"Pretty" verse Quality

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

 

I am relatively new to the world of nihonto, coming from more of a militaria background. Some aspects of nihonto I still find very puzzling and I think that the world of nihonto is much closer to art collecting than it is to militaria. I know it is probably because of my inexperience, but it often seems that blades with very tight hada, where the activity in the blade can only be seem with magniification are usually rated as better quality and more desirable, than blades which I think look "prettier" with more obvious activity. I realise that hada is only one facet of quality when assessing nihonto and things like the maker, age, signed vs mumei etc play a very important role.

 

Below are some shots of three of my swords. The first by a shinshinto Kanenaga which I think has very attractive hada, but may be the lowest quality, the next a shinshinto Sukekuni and the last a Shinto blade by Kanemichi, which has very tight koitame and is probably the highest quality. Am I right that very tight hada generally means better quality?

 

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Stephen]

Like like and like good eye.

[Rivkin]

They sort of all three ok and about at the same level. 

The middle one has an issue of too rapid transition from very large nie to bland nioi and the hada is non-descriptive so its probably the least of the three. This is sort of typical JoSaku shinshinto level.

The right one has decent hada, there does not seem to be great nioi-guchi control, but it feels to be of good quality.

The leftmost has good tight nioi guchi, hada is a bit rough, but its quite ok.

 

Kirill R.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Your photography is darn good, too.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Bryce,

Swords with tight (small detail) hada are not necessarily better than those with larger detail; some are and some aren't.  This, like most every other aspect of Nihonto, is far too complex a subject to be wrapped up with a one sentence answer.

Grey

[Tom Darling]

In this case, yes, you are right.  Peace.

 

Tom D.

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Thank you for trying to further my nihonto education.

 

Kirill, what exactly do you mean when you say the hada of sword 1 is a bit rough?

Cheers,

Bryce

[Jacques]

IMO a hada and a hamon can be judged only with sword in hand (which needs a long experience and a real knowledge).

[16k]

If I remember correctly, I once read an article saying swords with a slightly loose Hada (hadadachi) performed better than those with a tight Hada because the latter broke more easily.

[Rivkin]

G'day Guys,

Thank you for trying to further my nihonto education.

 

Kirill, what exactly do you mean when you say the hada of sword 1 is a bit rough?

Cheers,

Bryce

 

It kind of feels like if late Muromachi Bizen style was the inspiration here. The lines are spaced apart, non-uniform in width, not particularly long. The way they interact with hamon is well done, but otherwise it does come out as rough for me.

 

Kirill R.