Yasuoki Of Aoi Art

[takakage]

Hi,

 

Someone cancell something on the nakago.......

 

https://www.aoijapan.com/katanamusashi-fucyu-jyu-shimazaki-yasuoki-meiji-100-year-boshin-1968-feb

[SwordGuyJoe]

Likely a special order blade that the former owner had his name removed. Doesn't happen all the time but it does happen.

[Darcy]

Good that people are noticing that. Heartbreaking that this kind of thing gets wiped out. Happens on koto blades too! Someone in later periods figures it's disfiguring the work and removes it.

[PNSSHOGUN]

It was common for officers to remove their family crests from their swords or anything that would bring perceived shame back to their family/Emperor, I wonder if this is such a case?

[SwordGuyJoe]

I would think that it has more to do with privacy than trying to protect their family name from shame.

[Tanto54]

We often see the name of the owner removed from kanteisho (judgement papers on blades and fittings), the family mon removed from military koshirae (handles & scabbards) and from funadansu (small sea tansu or chests - you may notice that most have a round space in iron fittings on the front door where the mon used to be - if one is still there, it is often a replacement) and other Japanese antiques.  I have always heard and have been told directly by former Japanese owners that the reasons might be different for each type of item and when the name/mon was removed in history.  With military swords, there was, of course, some shame in surrendering your blade, so most family mons were probably removed from military swords for that reason.  With more recent kanteisho, I believe that it is more the privacy issue that Joe mentioned.  With older kanteisho (and hakogaki that have been "defaced") and funadansu and other antiques, I understand that it was often out of shame at having to sell a family belonging to make ends meet in the difficult times after the Mejiishin (Meji Restoration) (perhaps the "privacy" is to avoid shame at giving up a family heirloom).

[Vermithrax16]

I don't want to draw attention to something but I was very close to buying a sword from Aoi when a helpful member here pointed out a nakago defect/erase evidence (not saying they did it, of course not, but was not noted in description) and that closed that sword out to me. I think there can be good reasons for various things to be removed by people in those times, but blew it for me.