Ujiyoshi pirate long wakizashi with kozuka

[Sunny]

Hello 

Thanks for your interest.

This info below is what I have found on these types of blades.

This blade is a great cutter and amazing for Tameshigiri.

Neat fine detail silver crab and gold guild dew dotted plant leaf menuki

I'm asking $1600 US shipped.

if you are serious please DM your email for more pics.

A small portion of the sale will be donated to the NMB

 

MADE BY  FAMOUS SMITH " UJIYOSHI " ( 氏吉 ) ???

 

BLADE STYLE : “片鎬造 KATUSHI NO KIDUKURI ( The has two different side one side is flat )

 

KOTO BLADE ???

Blade length :54 cm or 21 inches.
Sori : 1.3cm 1/2 inches.
Mekugi : 1
Width at the Hamachi : 3.3 cm or 1 7/8 inches.
Kasane : 2.5 cm or 11/4 inches.
Era : Early Edo to 17th century ???

Shape : KATUSHI NO KIDUKURI  

 

 

Kokan Nakayama in his book “The Connoisseurs Book of Japanese Swords” describes wakimono swords (also called Majiwarimono ) as "swords made by schools that do not belong to the gokaden, as well other that mixed two or three gokaden". His book lists a large number of schools as wakimono, some of these schools more famous than others.

Wakimono schools, such as Mihara, Enju, Uda and Fujishima are well known and appear in specialized publications that provide the reader the opportunity to learn about their smiths and the characteristics of their swords. However, others are rarely seen and may be underrated. In this article we will focus on one of the rarely seen and often maligned school from the province of Awa on the Island of Shikoku. The Kaifu School is often associated with Pirates, unique koshirae, kitchen knives and rustic swords. All of these associations are true, but they do not do justice to the school.

Kaifu (sometimes said Kaibu) is a relatively new school in the realm of Nihonto. Kaifu smiths started appearing in records during the Oei era (1394). Many with names beginning with UJI or YASU such as Ujiyoshi, Ujiyasu, Ujihisa, Yasuyoshi, Yasuyoshi and Yasuuji , etc, are recorded. However, there is record of the school as far back as Korayku era (1379), where the schools legendary founder Taro Ujiyoshi is said to have worked in Kaifu. There is also a theory that the school was founded around the Oei era as two branches, one following a smith named Fuji from the Kyushu area and other following a smith named Yasuyoshi from the Kyoto area (who is also said to be the son of Taro Ujiyoshi). Little is formally written about the school, but in the AFU Quarterly from 1995, an article from the Token Shunju by Okada Ichiro in August 1994 was translated and published. This is the most comprehensive article we have seen on the school. Okada gives his reason for writing the article as, “the sword books commonly available seem to look with disfavor on swords made in Awa no Kuni, which is now Tokushima-ken on the island of Shikoku, and provide very little information about the smiths from there. It is for this reason that I have selected this article.” Normally all you find are references and anecdotal stories involving Kaifu swords, so thankfully Okada has provided a little more material.

 

These include the often seen “kitchen knives” or swords made in the kata kiriba zukuri style, (they have a bevel on only one side like in a kogatana), various long hira zukuri wakizashi sometimes referred to as pirate swords, (Shikoku Island did a good business supplying Japanese pirates) and many Shinshinto swords made in the late Edo era. When attributing a sword to Kaifu, the NBTHK normally assigns a Shinto or Shinshinto designation to the attribution to help distinguish the category. What is rarely seen are Koto works, particularly signed ones. We will explore some theories on why we think this is so.

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Thank you for the interesting write-up, Steven!  Good luck on the sale.

[Sunny]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Thank you for the interesting write-up, Steven!  Good luck on the sale.

Your thanks makes me very happy and welcome to share more.

Thanks so much for your continued support Bruce.

Your kind words are always appreciated.

[Sunny]

SOLD

for more info on these types of blades google 

Real-Life kantei-of swords , part 10: A real challenge : kantei Wakimono Swords

 

BELOW is part of the continuation of that article on Koto pirate swords

 

 

The Awa province on the island of Shikoku and particularly the Kaifu district is on the cross roads of several powerful Daimyos. To the south are Kyushu (Saikaido) Daimyo fiefdoms and to the north are the Honshu (Sanyodo) Daimyo fiefdoms. As Okada stated, the Lord of Kaifu needed a strong army to defend his territory and brought in sword expertise from the north and the south to develop what became known as the “Kaifu-To that were excellent in keenness and rich in individuality”. What this means for those of us studying Kaifu swords is that they possess a variety of styles and characteristics and in some cases could be considered experimental! Among the finer pieces it is not uncommon to see swords that look Yamato, others that could be mistaken for Soshu and some that could be considered Soden Bizen. As we enter into the Shinto era, many take on Sue-Bizen characteristics. In a NTHK REI Magazine article from 1992 it is mentioned that the smith Hikobei Sukesada migrated from Bizen to Awa and brought with him the Bizen tradition. We have also seen it stated several times that good Kaifu works can be mistaken for works by GO (Yoshihiro), or better Soshu works.

This leads us to the question of why do we see so few Koto Kaifu swords? In reviewing the NBTHK Juyo results, we found only one Kaifu sword. This sword is signed Yasuyoshi and partially dated. A review of this sword will be done later in the article. An internet search (Japanese and English) found several Shinshinto and kata kiriba zukuri style Kaifu swords for sale or sold, but only a handful of Koto Kaifu for sale or sold. Signed Koto swords are even rarer. The oshigata books also have very few examples from this school. Why is this so? Obviously there were many swords produced to support the Kaifu army, where are they? We believe that many of the early Kaifu swords were mumei or had their signatures removed. Since Kaifu swords didn ́t possess a specific characteristic but borrowed from many traditions, it is likely that many are attributed to other schools or traditions. Perhaps, many had gimei signatures put on them for other traditions or schools as well?

[Sunny]

THIS ITEM IS NOW SOLD 

[mecox]

Steve

there is a relevant article on Tokushima/Kaifu swordsmiths in NMB Downloads.

Mal

[Sunny]

8 minutes ago, mecox said:

Steve

there is a relevant article on Tokushima/Kaifu swordsmiths in NMB Downloads.

Mal

Thanks for the additional info Mal

[Bert]

You performed Tameshigiri with an alleged Koto sword? Just asking.

[Greg F]

That was painful to watch.  

Shows the importance of who Nihonto should and shouldn't be sold to if it can be helped. Seeing an old sword being used by someone with no training on pool noodles on youtube is just painful. 

[lonely panet]

thats using your noodle hahaha

[Sunny]

9 hours ago, Greg F said:

That was painful to watch.  

Shows the importance of who Nihonto should and shouldn't be sold to if it can be helped. Seeing an old sword being used by someone with no training on pool noodles on youtube is just painful. 

I used the pool noodle so there would be no mark on the blade 

the knife hit the foam 

I’ve actually had training 

If your such an expert let’s see your video or moves ?

[Sunny]

Brian please delete this thread 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

There won't be 'rebuttal' videos as we are interested in preserving old Japanese swords, not playing around with them like manchildren. Good luck buying/selling on here in the future.

[Sunny]

9 hours ago, Greg F said:

That was painful to watch.  

Shows the importance of who Nihonto should and shouldn't be sold to if it can be helped. Seeing an old sword being used by someone with no training on pool noodles on youtube is just painful. 

This is how predictably pathetic your life is.

You looked at this old conversation.

Looked up everything on pirate Japanese swords and the name Ujiyoshi.

Found the video on YouTube and read what I said and put the two together and decided to sound clever on here and the youtube post section.

Like how lonely and pathetic are you to attack me for cutting a pool noodle with a sword that I own.

What sword have I ruined and how did it effect your life soooooo much that you come to slander another member on here ?

I suggest you really take a look at yourself.

Half your comments are passive aggressive......that usually means there's a lot that you don't like about yourself so you act out.

[Sunny]

6 minutes ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

There won't be 'rebuttal' videos as we are interested in preserving old Japanese swords, not playing around with them like manchildren. Good luck buying/selling on here in the future.

They're meant to be used 

I never new you spoke for everyone one here.

You're a troll too they way you message people 

[nickm]

Oh man. I'm not trying to jump on the beat up on you bandwagon but you are definitely on the wrong forum to say that these antique works of art are meant to be used. Theory goes we are caretakers keeping them safe to pass one to the next generation. Machetes u buy at Walmart are meant to be used...

[Sunny]

1 hour ago, nickm said:

Oh man. I'm not trying to jump on the beat up on you bandwagon but you are definitely on the wrong forum to say that these antique works of art are meant to be used. Theory goes we are caretakers keeping them safe to pass one to the next generation. Machetes u buy at Walmart are meant to be used...

People in Japan use family antique swords for Tameshigiri everyday 

so please .....have something intelligent to type .....and by all means ....you are a band wagon jumper 

[Sunny]

2 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

There won't be 'rebuttal' videos as we are interested in preserving old Japanese swords, not playing around with them like manchildren. Good luck buying/selling on here in the future.

This coming from a guy who tells me to message people privately when a week before criticizes someone out in the open.

It truly shows your lack of character and the faith you have in your own words.

Yet another attempt to stand out and sound clever.

[nickm]

32 minutes ago, Steven Edmund said:

People in Japan use family antique swords for Tameshigiri everyday 

so please .....have something intelligent to type .....and by all means ....you are a band wagon jumper 

 People do heroin every day. That doesn't make it a good idea

[Brian]

Yours to do as you want. But this forum consists of collectors and guys who don't even speak over a Japanese sword in case they get droplets on it, and who won't put a sword on a hard surface.
Not hard to work out that watching someone cut household things with it would not go down well. Really, don't hold it against guys who hold these things in such high regard. Posting stuff like that publicly was never going to end well. It's nothing personal. Topic closed.