Wakizashi translation and opinion needed

[ChrisW]

Hey guys,

 

I've got a wakizashi of a friend here. He is curious about whether or not it makes sense to have restored. I told him it largely depends on the signature. The signature looks confidently written, but that could mean nothing. The blade has a clipped/snapped tip, but it appears to not pass through the hardened edge (a few mm of tip loss). The blade is about 18" (from what I remember, I'll change this once he gets back to me) and appears to have a suguha type hamon. It has a shirasaya with integral wooden habaki in poor condition but appears to have once been of good quality. The blade is quite stout and appears healthy enough to receive a polish. It gave me the impression of a Sukesada-type work.

My asks for my friend's blade are:

Translation of mei

Veracity of mei: shoshin or gimei?

Worth restoration or no?
General impression/opinion

Again, any help/feedback is appreciated guys,

 

Thanks!

 

~Chris

[ChrisW]

By the way, that red rust stuff is just some kind of buildup; as far as I could tell, it wasn't eating into the blade.

[Toryu2020]

Chris -

Looks like Hizen (no) Kuni Yoshitsugu - cannot comment on the veracity of the mei. You want an opinion, my opinion is that many blades are worht restoration regardless of the signature - bad signatures can be removed. We really need to see more photos of the blade itself - especially close ups of the jigane just above the habaki and below the kissaki - from what little I can see I think it very much is worth restoration.

-tom

[ChrisW]

Unfortunately, it is in such poor condition in terms of polish that seeing any hada on the jigane is quite impossible. I wish it were in better shape to be able to do so.

[Toryu2020]

Please try - you never know what others might see...

[ChrisW]

I'll have to see if he can get me some pictures then. It is a bit of a drive and I was in the area the other day. But looks like a shinto blade to me, so probably YOS917 in Hawleys is my guess.

[ChrisW]

Here's a few as requested, he did the best he was able to. Hopefully these are helpful! Thanks for the help Thomas.

[b.hennick]

Strike one broken tip

Strike two cup in the ha

Strike three delamination shown in the last photo

If it was mine, I would not have it restored.

[ChrisW]

Those were my thoughts too Barry. Rather hinges on whether or not the mei is any good, that was my initial assessment. Even then, a risky proposition.

[ChrisW]

Any other opinions out there guys? Much appreciated, as always!

[Shugyosha]

11 hours ago, ChrisW said:

Those were my thoughts too Barry. Rather hinges on whether or not the mei is any good, that was my initial assessment. Even then, a risky proposition.

Hi Chris,

Also, if a genuine mei, whether the smith was any good. There’s more than one generation, this one gets a fairly average 15 in Hawley’s: 

 

https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/YOS915

 

Also, you’d need to consider that Hizento often have thin outer steel so a polish might reveal an unsightly amount of core steel. I’d not put money into this. 

[Toryu2020]

Sorry - had to wait to get home and look at this on the tablet - I agree with Barry the tip is the most significant damage, that we can see. the question of restoration I think should go to a polisher - regardless of the validity of the mei - it would obviously be a labour of love since reshaping the kissaki would alter the original shape...

-t