An abandoned wakizashi

[Johnny]

[Johnny]

I am completely oblivious to the knowledge that would exist about this wakizashi.

 I really like it and want to know what I have and see if it is something that should go to someone who is more deserving,honestly.It would be tucked away in a closet at my place.I feel like it should be shared or displayed,but not sure.Thank you in advance for any info.

[ChrisW]

It appears to be traditionally made, but very much abused. Looks like a buffing wheel has been taken to it.

[Johnny]

1 hour ago, ChrisW said:

It appears to be traditionally made, but very much abused. Looks like a buffing wheel has been taken to it.

Thanks,Chris.

[Johnny]

1 hour ago, ChrisW said:

It appears to be traditionally made, but very much abused. Looks like a buffing wheel has been taken to it.

If you don't mind,and have the time,can you please tell me anything about it's age(roughly),and if the wood handle is normal.I can't find anything online that looks similar. Im totally new to this,so,I would appreciate 

any insights or thoughts you might share with me.

 

[ChrisW]

The pictures are rather foggy, so it is hard to tell but the blade appears to be signed and likely to be older based on the darkness of the patination of the nakago. We'd need more pictures to be able to say more. I'll let those with more experience speak of the mounts.

[Shugyosha]

The signature is 助宗作 - Sukemune saku (made by Sukemune). Looks like there’s a bunch of smiths signing this way: https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/list?id_op=%3D&id=&name_op=starts&name=&kanji_op=%3D&kanji=助宗&province=All&start_era=All&school_nid=All

 

Hard to say much more with the lack of details available. 

[SteveM]

The scabbard doesn't look very traditional. Maybe very late 19th or early 20th century mounts made for tourists.

Possible to get more complete pictures of the mounts?

[Surfson]

I would guess Shimada Sukemune.

 

[Johnny]

15 hours ago, ChrisW said:

The pictures are rather foggy, so it is hard to tell but the blade appears to be signed and likely to be older based on the darkness of the patination of the nakago. We'd need more pictures to be able to say more. I'll let those with more experience speak of the mounts.

Okay,thank you,Chris.Will upload more pics now.

[Johnny]

4 hours ago, SteveM said:

The scabbard doesn't look very traditional. Maybe very late 19th or early 20th century mounts made for tourists.

Possible to get more complete pictures of the mounts?

Thanks,for the response,Steve.Im guessing the mounts are on the scabbard.Correct?

[Johnny]

3 hours ago, Surfson said:

I would guess Shimada Sukemune.

 

Thank you,Surfson.

[SteveM]

The "sword mountings" refer to the whole scabbard/pommel set up, including any hardware on the scabbard. The whole outfit. 

[Johnny]

1 hour ago, SteveM said:

The "sword mountings" refer to the whole scabbard/pommel set up, including any hardware on the scabbard. The whole outfit. 

Copy.Thank you! I appreciate it. Uploading some pics now.

[Johnny]

[Johnny]

8 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

The signature is 助宗作 - Sukemune saku (made by Sukemune). Looks like there’s a bunch of smiths signing this way: https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/list?id_op=%3D&id=&name_op=starts&name=&kanji_op=%3D&kanji=助宗&province=All&start_era=All&school_nid=All

 

Hard to say much more with the lack of details available. 

Thank you,Shugyosha.Much appreciated!

[Johnny]

[ChrisW]

It looks like someone has taken a buffing wheel to this blade and utterly destroyed its geometry. They even went to the added step of destroying the tsuba by removing all the patina. This is very unfortunate. I am not a good judge of mei, but if there's enough 'meat' on the blade left, it MIGHT be salvageable by a good togishi? But that would be a judgement call of the togishi. This blade looks to have significant age due to the patination of the nakago and how deeply the habaki/tsuba has bit into the nakago over time - signs of an older blade usually. As well as the mekugi-ana having an irregular shape, which points to it being drifted instead of drilled. This also points to it being an older blade. My guess is that this is a Kanei or Kanbun era blade, possibly a little earlier.

The condition is poor, but there's enough left that it could be theoretically saved. That's just my opinion based on pictures though. Only a togishi could properly make that judgement.

[Johnny]

On 2/20/2022 at 7:35 PM, ChrisW said:

It looks like someone has taken a buffing wheel to this blade and utterly destroyed its geometry. They even went to the added step of destroying the tsuba by removing all the patina. This is very unfortunate. I am not a good judge of mei, but if there's enough 'meat' on the blade left, it MIGHT be salvageable by a good togishi? But that would be a judgement call of the togishi. This blade looks to have significant age due to the patination of the nakago and how deeply the habaki/tsuba has bit into the nakago over time - signs of an older blade usually. As well as the mekugi-ana having an irregular shape, which points to it being drifted instead of drilled. This also points to it being an older blade. My guess is that this is a Kanei or Kanbun era blade, possibly a little earlier.

The condition is poor, but there's enough left that it could be theoretically saved. That's just my opinion based on pictures though. Only a togishi could properly make that judgement.

Hi,Chris.Thanks again for all of the information.Are there any Shigoshis in the U.S.?

 Anyone in Los Angeles Ca.area that you would recommend that I could take it to so they could see it in person?

[ROKUJURO]

John,

you are fortunate to have trained polishers in the U.S. I have read about Bob Benson in Hawaii, other members will help you with more names. Looking at the photos of your blade, I am not sure that the condition would justify the considerable costs of a polish.  

A TOGI-SHI (not Shigoshi) is a craftsman for traditional sword-polishing. There are no plural forms of Japanese nouns.