea why the mekugi ana close to the end of the nakago, but it does not make the blade suriage.

[EdWolf]

Hi Marius,

I have never seen a mekugi ana close to the end of the nakago. That's why I assume it is not Ubu. Also the mekugi Ana is slightly larger than what I normally have seen. Very interesting. I still have to learn a lot.

Best regards, Ed

[Marius]

Mekugi ana have strange habits. Some have been made to deceive.

[EdWolf]

Interesting. Never heard of it. Thanks for the information!

[SAS]

And sometimes double mekugiana are for the wielder to be "fer sure, fer sure" (California valley girl joke for the European members)

[Jussi Ekholm]

Hikae-megukiana / shinobi-ana, you can see this thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/17559-shinobi-ana/

 

I think it most commonly occurs in some late Muromachi swords & Shinshintō. Of course you can probably find some examples starting from Kamakura period.

[EdWolf]

Hi Jussi,

Thanks for the link to the thread. Very interesting!

Best regards, Ed