Tadaaki gendaito?

I have a WW2 gunto mounted blade with a mei that I’ve translated as Hizen Kuni TadaAki Saku (see picture). I’ve found a reference to a Tadaaki in Slough’s (no oshigata but references to 4th seat in forging and 2nd seat in cutting test at the 1941 Sword Exhibition). I did find a reference on this forum to an Ishii Tadaaki in Hizen who was a gendaito smith during the Showa era. Otherwise, the only reference is to a Yamamoto Tadaaki (1865-68) in both Hawley’s and Markus’ books (nothing in F&G’s oshigata books either).

Have I translated correctly? If yes, does anyone have any additional info on this Hizen (Ishii) Tadaaki?

Thanks for any help or additional information.

Cheers,

Have I translated correctly?

肥前国忠昭作

Hizen no kuni Tadaaki saku

(made by Tadaaki, Hizen province)

I don't know anything about the smith offhand… would do a search but I'm busy at the moment. Good luck.

—G.

Hi,

Yes,Your the blade was made by Ishii Tadaaki in Hizen(Saga prefecture) who was a gendaito smith during the WWII period.

I have a tang Oshigata.

Gabriel – Thank you for the translation confirmation.

Morita San – Thank you for affirming the Ishii Tadaaki reference. I’m curious if you know of other reference materials that provide more information about this smith. I’d like to research more but am at a loss for references defining this smith. The blade/nakago appears machi-okuri to me, which may explain the 2 mekugi-ana (e.g., forged for Iaito purposes and shortened for military usage/mounts). The blade and type 98 gunto mounts are in near mint condition (see pictures).

Cheers,

Hi Patrick,

I have nothing really to add to what Morita sensei told you except that his personal name might be Harumoto.

I saw this in Ono 1971 p.286 which is in the "recently deceased list"... Ishii Harumoto (he is given here as Fukuoka, next door to Saga) it doesn't give his smith name but it might be Tadaaki.

None of my sources say anything about him.

The sword looks good...I don't think the blade is ha-machi...the mei is nice and close to the habaki...if the machi had originally been lower the habaki would have been lower and the mei (where it is) would be touching the habaki....so no, I think it is just a new ana.

I think a second ana was put in (maybe changed koshirae sometime)....is it dated?

Regards,

Hello George

Thank you for the additional information, very insightful as always. I'm going to see if I can locate any information about a Ishii Harumoto. I feel the smith story is slowly coming together.

Regrettably, the blade is not signed. Since the gunto mounts are near mint (and that would be very, very, very near), it's possible they could be a newer addition than the date of the blade.

Cheers,

There were a great many smiths working in Hizen during the war era. Many were quite good. Unfortunately, no one has taken the time to research and publish the details of this group. It would make a great research project that would further the body of knowledge we have of WWII era smiths. I have quite a bit of data that would serve as a good start for this project. If anyone is seriously interested in pursuing such an endeavor, please let me know. Please keep in mind that the info is in Japanese...

George: In an online index of the Gendai Toko Meikan (Dr. Stein’s site), it shows an Ishii Harumoto in Chikuzen province in a list of additional deceased swordsmith with those entries (name and province only) specifically beginning on page 204 of this Meikan. Secondly, this same index lists Tadaaki as being on page 38 of this Meikan. Unfortunately, I don’t have the Gendai Toko Meikan (and probably couldn’t read it anyway since Japanese isn’t my strong suit). If anyone has this Meikan, the Tadaaki on page 38 may shed some more light on his biography.

Chris: This is a project in which I would greatly enjoy participating. Unfortunately, I struggle translating the mei and date on most nakago. Therefore (and regrettably for me), I doubt I’d be of much assistance.

Cheers all,

Hi Patrick,

I had a look at page 38 (same book I quoted from) and it is a different "aki"...that man is Kato.

Unfortunately it is not that uncommon to find a blade by someone who is just a name, with no other info. I have a good RJT blade by Takashima Kunihide of Kyoto...I even had a knowledgeable friend in Japan check for me...nothing...beats me how someone can spend the war in the RJT system and leave no record other than his name?

As Chris says, there is still work to be done on the Hizen gendai smiths.

Maybe whoever does it (Morita sensei? :D ) some will get answers to their unknown smiths. (Ummm, Kyoto smiths anyone...?)

Regards, and keep searching.

 

I had a look at page 38 (same book I quoted from) and it is a different "aki"...that man is Kato.

 

As I collect blades by the Kato family, I recognized the mei Tadaaki in the title and it drew me to this thread, but as you note George, the Kato smith uses the kanji 明 which came from Horii Taneaki, not the aki 昭 used by smiths who trained in the Denshujo and Nihonto Gakuin of Kurihara Akihide. There is a hint there for you Patrick on a place to look for info on your smith.....

Hi,

This is an oshigata of Ishii Tadaaki(石 井 忠 昭) sword, on sword exhibition in 1941.

Chris: Thank you for the hint. It's taken me down many rabbit holes without any success so far.

Morita san: Thank you for the oshigata. I placed it beside the mei on my sword and they both match exactly. So there's no (little) question they're swords of the same smith. Do you have any historical information about this Ishii Tadaaaki that you could share?

Pat don't want to be a DDowner the kanji match but not the way their cut, doesn't look the same to me, just my 2cent

Hi Stephen

I'd be the first to admit that my lesser trained/experienced eyes wouldn't likely see something that you would. I'm having difficulty placing this Tadaaki. Other than a Tsuneyasu who initially signed as Tadaaki (but with a different Aki kanji), I’m having no luck. I'm beginning to think George may be on the right track in that we have a sword without any detailed recorded information relative to the smith.

Cheers,

Pat ...it doesn't mean im right.. still a fine looking sword.

I have no doubt this is indeed Ishii Tadaaki, the same as posted by Morita san.

There are many WWII era smiths who are mostly question marks. Little to no info commonly available. This was the reason I spent untold hours digging up period literature, interviewing surviving smiths, etc., in my efforts to research smiths from the period who worked in Tokyo. As I mentioned above, we need someone to do the same with Hizen....

There ya go Pat, always wait for a better eye. Good going

Many thanks to all that have commented. I've enjoyed the research (glad I'm retired with the time) even if without the results (so far) that I was hoping. I've learned a lot about related subjects but I'm running out of sources available to me, so................

Cheers,

Hi,

One more other Oshigata, signd "Hizen no kuni, Ishii Tadaaki " .

(His family name(Ishii/石井) is carved clearly on the tang.)

This oshigata from sword-exhibition in 1940.

if any one wants one in not as good condition,,,,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-JAPANES ... 2516.l5255

I have no doubt this is indeed Ishii Tadaaki, the same as posted by Morita san.

 

There are many WWII era smiths who are mostly question marks. Little to no info commonly available. This was the reason I spent untold hours digging up period literature, interviewing surviving smiths, etc., in my efforts to research smiths from the period who worked in Tokyo. As I mentioned above, we need someone to do the same with Hizen....

Chris,

I have seen you mention your book project a couple of times now. I was wondering, do you have a book designer helping you out or were you planning on doing the layout, typography, typesetting etc. yourself? I love that the self-publishing surge has helped niche markets like ours put more info out, but I lament that so many self-published works a so clearly amateur when it comes to classic rules of print design.

If you are doing it all yourself, I would strongly recommend you read entirely through the free online guide Butterick's. Even better would be to pick up Bringhurst. A few key points that have a drastic impact:

• US Letter page size is a bad one for books. It's big and wide, making it cumbersome to hold and read; people also have a terrible tendency to put single columns of text that span almost the whole page width, vastly exceeding the most comfortable line lengths of 2–3 alphabets. Generally, a narrower aspect ratio is better, as is a slightly smaller size. But of course some art books with huge photos can be considered exceptions. Letter can be okay when set in two columns… but even when typeset well, a US Letter page screams "I am am an amateur writer" by dint of association.
  
• Times New Roman. Don't do it. Just don't. Many other fine serif faces exist which will not look so staid.
  
• 12-point body copy with automatic leading (line-height). Too big and random. 11 pt text over 14 pt leading, 10.5 pt over 13, and 10/12.5 are all much more typical in professionally-set books. Same with line length as I said above… 2–3 alphabets long, no longer, is comfortable for extended reading.

There are many other points, those are just some that make my blood pressure spike a bit when I think "ah, if only they had changed even a few of these aspects…" I also don't mean to assume anything, for all I know you have designed a fine layout and/or have the benefit of someone with those skills involved.

This also isn't an invitation to ask me to help, by the way. :lol: Though I love book design and typography, I am far too busy these days to spend the many many hours that task requires. My only interest is in seeing that more of the self-publishers in our community learn some basics of the field, so their rich & useful content is presented in the best way possible. I asked the same thing of Ford H. back before he announced his kickstarter, and was relieved to hear that he was going to hire a professional book designer for his Japanese Metalwork series.

Forgive my rambling… hope all is well with you. Cheers,

—Gabriel

Thank you for the thoughtful comments. At this point, I am more concerned with content than presentation. When the time comes, I will either have it done professionally or take your advice to heart and research the links you have kindly provided....thanks again....

Thank you for the thoughtful comments. At this point, I am more concerned with content than presentation.

As you should be.

When the time comes, I will either have it done professionally or take your advice to heart and research the links you have kindly provided....thanks again....

Glad to hear it. Looking forward to the result of all that hard work!

Cheers,

—G.