w.y.chan

I was offered the chance to view it This might happen sooner! If copyright is granted I'm confident there won't be any red tape. Wah

Good news!!!! I have located the film Chris, please contact me off NMB.

Chris got in before I did. I use to own a Akamatsu Taro Kanetsugu and was going to say this is most likely the same smith who made this sword. I also saw Kimura san's swords signed Sumitani Masamine sold by the same seller in the past. Wah

Chris, most people would have bid on the many naughty ones he has for sale Most likely someone had visited NMB and did an image search match, can read Japanese or net savy. If true at least they had the curtesy of letting you get 3 of them largely unappose so that is a positive. Wah

Chris, which two did you missed out on? The images look too clean to come from actual film negative, it could be prints of photos shot on set during filming but I could be wrong. Still useful for publication even if you do eventually get hold of the film. I suppose someone might want to have them enlarged/framed and put them on display next to their Okimasa. The seller listed those last year unsold but this time round people go into bidding war. I was going to buy those for you to use in your book. I guess this is the price one has to pay whenever info related to an auction gets into the open on NMB. Wah

I am sure you are right, the problem is finding it....There is probably one or more of them rotting away in a basement of closet somewhere... It is actually quite a well known documentary in the West in the educational establishment. I'm waiting for a reply from an archive who might have actually got a copy. Don't be too optimistic at this stage though Wah

I'm almost certain a copy exist outside of Japan in the English speaking world with English subtitle. Wah

Chris, please to know you are making progress with this. Not sure if my university or anyone there has any connection with this university? I wonder how good the quality is? If it can be cleaned up professionally before transfer to DVD. Wah

http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/14605.html

I will let you negotiate with the owner since they are more important to you. Just make sure I get a signed copy of your book of Tokyo smiths when it is published I will ask MI6 to trace the film BFI didnt have it when I ask a few years ago but I'm sure it is about but not been transfered to playable media. Most films are only made available to the public when it is transfered to DVD. BTW these pics are saved in my Flickr page, if Chris gets them I'm sure you will see higher res scans in the near future. Wah

You are welcome. This one of the polisher in the same film

Tsukamoto Okimasa. They are stills from a documentary "The Art of the Japanese Sword" by Tatsuo Asano in 1957. Wah

Wah

Kiyomaro school. Also the work of Nidai Teruhiro from the early Kan'ei era.

I could not tell the quality of the polish by looking at such low res images. I've seen swords that was sold by Hataya with similar poor quality images but the same sword previously appeared on another dealer's website and it was a knockout.

Reference of several Shigetoshi http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2013/1310_1047syousai.htm http://winners-auction.jp/productDetail/2692/ http://sinogi.dee.cc/katarogu/1801/sigetoshi-k92815/k92815.html

Seen this sword in auction about 3 months ago but I didnt comment on NMB in case I might give it a shot The first time it reached about 8 mllion yen but didnt reach it reserve. Of course I not bidded. The sword re-appeared on auction sites a few times since and never sold The seller claim a relative had bought it from a shop during the early 1950s and it wasnt cheap then. Wah

Seem to recall Sato Akinori was also a student of Kasama Shigetsugu.

Hi Mark, I use my credit card with Aoi Art. No hidden charge or any additional shipping cost charge. The only additional charge came from my credit card company. It is not complicated. Aoi Art has many years of experience selling to overseas customers. Wah

What I meant was if someone were to create a fake it would have been easier to create something safe in the knowledge that it at least have a chance to convince. The oddness or in another word atypical hamon in addition of being a joint work gassaku fake runs greater risk of being outed. I'm aware there are plenty of outlandish modern fakes about that is not design to deceive but most of these forgery werent true nihonto either. There is also a chance of it being a wartime fake. Disregarding the signature this one looks like a decent sword over 3 saku with what appear to be an old possibly war era polish. We won't know until someone of Fujishiro san's experience get a chance of seeing this up close. Wah

I would say the oddness made it more compelling for it to be good. If it was a fake it would not try and run the risk of trying to make a unrecorded joint work example so we collectors would question it. Good question why it was not exhibited at the department store? Maybe it was the only joint work and there were rules in place for each smith to submit one sword so this was withdrawn? I like to see the list and what has been submitted by others. Wah

Hi Ed, That is the one I posted last month on NMB and it was an award for horse racing competition http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16958&p=149409&hilit=yasutoku#p149409 It shows the nominal 2 character mei but not kiji momo nakago. There is one in the UK also 2 character with normal nakago. The kiji momo is not strictly adhered to but was adopted for many of his later work at the shrine most likely the smith wanted a style change now that he is a master of a master smith or for other reasons. The assumption that he use kiji momo to distinguish his work and that of his student maybe incorrect or at least not completely correct. Wah

I notice that too. Kiji momo was use to help distinguish his work with that of of student Kotani Yasunori even though the mei is different it was pronounced the same. Since he sign his full signature instead of the two characters use on many Yasukunito it might not be totally necessary for him to use kiji momo. Wah

Here is a massive Kajiyama Yasunori dedication sword for the 700 anniversary of the Emperor Gotoba

I may be wrong about this but when I first started collecting ages ago I heard about Yasukunito from Bill Tagg who in turn knew they were quality swords much earlier. This make me believe the modern resurgence in interest in Yasukunito may have took roots in England in the 80s. In the book about Yasukuni swords the article by Kenji Mishina seems to back this up when he lived in England by chance he polished a Kajiyama Yasunori for a collector who believes it is a good sword despite Mishina san's initial hesitation. I don't know who the owner of this Yasunori is but he deserve credit in helping bringing Yasukuni swords into public awareness. Wah