Viper6924

Hijiki-hada = A type of ō-mokume-hada or ō-itame-hada with thick chikei. Sounds intresting, Jacques. Anyone´s got a picture of this hada? /Jan

Yes Adam, thats the page. There are serveral others with more info to. But no one thats very helpful in this case. Ted, I´m happy you seems to agree with me on the hada These Jumyu-smith seems to have mixed it up over the years. I have seen a bunch Jumyu-blades on the internet. Katanas, wakis and tantos and no one comes close at having this kind of hada. I have learned one thing since joining this forum; Doesn´t matter if we talking about old katanas with orikaeshi-mei, sunnobi-tantos/waki or Jumyu-tantos with wild hada thats looks like big old pine trees from northern quebec the road for knowledge regarding nihontos is both long and hard. Best not travelled alone... And thats the nihonto-poetry for the day!!! /Jan

Louis, You must have beautiful forrests up in Quebec Chris, Yeah, when I saw this tanto for the first time I was really taken by the hada. Even I could place it in late shinto to shin-shinto period. So I started to look around for unusual hadas. I found the Rekko hada in a book. Couldn´t really find anything that made a better match. Now when I see this matsukawa hada, I think it´s a bit closer. But not 100%. The koshirae is really nice. So someone have put some money into it. I only wish the mei could help a little more. /Jan

So we can conclude this blade has a little bit of everything. Thats what I call an active hada Thanks Brian! Jan

Hi Chris! So I guess finding out which Jumyo will be pretty hard. Another shinsa-projekt for the future Anyway, by looking at the overall blade and the hada, it must have been a fairly skilled smith. Thanks again, Chris! Jan

Thanks Jacques and David. I thought "JUMYO" only was a mei the smith wrote on blades that were being given away as gifts to persons or temples. So this is acctually the name. Mmm, intresting. Thanks again, guys! Jan

Hi Paul! I agree with the "element of subjectivity". For a rookie like myself, who starts to take nihonto really serious, it´s great to hear the great minds of this board. Nihonto is like any other artform. There is no 100%. I also understands it´s very hard to cast good judgements based on badly taken pictures. But many members on this board are highly skillful. So it´s always worth a try. And even if I get 5-6 dif suggestions for a maker, it´s somewhere for me to start digging deeper. And if anyone heard of a future shinsa in the north of Europe, give me a shout :D All the best! Jan

First I must thank You all for an highly intresting conversation I´m soaking everything up like water. Second I feel this is another shinsa-projekt. I include some more pictures (it´s hard to take good pictures of the hada). One picture of the overall shape and one of the "long life" mei. Any idee´of the maker? P.S I really like the picture 0725. Looks like a an almost perfect set of evil looking eyes Thanks again! Jan

:D Ok, you asked for it: Perhaps Mokume mixed with Itame. The reason I ask is because I not seen this "wild mix" in any of my other swords. And then I saw a jihada called Yakumo-hada, which I think also could be a correct answer. The sword is a shin-shinto. But perhaps I´m barking up the wrong tree. Now let me have it... /Jan

Hi! This surface grain comes from a shin-shinto tanto. How would You described it? As always, all answers are highly appreciated! Jan

I´ve been doing some more research on this sword. And if I don´include the orikaeshi-mei (I will leave this hot topic for a future shinsa) and just look at the sword, I see some indication that this could even be a late nanbokucho period sword. Here goes: The rather shallow torii-sori, chu kissaki, hamon and of course the long tang. Ad to this it´s overall length and obvious sign of age. What do You true experts think? Am I completely out of the reservation on this one? Jan

Now it´s getting a bit intresting. Moriyama-sans questions is a valid one. I also agree that this sword must fall under the category tachi from the beginning on the account of the original length. Why than slap a katana mei on it? This is truely strange if the blade was made during the 14th century. But if it´s made let´s say 1400-1430 it could acctually been made as long katana in a time when tachi and katanas was being mixed out of preference on the battlefield. Could there be an reason for this. And again, is the features (based on the pictures) on the blade such that it could support an early Muromachi-blade? I can´t get my head around it. What I know is: I have a very nice looking sword with a good hamon and a very old looking tang. The blade show def signs of aging and repeated polishes. And amongst this a orikaeshi-mei. /Jan

The question is, based on the sword as a whole, if it could have been made let´s say early 15th century give and take a couple of years. Making it a mid-koto produktion? Or is the shape, hamon etc pointing it to a koto-blade from the 16th century? The fact that it has an orikaeshi-mei on a katana, historic wise, still can put it in early Muromachi-period when the transition from tachi to katana began. The tang with or without the orikaeshi-mei, still looks old like the Flintstones. With my very limited knowledge, I can find some features on this blade that supports an early Muromachi timeframe. But hey, I´ve been wrong before /Jan

An Orikaeshi-mei with a bad signature can always be a valid point. As I said, You can almost never be a 100% reagarding antiques. I got this sword from an auction I attended. And all the swords has been to an expert app. But the sword was listed as "An early-mid koto katana with orikaeshi-mei" That leaves a lot of room for deeper analys. Because of the fact that the last kanjis are missing, it gets even more important to read the blade and try to find a, maker/school and b, period of produktion. But that is, sorry to say, way over my head. And like Chris said, it is probably only possible via a shinsa. But I feel this forum is the second best place. I can only guess the period by looking at other swords in books and on internet. But I think it´s best this time to let the guessing be done by the experts. /Jan

Hi Jacques! The only thing I´m sure about is the orikaeshi-mei. Well as sure as you be on a an old japanense sword. It´s acctually easy to see the fold on the pictures. I just wish there would be some more kanjis readable. Any further info would be great. Especially a timeframe. But this is probably hard, based on pictures only. /Jan

Thanks a lot Jean and Chris. It´s a xxxx shame that the rest of the kanjis have been lost to time. A shinsa would def be a good idee´ for this one. I guess this would be the place to find out when the next shinsa in a country near Scandinavia would be held.Like England or perhaps Germany. Is there any possibility from the photos to place this sword in a timeframe? Thanks again! Jan

Hi! I continue my quest for knowledge about my small collection nihonto. This is a long cut down katana. My favorit blade. Comes with an old koshirae. I had it for 3-4 years now. Cutting edge:72 cm Complete length: 91 cm Mei: Bizen and perhaps Mitsu I think the pictures tells a good story for an expert. I have two questions. 1. Can someone make out the kanji and perhaps give me a maker of this sword? 2. Age? I value every opinion very highly!!! /Jan

Clear as a newly polished tanto It´s big difference between to two blades. Except perhaps the sugata. It´s so much more easy when you have something to compare it to. Well, this turned out to be an good thread for a rookie like myself. First the sunnobi-tanto versus the wakizachi and then some good points about koto-shinto features. Great! Want to thank everybody who took time to help me. And for all to know... I still think it´s more tanto than wakizachi Jan

Thanks Keith! It´s good the hear that the sugata in Your opinion resemble an old style. That was the first thing I noticed when a got the blade in my hand. I thought the narrow suguha hamon also was a sign of an older design. But I stand corrected. Great input Keith. I guess this is the only way to learn to read old Japanese swords. Trial and error. I will compare the metal in this blade with some old koto-blades I have. /Jan

Thanks again Chris! Well, I got two good reasons for putting this question on ice. And an ubu tang is always better than a cut one. A sunnobi-tanto :lol: with an ubu tang. Good enough! THANKS! Jan

Bless You, Keith! I agree that the tang looks crisp for a 500 year old blade. I´m just thinking that this tanto/wakizachi been cut down. Probably during the late Momoyama/Early Edo. And if this section from around this period looks like this, it might be an older blade from the beginning. The top section of the tang is smooth because it use to be the cutting section. The buttom part is a bit more rough. But then of course you must take the shape, hamon and other things into consideration. This is well above my knowledge. I´m sure You are right, I just got that feeling when I got the sword in my hand. Thanks again! Jan

Thanks for Your input Chris... if you are correct. But have a strong feeling that You are. And if you want to throw Your 5 cents into how old my tanto/waki might be, it would be great to :D /Jan

You go Guido I have a lot of books from different museums in the world. And if You check their collection of Japanese swords, it´s a complete jungle of 32,5 cm tantos, 34,5 cm sunnobi-tantos, 33,6cm ko-wakis and so on. And don´t even get me started regarding the small museums in Japan. Those displays can be really funny. Another question: Is a tanto (within the 30 cm border) more valuble than a 33 cm waki?. I have this feeling sometimes when You look at diff sites with Japanese swords for sale. And by the way. How old is my sunnobi-tanto...sorry wakizashi /Jan

I think You are pretty right in your analys of the o-tanto/sunnobi tanto/ko waki/waki-problem. I´m def. agreeing on your "Conflicting Terminology" But again. This it what makes the study of nihonto so fun. Perhaps we can agree to not agree? Start to sound like an old grumpy man, but how about the age? I also think nanbokocho is a bit to old for this blade. Perhaps not impossible, but a bit of a stretch. But an early to mid muromachi, can work based on the tang that have been shortend and the overall shape. It´s a bit hard to show in the picture, but the tang has that nice old patina that you look for in an older blade. If later period, please let me know why. I´m in this game to learn. Looking forward to all Your answers. /Jan

Let´s make it the third generation, and I buy my friend three beers. Sounds fair Thanks Guido! /Jan