Dave G

[Dave G]

  It was very nice to find a forum with such deep knowledge of the subject. Especially as this is presenting a question from a friend. He purchased this knife with only the information that the inscription is of the name of the craftsman. He would love to know all that can be gleaned from it such as it's technical description, where made, when, is it unusual in any way and such.  

[Bugyotsuji]

Aizu Masahiro Saku

Using the old kanji for Ai

会津正弘　作

 

Since the nakago (tang) looks clean, it could be a modern work, but using the old kanji form for Aizu, i.e. 會津

[Brian]

It's called a ken, a religious symbol type of tanto. Does look fairly modern, but looks like a decent tanto.

[Bugyotsuji]

The history of Aizu is interesting, as is the history of these 'ken' that Brian mentions.

 

Genuine examples are comparatively rare, so they tend to be somewhat sought after; for this reason modern smiths will occasionally try their hand at one.