Fatal Flaws & Shinsa

[TheGermanBastard]

I would like to seek some oppinions / expirience please on the consideration of fatal flaws and (NBTHK) Shinsa process.

 

I am aware that there are papered swords with dipping Hamon, missing Boshi or Hagire. Of course this is not the common rule but the exception. So what are the condition to warrant a Hozon paper for a sword with a basically fatal flaw? Well, in general I would answer myself by saying that the sword just needs to be important enough. But what does this mean more precisely? I can imagine for example a rare signed example by an important smith.

 

I am asking because I have a very unfortunate sword in my posession which has seen sever abuse. Likely by children playing sword fighting with it.

 

As a result he blade is badly nicked. All of the nicks could be eliminated but this would take away too much metal and thus also the workmanship in the blade. Most unfortunate there are severe nicks on the Kissaki, One may or may not be through the Boshi. But when wanting to remove those the Boshi would be gone for sure. So I see presently these options:

 

1. Remove all nicks => Lossig Boshi and rendering Hamon very thin & close to the edge.

 

2. Keep some nicks  and fix uop Kissaki loosing most or all of the Boshi

 

3. Only remove minor nicks keeping most of the temper in the blade

 

Personally I tend to option 3

 

The blade in question is Aoe work to the best of my knowledge and after having consulted some dealers / collectors who should know better than I do.

 

Wheter it is early or late Aoe I do not know and it would need to be polished and see Shinsa.

 

However and this leads to  my intitial question it would not make sense to send to Shinsa when it comes get pinked hence without oppinion.

 

It would then be just an additional waste of money wher ethis whole project is some sort of economic Harakiri.

 

This sword is more of a heart affair than a wise investment. Having been collecting and buying out of the woodwork swords it is just so hard to find something like Aoe ... and then once it happens it comes in such a bad condition due to abuse, Cynical.

 

Stll I thik the sword is just too good to go and should be preserved for what good workmanship can still be observed in it.

 

Then as a family father I may one day have to sell it again and I think a paper would very much help in this special case as it would prove that it is really somthing wortyh of preservation.

 

Thank you for your thoughts

 

[SAS]

It would be helpful to see photos of the sword in question to be able to offer an opinion.

[TheGermanBastard]

Hello Steve,

 

I was thinlking about adding images of the sword in question but was afraid it would lead the general discussion on Shinsa & Flaws away to Kantei on the specific swod which was not my intention. However I consider your point and may add some images.

[Mark S.]

I know this gets said here all the time, but in this case the opinion of a qualified polisher would be critical. The polisher should be able to give you their opinion of Kantei while at the same time judge the best option for polish and what you will have left after polish is done, 1) nice blade, 2) nice blade with a bunch of nicks, 3) toothpick with not much left, 4) etc

[Ken-Hawaii]

NBTHK certainly has the option to paper a blade with significant flaws, Luis. Look at the blade that Ray has posted: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/32146-sue-koto-mino-kanemoto-wakizashi/ I was sure that kakedasu hamon would take all but the top-echelon blades out of consideration, but here's an exception.

 

Trying to second-guess what they'll actually do on any specific blade is a crap-shoot.

[PNSSHOGUN]

It is more important to keep the Hamon intact with some nicks and a good shape, it may require a very good Togishi to give it a chance.

[ChrisW]

I thought I read somewhere that they do paper flawed blades if: they are from older and older time periods or if the blade represents possibly the only exemplar from that smith or if the smith is extremely renown.

[Hoshi]

Would a mumei AOE blade with fatal flaws, be worth the cost of its polish even if it returned as Hozon? You need an extremely skilled polisher to navigate such wreck to begin with, and this will run you 4000$ or about, and a year or more of waiting. If it was a unicorn smith, signed work, e.g. a completely wrecked Daijimbo with chips all over the ha and and a hamon running off, then why not. It would still constitute a highly valuable reference material in spite of its fatally compromised condition.

[Michaelr]

Just my thoughts. As a novice in the Nihonto field I thought about your dilemma and what I would do if the sword were mine. I think that sometimes you have to look past a flaw or damage to a blade to see the original beauty of the blade. If you can look past this and imagine ( sometimes it takes more imagination than other times ) the original intent of the sword smith and the beauty that he instilled in the blade is all it takes. That being said I think for me I would have a window ( as large as possible without getting into a damaged area ) polished into the blade. After this I would be proud to display the blade with all of its condition problems, but a beautiful window showing the original beauty of the sword and the skill of the original sword smith. Rather than polish out some of that beauty or change the original configuration of the blade or loose any of the original Hamon, I would be very happy with a “before and after” knowing that I had a original treasure. Just my 2cents.

         MikeR

[FlorianB]

Have a look at this one: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-sesshu-ju-fujiwara-sadayukishinto/

An Osaka-Shinto-blade with two huge hagire (Mr. Tsuruta marked them on the picture).
I wonder how does this blade (not very old and not by a famous smith) with fatal flaws managed to receive Hozon in the last year?

Florian

[Ken-Hawaii]

Good question. No doubt that both hagire go all the way through. Jussi?

[Jacques]

Hum... As i've no opinion about that.. 

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/3376-can-a-bad-polish-cause-hagire-cautionary-tale/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe the sword on Aoi art was polished after being papered (i had one i sent to NBTHK shinsa, had it polished once papered and then i sold it).