For sale: Shinsakuto by Sato Shigetoshi

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Hello folks,

 

I'm posting this on behalf of a dear friend who is based in the UK. You can find all of the relevant details in the attached images. Sato is an interesting smith, a bit of a maverick renowned for making his own tamahagane with a focus on practically effective swords, with an interesting lineage stretching back to the Shitahara school.

 

Price: 5000 GBP (free shipping or collection in UK; otherwise shipping charged at cost)

 

You may contact John Evans directly with interest (info@battodo-fudokan.co.uk) or if you have immediate questions I would be happy to assist you as well. I can provide higher resolution versions of the attachments if requested.

 

Below is a bit more info about the smith and this particular sword, and you can find measurements and other information in the attachments.

 

Thanks!

 

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Sato Shigetoshi was born in 1945 and by his mid 30s built a business selling teaching materials to schools in Hachioji City. This involved purchasing bladed tools and in his quest to better assess their quality he approached the swordsmith and knife maker Shigeyoshi Iwasaki. His interest deepened and soon he was training with him. Iwasaki was particularly focused on degrees and kinds of sharpness and was renowned for the razor blades he made. As Sato's skill grew Iwasaki encouraged him to learn about sword smithing and recommended he do so from Kanemasa Ohno of Seki City, Gifu Prefecture.

 

Sato began training with him in 1988. Ohno was particularly insistent that Sato should strive to produce swords that would not bend - this was one reason he espoused the shihozume method. In 1992, Sato became one of the first swordsmiths to pass the new testing process for certification by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. In the same year, he opened his forge in the hills near Hachioji. Sato has made extensive research into the history of the local Shitahara school. Smiths who had gathered near Hachioji Castle to supply the needs of this Hojo clan fortress were displaced when it was first captured by Hideyoshi in June 1590 and then demolished on the orders of leyasu. Fortuitously leyasu took over their patronage and they became direct retainers of the Tokugawa family and were permanently established in the Shitahara district.

 

Many of the smiths here took the name shige (Terushige, Hiroshige, Yasushige). They all used the satetsu from the local Asakawa river. Sato studied some of the blades made by those smiths and experimented with Asakawa satetsu to try to recreate the swords they made. Sato is now one of 5 contemporary smiths who regularly produce their own tamahagane from local sources. Sato received the Shige name from his first teacher wasaki in Nigata perhaps in recognition of his passion for the Shitahara school. His quest is to create blades to match those of that tradition, combining the sharpness stressed by Iwasaki and the unbending strength demanded by Ohno Sato.

 

Note: Although this blade was commissioned in October 2019 and completed in October 2020, due to restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic, addition of a bohi and changes to the koshirae, it was finally received in October 2023. It was tested for balance and cutting ability by John Evans, myself, and another senior Battodo practitioner one afternoon in Japan but is otherwise unused and as a result, in excellent condition.

 

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Bump for the weekend. 

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A bump for the week