One which may interest you - a research sword.

[Beater]

I thought this sword may be of interest to you guys. A friend and Kendo / Iai practitioner, sent me some photos of a blade in shirasaya, which he is considering having mounted for iaido. He was unable to translate the saya-gaki, being relatively new to sword collecting and asked me for help. He said the tang was unsigned but did have some small and feint kanji. I got on with the immediate task of deciphering the saya-gaki but requested further photos of these feint tang kanji.

 

So the saya clearly showed an early (4th year) Showa date - 1929 and the nagasa of the blade, which equated to approx 28”, which he confirmed matched the blades length.
I figured the remaining brush strokes would likely be the maker’s and appraiser’s names?

 

Unfortunately my friend’s request arrived whilst I am away from home and without books, I knew I’d struggle with the rest, so called upon Guy Powers in USA. All credit for the full translation and following info belongs entirely to Guy.

 

So it seems this sword is an example of a “metal research sword” by Masahide. Unknown (certainly not recorded in Sesko) as a swordsmith, there is nevertheless information and other examples of his work, which praises his knowledge in the area of metallurgical research. His father, however, was a recognised swordsmith. So it is possible he had assistance / guidance in producing swords made with his own “ingredients”?

Here’s the saya-gaki and photos of the nakago showing the feint kanji. 

 

 

What follows is the full translation from Guy and info of another sword by this smith together with background information, which I found fascinating.

 

 

金研正 Metals/Reseach Masa[hide]

正秀 Masahide

二尺三寸五分有元 森重
2-shaku 3-sun 5-bu [71.21 cm; 28.035 in.]

昭和四年春吉日 Showa 4th year [1929] an auspicious day in Spring

森重定 Mori Shigesada.  This is the evaluator.  I'm not 100% confident with定 it might be 道; also his surname might be 森重 Morishige.

 

 金研正秀 Kinkyu Masahide's signature looks like this:

 

Again a very feint, almost scratched mei.

 

I found some references listing his blades as 金研刀

I think the "Kinkyu-to" nomenclature comes from

金 = 金属材料 Metals Material

研 = 研究 Research

刀 = Sword

 

 

The source of the following info is:

https://winners-auct.../productDetail/11207

青山橘(永十郎)正秀は、明治中期の著名刀匠青山永造青龍齊橘光秀の子息で、早くも20代の青年期に日本玉鋼の鍛錬極意を許された刀匠だった。　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ※低温脆性は「将校用軍刀の研究」古来日本刀の弱点参照当時、金属材料では東北帝国大学金属材料研究所が頂点に君臨していた。永十郎正秀は従来の日本刀の鍛錬に飽き足らず、科学的日本刀鍛錬の大家として世界的に名声の高い「本多鋼」の創製者で東北帝大総長・本多光太郎博士の研究に惹かれた。その為、仙台市工業学校に入学。日本鋼の実地と学理を研鑽し、大正12年、東北帝大金属材料研究所に入所した。正秀の卓越した技量は本多博士に認められ、刃物研究部指導員に嘱託された。此処で鉄鋼学の一層の研鑽を積んだ。

 

Aoyama Tachibana (Eijuro) Masahide was the son of Aoyama Eizō Seiryūsai Tachibana Mitsuhide [see below from Sesko], a famous swordsmith in the middle of the Meiji era, and was a swordsmith who was allowed to master the secrets of forging Japanese jade steel [tamahagane] as early as his 20s. Research on officer's military swords” Reference to weaknesses of ancient Japanese swords. At that time, Tohoku Imperial University's Institute for Metals Materials reigned supreme in the field of metal materials. Eijuro Masahide was not satisfied with traditional Japanese sword training, He was drawn to the research of Dr. Kotaro Honda, the president of Tohoku Imperial University and the creator of ``Honda Steel,'' a world-famous master of scientific Japanese sword forging. Therefore, he entered Sendai City Technical School. He studied the practical and academic aspects of Japanese steel and joined the Tohoku Imperial University Institute of Metals and Materials in 1923. Masahide's outstanding skills were recognized by Dr. Honda, and he was appointed as an instructor in the cutlery research department. Here he further honed his skills in steel science.

 

Mention of his father tempted me to check Markus Sesko's Japanese Swordsmiths:

MITSUHIDE (光秀), Meiji (明治, 1868-1912), Miyagi – “Mitsuhide” (光秀), “Aoyama Seiryūsai Tachibana Mitsuhide” (青山青龍斎橘光秀), real name Aoyama Eizō (青山永造), gō Seiryūsai (青龍斎)

 

I have obtained the sword owner’s permission to post here and full credit must be given to Guy.

[Brian]

What an interesting sword, made at a time where swordmaking was really not common. Thanks for sharing!

[Bruce Pennington]

Wonder why the mei of both swords are so faint?

 

Great peak into history, too.  There were several operations dedicated to improving the steels used for swords in those years, like SMR Mantetsu and Yasugi steel.  I like Ohmura's rant about the steadfast classification of "nihonto" and "gendaito" clinging to tamahagane as a requirement.  His point was that all of these steels (except those who used foriegn steel) were Japanese.  They were forged in Japan, by Japanese craftsmen, trying to make a better sword.

[Beater]

I only have a couple of photos of the actual blade. None full length but you get some idea.