Jifu

[Muki]

Can anyone please post some photographs of jifu on a blade?

[Wickstrom]

http://www.nihonto.ca/sadazane/

[Muki]

To be more specific I am trying to understand some of the differences between the appearance of hitatsura and jifu (spotted steel). My eye and the brain its connected to are not nearly keen enough to see all the differences in blades and then put a name to what I am seeing. Please be patient and dont flame me I am still learning!

[Guido]

The best I can explain it: Jifu or Jifu-Utsuri is a roundish, dark, Nie-based Utsuri that looks like someone pressed his wet fingertips into the Jihada.

[Muki]

Would those "finger prints" be similar to these in the photo? There are several all over the blade but most are fairly linear running the entire length of the blade. Each of the "spots" appears to have a corresponding "spot" or area on the opposite side of the blade.

 

There are several visible in this photo as well. One of the spots can be see in the very center of the photograph above the ridgeline of the blade.

 

I am sure that those of you who are purists are probably cringing at my lack of use of the proper terms. Please help me out and let me know where I can improve.

 

Thanks

[paulb]

Hi

The images posted are not Jifu (at least not what I understand Jifu to be) As Guido mentioned earlier Jifu are dark patches which appear in the jigane. Most commonly seen in Koto blades from Ko-Bizen, Aoe and I am sure otherrelated schools. it is avery subtle effect. Because of this it is not easy to photograph or reproduce.

[Lee Bray]

That looks like tobiyaki in the pictures to me.

[Eric H]

Jifu on a Katana - Aoe 68.26 cm - late Kamakura

 

Eric

[Muki]

There are clear crystalized particles within all the "spots" if that helps. Is it a bad thing to have tobayaki and devalue a blade? There are quite a few throughout the blade length on both sides which are clearly visible. Some more can be seen in this photo.

 

The spots which appear on the blade are spaced apart 5-7cm apart almost for the entire length of the blade, all in all quite uniform in spacing.

[paulb]

Tobiyaki are a feature not a fault or a bad thing and are a characterisitc of particular schools. I agree with Lee that what you have look a lot more like tobiyaki than jifu although I am not altogether sure. Do you have any images of the whole blade? determining the age might well point you in the right direction regarding what you are seeing. Some features are specific to koto blades others only appear in shinto or later work. First impression based on what I can see so far would be a shinto or shin-shinto blade rather than koto.

regards

[Muki]

I do not have a great deal of sword history unfortunately. I do know that the sword was originally registered 28 Showa and carries a fairly low number. The family that registered the sword at that time owned it until recently and they believe the smith was Tametsugu. There are wooden identifying tags they had tied to the silk bag made of wood with Tametsugu written on in calligraphy and the family seal is imprinted in the wood on the backside of the tags too. However, the original paperwork was lost and it was resubmitted in the last year to the NBHTK. The loss of this paperwork is written on the official paperwork as well and verifies the original registration date. It was awarded Hozen Token status and as it is mumei it was determined by them to be a Shimada blade. Last monday i was looking at the blade and a judge from the NBHTK was next to me looking at it and remarked to the owner that he also thought it appeared as a Shimada but he thought it was potentially older but didnt elaborate. The nagasa is 71.5cm.

[Eric H]

jifu, which looks like dark thumbprints

is it a bad thing to have tobayaki and devalue a blade? There are quite a few throughout the blade length on both sides which are clearly visible. Some more can be seen in this photo.

Eyes wide shut ...have a look at my pictures, in the first pic 4 jifu are clearly visible, what do you want more?

 

Eric

[Muki]

I thank you for the photos Eric, they answer exactly what I wanted to know about jifu. I had started the post which appeared AFTER your post but BEFORE you had posted your photos. I didnt see your photos at that time.

[Eric H]

OK, Sorry!

 

Eric

[Grey Doffin]

Muki, if that's your name,

Tobiyaki are isolated hardened spots above the hamon, part of the hamon actually. Placed there on purpose by the sword smith and not considered a defect. Muneyaki, isolated spots on the mune, can be a sign of retempering but also are expected with a few schools of sword making.

Grey

[cabowen]

Tobiyaki are not always present by design-sometimes clay will be scraped off or fall off the blade during yaki-ire and result in unintended tobiyaki.

 

Muneyaki can take different forms, from a few isolated islands along the mune to full hardening the entire length of the blade along the mune.

 

Read Nakahara's comments on jifu for an interesting alternative take....

[nagamaki - Franco]

Tobiyaki are a feature not a fault or a bad thing

 

Yamanaka, doesn't seem to hold Tobiyaki with much regard in his writings, because, if memory serves, its due to the lack of control necessary to create it, unlike with Yubashiri. And, as Chris has mentioned, Tobiyaki can be a result of clay flaking off at the time of quenching, which, if unintended, should be considered as poor lack of control.

[reinhard]

Eric, it's difficult to tell by your pictures, but what you are presenting looks exactly like sumigane, which is typical for some of the Aoe work. It looks like plain, dark spots distributed here and there.

Jifu(-utsuri) is not plain and is evenly distributed all over the blade. (see also "The connaisseur's book..." by Nagayama Kokan, p.86/87). It is most often seen on very old blades like the ones from Ko-Hoki, Ko-Bizen and some others. It looks different.

 

In general: Phenomenons like these (yubashiri, tobiyaki and all sorts of utsuri in particular) need to be studied in hand. Most pics are just confusing and no help at all; some of them are even cementing errors.

 

reinhard

[Lee Bray]

Tobiyaki are not always present by design-sometimes clay will be scraped off or fall off the blade during yaki-ire and result in unintended tobiyaki.

 

Whilst you're correct, 'Muki' states that the spots on his blade are regular and have a corresponding mark on the opposite side of the blade. This, to me, sounds controlled and intended.

The 'Shigetaka' blade that I started a thread on here has very similar markings, two spots together like a vampire bite, regularly spaced down the blade and these seem to be controlled.

I have a naginata with choji gunome hamon that has one tobiyaki on the entire blade in between two choji peaks. That looks like a bit of clay came off.

 

Just pointing this out so Muki can decide whether his are intentional or not.

[cabowen]

it is usually fairly obvious when a "tobi yaki" is by design or accident......The blade under discussion here clearly shows tobi yaki in an intentional pattern, thus not by mistake or accident....I was simply making the point that tobiyaki are not always intentional.....

[Guido]

Eric, it's difficult to tell by your pictures, but what you are presenting looks exactly like sumigane, which is typical for some of the Aoe work. It looks like plain, dark spots distributed here and there.

You are quite right. I should know, since the sword shown by Eric was in my collection for quite a few years (I sold it a couple of months ago to a Chinese collector).

[Eric H]

Reinhard and Guido are correct... I go 3 steps back...Sorry for wrong information. BTW Guido's sword was at the Macao exposition...its nakago

Eric

[Jean]

I sold it a couple of months ago to a Chinese collector

 

Guido, I am glad you are able now to pay for your daughter's study, that's very unselfish of you to have gone to such extent

[reinhard]

Guido, I am glad you are able now to pay for your daughter's study, that's very unselfish of you to have gone to such extent

 

Aren't we all? Guido, the family-man.

 

reinhard

[paulb]

As a reversal to this thinking, I am now at the point of looking to my over-qualified offspring to start earning the fortunes their higher education promised so they can buy their poor old father the blades he might of purchased were he not funding their education!

I think I may have a very very long wait

[Jim P]

Hi guys Run across this the other day good photo of Tobiyaki, (http://www.sho-shin.com/hase.htm ) does Yubashiri look similar?do

Yubashiri connect to the hamon like in this pic.(http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/sword14.html) is that the difference between them ? had a look at ( viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4791&p=38059&hilit=Yubashiri#p38059) in this looks like Tobiyaki, is light in color but in the shoshin its dark which one is correct ? thanks

[Guido]

Guido, the family-man.

Right. And at least I don't suffer from Nicolas Cage's hair loss problem ... ... but he's definately the better actor ... :D

[Stephen]

but he's definately the better actor

I highly doubt that

[Eric H]

JIFU - small whitish grain shapes like letters c,o,s, in the surface of Bizen blades (Hawley)

JIFU - Black speckling resembling utsuri in the ji (AFU)

 

SUMI-HADA - smooth blakish patches on the surface of Bitchu blades (Hawley)

SUMI-HADA - dark but clearly bright metal surface (TB)

 

Gentlemen,

The subject of jifu is not easy to grasp, in the diashow „Sadazane“ is nothing to see but a single smooth blakish patch. Having nothing found in my internet library, never seen a description of jifu or jifu utsuri, nor an oshigata (exeption Guido‘s sword). I started therefore a search in the Token Bijutsu Vol. 1 to 20. Here are some examples how jifu is described there and finally also one oshigata displaying jifu-utsuri.

 

No.8 - Kagehide - ...and contains midare-utsuri together with jifu seen in some places.

No.14 - Sanekage - ...and contain chikei and jifu

No.15 - Echizen Shimosaka - ...some jifu in sumi-hada gokoro

No.16 - Naminohira Yasuyuki - ...and contains jifu in the whitish steel

No.17 - Yasutsuna - ...and contains an utsuri of jifu type

No.19 - Higo Daijo Sadakuni - ...embodies jifu or dark shadowlike spots in the ji

No.20 - Unsho - ...the kitae in itame-hada mixed with mokume contains jifu-utsuri. (oshigata)- for better view click download

PS - in the other oshigatas the „jifu“ is not displayed

 

Eric

[Guido]

Unji3.jpg, left part, shows the kind of Jifu I had in mind when I described it as "wet fingerprints", and is IMO as textbook as it gets.