mecox

OOPS !! 天正

Its a date Taisho 10 (1921) 2nd month (Feb) a day

Sorting my collection, selling 4 iron sukashi tsuba, 2 Higo (Nishigaki) and 2 Echizen Kinai. Tsuba A: Higo school, 6.7 x 6.5 cm, bamboo, NBTHK Hozon, SOLD Tsuba B: Higo school, 7.75 x 7.45 cm, leaves & branches, Aoi Art Appraisal, US$450. Tsuba C: Kinai school (Yondai Ishikawa), 8.6 x 8.6 cm, kiku flower, leaves & waves, US$250. Tsuba D: Kinai school (Nidai Ishikawa), 8.2 x 8.1 cm, dragon, US$400. Information on Kinai school here: Japanese sword » Tsuba: Echizen Kinai (on.net) I am in Australia. Paypal accepted, plus airmail shipping (around US$18 to USA & US$25 to Europe. Please examine pics. Mal

It does appear to be various pieces combined. The blade is stamped Navy Toyokawa Arsenal and looks stainless steel and maybe shortened. The suspension ashi is kaigunto, as noted the fuchi and kabutogane (too big) are shingunto, the menuki is civilian (post-war?), tsuba looks to be iron and cast?, habaki is copper which was not used on these blades and also is too small. The tsuka has been re-wrapped with the original ito but it is not criss-cross and only a knot on one side at the top. But of course I have been wrong before.

Drew, this is a very nice example of a preserved sword and its history. The swordsmith is Yoshida Kaneuji 吉田 兼氏 , his given name seems to be Suzuichi. He was from Seki and born 13 January 1925 (Taisho 14), and registered as a Seki tosho on 9 September 1938 (Showa 13) which was quite early. Look in NMB for other posts (30 Aug 2019 by David [m41700]) and also page 72 in Slough. His blades had both Sho/sakura and Seki stamps, and also some have a kokuin hot stamp. An early war blades notes he also used Yasuki steel for it. He used both long forms of mei and the short niji mei with some variations in cutting style. Attached some examples, others in Rick Steins Swordsmith Index. NOTE: His date of registration looked a bit odd (1938; S13.9.9) as he world be 13 years old. I re-checked and that is what is in the old Japanese record, is it an error? Also it is the only one in the whole list for Showa 13 (1938), so does not look correct. He could have started an apprenticeship at 13 but not be qualified.

Purely as an exercise a Murayama Kanetsugu was sold by Shouzando in June, 2008: 6月14日・・・刀「濃州関住村山兼次、軍刀拵入り」......the correct mei and in brackets has "gunto with koshirae" . Seems swords by him are rare and I cant find him in several Seki lists. I could not find a picture. This is their list of sold items: www. shouzando.com/old.rireki.html 刀剣　象山堂　古い更新履歴 (shouzando.com) In English they are Touken Shozando, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa

Any chance it could be Murayama Kanetsugu (with a slightly different Kane, 4 separate strokes below). There was one tosho with limited production, but i cant find this Kane).

From my readings for Masatsugu (in NMB Downloads): Due to demands on supplies, including food, and the expansion in numbers of students, in November 1941 teaching activities of the Denshu Jo were transferred to the new Nihonto Gakuin 日本刀学院 (Japanese Sword Academy) which opened at Sagamihara, Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. This is on the Sagami River around 35 km SW of Tokyo, and was on the grounds of the Imperial Army facility which also housed the Army Officers Academy. The Gakuin was headed by Yoshihara Katsukichi Kuniie (also called (Akihiro)(昭広)(1894-1970) as chief instructor.

Barry does this have the typical artificial suguha hamon?

Yes you are right "Tensho 3 nen" looks good

Blade looks to say: AMAHIRA SAKU X X X BIZEN X X X UJI. Saya: top: TAMA TSUKURI x bottom: SATUMA SEI NO SUKE. Needs follow up to see if related. I tend to agree with Brian, chip yes but not enormous and is way back, kissaki in good condition?

Both the blade and the koshirae are prize examples of their type.

Have a look in the NMB Downloads !

Bruce, careful please I dont think I made that definitive statement. I did say "indicated' after 1940, and its referring to navy establishments and some later blades dont have it. BTW this is a compilation, it ain't the Bible.

Carl, you may have a winner there. Here is some background for comparison. be great to see the blade.