Yanone

[danjo]

Hi!

 

I'm stumbling in here with the hope to find some information about yanone/yajiri. I've searched the board and saw several posts dealing with the subject in which members outed themselves as collectors. The reason is I've recently bought two togari ya from an ebay seller who is well known here (in fact I came across the board while checking his reputation) and the chance of those yanone being fake is substantial. For any tips or information how to assess yanone, pricing, book titles whatever, I'd be very grateful. One remark, even if the yanone are not fake they are most definitely low quality (blunt edges, bad surface), so I won't be able to check the hamon if I'm not mistaken.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Florian H

[Brian]

The only book in English that I know of that covers them is Japanese Spears or the earlier volume Japanese Polearms by Knutsen.

Bear in mind that many (most?) yanone/yajiri don't have a hamon. They may not be quenched, or entirely hardened. Some do show hamon and hada, but those are not in the majority.

They are a great collecting field though. Perhaps some pics of yours?

I am not aware of fakes in huge quantities. Many of the original ones I have are not very sharp at all, and rely on the point for penetration. There are also so many with chisel points or blunt points....any number of variations. You can usually tell the originals by their convincing patina. Could be faked..but at an average of $75 up for them, hardly worth it. yes..fakes do exist, but usually of the more expensive variations.

Btw..wouldn't mind a link to someone's reputation (feedback?) that mentions the NMB

 

Brian

 

ETA - Here is some nice eye-candy for you: http://www.arco-iris.com/George/yanone.htm

[danjo]

The only book in English that I know of that covers them is Japanese Spears or the earlier volume Japanese Polearms by Knutsen.

Thanks! Will see if I can find it.

Bear in mind that many (most?) yanone/yajiri don't have a hamon. They may not be quenched, or entirely hardened. Some do show hamon and hada, but those are not in the majority.

Thought so. http://www.ncjsc.org/gloss_yanone.htm shows a sharpened togari ya and the willow leafs are also said to feature hamon but as you said, there won't be too many.

They are a great collecting field though. Perhaps some pics of yours?

The yanone are still on their way, I will gladly post some pics as soon as they arrive.

I am not aware of fakes in huge quantities. Many of the original ones I have are not very sharp at all, and rely on the point for penetration. There are also so many with chisel points or blunt points....any number of variations. You can usually tell the originals by their convincing patina. Could be faked..but at an average of $75 up for them, hardly worth it. yes..fakes do exist, but usually of the more expensive variations.

Well, judging the patina will be the hard part for me. However this site sparked my interest and now I ordered some of the books about Japanese swords listed here and elsewhere. Maybe they can be of help by giving me some education. First, I also thought that in this category fakes shouldn't be all too common, I hope that's true. However, I'd like to get my hands on other yanone, too, watakushi karimata and yanagiba but this will be much more expensive and then I have to make sure it's he real deal. Those two yanone I won for $45+shipping.

 

Btw..wouldn't mind a link to someone's reputation (feedback?) that mentions the NMB

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I found information on this site about the seller (daimyou54). Quite informative.

 

ETA - Here is some nice eye-candy for you: http://www.arco-iris.com/George/yanone.htm

Ah, thanks. This must have been the source of information for Paul Chen and his replicas (which are said to be of good quality for the money asked). Unfortunately he doesn't manufacture lighter warheads, which I'm interested in right now.

 

Cheers

Florian

 

PS: won't overuse the quote feature anymore

[IanB]

Brian, You obviously lead a sheltered life. Fake yanone abound in the UK. Most are crude and many make a fatal mistake when it comes to the finish. They fall down in the junction between the head proper and the tang. Many or even most real yanone have a concave collar at this point, well finished and polished. Many of the fakes I see have this region parallel, where the forger left the original round bar he forged the blade from untouched. Another feature is the tang. Again the real heads have this well finished, with yasuri and often a mei in tiny katakana.

The Royal Armouries' collection has a couple of interesting hirane with piercings. The heads are cast iron with a tang of thick iron wire. They must have inserted the wire into the sand mould before pouring. These are of considerable age and probably date to the Meiji period when many tourists were not too discerning.

 

Ian Bottomley