Some Decision Help On Waki

[mareo1912]

Hey guys,

 

I found two wakis which I pretty much adore. Yet I cannot decide as I only have money for one. Could you give me some thoughts to help me deciding?

 

https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-kasyu-ju-fujuwara-mitsukunishinto1st-generation

https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-mumei-den-yamashiro-kunitsugu-with-cutting-test

 

Have a great week,

Marco

[Shugyosha]

Hi Marco,

 

Unfortunately we are looking at two different things so it's not an easy comparison, but I'll take a punt - sorry if this is a bit "stream of consciousness":

 

Kaga Mitsu Kuni - This blade comes is signed (a plus point) with Tokubetsu Hozon papers (even better) and so as a stand alone item should be regarded as being of better quality than the Kunitsugu blade which is not capable of achieving higher papers being an unsigned edo period blade. Should you wish to sell it on these factors will enhance its attraction. It is well priced for a Tokuho blade and almost 50% cheaper than the Kunitsugu but on the down side, Kaga blades aren't thought of as overly sexy (but neither are unsigned shinto wakizashi, so it's still winning on this point). There is nothing on the papers to indicate that this is the first generation Mitsukuni (it simply says shinto) and both first and second generations of this smith worked pre-Kanbun though the second generation is closer as the first died in 1644. Aoi may be out with their assessment of the generation - I'm not sure if the first generation smith has any greater merit in terms of ranking than the others. 

 

There are no obvious forging flaws in this blade (again a plus in comparison) but there is an odd mark at about the level where the forward edge of the habaki would sit and so something may have got under the habaki and caused the discolouration. It's more prominent in the picture on the origami but that may just be caused by the differing lights/ methods of picture taking and shouldn't be anything significant given the level of papers achieved but I'd be tempted to inquire further. The hamon reaching up to the shinogi makes it look a bit bling for my taste (I like a balance between hamon and hada) but there are some nice activities in the hamon which will probably be more evident in hand as the scanned picture tends to deaden the detail.

 

Yamashiro kunitsugu - The positives for this sword are that it is mounted with quite an attractive koshirae and that it, on the face of it, has a cutting test. Cutting tests normally sell swords which makes it surprising that this sword hasn't sold sooner as it went through Aoi's auction and has now been moved into their inventory - this rings alarm bells. For me, I would have concerns about the cutting test inscription. If it is genuine (and I believe that most tameshi mei need to be viewed in a skeptical light) it looks like a dog's breakfast because someone has done an awful job of trying to apply or reapply gold colour. Also the wording is odd. Why would a criminal at a testing ground in Edo Japan be wearing a quiver? Why would a sword tester throw one onto the mound to cut if he already had two bodies? Not convincing for me.

 

So my money is on someone having added this inscription to sex-up an otherwise indifferent sword. I know that the tameshi mei is recorded on the origami but I'm not sure of the status of tameshi mei i.e. if a sword has a genuine signature or is a genuine sword, will it be denied papers due to a dodgy test inscription? I would guess that all of these things will enter the head of a would-be buyer when you come to move it on so it may be a hard sell. 

 

Leaving this apart, from the photographs there is not very much to look at in terms of activity (there is more in the other blade) and there are some ware which are also detractors. 

 

I can appreciate that you may want either of these swords to form part of a collection but, individually, they aren't that exciting. Meh.

 

If you are only looking for a sword, for the price of the cutting test wakizashi, you can buy a full length Hizen katana from Raymond Singer at the moment: it's beautifully mounted, has an opinion from a well known Hizento expert as to the smith (one of the best smiths of the shinto era) and was probably a custom blade as it is still 70cm long despite being suriage. Please buy it before I do.

 

Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy what you get.

 

Best,

John

[mareo1912]

Dear John,

 

thank you for your very long and informative statement! You hit many of my thoughts with what you wrote and I am happy to have another opinion on this blades.

 

I already wrote Raymond a message  for one of his blades, just waiting the answer 

 

Best regards,

Marco

[Alex A]

I don't think a sword with a dodgy cutting test will attain Hozen.

[Valric]

Very nice advice, John. Again a testament to the helpfulness of this board. 

[kissakai]

No disrespect to Marco but I'm amazed how often people buy (Marco I'm pleased to say asked first) from eBay then post their find for information

Most times NMB members point them to a better buy on the NMB for sale section

I also had a great Hizen buy from Ray which will go to Japan for a polish and shinsa

At the moment there are loads of swords to suit all tastes for sale NOW

I still regard the NMB as a pretty safe place to buy and most sellers give a small donation to the NMB, just a win win situation

[Ken-Hawaii]

Glad you're looking outside these two blades, Marco. John did a great analysis, & hit some important points square on the head.

 

For resale value alone, katana & tanto are preferable, all other factors being equal. I honestly don't find either of these wakizashi particularly interesting, & after being burned on a cutting test, myself, I would definitely shy away from the Kunitsugu, just on general principles.

 

If I may ask, Marco, why do you find either of these blades worthy of adding to your collection?

[Alex A]

 

 

For resale value alone, katana & tanto are preferable, all other factors being equal. 

 

I'm not referring to the two wakizashi mentioned, but 

 

To buy high quality blades by top notch smiths with TH, wakizashi for some is the only viable option, Katana being around double the price. I would rather try and sell an excellent wak by a top smith, rather than a mediocre Katana for the same value.

 

I actually prefer studying wakizashi (not just because they are cheaper  ), I find Katana to be a bit cumbersome.

 

Obviously if you can get a "great" deal on a katana, go with katana, always depends on whats around at the right time. some good ones on here at the moment, as mentioned.

[Valric]

You need to be very careful with collecting Wakizashi. There are those worth collecting and those that aren't, and most fall into the second category - Darcy has a great post on it. These points aren't necessarily obvious so it's worth a read. Generally speaking, I think that waks in the lower price range (1.5-4k) are overvalued given that they are extremely numerous, especially shinto-era ones. The price on these things are dropping lately when you look at auction results. The market is adjusting to the supply. It's the same with iron tsuba in the lower price range but that's a different topic. In both cases I would be extremely careful about such purchases. 

[vajo]

No disrespect to Marco but I'm amazed how often people buy (Marco I'm pleased to say asked first) from eBay then post their find for information

Most times NMB members point them to a better buy on the NMB for sale section

I also had a great Hizen buy from Ray which will go to Japan for a polish and shinsa

At the moment there are loads of swords to suit all tastes for sale NOW

I still regard the NMB as a pretty safe place to buy and most sellers give a small donation to the NMB, just a win win situation

True words

[mareo1912]

Thank you for all the informative and helpful posts. To my favor on these blades: On the first one I got baited by cutting test and I liked the overall shape, with the second one, my favor for kaga smith comes from a very dear friend that came from a city that historically belonged to Kaga province.

 

Anyway, the blade from Raymond is too big to fit my showcase... damn

[Geraint]

Dear Marco.

 

If you haven't already seen it have a look at this excellent article. http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/articles/Size%20doesnt%20matter.pdf

 

All the best.