Gakusee

The blade in this month’s kantei is one of my favourite ever. Still remember seeing it in their museum.

Grev UK, perhaps the WW2 soldiers were not lyrically or romantically predisposed as their Zen-instilled forebears? I suggest instead reading something like Legends of the Samurai by SATO for a lot of poems by famous personages.

Well, if it is that Yamashiro Gojo Heian tachi we are talking about, these below are some very basic photos which at the time were available plus the oshigata from the Juyo Zufu. Darcy’s and Ted’s photography has obviously moved a long way since then . Overall, there seem to be fewer than 30 Gojo papered by NBTHK / govt. across Juyo to national treasure blades, so they are truly rare (Darcy writes not more than 25 Goto but I am sandbagging here for some unknown blades). I personally prefer the signed one that Darcy recently had ( https://yuhindo.com/ko-yamashiro-gojo-tachi/) as that came as a full package with excellent koshirae, had healthier boshi than the one 16 years ago and was signed Kane~. However, any Gojo is an absolute treasure and if one day I save the money for an Yamashiro blade, it will be most likely Gojo or Awataguchi I shall aim for. Again, Darcy will have the precise numbers but I think I remember him writing somewhere that there were fewer than 500 Heian blades or some number like that. I do not think I would be too far off. Blades do come up here and there and get unearthed but not often Heian!

Hi Adam/WP So you mean to say that you bought the ex Mori-daimyo Yamashiro Gojo tachi that Darcy sold in 2004? Very impressive and great choice... I hope that is true and if so one day you will share images etc

By far not an expert here but the nakago could have been preserved like this. We are talking about only 100 years and if there was not much handling and tight preservation, it is possible for it to have stayed like that. See attached examples of mostly Hozon Token Sadakatsu from various DTI catalogues. Regarding the mei, there are sufficient differences in execution and handwriting....... but the form is indeed rare and not typical to counterfeit.

Georg, please do not fret over this incident. You are doing the right thing for the sword and following sound advice. As Bob said, thank you for keeping all of us updated about your exciting journey. We await the next instalment and hopefully some good photos with eager trepidation. Good luck.

Adam - go through the entire thread before posting. This is a rare form Masayuki. It will likely achieve Juyo. His outlay is not €4K as a solid gold habaki is usually 3-4K and Saito san is probably the most expensive polisher in Japan currently.

Georg, you have gone the full length with the double gold habaki and Saito san polish. My amateur estimate is around a €8-9k restoration job so far but well worth it. Well done. The blade surely deserves it and is quite special.

Well done so far, congrats

Shannon, thanks. Yes, I am familiar with the instruments (Oxford Instruments, Olympus, Spectris etc make them). But they are expensive and professional equipment. So when we get a chance we should use it and thanks for the initiative Shannon!

Shannon, thanks a lot for the post above. It demonstrates that one of my favourite sword schools perfected the craft 800 years before modern smiths and metallurgists :)) This is a very interesting experiment you have run there. May I please recommend and request, if at all possible, to run it with a Norishige sword? Soshu experimented a lot with different types of steel and that is how the numerous hataraki came about but Norishige is the one who took matsukawa hada to a different dimension, so would be on the extreme end of Soshu. What equipment did you use for the test? Thank you.

This looks like it has burnt pretty badly

The new torokusho usually means the sword was sold into the overseas market. It had previously left Japan. Subsequently someone sold it back into Japan.

Well, not everyone can spend big money on upgrades.....These are very respectable blades. The suggestions above would set one back a lot of money.....

Sukesada is a Bizen Smith. Sukesada originated there, and Osafune is the key seat of Bizen smiths. However, , as I mentioned, it needs to be viewed it its entirety as a badge of honour or like a medal or insignia of title awarded by a daimyo to a skilled smith. Please do not delve into it thinking it has anything to do with Ichimonji. It does not. See below completely unrelated (ie, not Bizen) smiths employing the kiku and ichi For instance, Kunikiyo was granted the right to use the chrysanthemum by Matsudaira Tadamasa, whom he loyally followed around from province to province and he was given an honorary title of “daijo”, subsequently upgraded to “kami”. Interestingly, the honour and right to carve chrysanthemum passed onto his son, the second generation.

Various Echizen smiths also used the kikumon in combination with Ichi. Was done in 17 cent. with daimyo permission. Nothing to do with emperor really or even Ichimonji. Eg Kunikiyo or even Nobuyoshi. Your guy: Kawachi no kami Sukesada (so he nabbed the honarary title of gov’nor of Kawachi province) found this interesting papered example where the smith split the mei on both sides https://kknews.cc/news/3xq9eko.html have a look here too and compare to your mei: https://www.e-sword.jp/katana/1810-1063.htm

Adam, “cheapness” is in the eye of the beholder :). No intention to market the blade, but it is Juyo, 74cm and ko-Aoe , so dating to probably 1180-1230. So these things do not come cheap, unless they are really really tired or broken or short, whatever. Plenty of hamon and no kakedashi I can see. I also find the construction peculiar and would have associated it with a later sword.

Thank you, Piers! A very interesting legend

I think you can use uchiko more liberally here

Gunome midare with some choji The rust should be stabilised. Have seen people here recommending using horn to scrape it away but repeated treatment with choji oil should suffice. This here is one of these rare cases where the application of uchiko will actually improve things as uchiko is a mild enough abrasive to retain the hamon etc but remove rust.

Well, I would have hoped for a more tangible proof of provenance, like a certificate of investiture by the imperial office or an invoice for the sale with a clear link to the family..... .....but a nice package nevertheless. Somewhat fully priced on the sword side, but the koshirae is a nice sweetener and has value in its own right if properly papered and documented as Edo period.

Horrendous translation

I also think the blade is in a very good condition. Rob, sorry but I cannot opine on the koshirae here and how old it is. Kirill, in a separate post about your kazari tachi, was opining on the size and colour of the gold flecks. Not sure to what extent those statements are borne out by fact and study. However, I have heard elsewhere, too, that the gold used more recently is indeed brighter and yellower as opposed to more tinted in the past. However, one need not forget that the lacquer layers on top also affect the colour. it could be that the koshirae was made to order for the imperial gift and is this only 100 years old or it could be it is 250 years old. Indeed one would need to examine properly the nanako, the gilding, the gold flakes etc etc.

Signature, patina etc looks consistent with age and broadly workmanship. Amazing how he did such suguha for a Bizen Smith (I know some of the Oei guys did it but prefer the koshi no hiraita midare hamon of Oei).

Sorry, cannot open the image bank on my iPhone but did you receive photos of documentation proving the provenance and the boxes in which it was kept or presented?