Ittosai Yoshimune. Swordsman, Appraiser, Craftsman And Dealer

[Surfson]

I have become interested in a man named Ittosai Yoshimune, who played an early role in the transition of sword ownership and collecting in the postwar period of Japan.  My interest stems from the purchase from Moses Becerra of Nihontoantiques of a daisho set of tsuba made by the Bushu/Ito maker Masatsune, who was a highly regarded maker whose work can be found in the Boston Museum and elsewhere.  

 

The connection to Yoshimune is that there are hakogaki by Yoshimune found on the boxes of these two tsuba as shown in these photos.  I am also providing a translation provided by Moses on his website and a link to his site, as well as links to previous threads that touched upon Ittosai Yoshimune.

 

https://nihontoantiques.com/project/daisho-tsuba-fst-562/

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19941-kyoto-sword-dealer-ittosai/

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9021-translation-assistance/

 

 

[Surfson]

Ittosai Yoshimune II

 

It appears that Yoshimune was an official appraiser of swords for the military during the war.  He was also a 12 time kendo champion, so he apparently was quite a swordsman.  After the war, he did all he could to protect and preserve samurai swords, including helping GIs understand how to care for them and salvaging broken or damaged swords that were victims of war times.  He set up a shop in Kyoto and continued with his appraising work as well. From the NMB links above and a bit of my own searching, I found a few other things about him that I am posting here in order to get them all in one place.  

 

There was a tanto, that was probably made from the tip of a katana and mounted with nice mounts, that sold on ebay, and I captured some of the photos from that listing - they are shown here.

 

 

[Surfson]

As indicated by my recently acquired tsuba set and the image below, he also appraised high quality pieces, including this important Kurihara Nobuhide blade sold by Christies that was apparently owned (or maybe appraised) by him in 1948.

 

https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-shin-shinto-katana-in-mounts-late-edo-5047260-details.aspx

 

 

[Surfson]

Ittosai Yoshimune IV

 

With some more searching, I was amazed to find this photo of him from what appears to be a newspaper archive.  It is dated 1946 and has a little information about Yoshimune on the back.  Similar information is found on this newspaper clipping that was discovered by a different NMB member and found in one of the earlier threads that I list above.

 

I hope that this can be the beginning of a thread about Yoshimune.  I am unaware if he became involved in the founding or management or appraisals by the NBTHK, but would be curious to know whether he had a relationship with Kanzan and Kunzan, the founders.  If any NMB members find other items with sayagaki, hakogaki or origami from Ittosai Yoshimune, please post them on this thread so that we can collectively begin to piece together a record of his work.  Also any other information about his biography would be of interest.

 

 

[BIG]

Very interesting Bob, ..

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9021-translation-assistance/

 

Best

[lonely panet]

Side note, that said to tsuba is awsome

[Surfson]

Thanks Ham.  Here are a couple more shots of them.  Cheers, Bob

[Greg F]

Beautiful sakura tsuba.

 

Greg

[Bob61]

Hello

 

I came across this fascinating article on Ittosai Yoshimune, while researching one of my Tanto's and would like to add to the history.

 

 

[Surfson]

Wow, thanks for posting that Bob.  I had forgotten about this little study that I had done of Ittosai Yoshimune.  I do love those tsuba - still have them.  Interestingly, I found one in shakudo that was very similar but was pear or plum blossoms instead of cherry.

[Surfson]

Here is a screenshot from the sales result of the other tanto that went through Yoshimune's shop and appraisal service.