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Shinsas, Masame, And Kunikane


Peter Bleed

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Dear Friends,

Last week was terrific for the NMB! I enjoyed several good discussions, especially those on masame, the interesting (if problematical) niji-mei Kunikane, and discussions of which kinds of sword command value/respect.

In the context of those issues, I had to get out – and look at with new eyes – at some swords.  I hope you will allow me to present a discussion of one of those swords.

This is a 26.5” (67.3cm) katana that I bought at Tampa several years ago. Two other collectors told me about it as I walked into the show. It was mounted in nonregulation gunto mounts. The Katana-mei says Yamashiro Kami Kunikane. This is the signature of the second Kunikane. Frankly this signature looks very good. It is well cut and the penmanship seems pretty good, although the placement might seem challenging, And there is no question that the machi have been moved  up substantially. The sword is still a solid daito. On the other side is an inscription saying Raised/Shortened  (I need help with the first kanji- thank you) Genjiro Kunikane. Genjiro was the third KK and the son of the number 2.This signature, also, looks very well cut altho Genjiro was maybe a bit inconsistent.

I bought the sword and sent it to Japan for a polish and shinsa. After paying a lot of money and waiting a long time. It came back with nice new habaki and shirasaya, but NO PAPER! I was disappointed and asked my agent. He said the shinsa team (I think it was not from the NBTHK) judged it a very good sword but  they would not verify the mei. They could not even informally suggest who made the sword or why it had this interesting inscription.  Given that the blade was fully visible when it arrived I expressed disappointment that it had not been submitted to shinsa before polish. Getting bad news early would have been an advantage.

There is no question that this IS a good sword, but it wasn’t the good sword I was hoping for. I did not wish to peddle it as a fake. So it has languished  in my collection ever since.

This was one of the swords I got out this week. It has a coarse gonome hamon with a couple of flat sections. It is nie rich and there is ample ji-nie.  This may not look like “Kunikane style”, BUT the second KK did make swords this way.  Likewise, if you are expecting masame hada, this sword is a challenge. A fast moving shinsa team would see itame. Looking closely, however,  it is apparent that this sword has a masame grain. It has   some hari-gane and sunagashi, both of which are features of straight grain.

I’m still disappointed with the shinsa results, but this case leads me to an observation and a question.

First, this sword may have presented the shinsa team with a problem that was outside their expertise.  Shinsa teams deal with the categories and smiths that they consider valuable. The Kunikanes  are not a hot topic. I’m sure that if I could show this sword to fellows in Sendai, they could tell me for about it and how/why swords were being shortened in Sendai.

Second, I’m coming to believe that masame hada requires special polish. This sword looks good, but does not advertise its masame. I wonder if I should spend more money and wait some more time getting it polished by a guy who can pull out the grain.

Thanks for listening.

Peter

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Peter,

 

I have an Osuriage katana with a double sayagaki (Honma Junji and Tanobe sensei) to Hosho school and put to shinsa came back as Tegai Kanekiyo who forged in running itame/masame:

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/17414-achieved-collection-gokaden/

 

The masame is invisible if you don’t look along the blade at the right angle, otherwise people will describe it as itame...

 

Edit to add, a new polish won’t bring out the masame if it is as tight as mine...

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Hi Peter!

I too enjoyed our discussions over the past couple of weeks. I am not much of a mei guy, but will check this one out. Some pictures of the blade would be great, I am getting pretty good at spotting masame. As Jean said above, if it's super tight it takes a bit of looking, though it's spectacular and clear on Jean's sword.

 

I am glad you were moved to take the swords out and take another look. Hoping to discuss my friends Kunikane with you when I can get more information from him about it.

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