OIL QUENCHED OR ASHI?

[Guest Simon R]

Good evening all,

 

I would much appreciate the benefit of your far greater experience.

 

The blade shown in closeup below is - probably - a slightly pre-war Showa piece and, whilst I had previously thought the pronounced 'pairs of lines' in the hamon to be ashi caused by the application of clay, I now suspect them to be indicative of oil quenching. This suspicion was exacerbated by the recent comments of a member whose opinions I regard very highly (PNSSHOGUN) regarding the unnervingly similar hamon of a SEKI stamped Kai-gunto in another thread. 
 

Thank you in advance for looking at the photos and for any verdicts given, whatever they may be.

 

Best regards,

 

Simon

[ROKUJURO]

Simon,

good photos! The HAMON even seems to shows some NIOI which is the best you can have from an oil-quenched blade! But ASHI are something different; they go towards the HA (see here under ASHI:  https://markussesko.com/2015/05/29/kantei-3-hamon-boshi-1/ ).

Anyhow, this seems to be a nice blade in its field!

[Rivkin]

Gendaito, I think.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Can we please see the Nakago? This certainly does look like a well made Gendaito, the Ashi may have something to do with the type of steel used...?

[ROKUJURO]

No, they are features caused by differential hardening. TSUCHI-OKI (clay application in a certain pattern) and YAKIIRE (quenching in water). GENDAITO are traditionally made blades (TAMAHAGANE and water quenching) as far as I know.

[vajo]

Looks like a "high grade" showato.

Not gendaito.

But overall it looks like a very nice sword!! 

Btw the polish looks damn good and new.

I like it.

[Guest Simon R]

Thank you so much for the responses so far!

 

In answer to John's request I've included a photo of the nakago and mei below. I believe it is Kato Jumyo's work whilst he was still signing "Fujiwara Jumyo" circa 1937-39 (a huge thank here you to Malcolm Cox for his PDF of the Japanese police report on active Seki tosho in December 1937! Also shown is the relevant page from this highly enlightening document with Jumyo's then current mei circled in red).

 

To provide some background, I obtained this sword in beautiful Shin-gunto mounts over 30 years ago. They were of the very highest quality with a thick pierced tsuba, 4 seppa on each side (all with the matching number '2' in Japanese 二), the very best samegawa, a central chūsō in the fuchi, a steel saya, a family mon which had been deliberately filed off and a red/brown field officer's tassel. The copper habaki is decorated with diagonal, crossed grooves and silver foiled.

The original mekugiana is punched from either side and a second was then drilled lower (and thus intersects the first kanji for 'Fuji') to accommodate the wide tsuba and 8 seppa when it was commissioned for military use.

Like an utter moron, I had the blade and habaki remounted in shirasaya and sold the gunto koshirae - something I've since come to deeply regret. (As they always say, hindsight has 20/20 vision.)

 

The signature style is atypical of the later 'Kato Jumyo' but I have seen it carved in the same way on two other occasions - one in an NMB thread of 2014 (link follows) and in an Australian online auction last year. I have paired up my mei with both of these in supplemental photos.

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/13340-fujiwara-jumy%C5%8D-presentation-inscription/

 

My blade has no stamps whatsoever - as in the Australian example - whilst that in the NMB thread had a Sho stamp (an unfortunate surprise for the poor buyer as I recall).

 

Thanks again!

 

Simon

 

PS: For some strange reason the photo order is different to the way I input them - my swords nakago is the last picture.

S

[Guest Simon R]

PPS: Kato Zennosuke (Jumyo) taught the 23rd generation Kanefusa as one of his deshi. Therefore, I believe it would be logical if Kanefusa's decedents to the present day might still incorporate at least some of Jumyo's forging techniques.

So, I was intrigued to come across a website of the current, 26th generation Kanefusa which has a photo of one of his heated blades just before the moment of yaki-ire. The clay pattern seems a little reminiscent of those strange 'paired streaks' in my hamon.

 

I'd be curious to hear what others think...

[Rivkin]

I would not worry about streaks, there are Kamakura period's blades that have them. there were schools that liked very sharp, narrow triangular looking togari.

[PNSSHOGUN]

From the smith and Mei, it would very likely be Gendaito (and a very nice one at that). Unfortunate about the Gunto mounts, the description does sound like the very best quality type made before the Pacific war.

[Guest Simon R]

One more thing to add; that last, meandering and disjointed kanji character for 'MYO' always threw me but, way back in the early 90s,I was in fairly regular correspondence with both Ron Gregory and Richard Fuller. The latter gentleman was kind enough to catalogue my sword in his files and then sent me the entry below which shows the same man signing in sosho script - and lo and behold, the crazy 'MYO' is virtually identical.