Lewis B Posted June 5 Report Share Posted June 5 I've looked everywhere online and I can only find low rez pics of his long swords. Tantos are quite common but of limited use for study. I would like to find some pics showing Hada and hataraki as part of my due diligence into this smith. Darcy had some but those are currently unavailable. If anyone has a link it would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted June 5 Report Share Posted June 5 https://web.archive....yukimitsu/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted June 5 Report Share Posted June 5 https://web.archive....kimitsu-2/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis B Posted June 5 Author Report Share Posted June 5 Thanks Ray, Good detailed descriptions but pics were not available to me. Are you able to access them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuku Posted June 5 Report Share Posted June 5 Quote Tantos are quite common but of limited use for study. I am not sure why you think this. Regardless, you could do worse than starting with Dmitry Pechalov's Sōshū-den Museum page for Yukimitsu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis B Posted June 5 Author Report Share Posted June 5 4 minutes ago, Tsuku said: I am not sure why you think this. Regardless, you could do worse than starting with Dmitry Pechalov's Sōshū-den Museum page for Yukimitsu. Well obviously sugata and boshi characteristics are very different and these are often characteristic for the smith. Thanks for the link. Thats another book I need to acquire, but it's so expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nulldevice Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 Ive got a number of good reference pics in my library but they’re not digital. Let me look at them when I get home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nulldevice Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 @Lewis B I don't have a way to get the high quality photos from my books on here and preserve the resolution. But aside from the link from Lewis above, I have 4 katana references to Yukimitsu that are unique from the 3 in that link. I'll attach the pictures for one of the entries and if you want the rest, just let me know and I can get them to you. In the 4 references I have, 2 of them refer to Itame-hada and the other 2 refer to Konuka-hada with all 4 mentioning ji-nie and 2 of them referencing jifu. Hope this helps a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 I have a photo of one sword from my archives of Darcy's website 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jussi Ekholm Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 Unfortunately I am not aware of single signed tachi by Yukimitsu. It is super common Sōshū problem that signed tachi are extremely rare. There is actually a signed and dated (1271) Yukimitsu tachi but I do believe it is not "the" Yukimitsu the famous one but an earlier smith. Unfortunately I have very little info on this sword. For me the problem in this case is that the reference works are already unsigned to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nulldevice Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 1 hour ago, Jussi Ekholm said: Unfortunately I am not aware of single signed tachi by Yukimitsu. It is super common Sōshū problem that signed tachi are extremely rare. There is actually a signed and dated (1271) Yukimitsu tachi but I do believe it is not "the" Yukimitsu the famous one but an earlier smith. Unfortunately I have very little info on this sword. For me the problem in this case is that the reference works are already unsigned to begin with. I've got 6 references of Yukimitsu work. 2 tanto that are both signed, 4 tachi/katana that are all mumei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivkin Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 I think accepted dated works are all from books (oshigata). Typically 1304-1338 range is being cited. It is not well understood how to interpret Den examples with o kissaki and wide mihaba which might suggest 1350-1360 range: there are no second generation signatures known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brano Posted June 6 Report Share Posted June 6 If it helps, here are HiRes photos of the blade that is Den Soshu Yukimitsu https://eu.zonerama....ihonto/Album/8848611 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis B Posted June 6 Author Report Share Posted June 6 Those images are exactly what I'm looking for , especially the detailed shots under different lighting conditions. I wonder what aspect of the blade moved it into Den territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brano Posted June 7 Report Share Posted June 7 "Den" occurs much more often than many might think First of all, it is necessary to understand what Den actually means This topic has been here several times However, many still perceive it as something negative I hope this article by Robert Benson explaining Tanobe-sensei's interpretation will help Den - Tanobe point of view.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brano Posted June 7 Report Share Posted June 7 Back to this particular blade I bought the blade from a prominent Japanese collector who had it in his custody for over 50 years I know from him that he bought the blade in the late 60's with Tokubetsu Hozon papers and Taima attribute Then I found this blade in Kanto HibiSho and that helped clear up what happened In 1970, Dr.Homma sayagaki wrote Den Yukimitsu His private notes are as follows: normal mihaba and kissaki, high shinogi, noticeable hira-niku. The kitae is an itame that features ji-nie and prominent chikei. The hamon is a nie-laden suguha that is mixed with some notare, ko-midare, ashi, strongly sparkling ara-nie, many hotsure and sunagashi, and kinsuji, which tend to nagare. The bōshi is nie-laden as well, runs out as yakitsume, and displays some nijūba and hakikake. In terms of sugata and hamon, the blade would attribute to a top tier Yamato smith, but because of the so prominent chikei, also Yukimitsu (行光) comes to mind. In case the blade is indeed a Yamato work, there existed a tendency in the past to attribute such works to Taima (当麻), but signed works from this school, e.g., by Kuniyuki (国行), do not show that many hataraki in the jiba as seen here. The blade is certainly a meitō, and I would like to consider my attribution even more carefully at some point in the future In 1971, the blade was presented to Juyo Shinsa and passed Den Yukimitsu Subsequently, in 2004, it was presented to TJ Shinsa and the setsumei states the following: Keijō: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, relatively wide mihaba, high shinogi, due to the ō-suriage a shallow sori, chū-kissaki Kitae: overall excellently forged itame with nagare towards the ha and featuring plenty of ji-nie and much chikei Hamon: ko-nie-laden chū-suguha-chō with with a wide nioiguchi that tends slightly towards a gently undulating notare and that is mixed with gunome, hotsure, nijūba, kinsuji, and plenty of sunagashi Bōshi: sugu with hakikake and running out in yakitsume manner Nakago: ō-suriage, kirijiri, kiri-yasurime, two mekugi-ana, mumei " This blade is ō-suriage mumei and was handed down as a work of Yukimitsu. The kitae is an overall excellently forged itame with nagare towards the ha that features plenty of ji-nie and much chikei that are interwoven with the forging structure. The hamon is a ko-nie-laden chū-suguha-chō with a wide nioiguchi that tends slightly towards a gently undulating notare and that is mixed with a abundance of kinsuji and sunagashi. Thus, we clearly recognize the hand of one of the early Sōshū masters ( Soshu Joko no Saku ) and a direct attribution to Yukimitsu can be considered as appropriate. This masterwork is outstanding among all blades attributed to this smith, particularly when it comes to the quality of its exquisite forging. " It is really important to learn reading comprehension And even more important to have a perfect translation - here the work of Markus Sesko is invaluable Darcy Brockbank had some great posts here on " Den" and also "Soshu Joko no Saku" You can find some here: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkO Posted June 7 Report Share Posted June 7 JT24 - Soshu Yukimitsu JT8 - den Yukimitsu JT20 - den Soshu Yukimitsu JT - den Soshu Yukimitsu JT67 - Soshu Yukimitsu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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