Gassan Sadakatsu and the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company

[Jwrussell]

I've found Boshi to be very difficult to capture on a phone. You did a good job. Beautiful. Would I be correct in labeling this Kaen?

[Bryce]

G'day Jason,

I think it would qualify as kaen, but I am no expert.

Cheers,

Bryce

[DTM72]

I find boshi to be the most difficult to photograph. Yours turned out well.

[Bryce]

Thanks guys,

Here is the other side.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

The 40 year history of the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company book has arrived. A quick scan thru it hasn't revealed any photos of swords. Does anybody have any tips on how to translate the relevant sections?

Cheers,

Bryce

[SteveM]

I think you have two choices: google translate, or pay a translator. You have a picture ot the index? Or, do you already know which section you need translated? 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Best to get contents and index translated and then pay for what is needed. 

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

I have been having fun with google translate. It is hard work, but I have managed to build up a picture of the company. Basically the company was established in 1934 as the Japan Iron Sand Industry Company. The aim was to process iron sand to produce vanadium, titanium oxide and iron and steel. Recovery of vanadium and titanium was lower than expected, so to remain profitable the main focus switched to producing ordinary steel and special tool steels, using iron sand as the base ore. To reflect the switch to commercial steel production the company changed its name in February 27 1940 to the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company. This was the year that commercial steel production really kicked off. I think this was the only Japanese company producing commercial steel from iron sand. Other companies relied on imported ores. I haven't found any reference to Gassan Sadakatsu, so it isn't clear if he did this off his own back or was paid to produce these blades for marketing purposes. It also isn't clear exactly what type of steel he used to forge the blades, but I think it is likely it was "special steel".

Cheers,

Bryce

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Can anyone help me with the translation of this paragraph? Does it really say swords or is it referring to lengths of steel?

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[SteveM]

It mentions several tens of "ryō" were able to be manufactured. Typically "ryō" would mean railway cars, or in this case it could possibly mean some kind of armored tank, truck, etc... It should be clear from the context. It wouldn't mean swords. 

[Jacques D.]

Be careful with the orders of magnitude guys, they are in no way comparable, they will not mention a few kilos used for the swords. 

 

Once again you are in the confirmation bias

[Bryce]

Thanks Steve,

The google translate translation is so wonky it is difficult to be sure. It seems to be part of a quote from someone describing how they are ramping up steel production to meet the war effort. 

 

Jacques, thank you for keeping me on the straight and narrow.

 

1940 is obviously a very significant year for the company with the increase in steel production and change of name. It would make sense for them to engage in a promotional campaign which may involve having one of Japan's top smiths produce some blades from their steel. No evidence of this in the book though.

 

Cheers,

Bryce

[SteveM]

You don't have the previous page from where this came? That should give the context you are looking for. 

[Bryce]

Here is the previous page.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[SteveM]

Hmm, we need to see the beginning of those reminiscences to find out what he's using this ferro-vanadium for. (My guess is railway cars or tanks). This section is still mid-way through his remembrances. 

[Bryce]

G'day Steve,

It is an account of the construction of the Hachinohe factory by Shinichi Mizoguchi who was transferred there from the original Takasago factory. The first stage was the construction of the vanadium factory, followed by the rotary kilns for producing sponge iron and then the steel plant. The factory was also going to produce titanium, but this wasn't achieved before the end of the war. There is an earlier reference to the steel being used for weapons production, but it isn't clear to me if this means that weapons were manufactured at this factory or the steel was sent to other factories to produce weapons.

Cheers,

Bryce

[Jacques D.]

 

Quote

the steel was sent to other factories to produce weapons

 

I have a preference for this hypothesis which seems logical to me, because it is not at all the same work and requires specific machines (the baker does not make his own flour).

[Bryce]

On the other hand, they were certainly manufacturing tools such as drill bits and saw blades using the vanadium steel they produced and were designated a munitions company by the military. It isn't much of a stretch to imagine they could have been producing bayonets and sword blades as well, although I am yet to come upon any other specific references to this. 

Cheers,

Bryce

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Below is a summary of everything I have learned about the company from the 40 year history.

 

The company was formed in 1934 as the Japan Iron Sand Industry Company. Its aim was to mine iron sand and manufacture vanadium steel and titanium oxide. Although it was able to extract vanadium from iron sand and manufacture vanadium steel, it struggled to smelt iron sand profitably. This all changed in 1938 when the rotary kiln method of producing sponge iron from iron sand was introduced. In February 1940 the company changed its name to the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company to better reflect its status as an industrial steel manufacturer. In 1940 it also completed construction of a new factory in Hachinohe to complement the existing one at Takasago. By this stage it was producing sponge iron, vanadium, titanium oxide, ordinary steel stock, shaped steel and a range of special steels such as vanadium steel. It was also manufacturing a range of tools such as drill bits and saw blades form the specialty steels it produced. At the time, it was the only Japanese industrial steel manufacturer using iron sand as the base ore.

 

Cheers,

Bryce

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

I have been putting together a database of Gassan Sadakatsu long blades that I have found on the net. So far I have documented 48 examples. Some interesting stats that have come out of this are:

- 60% signed katana-mei vs 40% tachi-mei. Almost seems to be random.

- Ayasugi is the most common style followed by masame and soshu in the ratio 4:2:1

- Kogarasu-maru examples are very rare. So far I have found only five, three of which are these Japan Iron Sand Steel Company examples.

- I have found 6 examples made in 1933 to commemorate the birth of Crown Prince Akihito. Unlike the Japan Iron Sand Steel Company examples these are all identical shinogi zukuri, signed     katana-mei and done in ayasugi.

 

If anyone has an example in their possession I would love it if you could pm me with the details of your sword such as form, year, mei, nagasa other details etc.

Cheers,

Bryce

[Bruce Pennington]

Great research Bryce!  I don't have one, but I'm just glad to see another researcher adding knowledge to our collecting world.  Press on!

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

So far I have identified 53 examples of Gassan Sadakatsu katana from the net. This looks like it may be about as far as I can go without more help. Here are a couple of extra things I have picked up.

The average length of his blades is 68.0cm with the shortest being 64cm and longest 72.7cm.

All, but a handful are signed with his kao. Of these with no kao, two are star stamped. As a general rule, those without a kao, don't seem to be quite as good as his kao'd blades.

I have only found two star stamped examples, both made in 1943.

I have found only six kogarasu examples. Of these, three were made with steel smelted by the Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company. It almost seems as if he set out to make a blade in every style he knew to see how they would turn out using this new steel. Or perhaps he was commissioned by the company to do this, although there is no mention of this in the company history.

Cheers,

Bryce

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

I think I have found a gimei example of one of these Japan Iron Sand Steel Industry Company swords. Everything about this blade is off. What do you guys think?

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Definitely, something just isn't quite right about this. The nakago finish, the nakago-jiri and the blade itself are not what we see. It is very close though, the Mei has been inscribed quite well.

[Bryce]

Here is a side by side comparison with my blade. Both blades were supposedly made in 1940, so there is no chance that the differences can be attributed to Gassan Sadakatsu changing his style over time.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

The Kao looks correct, it may have been made by a student and he signed his Kao?

[DRDave]

Is the jiri an indication, or did he make several styles of those, too?

[PNSSHOGUN]

Every sword I can recall had the same Jiri, this one is quite different.

[Bryce]

G'day John,

The kao is close, but it isn't right. If you look at the blade as a whole, the only thing that looks remotely Gassan is the kao. I think the Gassan signed blades that don't have a kao are the ones made by his students. They look different from all the others with his kao.

 

Here is a collage of Gassan Sadakatsu's kao's from around the same time, with the suspect one in the bottom right.

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Just realised I had doubled up one of the kao's in the above photo. Here is an updated collage comparing kao's from five other blades forged between 1940 and 1943 with the suspect one.

Cheers,

Bryce