Any thoughts on this??

[trygve]

hello!

 

i am without my reference books at the present time and would like yours thought on this blade:

 

mei : tango no kami naomichi

sugata: kanbun ??

hamon: gunome choji - wide

very healthy blade with no flaws

very nice tight itame hada

 

mei on the nakago looks very well cut.

 

Sorry for the bad photos, it was the best I could do!

 

http://home.online.no/~kjoklepp/naomichi.cfm

 

PS! tsuba ?? Any thoughts??

 

Regards

 

trygve

[DirkO]

I've got a Tango No Kami Naomichi wakizashi at home and although I've found a few mei to compare it with, it was never the same. Yours however, comes really close. Here's a pic of the mei on my blade.

 

Could you maybe take a better pic of the mei ? That would make it easier to compare. Although they seem similar, there might be some things we're missing due to lack of detail.

 

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Something makes me trouble, i have checked Fujishiro shinto hen, Kanzan oshigata dictionary, toko taikan, limura shinto taikan, Nihonto craft.com (where is a nice Article about Mishina School), Japanese sites, i don't found that signature, but Mishina tango no kami Naomichi, or Tango no kami Fujiwara Naomichi.

[trygve]

Thanks for the input !

 

I do have the AFU translatinon of Fujishiro shinto on my computer but not my books with me. The plate on s 69 says there are two exampels of :

 

KANEMICHI TANGO NO KAMI SHODAI [KANBUN 1661 SETTSU] SHINTÔ JÔSAKU

He is the second son of the nidai Kyoto Yoshimichi, he has the Gô of Yoshibei, and he was also called NAOMICHI. He died at the age of 70 in Kanbun Jûninen (1672). His works are tempered with a hamon of a beautiful uniform choji, or a kikusui ha or sudareba like that of Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi. At the base there is sugu yakidashi that is characteristic of Osaka Shintô, and there are many which have the KIKU MON and "ICHI" inscribed on the ura of the nakago. (Ryôwazamono)

Signatures: TANGO NO KAMI NAOMICHI

MISHINA TANGO NO KAMI FUJIWARA KANEMICHI

TANGO NO KAMI FUJIWARA KANEMICHI

and the KIKU MON is inscribed.

 

Page 69

Plate I: TANGO NO KAMI FUJIWARA KANEMICHI

Plate II: TANGO NO KAMI NAOMICHI

 

Anybody with the shinto book can veryfi this ????

 

Sincerely

trygve

[DirkO]

:-) I don't have a fujishiro's either, but if it would turn out that you're correct, it would end my quest for info about this smith as well !!! So please, anyone with a fujishiro's : please scan that page so we can verify the mei !

[trygve]

hi Dirk!

 

Thanks for your the photo of your wak. What kind of hamon and hada does your blade have? This katana has a slanting gunome choji hamon that is very nice done.

 

I have not found any sho shin example for reference. The lack of kyo yakidashi make me think it is an very early blade by this smith or gimei. There is a small yakidashi that consist of very small gunome before et explode in to slanting gunome choji hamon. Tha boshi is not visible because of the schratches on the kissaki. The mei on your waki look cloose with a little differences.

 

regards

trygve

[DirkO]

Hmmm, let's see if we have a match... does it ressemble this ?

There are also lots of ko-ashi, but I'm not that good at taking pics

 

Still : the page from Fujishiro's would be nice to compare mei's ... Jean ? ... Anyone ?

 

 

You can look at more pictures of my wak here :

http://www.anime-cels.org/PICS/wak/new

[trygve]

hello Dirk!

 

It looks the same. but the file marks are different and there are only kajji on one side. The hamon looks similar with the slanting backwards.

 

trygve

[Grey Doffin]

Page 69 in Fujishiro

Grey

[trygve]

thanx Grey!

 

The mei looks the same as the example in the middle. Both the hamon, hada and the filemarks resemble Tango no kami Naomichi aka Kanemichi. My conclusion is Sho shin, but I will never know for sure before a shinsa team has seen it.

 

Thanx for all the input and help!

 

Sincerely

trygve

[DirkO]

Hmmm, can you tell me the difference in filemarks ? To me it looks rather the same. The fact that there is an ura-mei is not that important, I still have to decypher it exactly, but it should mean something like "made of pure ore"

 

For me, the signature is a close match, but as you say, only shinsa can decide that

If you ever decide to sell it, you can always contact me. If the mei match and it is kanemichi, then it would make a nice daisho set

 

@ Grey : thanks for posting the fujishiro pic !!!

[trygve]

Hello again Dirk!

The filemarks are close match. I was fooled by the schratches near the machi on the ura. It looked like taka - no - ha yasurime at first glance when I browsed through your photos.

 

The sword was given to Major Brownfield from an colonel H.Ito who has given an appraisel in the surrender letter.

 

he says:

 

I have the honour to present you this sword with the explanation of it's history briefly as follows:

This sword has been treated as a family treasure, since it has been in my familiy for many generation. It was made by one famous excellent sword makes named "Tango no kami naomichi" in the latter part of the 17th Century. The Characteristic feauture of this sword is in it's excellent sharpness, which was called "ODANUKI" and had been admired my many brave "SAMURAS" of that generation.

 

Sincerely

trygve

[dhusker]

Hello again Dirk!

The filemarks are close match. I was fooled by the schratches near the machi on the ura. It looked like taka - no - ha yasurime at first glance when I browsed through your photos.

 

The sword was given to Major Brownfield from an colonel H.Ito who has given an appraisel in the surrender letter.

 

he says:

 

I have the honour to present you this sword with the explanation of it's history briefly as follows:

This sword has been treated as a family treasure, since it has been in my familiy for many generation. It was made by one famous excellent sword makes named "Tango no kami naomichi" in the latter part of the 17th Century. The Characteristic feauture of this sword is in it's excellent sharpness, which was called "ODANUKI" and had been admired my many brave "SAMURAS" of that generation.

 

Sincerely

trygve

 

For a beginner, what doew "Tango no kami naomichi" mean? Thanks

[DirkO]

Tango is the name of a province

Kami is an official title - meaning "god" or "lord"

Naomichi is the real name of the smith

 

Smiths often "acquired" an official title to give their name more stature. I put acquire as that because sometimes officials were paid to give certain titles to people. Tango being the province, however doesn't necessarily mean that the smith worked in that province, he just got the official title for that province that's all.

 

You can read more about this on Rich T's site or in various nihonto books:

 

http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/common_kanji.html

[trygve]

Hello again!

 

Found another referen!ce that confirm my thought on the mei being shoshin!

 

 

regards

trygve

[DirkO]

Hmmm that one also has the kiku mon engraved. That's a dead giveaway for "our" Kanemichi.

Where did you find that pic ?

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

KANEMICHI TANGO NO KAMI SHODAI [KANBUN 1661 SETTSU] SHINTÔ JÔSAKU

He is the second son of the nidai Kyoto Yoshimichi, he has the Gô of Yoshibei, and he was also called NAOMICHI. He died at the age of 70 in Kanbun Jûninen (1672). His works are tempered with a hamon of a beautiful uniform choji, or a kikusui ha or sudareba like that of Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi. At the base there is sugu yakidashi that is characteristic of Osaka Shintô, and there are many which have the KIKU MON and "ICHI" inscribed on the ura of the nakago. (Ryôwazamono)

Signatures: TANGO NO KAMI NAOMICHI

MISHINA TANGO NO KAMI FUJIWARA KANEMICHI

TANGO NO KAMI FUJIWARA KANEMICHI

and the KIKU MON is inscribed.

 

Page 69

Plate I: TANGO NO KAMI FUJIWARA KANEMICHI

Plate II: TANGO NO KAMI NAOMICHI

 

 

Sorry, i had not checked this name, i ought to have done it because it is the same swordsmith :?