New Acquisition Kantei

[mywei]

Hi guys,

 

I've attached some photos of a recent acquisition. Please feel free to kantei!

 

Naginata-naoshi katana

O-suriage mumei

O-kissaki, boshi midarekomi

 

Nagasa 71.3cm

Sori 1.6cm

 

I apologise for the crappy photos by the way.

 

Answer released in 5 days

[Guest Rayhan]

Naoe Shizu?

[Gunome]

I am probably wrong, but I would go on Aoe

[leo]

Yamato Shizu, maybe Mino-Kinju school?

 

Regards, Martin

[Vermithrax16]

Naoe Shizu?

My guess as well but I am about the worst at this sort of thing

[tokashikibob]

Bungo Takada

[tokashikibob]

What's that white blotch on the 3rd pic?  Camera flash?

[Jussi Ekholm]

I am too good at finding the actual swords... I wish my ability for kantei would be as good. But I'm a good sport and keep it secret, unfortunately my initial guess was off.

 

I love the shape of this, moto & saki are very wide, spectacular sword.

[mywei]

Once again - sorry for my bad pics.

Quite a wide range of guesses so far....likely due to my picture quality

 

Here's hopefully some better pictures to take a more educated punt!

[Ray Singer]

Hojoji.

[Guest Rayhan]

Looking at the new shots, Hojoji is a better call than Naoe Shizu

[hxv]

The nakago looks ubu and not that old. My blind guess would be shinshinto or later. May be an utsushi of some type.

 

Hoanh

[mywei]

The nakago looks ubu and not that old. My blind guess would be shinshinto or later. May be an utsushi of some type.

I get where you are coming from. Nakagojiri is kuri jiri, however it is difficult to assess the patina of the metal just from the photo I have provided. Please assume it is o-suriage.

 

Any more kantei guesses? Don't have to be specific -can be just period, or vibes from which gokaden etc?

[CSM101]

Naoe Shizu?

+1

 

Uwe G.

[hxv]

I get where you are coming from. Nakagojiri is kuri jiri, however it is difficult to assess the patina of the metal just from the photo I have provided. Please assume it is o-suriage.

 

Any more kantei guesses? Don't have to be specific -can be just period, or vibes from which gokaden etc?

s

 

Assuming all is period-correct as Matt says, I would guess Nambokucho, may be Hojoji?

 

Hoanh

[Marius]

Honestly, gentlemen. We are attempting kantei here with nothing else but a hint of a shape and out of focus pictures? Matt's only decent pics are not his (hey, that is not a reproach, just a fact) and they do not disclose much. The "kissaki" is just a polisher's work, the original shape was probably devoid of yokote. In Matt's pics you see the hadori not the hamon. In the two pics by the seller you see only parts of the hamon.

 

Please let us not make all this a joke. I know we have limitations, but for goodness sake, let us try to do this fun game (because that is what a kantei game is) based on decent pictures. Otherwise it becomes a caricature.

 

Now, I wait for the flak.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think this is just fun & games more than hardcore serious kantei.

 

I can tell that my initial guess was Sekishū Sadatsuna, which is incorrect.

 

However here is a fun thing that was steering us to our guesses I think, based on gut feeling and some statistical data. It is really easy one and might be too obvious.

[Jean]

I have just been able to upload these pictures because, as every year, I am in vacation/holidays in my countryside house in SW of France (between Cahors and Sarlat). Where

 

Just for fun, I’ll say Soshu tradition, Uda Kunimune (has anyone noticed that when someones mentions UDA, at 99% iis always Kunimune Lol)

[mywei]

I apologise for not meeting your expectations and wasting your time Marius.

While this wasn't meant to be a joke, it was meant to be only a casual fun kantei, as no one else could hold the blade in hand, and I do not have the skill or access to a scanner or good camera.

 

After seeing some recent kantei threads I thought it would be fun to share something similar, but perhaps it was foolish to do so? Nevertheless, consider me properly 'photo-shamed'. I will certainly curb my enthusiasm and refrain from posting similar content in future for fear for upsetting some of our august members here.

 

Thanks to everyone for having a go. The answer is Kashu Sanekage.

 

Ko-uda would have been the closest guess, as also Hokurido. Hojoji was an intelligent choice. It has many similarities as Tajima was just geographically down the coast from Kaga and this is a naginata naoshi.

 

The ooitame hada and whirlpool hadatachi with chikei and jinie has Norishige influence (and Hokurido) but not quite matsukawa. The nie laden hamon with hataraki is Soshu but the gunome ko-midare again is different and doesn't have the indistinct border of Norishige.

 

Anyways it is a heavy beefy blade and great to hold and look at. Tanobe sensei seemed to also have a positive impression of it on his sayagaki.

[Vermithrax16]

I had fun Matt, so don't worry. Thanks for the post!

[Guest Rayhan]

Great time doing this and had fun too!

[Marius]

@Matt

 

No time wasted. You gave me a good opportunity for an occasional rant 

[Brian]

Don't worry Matt, and feel free to post them anytime. The guys had fun. Marius is the "voice of reason" and whilst most of what he says is technically true, we are allowed to have a bit of fun and it always ends up being educational anyways.
We can always strive for better pics, but what we need is MORE of these, not less
Nice sword, enjoy!

[Marius]

Me? A voice of reason? Well, thanks for the compliment Brian, but please look at my signature. It still holds true 

[paulb]

As is known by those who have the misfortune to be cornered by me at various meetings I am a great believer and advocate of kantei as an effective learning tool. While I understand and agree to some extent with Marius' points I think anything that encourages people to take part in such exercises is a benefit.

However to gain more benefit from any such activity it would be far better if rather than just saying "It's x" is saying why you think it is what you do. Say what you can see and how that leads you to the answer you have.

Really all you are doing is logging the process you went through to reach the answer and by doing so you can see if your observations are accurate and your answer holds up.

Just saying it is by x tells anyone trying to learn virtually nothing.

Matt

As Brian says don't be discouraged. As one whose photographic skills have never been the same since losing his kodak instamatic in 1968 I can promise some of us are far worse. and keep posting these when you can.

Kantei rules!!

[mywei]

Thanks guys. Thanks for the feedback - I'll try to take better photos in future (probably with limited success realistically!).

 

Wholeheartedly agree with Paul - good points

[PNSSHOGUN]

You can pick up cheap DSLR cameras with a couple of lenses for peanuts these days on gumtree etc, I've been meaning to get one for ages just to practice getting better photos of my swords.

[general_piffle]

My incorrect guess was Hojoji. But I enjoyed the process. So please feel free to post more fun threads like this. We all learn in different ways. A shoe can be used to push home a nail just as well as a hammer.

[mywei]

I dusted off an old mirrorless digital camera to try to get some better pictures. Nihonto photography is definitely another whole learning curve in itself indeed!

Hopefully these poor attempts give more of an idea of the jihada and black appearing jigane that contributed to the Sanekage attribution