A special Ichimonji Yoshifusa

[Lewis B]

This one is especially for @Gakusee who seems to have a soft spot for this maker. Standout nijimei Yoshifusa (my guess its Tojiro) 1232-33, given the size and shape of the Mei. Koshirae is rather nice too. 

 

https://www.samurai-...net/SHOP/V-2118.html

[Lexvdjagt]

Beautiful sword. It was sold out almost immediately after being listed by Komaki-San. Truly stunning

[PNSSHOGUN]

It's a bit of a shame we only get a glimpse of the Hamon from the Oshigata in the Juyo Nado Zufu.   

[nulldevice]

3 minutes ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

It's a bit of a shame we only get a glimpse of the Hamon from the Oshigata in the Juyo Nado Zufu.   

Agreed, I would’ve loved to see more photos of the hamon. 

 

Was the price ever listed or was this a “contact us for price” listing?

[Bugyotsuji]

'Contact us for price' listing. Description and photos in Lewis's link above.

[Lewis B]

6 hours ago, Lexvdjagt said:

Beautiful sword. It was sold out almost immediately after being listed by Komaki-San. Truly stunning

No it's still available. As Piers says it's a 'contact us for price' listing. 28M yen, which on the face of it sounds like a reasonable ask given the importance of the smith. 

 

Looking forward to what Michael S (Gakusee) has to say about it. 

[Bugyotsuji]

By the way, many or most Japanese sites mistakenly use the words 'Sold out'. What they mean is 'Sold'. ('Sold out' means there were originally many of a particular type of object for sale, and they are now all gone, i.e. whole stock is 'sold out'.)

 

The problem is that when one person uses a word or phrase incorrectly, not knowing any better, everyone else starts to imitate it; subsequently the mistake becomes 'correct' within the particular Japanese context. (Happens frequently of course in other languages too.) 

[Gakusee]

8 hours ago, Lewis B said:

This one is especially for @Gakusee who seems to have a soft spot for this maker. Standout nijimei Yoshifusa (my guess its Tojiro) 1232-33, given the size and shape of the Mei. Koshirae is rather nice too. 

 

https://www.samurai-...net/SHOP/V-2118.html

 

Hmmmm, you seem to know me better than most . Not sure whether to be flattered, perplexed or perturbed? 

 

Well, in fact, I know this sword and its previous 2-3 owners….. In reality, the sword looks much better in life than these pictures give it credit for. 
 

I am not sure why it has been changing hands so much in the last 4-5 years…. When I first considered it, it was “only” at Hozon level but of course it made it to Juyo….

 

Perhaps one thing to note for those who might consider it is that it is in the early Ichimonji style, more akin to a late KoBizen in nature. It’s more heavily nie rendered and the choji are rudimentary, if I could say that, and the hamon is more sugu-/midare with some wild niesuji activities. 
Anyway, for someone like me who likes KoBizen that will tick the boxes but it is not for everyone or for those who are after a stereotypical Ichimonji…

 

P.S. The koshirae is a recent add-on by the dealer. In fact, it must have been added by the last or penultimate dealer who had it. 

[Lewis B]

 Safe to say you can be flattered. When I researched Yoshifusa on NMB posts your contributions were omnipresent. The level of academic study in this period, school and this smith in particular, are commendable, and I thought (correctly) that that this blade would be of particular interest to you.

Yoshifusa is on the list of the goban-kaji of the Gotoba and that, in and of itself, makes this swordsmith of particular historical interest. As I said, the 28M seems quite reasonable for a signed goban-kaji work. There is a question mark regarding attributions as there were a couple of smiths in the 13th century who signed Yoshifusa according to Sesko, but the transitional features of the blade, and style of the Mei point to the earlier one, Yoshifusa (吉房), Tōjirō (藤次郎) from the Joei era.

[Gakusee]

Well, in fact, my main interest is Bizen den, particularly Koto and Heian, but life is too engrossing to be contributing to the forum unfortunately… My workload has exponentially increased in the last 15-20 years since I have been on the forum and my presence here is now mostly reduced to reading what others write and the occasional post. 

Yoshifusa is a great smith and, for a stereotypical/mature/ top Ichimonji, one can also go to Sukezane and Norifusa. In fact, you get more “bang” for the proverbial “buck” with Norifusa, as Yoshifusa and Sukezane seem very premium-priced. Sometimes the top quality Norifusa are surprisingly cheaper than a Yoshifusa which could not be as good in appearance or preservation. My own Norifusa, when I still owned it, had a very fine jigane and jihada (better than on almost all Ichimonji, including my other ones). The hamon was also very active etc. 

[Hoshi]

This is the kind of sword we should be discussing on this forum. 

 

Great effort @Lewis B lately. You're picking up fast.

 

Your posts are interesting, which is motivating a few of us to contribute more to sharing knowledge. 

 

RE: The Yoshifusa. As @Gakusee said, it is in his early Ko-Bizen style, which is more suited for an advanced collector, perhaps as a second Yoshifusa, to provide an illustration of the migration movement from Ko-Bizen to Ichimonji in the early to middle Kamakura period. It is understandably somewhat arcane, so it can be quite difficult to find a market for such a blade. The price is reasonable given its extreme rarity, but it's far from an easy one for which to find a good home. 

 

In general, the more you deviate from the preferred style, the more your market narrows. For Yoshifusa, this preferred style - and most common style - is the glamorous and complex choji that vary wildly. Although, keep in mind, we are talking ultra-rarities there, with 31 works extant works that can even be exported outside Japan. So, this Yoshifusa in Ko-Bizen style is a rarity amongst rarities, with 4 exportable works in Ko-Bizen deki. Nonetheless, the glamorous Yoshifusa is most sought after, and I think this needs no academic explanation...the flamboyance is simply spectacular, and wildly considered to be the peak of Ichimonji's glamorous style, everyone just "gets it". For other smiths, their rare styles are their preferred styles. Take Nagamitsu, he has less than a handful of blades in the style of his father, but the few that can be found tend to be Kokuho or Jubun and considered to be his supreme masterworks. 

 

Keep up the passion! 

[Lewis B]

Thank you for the kind words @Hoshi. . 

 

Speaking of Ko-Bizen what is the opinion of this early tachi from Sukemura. Not a lot of info on this smith but it is signed and worthy of consideration even if it's seen many polishes in its life. It does appear to have some condition issues with one area on the ura side that is possibly fukure (?).

It was offered for sale over 9 years ago for 12M yen. At 8M yen now, would this be a blade that might be considered favourably priced or could the condition be why it has not found a buyer? Blade is Juyo.

 

https://www.toukenko...&katana_A040715.html

[Gakusee]

10 hours ago, Lewis B said:

Thank you for the kind words @Hoshi. . 

 

Speaking of Ko-Bizen what is the opinion of this early tachi from Sukemura. Not a lot of info on this smith but it is signed and worthy of consideration even if it's seen many polishes in its life. It does appear to have some condition issues with one area on the ura side that is possibly fukure (?).

It was offered for sale over 9 years ago for 12M yen. At 8M yen now, would this be a blade that might be considered favourably priced or could the condition be why it has not found a buyer? Blade is Juyo.

 

https://www.toukenko...&katana_A040715.html

 

Several Ko-Bizen Sukemura are mentioned by the NBTHK to have existed. Token Komachi mentions the same in their description. 
 

Nice blade, which has been with them for several years (3-4?) and has indeed been decreased in price to probably close to cost to them. Note some areas of weakness/ scratches but after all it is more than 800 years old. The Juyo Zufu describes the good nie and nie hataraki and nice remaining koshizori and some utsuri. A worthwhile blade.