sunagashi

[John A Stuart]

Hi All, As we know Mino-den swords that have the typical jihada of itame hada with the masame hada above the shinogi almost always have a masame hada in the yakiba. I think this is identified by sunagashi in the yakiba, even jumping through the tane. Is this true? Just making sure I have it right. John

[Jacques D.]

Hi

 

Not necessarily, you can find sunagashi on blades without masame.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Jacques, Yes. I should explain more. Where there is o-itame or masame in the yakiba the sunagashi seem to be longer, since they follow grain structure. Blades with ko-itame or mokume have shorter patterns of sunagashi, if present at all. Not having seen ayasugi hada much at all,I suspect it might have the longer type of sunagashi. On Mino blade as you look towards the ha in the yakiba there is a tendency for the itame nada to resolve into masame hada. Not all Mino-to however do this. I was thinking that these longer, flowing sunagashi might be one of indicators of Mino-den. John

[Ted Tenold]

John,

 

Not necessarily, but for the most part, it's a logical first consideration until other elements are added into the formula. Look at some blades from the Kaga province and you'll see many examples of long stringy sunagashi. Also some Bizen pieces can exhibit this. The other points of recognition then start becoming the difference between them such as deki, jihada, utsuri (or lack thereof), shinogiji hada, etc. Magoroku, does not have prominent masame in the ha, nor sunagashi, though a kantei point of his work is scant bits of nie in the tani (valleys) of the gunome.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Ted, It was just something that grabbed my attention lately. Although not a definitive kantei point, it sort of made me think it could be one of the little indicators to support an assessment when added to all the other stronger attributes. Another thing I have noted related to this is it seems to me that it is the sue-Seki Mino-to that start to display the masame yakiba with it becoming pronounced in some shinto era blades. Of course this is based on my limited exposure. I find little on this subject in the books. John