Masatsugu (Hawley MAS1101) information.

[Shuko]

Does anyone have any details on Masatsugu - Bingo Province 1503 ?  Information or a link to him would be appreciated.

 

He is listed in Hawley's under MAS1101 as Bishu Mihara ju Masatsugu saku & as Bingo Kuni Mihara ju Kai Masatsugu. Not listed in the Swordsmith Index. I don't have any books that list him and a few online searches in English have failed to enlighten me about this smith.

 

Thanks

[Geraint]

Dear Clive.

 

Not a great deal to add but I am interested to see what comes of your request as I have a wakizashi signed Bingo no ju Masatsugu.  It has NTHK papers which clearly attribute it to Mihara Masatsugu but make no mention of Kai, I will attach a picture of the nakago for reference.

 

All the best.

 

[mywei]

Signed Bishu ju Masatsugu (no papers)  http://sinogi.dee.cc...u-w31886/w31886.html

 

Signed Masatsugu (Fujishiro papers to Bingo Mihara but Nbthk not as sure) https://www.e-sword....1110_3012syousai.htm

[Geraint]

Matt, thanks for those, it all adds to the picture.  Listed here, http://www.sho-shin.com/contents.htm  Masatsugu is the earliest in the Sue Mihara section but not listed in the Kai Mihara section.  I wonder if there are two smiths or perhaps Hawley got this one mixed up a little?

 

This site suggests that Kai Mihara is used to cover Mihara smiths in the Sue Koto period so perhaps that's the answer and Masatsugu working in the early part of the period was the first to use the name?

http://www.ricecrack..._wak_kai_mihara.html

 

All the best.

[Shuko]

Still researching, see this link:

 

http://www.nihontocr.../Mihara_Nihonto.html

 

Will do some photos of my ko-wakizashi plus the mei. If this blade is MAS1101 then it seems to be just after the Kai Mihara period. 

[Shuko]

Only a few pictures worked. Need to try again later.

[ROKUJURO]

Clive,

to make helping easier, it is a good idea to show blade photos tip-upwards, especially those of the NAKAGO.

Nice blade, by the way, I like that SUGATA!

[Shuko]

  On 7/23/2023 at 8:54 AM, ROKUJURO said:

Clive,

to make helping easier, it is a good idea to show blade photos tip-upwards, especially those of the NAKAGO.

Nice blade, by the way, I like that SUGATA!

Expand  

Ok, I will redo the phone pics as most were too dark. I have a nice camera but need to buy a new connector to transfer photos from it to my pc.

 

I was told the mei reads:  三原住正次 (Mihara ju Masatsugu)

[Shuko]

I am losing the Mihara School plot, does anyone have a copy of 

Japanese Swordsmith Groups, by W.M. Hawley

http://www.wmhawley.com/products/books/images/groups_1.jpg

http://www.wmhawley.com/images/cleardot.gif

Major schools with their locations, famous smiths and time periods. Large fold-out map from wall chart #24 included. 12 pages.

 

so you could see what Hawley says about the Mihara School and advise me.

 

So far it seems that the Mihara School started in the early Muromachi Period with Ko Mihara before 1394, then Chu Mihara from 1350 - 1450, then Sue Mihara from 1350 - 1573. There seems to be conflict with the start of the Sue Mihara as some reference it from 1500 to 1573. Kai Mihara seems to refer to the whole school. 

Any advice appreciated.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I do think Kai-Mihara is a specific sub-group of Mihara school that emerged during late Muromachi period. I believe Kai-Mihara smiths worked in area around modern day Kaigahara (貝ヶ原), Kinashi (木梨) and north Onomichi city (尾道市). There are specific smiths who are often listed as Kai-Mihara smiths.

[Shuko]

Jussi, thanks for the information. More details are found at: http://sho-shin.com/sanyo16.htm   Kai Mihara (貝三原) was founded in 1455 by Masakiyo and it continued to at least 1573.

Other informal bits on the internet say that Kai Mihara was a very broad group and perhaps covered the largest number of Mihara smiths. It seems that Masatsugu MAS1101 was in the Kai Mihara group. 

 

Markus Sesko also mentions there was a Kinashi -Mihara (木梨三原) but there is very little information that I can find on them.

[JAMJ]

Did any of the Ko- Mihara smiths sign Masa with the "heart" kanji (like how Muramasa signed)?  I have a very tired katana that is signed Masamitsu and was wondering if it might be from this school/era.  It is so badly out of polish that the features are hard to make.

Also, it might be an ato-mei by the suriage smith.

[JAMJ]

And apologies that's not addressing your question. It's interest popped in my mind when you all were discussing this school.

Any insight would be appreciated.