Showa-to from Amahide's workshop

[Yukihiro]

From what I have understood, Amahide(天秀), whose civilian name was Fukumoto Hideyoshi (福本秀吉), had a workshop or factory where several gunsmiths were at work so that there is little chance that this blade, although signed with his name, was by his hand.

 

I would say this sword exhibits typical Showa-to characteristics save for the mon which was affixed to its tsuka and the rather elaborate sarute. One of the eight seppa is missing and the saya was rather badly damaged at some point. The Seki stamp is clearly visible, so there is no doubt this is not a gendai-to.

 

I would tend to think the ito is not the WW2 original one but would need the opinion of the more knowledgeable forum members to confirm that. Other than that, I would be interested to know whether the number (?) painted in yellow on the nakago does tally with the numbered parts of the koshirae. My first impression is that it doesn't, so maybe the koshirae is not quite original to the blade.

[francois2605]

From what I understood, the numbers painted on the nakago usually never match the ones on the fittings. 

 

If your sword fits inside the koshirae, it has to be original. Each sword being unique, it's almost impossible to find another koshirae for a given sword.

 

Very nice pictures 

[Yukihiro]

11 minutes ago, francois2605 said:

From what I understood, the numbers painted on the nakago usually never match the ones on the fittings. 

 

If your sword fits inside the koshirae, it has to be original. Each sword being unique, it's almost impossible to find another koshirae for a given sword.

 

Very nice pictures 

The pictures aren't mine: they're the seller's, actually. I shall try to take closer views of the blade when I receive the gunto, though.

[Yukihiro]

Some more information about Fukumoto Amahide's production:

 

Cabowen explained the phrase daisaku daimei : "daisaku means made by a student for the master and daimei means signed with the master's name with his permission by his student. Thus, a daisaku daimei blade is a work made entirely by a student in his master's place...." (https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/8258-assastince-please/#comment-83023)

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Hi Didier,

 

The date is 1941, and the mei is a good match for the one in Slough where he contends it is daimei for Kanemune.  I have another Amahide with a 4 character mei, so Slough may be right.

 

Slough's example                                          An actual

   

 

I see nothing to indicate the ito isn't original, in fact, it shows wear and tear I would consider WWII legit.

 

While the painted number is pretty rough, it very well could be a sloppy "10".  I thought at first it was a "14", but it could be a 10.  I differ with Francois, in that original fittings quite often have matching numbers.  Now, there are plenty, and I mean plenty, of gunto with non-matching numbers.  Even gunto with 2 different painted numbers.  So, those could have been wartime re-fits, or post-war piece-togethers, but the fully complete, original gunto, when found in pristine condition (just see some of IJASWORDS examples) all have matching numbers.

 

The hamon does seem to have the telltale dark peaks that would indicate an oil quench.  But, typical of large seki stamped blades, it is a good looking blade and a good looking gunto.

[Yukihiro]

The mon was identified as Daki Omodaka (抱面高), but I am at a loss as to the family or families it might stand for.

The only information I have found so far is that the Daki Omodaka mon was used by the Mōri clan (毛利氏) that governed over the Chōshū Domain (長州藩) from 1600 to 1871.

[SteveM]

Note that omodaka may also be spelled 沢瀉. Associated families are: 

 

Shiina, Someda/Yanada, Mori, Kinoshita, Asano, Sakai, Horikoshi, Mizuno, Tsuchii, Fukushima, etc...

椎名、梁田、毛利、木下、浅野、酒井、堀越、沢井、水野、土井、福島など

 

 

More information (in Japanese) here at the linked page

https://irohakamon.c...kagedakiomodaka.html

 

[Yukihiro]

Here is a short video showing the blade, which has a nice polish (maybe too nice a polish, from my point of view ) -->

Amahide gunto blade

 

 

From the instances of his work I have been able to see so far, my impression is that Fukumoto Kanemune's gunome is more flamboyant than this one, so maybe Kanemune had nothing to do with this blade after all.

 

 

 

[Yukihiro]

These are the best shots I can get at the moment (no natural light) :

 

 

Quite showato-ish, I suppose...

[vajo]

Nothing wrong with that sword. Nice gunto.

[oli]

is this: https://www.aoijapan...-kore-army-koshirae/ the same Amahide?

 

Regards

Oliver

[dwmc]

24 minutes ago, oli said:

is this: https://www.aoijapan...-kore-army-koshirae/ the same Amahide?

 

Regards

Oliver

Same sword shop...Yes.

 

Dave M.

[Bruce Pennington]

The mei looks the same to me.  Sesko only lists 1 Showa era Amahide, but that doesn't mean there weren't more of them during the war.  

 

Isn't "Ichimongi" one of those honorary titles smiths sometimes gave themselves?  Or a "tip 'o the hat" to the Ichimongi school of swordmaking?

[Yukihiro]

This is for comparison (I should get my copy of Slough's book tomorrow):

 

Ichimonji Amahide Kitae Kore
一文字天秀鍛之

Here is yet another one: https://www.nipponto...swords6/KY332614.htm

 

[mecox]

Didier, have you seen these examples and background:

 

[Yukihiro]

Actually I had, Mal, and I assume the reason why Amahide's production is so well documented is because it was indeed much more complex than meets the eye (literally!). From what I have understood so far, my blade might have been made by Fukumoto Kanemune, Amahide's son-in-law and adopted son, but, as a matter of fact, I find Kanemune's style more flamboyant than the one my sword exhibits, which is, at least from my layman's point of view, of a much more "classical" gunto style.

[Yukihiro]

These are actually the very first pictures of the blade I was able to take in broad daylight (no sunlight, though):

 

 

 

I can't tell whether my Amahide blade is low or medium grade Shôwatô, but it doesn't look too bad in the light of day.

 

The "scratch pattern" on the blade is not visible to the naked eye for the most part, so I suppose the way I took some of the photos must have had something to do with it.

[oli]

36 minutes ago, Yukihiro said:

 

I can't tell whether my Amahide blade is low or medium grade Shôwatô, but it doesn't look too bad in the light of day.

looks like it needs a polish, or?

[Yukihiro]

The blade does have some scratches and stains here and there, but, other than that, the (wartime?) polish looks good to me (as good as an original WW2 polish can possibly be, I mean! ).

 

[Stephen]

3 hours ago, oli said:

looks like it needs a polish, or?

OLI, Why would you have it polished?

 

Waste of time and money IMHO

 

[oli]

8 minutes ago, Stephen said:

OLI, Why would you have it polished?

 

Waste of time and money IMHO

 

Yes i think you are right, sorry

[Stephen]

On 2/5/2024 at 11:27 AM, Yukihiro said:

maybe too nice a polish, from my point of view ) -->

Why do you say that looks fine to me.

[Yukihiro]

The expenditure would by far exceed the intrinsic value of the blade anyway...

[Yukihiro]

8 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Why do you say that looks fine to me.

Because, in the first place, I thought that the polish might have been revamped after WW2, but it turned out that I was wrong.

[Stephen]

12 minutes ago, oli said:

Yes i think you are right, sorry

No need to say sorry it's a learning process. 

 

 

[Yukihiro]

7 minutes ago, Stephen said:

No need to say sorry it's a learning process. 

 

 

My view on the subject is that hoping to improve the polish of Showato blades is a lost cause - to be sure, there are those who improve them visually by polishing the blades mechanically and/or acid etching them, but by so doing they take away some of their historical value. That is the reason why I wanted a gunto blade with a decent polish: gunto blades should be taken as they are and for what they are.

[Stephen]

I quoted Oli not you

 

 

[Yukihiro]

I know ^^

[slayersjoker]

On 2/15/2024 at 10:09 AM, oli said:

is this: https://www.aoijapan...-kore-army-koshirae/ the same Amahide?

 

Regards

Oliver

Hello again everyone. 
Does this look water-quenched or oil-quenched?

Please advise. 
 

Respectfully,

Jun

[Bruce Pennington]

Are you talking about the Aoijapan blade or Didier's blade?

Guys may correct me, but the Aoi blade is described as: 

Jigane :Niedeki suguha with small ashi and Kinsuji work.
Bo-shi is rather long and hamon is komaru.
Hamon :Nie deki suguha based koala well work and kinsuji work.

 

I don't think oil quenched blades have those details.