Thoughts on this sword?

[JD808]

Hello I'm very interested in this sword and would I

Like to here what everyone thinks of it as far as quality of the forging and so on. 

[NewB]

54 minutes ago, JD808 said:

Hello I'm very interested in this sword and would I

Like to here what everyone thinks of it as far as quality of the forging and so on. 

 

Do you have the link to the ad?

 

 

John

[JD808]

3 minutes ago, Darkcon said:

 

Do you have the link to the ad?

 

 

John

http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/G74153_S2649_PUP_E.html

[Brian]

Guys, PLEASE stop quoting when you are the next reply. It clutters everything. Just reply. Not quote.

 

[Jacques D.]

That sword is dated Heisei 13 (2001), 5 years before he was granted Mukansa, I think he did a good job with it.

[Katsujinken]

Kanekuni was a wonderfully talented smith. I own a blade he made in 1984 with a similar signature: 濃州武藝八幡住兼國作之

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Michael's kanekuni is such a masterpiece(It's Hamon's craftiness that's outstanding!) that other kanekuni are no longer as good.
Since kanekuni is a work that can easily be found in the market, you should carefully select a product that is as well-made as possible.

[JD808]

On 5/6/2021 at 10:18 AM, Darkcon said:

 

Thanks for the help guys I've decided to keep looking.

[Katsujinken]

8 hours ago, Yasaka Azuma said:

Michael's kanekuni is such a masterpiece(It's Hamon's craftiness that's outstanding!) that other kanekuni are no longer as good.
Since kanekuni is a work that can easily be found in the market, you should carefully select a product that is as well-made as possible.

Thanks Yas! The funny thing is that I got a very good deal on this blade (in my opinion). I suspect because it does not have his famous doranba hamon, and it was 20+ years prior to him becoming mukansa. I do love it though!

[Yasaka Azuma]

If you ask the modern Japanese swordsmith, "Which hamon is the most difficult?", Everyone will answer:
"It's nothing but Choji midare!"
I think that is one of the barriers in terms of skill.

 

Kanekuni won the competition with his toran hamon, which was aimed at Sukehiro, so his work is often said to be toran.
However, if you look closely, you can find togari ha and stiff hamon here and there.
This indicates that he is a descendant of the Mino seki school, a characteristic that can be seen in his regular works.

[NewB]

With all due respect I thought suguha is the most difficult 

 

 

John

[Yasaka Azuma]

1 hour ago, Darkcon said:

With all due respect I thought suguha is the most difficult 

 

 

John

Traditional craftsmen do not tell the truth when asked. I read in their hearts.

With the introduction of powered hammers in modern times, all processes of Japanese swords can now be done by one person. As the competition system becomes more popular, it becomes secretive.

 

Another thing to add is "sales talk" when the sword dealer says. Well-made suguha is a very good product, but it tends to be a long-term inventory as a product.

[NewB]

Thats how traditions disappeared...for good or bad. I want to see a living national treasure reproduce 'utsuri'

 

Cheers 

 

 

John

[Jamie]

I believe yoshihara can produce utsuri. 

[NewB]

I'd be happy to see

 

 

 

John

[chi fan wong]

hello,

im wondering if utsuri is indeed that difficult to create?  the smith from the usagiya site seems to have demonstrated that it is doable.  he does describe using sensitive steel to start.

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/utsuri.html

there is also examples of his work that shows utsuri starting from mizukage.

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Naohiro12.html

i have a long tachi from him that has mizukage starting from about an inch or so above the hamachi and running the rest of the length of the blade as utsuri.  i dont have pix of my tachi but will try to see if i can take some pix.

[Yasaka Azuma]

In a TV documentary broadcast the other day, Yohindo Yoshihara said 
"In my opinion, the choji-midare, with its varied and gorgeous patterns, is the best. It is the most difficult (to create choji-midare) and the most gorgeous. It's hard to get to the wonderful things of the old days when it was made."

 In fact, the sword he tried to make in the show did not reach the intended choji-midare, as he said, " The temperature(when quenching) was too low 50℉...". 

https://www.nhk.jp/p/professional/ts/8X88ZVMGV5/episode/te/G96M96GWX8/

 

[Bazza]

If this is THE Ogawa Kanekuni here is a video of him at work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgaUba0aSWQ

 

Apologies if I have got this wrong.

 

BaZZa.

[Katsujinken]

In my case I’m referring to the father. Since the sword that started this thread has a Hozon paper I assume it’s by him as well. 
 

But I’m thrilled to discover this video, thank you for sharing it!

[Yasaka Azuma]

A sword that would be exhibited in a contest would take 30-40 days to produce. Whether the video is 13 minutes or an hour, it is essentially just a cut and paste (with some exciting moments edited out).
During the program, I noticed a lot of bottles of chemical reagents in his workshop (no explanation of what they were used for, of course).
Also, the scene where the sword smith was heating the mune of the sword with a gas torch after the hardening process was finished. It was a very short cut without narration, but it is a process known as"合いを取る (Ai-wo-toru)".
It is a process known as Ai-tori, which is a preparatory work to correct the unintentionally bent shape of the sword, as well as to remove the ugly mune-yaki, and is rarely shown to the public.

 

[DoTanuki yokai]

Yea the gas torch does not look so traditionally  but the traditional way would be to use a hot piece of copper. Yoshindo yoshihara explained both ways in „the art of the Japanese sword“ book . 

And I think his temperature for yaki ire looks very high but that is hard to say on a video where settings change colors...

At least I made the experience that it looks always brighter in video then it does in real.

 

[ROKUJURO]

10 hours ago, Yasaka Azuma said:

In a TV documentary broadcast the other day, Yoshiwara Yoshito said ....

YASAKA-SAN,

thank you for your interesting contributions!

In the West, we mostly use the name as YOSHIHARA YOSHINDO. I know that -HARA and -WARA are the same KANJI, but do we pronounce the first name wrongly?
 

[Yasaka Azuma]

If my poor English misunderstands the subject, I have to apologize and correct it.

"The temperature was too low 50℉." Was heard from the broadcast, and Yoshihara himself said. I didn't look at the video and make that decision.
 

It seems that the broadcaster has closed the online viewing. The entire process of Yosindo Yoshihara in its heyday is available in video in English.　In the commentary of the video site where he himself is linked, it is written as "Yohindo Yoshihara". It may be rude to him, but wouldn't it be nice if he could be identified?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxwWf-MfZVk