Yasuhiro/ikkansai Kunimori/Miyaguchi Kunimori

[Nicholas]

Hi all,

 

    I know Yasuhiro was his art name while at the Yasukuni shrine and these swords are far and few between. But my question is, is there any quality difference between the two Kunimori signatures. It’s been stated that the ikkansai Kunimori blades are made by another smith in bundles with western steel and Yasuhiro only signed the blades but what about the ones signed Miyaguchi Kunimori. Are these blades of any better quality?

[Nicholas]

[David Flynn]

You have just opened  a can of worms.  According to Chris Bowen, they are not traditionally made swords.     I believe they are true Nihonto and they have been known to achieve NBTHK Hozon Kaneisho.

[Nicholas]

19 minutes ago, David Flynn said:

You have just opened  a can of worms.  According to Chris Bowen, they are not traditionally made swords.     I believe they are true Nihonto and they have been known to achieve NBTHK Hozon Kaneisho.

Thanks David. I had a feeling this post would ruffle some feathers after doing some research on the subject. I just can’t wrap my head around such an accomplished smith with all his achievements and highly regarded reputation signing a bunch of non traditionally made bundle blades someone else made. Sounds crazy, and I think it’s giving these swords a bad reputation. 
      I can’t help but to wonder what the reasoning was behind the two signatures. The Ikkansai signed blades usually found in army type 98 koshirae and the Miyaguchi signed blades usually in navy koshirae.

[sbf]

One of these in kaigunto mounts just sold on ebay.

[Nicholas]

1 hour ago, sbf said:

One of these in kaigunto mounts just sold on ebay.

That’s what made me think about this. I have a ikkansai Kunimori sword. I seen the one on eBay which from the limited pictures looked like a decent sword and it got me thinking.