Utsuri

[Bushido01]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether utsuri could be only on one side of a blade. I have a katana with choji hamon and I can see the utsuri very clearly on the mei side of the blade but not on the other side. I wish I could get a photo of it to share with everyone but it seems impossible to get it done.

Thank you in advance for your comments,

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Who has made this blade? and when?

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen

I wonder if you will permit me to join in to obtain an explanation. Utsuri was once described to me as a sheen or shine on the surface of the polished blade and could be seen as either blue or very white, almost wet looking. Either of these two could be taken as an indicator of good steel,well worked,resulting in a good blade. A dull or grey appearance was to be avoided. Whilst I can see the approach, I have seen descriptions of Utsuri which the describer was clearly using to mention something else.

WHAT is your take please. What in a few words would you use the word Utsuri to describe??

 

Henry

[Brian]

Henry,

Utsuri seems such a complicated and variable thing, that I doubt it can easily be summed up..or even properly explained without seeing it in front of you.

Sometimes described as a "ghost hamon" but can follow the hamon or not. Can be whitish or not. In some blades, whitish (shirrake) is not a good thing, but in others it is.

I have seen what was thought to be utsuri but was actually just the outer skin steel almost worn though, showing rougher core steel (not utsuri)

Decent visual examples: http://www.nihontocraft.com/nihonto_jig ... araki.html and the best is probably http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/utsuri.html

 

Brian

[Henry Stewart]

Brian

 

My thanks to you yet again; I see what you mean,its certainly an area of study on its own.

 

Henry

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

You can see a very nice utsuri on this blade

[Bushido01]

Hi,

 

You can see a very nice utsuri on this blade

 

Thanks Jacques, my sword is made by Yoshindo Yoshihara, apparently he is one of the few sword smiths who can create utsuri these days. The utsuri on my sword looks very similar to the pictures # 8 and 10 of Darcy's sword (of course not as good). I belong to a local sword study group in our area and one of the experienced members noticed the utsuri on my blade under the very good lights they have in there. There is an old tread of discussion about this sword on NMB with some pics but does not show the utsuri, here is the link if you're interested to take a look.

Thanks,

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?t=1605

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether utsuri could be only on one side of a blade. I have a katana with choji hamon and I can see the utsuri very clearly on the mei side of the blade but not on the other side. I wish I could get a photo of it to share with everyone but it seems impossible to get it done.

Thank you in advance for your comments,

 

Hello,

 

What type of utsuri do you believe is present, choji midare, botan, jifu, bo, tsukare, or shirake?

What is the condition of the polish?

 

Utsuri, sometimes called a shadow hamon, can range from being very strong to being marginal in strength. The quality and condition of the polish can play a critical role in the appearance of utsuri. Utsuri can appear very randomly, interspersed, and then it can appear as on the Kanemitsu on Darcy's website (see link in Jacques's post), from one end of the sword to the other. It is not unusual for utsuri to be mistaken as being present, and, it is also not unusual when it is present, to be missed.

 

I have seen what was thought to be utsuri but was actually just the outer skin steel almost worn though, showing rougher core steel (not utsuri)

- see definition for tsukare utsuri.

[Bushido01]

What type of utsuri do you believe is present, choji midare, botan, jifu, bo, tsukare, or shirake?

 

I believe is Kage-choji, a kind of midare-utsuri that follows choji patterned on the hamon from one end to the other end of the blade. But I can only see it on one side (mei side) of the blade.

[nagamaki - Franco]

I believe is Kage-choji, a kind of midare-utsuri that follows choji patterned on the hamon from one end to the other end of the blade. But I can only see it on one side (mei side) of the blade.

 

Polish condition, time period of sword, school?

 

To answer the original question, yes, utsuri can appear only on one side.

 

more ..... http://www.una.edu/faculty/takeuchi/DrT_Jpn_Culture_files/Nihon_to_files/Utsuri_Ted.htm

[Bushido01]

Polish condition, time period of sword, school?

Please see my earlier post replying to Jacques with all the information and a link to some photos of the blade.

 

To answer the original question, yes, utsuri can appear only on one side.

 

Franco, thanks for the answer and Ted Tenold's article. He does refer to Yoshindo Yoshihara (maker of my sword) in his article.

 

Best,

[nagamaki - Franco]

Ah, sorry, missed that, obviously no issues with polish or condition, an elegant sword for sure!

A humble reminder of how much to appreciate utsuri, even when it is found only on one side.

[reinhard]

Why not asking Yoshihara-san himself? I'm quite sure he will remember his own blade.

 

reinhard

[Bushido01]

Why not asking Yoshihara-san himself? I'm quite sure he will remember his own blade.

 

reinhard

 

I didn't acquire my sword directly from Yoshihara Sensei and don't know how to get in touch with him. Please let me know if you know how to contact him.

Thanks,

[Ted Tenold]

Rod,

 

He usually attends the San Francisco Token Kai, and sometimes the Florida Token Kai. The Florida Show is this coming weekend by the way. http://www.floridatokenkai.com/

[Bushido01]

Rod,

 

He usually attends the San Francisco Token Kai, and sometimes the Florida Token Kai. The Florida Show is this coming weekend by the way. http://www.floridatokenkai.com/

 

Thanks Ted, that's good to know and a starting point for me. It would be great though if I can contact him before crossing east coast to west coast.

Thanks again,