Seki-to with Hozon certification

[hillman]

https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-gunto-noshu-seki-ju-kojima-kanemichi/

 

I just saw this listing on Aoi Art for a Kanemichi gunto.

 

It looks like an oil-tempered blade, and I'm surprised that it received Hozon certification.

 

Has anyone else seen gunto like this receive NTHK or NBTHK certification? Not sure if NBTHK standards are lowered now?

[Brian]

Profit will always make a plan.
But really...jo-saku?

This......a removed stamp I bet. Ah well, good that they aren't being destroyed.

[vajo]

Looks really like oil tempered. Interesting.

[hillman]

Brian, good catch on the filed-off seki stamp. I'm starting to see Aoi Art sell more showa-to, so maybe the Japanese authorities are not as strict as before on these non-traditionally made swords. 

[Curran]

First the kodogu shinsa.

Now the blade shinsa.

 

[IJASWORDS]

Not even an original koshirae. Rewrapped ito, tsuba and seppas wrong for a non existent locking mechanism, and a tsuba filed down to fit. 

[seattle1]

Hello:

 I am getting into this rather late and am usually very reluctant to criticize anything for sale, but there are limits.

 My Tsuruta or his staff describes it as "Gunto", so perhaps an indication of something there or a red flag, however his oshigata clearly shows a well defined hamon and that wouldn't fit with oil tempered if it is true to what is seen. I think there might be another stamp that had been on it to the left of Brian's indication and at the same level.

 The biggest caution must be taken from the different yasuremi on the ura if carried as an uchigata-katana as it seems, curiously, to have been intended for. It is so deep and so different from the other side. For those just starting collecting I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of the nakago, not just the mei, but all of the proportions and the yasuremi must fit the period of manufacture, and correct yasuremi tends to vary little in any characteristic side to side. What might have been there? A shocking proportion of the value of any blade, ubu or suriage, is found in the nakago!

 I would not condemn any blade entirely without seeing it in hand, but I am very suspicious.

 Arnold F.

[Jason N]

Perhaps because I’m a newb, but I don’t see oil tempering or stamp removal. If I were a prospective buyer, I’d contact Aoi art directly and ask. If I still had doubts, I’d pass.

[lonely panet]

being a high 2m yen rated smith it is understandable  that the stamp may have been removed either during or after the war. but this is beside the point. 

 

This "mei" is Nakirishimei, (IMHO)  and so the uneven presentation of nakago as a whole is poorinsh, could (IMHO) be a students work trying to be passed off as a gendai by Kojima himself.

 

had one or two kojima kanemichi blades in the past, normally his mei and nakago are far better then this example. 

 

IMHO a clear oillie, But he was a prolific smith 

[nagamaki - Franco]

This blade reminds me of a Kaneazane once owned, that was hand folded machined steel, water quenched, showa stamped. While water quenched, and please correct me if I'm wrong, machined steel is a no go with or without a removed showa stamp. Seeing this sword papered only goes to reinforce my reluctance in sending swords for papers these days.

[Dave R]

https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-gunto-noshu-seki-ju-kojima-kanemichi/

 

I just saw this listing on Aoi Art for a Kanemichi gunto.

 

It looks like an oil-tempered blade, and I'm surprised that it received Hozon certification.

 

Has anyone else seen gunto like this receive NTHK or NBTHK certification? Not sure if NBTHK standards are lowered now?

 

 It's the Ito on this one that has me gobsmacked!

[Guest Rayhan]

It's the Ito on this one that has me gobsmacked!

Looks like Hans Koga got to it

[PNSSHOGUN]

Very disturbing on many levels. Sad that Aoi Art has listed it without at least getting a professional rewrap done.

[Guest Rayhan]

Very disturbing on many levels. Sad that Aoi Art has listed it without at least getting a professional rewrap done.

Not their policy for cheaper swords

[seattle1]

Hello:

 Do you see it now Jason? To my eyes the removed mark to the left is the strongest of the two and there are some gouges at the nakago end that one might wonder about. To add it is clear that the machi have been moved for some reason, perhaps part of the possible deception. I believe I am with you on the issue of it quite possibly being water tempered. 

 I can only stress again how important it is to study the nakago as an entire piece. The older a blade gets the more important it is to also study the kissaki/boshi with great care. There are only a few Ko Bizen and in that group a surprising number with missing or modified boshi and they can be accepted to a degree, so that shows that nothing is absolute and age is a balm for many things with old swords, but for 20th century swords our judgment ought to be much tougher.

 By all means contact Aoi and let us know what they say.

 Arnold F.

[16k]

Perhaps because I’m a newb, but I don’t see oil tempering or stamp removal. If I were a prospective buyer, I’d contact Aoi art directly and ask. If I still had doubts, I’d pass.

Usually, oil tempering leaves shiny spots at the peaks of the Hamon. It’s hard to see here because the blade has been either being given a hadori or the whiteness of the Hamon been enhanced through photoshop, but still, it seems visible in some areas.

[Jason N]

Usually, oil tempering leaves shiny spots at the peaks of the Hamon. It’s hard to see here because the blade has been either being given a hadori or the whiteness of the Hamon been enhanced through photoshop, but still, it seems visible in some areas.

Perhaps I lack the experience to make the same observations others have made. I have two oil tempered shinken, and the hamon in those is nothing like this one. The oil tempered ones have no activity within the hamon and appear darker than the rest of the steel. The photos of the hamon reflecting light do make it look oil tempered to me, but I find that’s generally the case with that type of photography.