Barn Find

[Noah]

  On 2/22/2023 at 5:59 AM, Stephen said:

Noah

Did your grandfather tell you anything about it. was it presented to him or just something he selected at randomly?

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My great grandfather was stationed in Japan during ww2 and he brought it back with him. My grandfather and my great grandfather were not close and didn’t talk much so no additional information was given to him before my great grandfather passed away.

[Bryce]

Congratulations Noah,

It looks 100% right. Even has a Gassan habaki. I would love to see some better photos when you have time. Have a look over at the Gassan School thread as David suggested and see if you can make out what sort of hada it has.

Cheers,

Bryce

[PNSSHOGUN]

Do we have the translation of the Sayagaki?

[Stephen]

  On 2/22/2023 at 7:29 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

Do we have the translation of the Sayagaki?

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My guess is Ōsaka → 西城区南海通

By Steve M

[Brian]

Sending that email may be one of the luckiest things you have done.
Note, the sword needs papers before we can be sure the signature is legit. But I think everyone including myself has a good feeling about this one. I bet the private offers are already looking good.
Usually, polishing and restoration are something to reconsider. But given the importance of this one...you really need to see if you can afford to have it fully restored. Maybe evaluated at shinsa first. Use one of the upcoming US shows for that.
Then think carefully how to proceed. It would be a shame to leave it like that slowly deteriorating.
Congrats. Wish it were me :-)

[David Flynn]

Before even considering it for restoration,  The Rust in the Monouchi  needs to be checked, to make sure it's not too deep.

[lonely panet]

i would get the polish done,  i could live with the pitting.

 

i had a kotani yasunori once,  i sold it becasue i was told pits would never polish out.  regret the following sale.

 

but note the money,  it helped pay for my wife knee operation

[Gimmick]

It looks a bit gimei to me. But I'm in a good mood, so I'll give you 100 USD for it.

 

All kidding aside, those grandfathers had some good stuff stashed away! If it is what people think it is, it seems to be worth 10x what the nihonto that my grandfather brought back (from possibly Saigon) is worth.

 

By the way, I am not versed in nihonto but I am versed in Buddhism, and the claw like thing you see on the blade is called a vajra (Tibetan: dorje, Japanese: kongo), which is a Vedic/Buddhist symbol: Vajra - Wikipedia

[Guest Simon R]

  On 2/22/2023 at 2:56 AM, Noah said:

From what I have heard, I will definitely not sell it and keep it in the family but could anyone give me an estimate on what it’s worth

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Well done Noah, on deciding to keep your precious family heirloom and not sell it for a quick profit as some might do!

Such a treasure deserved to be discovered by someone like you. 👍

[Rivkin]

Congratulations also to those who saw the potential from just the first photo... Was it the habaki? In any case it was impressive.

[Franco]

Hello Noah,

 

Suggestions, 

 

Try to find and get a hold of the following book. 

 

Japanese Master Swordsmiths: The Gassan Tradition Paperback – June 1, 1989

by Morihiro Ogawa (Author)

 

 

Take your time and enjoy the process, find, research, verify, restore. 

 

When in doubt, ask.

 

 

Regards,

 

[Bruce Pennington]

I would also appreciate a clear shot of the nagako (tang) showing the kao at the bottom, please.

[Bryce]

Small correction to Nobody's translation. Looks like Showa 12 so 1937 not 36.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

I love this story so much.  

[Nobody]

  On 2/22/2023 at 8:44 PM, Bryce said:

Small correction to Nobody's translation. Looks like Showa 12 so 1937 not 36.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

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You are right. 👍

[vajo]

The barns in the US are really cool. Such a treasure sword you will never find in a barn in Germany.

Is it Feb 11 1937?

 

[Michael 67]

Chris, 

My first nihonto was Tairyusai Sokan, August 1865

from an umbrella stand from a house flea market for €425. 

Sometimes things like this also happen in Germany. 

[Stephen]

It's too much to ask but could we see the barn and location found.

Doing a article on important swords found. It would be great to include. 

Thanks 

[Bruce Pennington]

Also, not to detract from Noah's discussion (and Brian can move this to the Gassan thread, if appropriate) but I was comparing Noah's blade to another found by @Stephen for my kakihan files and the inscriptions on both sides are the same, even the date of February 11 1937, yet they are clearly different blades!  The other one is posted HERE and is fully polished, shiny habaki, posted back in 2016!

 

I seriously doubt Sadakatsu could make 2 blades on the same day (Ok, I know it took many days to make a blade).  Why would they both be named the same name for the same family with the same date?  Is it possible the family commissioning these blades wanted 2 (or more) for gifts?

[Stephen]

Nothing more than a day set aside for doing mei. Could have more done that day too....dont mean im right just a thought.

[rematron]

These two photos side by side make it look like separated daisho but that's probably just a photo size illusion.

 

[Brian]

I don't see why the family wouldn't have had more than one commissioned at the same time. Maybe gifts for people, or 2 family members. They could have been made concurrently. I think a faker would have changed the mei.
Worth researching. For me, it would be a definite shinsa candidate, and a full restoration if ok.

[Jacques]

I would like to see a high resolution picture of the mei (Gassan Sadakatsu) of this sword  

[PNSSHOGUN]

There are other instances of Sadakatsu making multiple swords within a commission, such as swords made for the occasion of the birth of the crown prince in 1936.

[Mark S.]

For all the discussion of gimei based on a stroke here or there, two really great photos of both these mei side by side would be enlightening.  Both signed by the same hand on same day… identical?  Just for discussion sake…

[Bruce Pennington]

Just to be clear, I don't think Noah's sword is gimei.  I was just puzzled by the same inscription, same date, on 2 swords.  But my question about that was answered.  Thanks guys!

[Okan]

[C0D]

Congratulations on the great find, i see nothing in the signature that makes me think it might be gimei. 
About the date on the swords, we shouldn't take the date inscribed on the sword as the actual day it was made, many times the date inscribed might represent something specific, only the year should be taken in consideration. A good example of that is how many Bizen swords were dated "August", they either work only one month or most likely because the number "8" is considered the luckiest number.
So in this case maybe that date might represent something for the family (i'm having a mamori tanto made with the date of birth of my son inscribed) or just they were made for several members of the family so none of them can say it got the first one.

Regarding the family you might try investigate on this https://www.kimuraya-sohonten.co.jp/ayumi, they're one of the first baker society of Japan and presented their products to the Emperor, so there's a good chance these blades used to belong to them.

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 2/26/2023 at 6:46 AM, C0D said:

A good example of that is how many Bizen swords were dated "August",

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Good point.  Mantetsu are the same with using "Spring" on the massive majority of their blades.

[Bruce Pennington]

@Okan - a third example?