WW2 Gendaito Katana by Ichihara Nagamitsu

[Swords]

Actually I’m looking to buy a Nagamitsu sword 

I searched to see what other opinions about this sword  It has to be a Bizen Nagamitsu

does the Bizen add value making it a better quality?

I know condition is important what’s the value of a Nagamitsu these days 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

[Brian]

Ichihara Nagamitsu was the wartime Gendaito smith, average to good quality wartime swords. https://www.japanese...rdindex.com/naga.htm
Whether he added the Bizen location to his mei or not, doesn't really change anything really. Maybe...just maybe....it indicates one made by him instead of his students, but that isn't 100% foolproof. I guess the longer mei are a bit more sought after. But each sword would be judged on its own merits, quality varies.

[nulldevice]

https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/NAG296

Looks to be this smith. 

 

Signed various mei, some including Bizen, some not. 

 

Ichihara Nagamitsu has a bunch of good information on the smith.

 

This tidbit seems to be important when judging his mei:
"Ichihara Ichiryushi Nagamitsu often carved mei using an unusual style of Kanji for the "naga" character. "Naga" is usually written with three horizontal strokes to the right of the top vertical stroke. On many Ichihara Nagamitsu blades the "naga" Kanji is written with only two horizontal strokes. It is my belief that this is a "trademark" of Ichihara Nagamitsu and an important kantei point in distinquishing his blades from those of other swordsmiths who signed Nagamitsu during this period. However, there are several Nagamitsu blades known signed with a standard "naga" Kanji which may be a variant and from the same forge as the others (see oshigata "T" and "V") and perhaps carved by a student or assistant. Much has yet to be learned about the blades of from the forge of Nagamitsu.

 

Given the number of variations of signatures (mei) found on Nagamitsu blades, combined with the quantity of blades known, it seems unlikely that they are all the work of one lone swordsmith. It is likely that Nagamitsu had a number of students and assistants who also produced blades at his forge and who signed sword blades on his behalf. Therefore each blade must be judged on its own merits and not simply on its signature."

 

Edit: Just saw that Brian posted much of the same information before I did!

[Swords]

Good information guys so if the bizen is added chances are it was signed by him not a student and maybe it’s a better quality sword maybe 🤔 

[nulldevice]

  On 4/24/2024 at 4:25 PM, Swords said:

Good information guys so if the bizen is added chances are it was signed by him not a student and maybe it’s a better quality sword maybe 🤔 

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That's not what I collected at all from the article posted above. 

 

There is one mei example which contains Bizen and is suspected to be a work of a student. Even the 2 vs 3 stroke "naga" kanji could have been a student emulating the work of Ichihara under the master's guidance.

 

The most important part of the article is: "Therefore each blade must be judged on its own merits and not simply on its signature."

 

Nothing else really matters until the quality of the blade is determined and if it reflects that of the master (Ichihara) or one of his students. 

[Swords]

Got it

[David Flynn]

Nijimei are also considered to be by his own hand.

[Ooitame]

Mei + sword potential/condition... Atleast for me, for Showa Nagamitsu the signature is not 100% guaranteed; of course there is much information on this. Which leaves us to the sword. Is there a good condition/potential, arsenal marks, numbers, katakana, koshirae and so on.

 

Generally speaking, most Nagamitsu I have seen are done in a Bizen style.