Kantei then Translation and donation to NMB

[Ooitame]

Hello everyone,

 

My sword has arrived, I am working on getting the best photos I can for a Kantei.

SUGHATA, HADA, HAMON.

First to get Nengo, School, and maybe smith I will donate to the NMB.

Second part is a translation, in which I will also provide a donation to the NMB.

Nagasa 19.9in.

Hamachi 1.1in.

Sori 0.55in.

Kissaki 0.78in.

Kasane 0.28in.

[Ooitame]

Hopefully the photos came across as good enough. Good luck everyone

 

[Rivkin]

Hizen Tadayoshi?

[Shugyosha]

Hi Eric,

 

Any chance of a clearer picture of any detail in the boshi?

[Ooitame]

 

Hi John, this is the best I think it can get on a black drop.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I would guess

 

Spoiler

Ōei - Bizen - Yasumitsu

 

[Rivkin]

Maybe 2nd generation Hizen Tadahiro...

[SteveM]

Is this ubu? Or is it shortened? (It looks ubu, but can't quite tell). 

[Ooitame]

Hi Steve, it is ubu.

[mywei]

I second Jussi 

The boshi turn back is fairly acute, and the Nakago gives off Muromachi bizen vibes

[ROKUJURO]

Nice blade with strong HADORI which can conceal details.
I can't quite see the HADA, but if it is fine MOKUME (KONUKA) it may point to HIZEN. The NAKAGO JIRI on the other hand has a BIZEN touch.

More sharp close-up photos would help.

[Ooitame]

Hi Jean, apologizes for the pictures, hint, hada is Masame and some Itame. Sometimes I get good ones and most the time I do not. I feel I failed to show the beauty and elegance in this one, as opposed to my showa Nagamitsu... but atleat I have a Daisho now. We have a hurricane rolling thru so more pictures are not an option due to humidity. Thank you all for your reasoning and deductions please, if you can include them in the Kantei for me and others to learn from; keep the guesses coming.

 

[Ronin 47]

I am going to venture that it is Bizen Osafune Norimitsu, early Muromachi, so  Oei-Bizen (応永 備前) or something along those lines.

[Rivkin]

If it has a lot of masame can be sue mihara from the very end of muromachi.

[Shugyosha]

I’m conflicted on this one as different features take me in different directions. Going with Sue Tegai. 
 

At least until I change my mind again. 

[Ooitame]

5 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

I’m conflicted on this one as different features take me in different directions. Going with Sue Tegai. 
 

At least until I change my mind again. 

Hi John, that is part of why I bought this waki, so much to enjoy 😉.

[Ray Singer]

I think this is Kai Mihara as well.

[Ooitame]

Will leave this open to Kantei until Friday.

[Ooitame]

One more day, all opinions welcome, regardless the board gets a donation, have fun with this one.

[Rivkin]

Does it mean nobody got dozen and above? Typically kantei ends there.

[Mitsukawa]

I guess

period: Muromachi later

school: Bizen

smith:  OSAFUNE XXXX

[Rivkin]

Its more or less certain that the blade is from 1550-1650 period.

The boshi is not distinctive. Too common in my opinion. It widens a bit per Muromachi trait I guess, but not exclusively so.

There is bo utsuri, maybe shirakke or dan utsuri.

The hada is not well seen. It looks to me quite well forged and lacking mokume of the kind typical for Muromachi Bizen or Mihara. 

I don't see a lot of masame except some nagare around the ha, but if its substantial, then its still Mihara.

If its not dominant, but the hada is more along the lines of well defined individual itame strikes, then its Hizen. The forging is also quite dense, not common in late Muromachi, but more along the lines of shinto.

Could also be Bungo Yukinaga, but in their work the hada comes out less wet and more sharp.

[Ooitame]

Thank you all, for you thoughts and participation I really appreciate it; as it helps me and hopefully others sharpen their skills.

The pictures failed to truly capture the essence of this sword. It has an Oei feel to me which is one of the many reasons for the purchase. A good description of the smith and Oei provenance can be found here https://yuhindo.com/osafune-norimitsu-katana/. The sowrd is Bishu Osafune Norimitsu, Bunmei 9th, with NBTHK TH papers. Here comes another fun part, translation of Sayagaki. 

[Ronin 47]

Very happy to see that I got it  Thanks for the exercise Eric, looks like a beautiful example of his work. My second guess would have been Bizen - Yasumitsu, but the suguha led me to Norimitsu, as its slightly more typical on his work.  My translation skills are bit meh, so will let someone else have a crack at that , even though I know who did the Sayagaki

[Jean]

Oei Yasumitsu is known to have forged mainly suguha hamon:

https://www.aoijapan.com/sunnobi-tanto　bishu-osafune-yasumitsu-1st-generation/

[Jussi Ekholm]

Very nice Austin, well done.

 

I didn't want write too much to not influence other guesses. To me I thought the shape and size would fit into Ōei-Bizen and as it was suguha I went for Yasumitsu. Unfortunately I lack the skill & knowledge to do accurate identification and guessing based on fine details.

 

Thanks for posting this up Eric, it was really fun guessing game. I am always hoping more people would participate in these, of course it is usually very tricky and as you need to enter the guess out in public it might put some people off. Big thumbs up for everyone who made a guess

[Jussi Ekholm]

Unfortunately it is much too difficult to read for me to get fully. Here is part of the start of which I am thinking I got correctly but there are few blanks as I am not sure if I was correct on those.

 

備前国長船則光
文明九年製囗囗五郎左衛門尉囗囗囗同工七十二歳同六祐光囗囗応永備前囗囗末備前

[mywei]

I'm sure there will be errors in this but

 

備前国長船則光
文明九年製作而五郎左衛門尉也惟時同工七十二歳同工ハ祐光ト並ビ応永備前カラ末備前へノ過渡期ニ活躍ツタリ

 

本刀ハ比較的短寸ノ打刀デ精良ナル板杢ノ肌合ニ穏ヤカナ中直刃ヲ焼キ刃ニ近ク直映ガ立ツナド其ノ一作風ヲ示ス優品也

 

[Ooitame]

Thank you all, for participation, I am glad to see most enjoyed this Kantei. Is it possible to convert to English please; I hope this is not too much of an ask. My Japanese is very lacking as I have been focusing on sword attributes. Eventually I will get to Kanji. Again, have fun another donation will be given to the NMB.

[EastCoast]

Drop it in the good old Google translate and you get this (no idea if it's even close):

Bizen Mayor Ship Norimitsu
Produced in the 9th year of civilization Saemonnojo Saemonnojo, 72 years old

 

This sword is a relatively short sword, and it's a fine sword.