Bishu ju Yoshiharu - unknown sword smith from Owari

[Marius]

A sword I used to own a decade ago will be returning to me this week, hooray 

 

It is a long hirazukuri wakizashi (nagasa 52cm) with hitatsura hamon. Judging by the sugata and nakago it is late koto and a rather ordinary sword.

The signature is "Bishu ju Yoshiharu" (尾州住吉治). 

 

I haven't found this smith from the Owari province, neither in Marcus Sesko's Index, nor in the Nihonto Club Index, nor anywhere on the net. 

 

Here are pictures of this sword (taken by Kojima sensei) on my old and long defunct blog:

 

http://gomabashi.blogspot.com/2010/03/hitatsura-wakizashi-in-sashikomi-polish.html

 

 

Any information on this obscure smith will be highly appreciated. Perhaps there is something to be found in Hawley's? (I no longer have this resource)

[SteveM]

Probably 吉治 rather than 吉春

[Marius]

Thank you Steve I have corrected the Kanji accordingly. Apologies.

[Bazza]

Ahhhhh, plaudits to Steve.  I've been studying this and was going to come here and say I absolutely do not see HARU 春 in the nakago character.  Agreed for 治. However, Nihonto club does not give a YOSHIHARU 吉治 and neither does google.  I tried an amateur sleuth stunt by switching my google search to Japanese and put in 尾州住吉治, but that drew a blank too.  Back to Square 1 Marius!!

 

Bestests,

BaZZa.

 

EDIT:  It might be a very ordinary sword, but I like it.

[Marius]

Thanks for the effort, BaZZa Much obliged

[Marius]

Someone with Hawley's? Please?

[george trotter]

The only Yoshiharu as you give it in Hawley is Mino 1945 YOS 64 (brown 1981 ed.).

Again, the only smith of that name given in NIHONTO MEIKAN is on p.1157 and it is Showa era smith of Yamagata...name seems to be Fujizawa Yoshiharu

Sorry..if he's not in the 'bibles'...then...?

Regards,

[Marius]

Thanks George He must have never existed, then 

[george trotter]

Ha ha - very funny Marius....I deserve that for using bad grammar.

To the newbies, what I meant is, if he's not in the "bibles" he is unknown to the sword world, not that he doesn't exist.

I think many of us have a sword (a real sword we can hold in our hands) and still find that the smith is unlisted in any published source.

Never give up searching though...it's part of the study of swords.

 

Regards,

[Brian]

meikan-more (銘鑑洩れ)