Japanese Blade from Court

[Tom Darling]

Dear Georg,

Please accept my sincere apologies for not providing specific answers to my opinions. There are times that even I don't have a detailed answer for my opinions.  We are all students of Nihonto.  

Best regards,

 

Tom

[ZoomZ]

Awesome read through mystery you have going on here Georg .

 

Congratz on the find and yes , the sword did pick you ~

 

Im just glad you didnt sell it to a buyer that called it fake , haha 

 

 

[Promo]

Please forgive for not updating a longer time. It missed being submitted to Juyo, so the first try then will be this year - another year in Japan! The time will be used nevertheless with sayagaki. I though got some additional pictures that show more of its beauty and make me look highly forward to it. Find them attached.

[ROKUJURO]

A very beautiful sword, and a nice polish that reveals the features and does not hide them under a strong KESHO camouflage!

[Gakusee]

Thanks, Georg. This is a tour de force of sunagashi! We appreciate your great updates of this exciting journey. 

[raynor]

Have you played the lottery at all after this find? Great find by a deserving finder - many people would make worse choices where the sword did not end up resting on pillows in fresh polish. Well done!

[Markdd]

Hi,

reread the entire thread I know very little but its a beautiful blade, what about the fittings were they period to the blade and will they be restored.

Mark

[Jussi Ekholm]

It looks stunning in the pictures

[Katsujinken]

Phenomenal outcome in every way. 

[b.hennick]

I think that you should wait until after the juyo shinsa to get a sayagaki. The fact that it got juyo can be part of the sayagaki. 

[Utopianarian]

Nice Blade. This one definitely does not get tossed into the Gimei Pile and sold off in some WW2 forum 

[Walter55]

Hallo Promo, herzlichen Glückwunsch, schönes Katana, du warst sehr gut und glücklich.

 

Walter, Triest, Italia

[Stephen]

Great photos. Wonderful blade, good luck on the juyo.

[Nihontocollector752]

True Kiyomaro in every way, amazing and congratulations!

[SteveM]

Bravo! Outstanding sword, outstanding journey. 

[Surfson]

What a find!  It gives me hope, as the only way I am likely to own a Kiyomaro is if I find it unrecognized.  Congratulations again.  

[DKR]

Da kann nur zu gratulieren.......und zwar zu allem !

Zur Klinge , zur Politur und, besonders wichtig meiner Meinung nach, alles richtig gemacht zu haben !

 

[waljamada]

Honestly, one of the coolest looking blades I've seen and the story makes it even more amazing.  Well done and congratulations Sir.

[Prewar70]

I’m intrigued as to the reaction of collectors in Japan that play at this level of swords. I would think they’d be stumbling over themselves to own it

[Promo]

13 hours ago, b.hennick said:

I think that you should wait until after the juyo shinsa to get a sayagaki. The fact that it got juyo can be part of the sayagaki. 

That, to my surprise went very fast this time. The Sayagaki by Tanobe is already done - and I even have a nearly full (since opposite side missing) translation by @Markus for it. The Japanese reads as:

Quote

 

山浦環正行

生ブ区送五字銘ヲ有シ天保十年ノ製作ト推セラル裏ニハ二年後ノ天保十二年八月二十六日山田五三郎ガ截断ヲ行ヒタル処鳫金土壇拂デアリシ旨ノ正行ノ切付銘有之。薙刀直風姿ヲ借ツタル造込而板目流レル肌合ニ丁子・互乃目・小湾ノ交ジル動勢ト変化ニ富ム乱を焼キ沸匂深厚デ金筋・砂流ヲ頻リニ織成シ匂口冴此期ノ同工ノ本領ヲ發揮スル優品也

刃長弐尺参寸八分弱

 

Or

Quote

 

Yamaura Tamaki Masayuki

Ubu machi-okuri goji-mei o arishi Tenpō jūnen no seisaku to oseraru ura ni wa ninen ato no Tenpō jūninen hachigatsu nijūrokunichi Yamada Gosaburō ga setsudan o okonaitaru tokoro karigane dotan-barai de arishi mune no Masayuki no kiritsuke-mei kore ari. Naginata-naoshi-fū katsutaru tsukurikomi shikamo itame-nagareru hada-ai ni chōji, gunome, ko-notare no majiru dōsei to henka ni tomu midare o yaki nie-nioi shikō de kinsuji, sunagashi o shikiri ni orinashi nioiguchi sae kono-ki no dōkō no honryō o hakki-suru yūhin nari.

Hachō ni-shaku san-sun yachi-bu jaku

 

I did get a German translation to this as well, but maybe @Markus can help for others in here with an English translation since I doubt I am able to translate a Japanese to German translation to English without making any errors.

[Nihontocollector752]

Easily going to pass juyo

[vajo]

Congratulation George. A long way will come to an end. All the best!

[noneed2hate]

Beautiful blade, thank you for sharing! 

[Wolfmanreid]

What a spectacular blade and an incredible story. For me just getting to watch this unfold over a few years is what makes it worth being involved in this hobby. 

[Promo]

Markus helped me with a proper English translation of the sayagaki. It reads as:

Quote

Yamaura Tamaki Masayuki
This blade is ubu and machi-okuri and bears a five-character signature. The work can be dated around Tenpō ten (1839). The ura side of the tang bears the result of a cutting test that was inscribed by the smith himself. The cutting test was executed on the 26th day of the eighth month of Tenpō twelve (1841) by Yamada Gosaburō and the blade cut through a body at the level of the collarbones and entered the earthen mound below. The shape of this blade imitates a naginata that has been reworked into a katana. It displays a forging structure in itame-nagare and is hardened in a nie-laden and dynamic midare with a wide and clear nioiguchi that is mixed with chōji, gunome, and ko-notare. The ha is rich in activity and also plenty of kinsuji and sunagashi appear, which are interwoven with the forging structure. Thus, we have here a masterwork that reflects the characteristical style of the smith from that time period.
Blade length ~ 72.1 cm

 

[WillFalstaff]

Georg - Just finished reading through the whole post. Congrats on the blade! Funny the things you find when you aren't looking for them. 

 

Reminds me of what happened to a friend. His father, who knows next to nothing about swords aside from them being sharp and pointy, went to an estate sale and through it might be cool if he bought one of the "cheap dusty old swords" for his son, as they were being sold for cheap ($20, I think). We later found out that it was not just a "cheap dusty old sword", but an 1860 Light Calvary Union Sabre.

 

Eagerly await more pictures when it journeys back to you! 

 

 

[Tom Darling]

The sayagaki is the longest detailed one, I've ever seen, Tanobe san gave you, is outstanding. Congratulations. 

[Surfson]

Very nice Georg.  Whenever Tanobe San puts the words masterpiece in the sayagaki, it is a very good thing!

[Promo]

22 hours ago, Surfson said:

Very nice Georg.  Whenever Tanobe San puts the words masterpiece in the sayagaki, it is a very good thing!

Thank you! As you might know better than I do there is a lot of meaning to the particular Kanji being used - and Markus was kind enough to let me know in very deep detail on my sayagaki. He told me that mine is classified as "yūhin" (優品), what represents the highest level that Tanobe is using. According to him there is also "kasaku" (佳作) or "ryōsaku" (良作), which as well can be translated as "masterwork" or "excellent work". He though also mentioned that a very rare exempt (and superior to yūhin) would be "saikō-kessaku" (最高傑作), what can be translated as "biggest masterpiece of this smith" - but he also mentioned that Tanobe stopped using this term a few years ago.

[Surfson]

That is interesting Georg.  Did he mention Tanobe San's use of "chin chin cho cho"?