2 replies to this topic

[b.hennick]

At the recent shinsa, a tanto was papered to Horii Taneaki from Hokkaido made circa taisho (1912). I thought that the blade was by Hayama Enshin ... then what do I know. If you can provide any information on this smith please let me know.
Thanks!

[cabowen]

What would you like to know? He was a student of Taneyoshi, who trained in the Gassan group and Suishinshi group. He made swords in Tokyo before moving to Muroran in Hokkaido where he was employed by Japan Steel Works which built a forge on their corporate grounds to encourage the continuation of swordmaking in 1918. He was the teacher of Horii Toshihide and the three Kato brothers of Tokyo, as well as a few others. He was appointed smith to the Imperial Househeld around 1896.

He was a good smith and his blades are rare as he worked during the period when swords were not in demand. His katana are rare, tanto are more common. I wrote a good deal on him for the publication "Tanto, Blades of Ritual" which accompanied the gendai tanto exhibit I put together for the last Minneapolis sword show as one of his blades was part of the exhibit. Please contact Ron Hartmann for details as it was his blade and he recently used sections of my publication for an article on the blade for an article he put together. His work is quite different from that of Hayama Enshin....

[b.hennick]

Thanks Chris!