Two Swords Need Some Help

[Prewar70]

Looking at these on line. Your help is appreciated.

[Ray Singer]

These are two very different swords. The first one appears to be koto and is signed 備前國吉井___ - Bizen (no) Kuni Yoshii (suriage).

[Ray Singer]

The second is a WWII blade by Kanenaga (耐錆鋼   藤原兼永作 Non-Rusting Steel - Fujiwara Kanenaga saku).

 

http://ohmura-study.net/212.html

[Prewar70]

Appreciate the help Ray.  WWII blades aren't my thing but this one had an elegant sugata and looked to be above average quality.  I didn't see a seki stamp or star, did he make traditional blades?

[Ray Singer]

I do not know if he made gendaito at some point, however this one specifies that it is made from stainless steel (so not a traditionally-made sword). If you are choosing between the two I would definitely go for the Koto Bizen blade

[Prewar70]

I agree, and I will see if my bid is competitive, but was curious about the gendaito.  Is the Bizen Yoshii in this example, referring to the school because it's suriage and we can't see the rest of the signature?  What is the hashtag character after Yoshi?

[Ray Singer]

Hi James, the Kanenaga would not be a gendaito.

 

Yoshii was one of the schools working in Bizen.

https://www.nihonto.com/bizen-yoshii-school/

 

The Yoshii is suriage, with the specific swordsmith name having been cut off. See below for examples.

https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=%E5%82%99%E5%89%8D%E5%9C%8B%E5%90%89%E4%BA%95

[PNSSHOGUN]

Kanenaga swords are quite desired by Military sword collectors.

[Prewar70]

Well I won the Sue Bizen, probably overpaid as it's out of polish but the hamon is still visible, and it's only money.  Once I have it in hand I'll get some pics up.  Thanks for the help.

[Ray Singer]

Congratulations James. If the mei is good, the Yoshii may be earlier than Sue-Bizen (which I believe is classified as starting from 1467). Per the link above, there were only two Yoshii with working spans after that time (and into Sue-Bizen). Look forward to seeing photos.

[Prewar70]

Thanks for the correction Ray, hopefully it is.