kunitaro

Morita san, Thank you for follow up. It is pity that i don't have the book with me now. That is great book published by NBTHK Niigata branch, so, are they mentioning about Horimono and yakiire ? PS : [A Study of Kurihara Nobuhide] is great Translation !! I was translating [Kurihara Nobuhide no Kenkyu]

Most of Nobuhide's sword with original Hori are Bizen-den or Nioi-deki. Which is meaning that doing Yakiire lower temperature for Blade with Horimono. so, we can think that Nobuhide was doing Horimono before Yakiire. (curving normal steel is much easier than after quenched ) He was doing Yakiire with lower temperature to prevent breaking the blade. Not He chose Bizen-den blade to give Hori-mono after sword is done. What do you think ??

This is very nice thread. when i think about single smith, to make one sword will take minimum 3 days, if you have good assistants(2-3). one day or one and half day forging (making forged block) and second day, Tsukurimoki (construction) and Hizukuri, 3rd day, Yakiire and shiage (smith polish). in Koto time, they had to make their own Tamahagane (Tatara), in shinto period, they could buy( or get ) Tamahagane. but, still needs to work a bit before start forging. Also, we have to think about how they are working. there is big different, between Independent single smith and big factory( big or many workshop ) like Sukesada in muromachi period, or Hizen sword in shinto period. (they had hundred of workers and many master students who had never signed himself) so, we can think, there is Master pieces, workshop items and mass-productions.

One more master piece. Signed : Kurihara Kenji Nobuhide Hori do-saku Bunkyu Gan-nen 12 gatsubi

This is a Nobuhide's work Ama no Uzume no Mikoto and Holly mirror on Hirazukuri Tanto, Osaka-uchi (made in Osaka) Nobuhide's Hori is very shallow, but, very sharp line and smooth surface. and He understood the reflection of the steel. This blade Bizen-den has Utsuri (as you see) with old Sashikomi-togi. His work is almost 3D. One of his master piece. This Tanto is staying in Sanjo/Niigata now.

And This is a work of Akidata on Kurihara Nobuhide's Osoraku-zukuri Tanto 信秀　Nobuhide 万延元年十一月日 Mannen Gan-nen 11 gatsubi 昭和四十二年三月日・虎徹底彫越後三条住昭忠彫之 Shouwa 42nen 3 gatsubi Kotesubori Echigo Sanjo (no) ju Akitada kore(wo) Horu

Morita sensei Sakurada Mishiba I don't know him, There is no result from Google, so, He is not higher than Kunzan sensei, then Not higher than the blade.... We have to bow to the sword... Had he ever thought about it ? or he did it on purpose ???

a bit more about Sayagaki As you see Kunzan seinsei's Sayagaki, Shouwa Mizunoe ne Shiwasu (1972 December) There is Personal name. Under Date Sorry I can not read... Morita sensei... Normally, we don't ask to write owner's name on Saya. except, the personal level is higher than the sword. plus, the owner's name is above Kunzan's signature ???.. we can imagine what kind of person the owner is, plus December... (Most busy time of the year,,,) we don't ask for Sayagaki in such moment of year. maybe he wants to celebrate New year with the sword... but, still. you feel that he has no respect for the Master Kunzan and The Sword !!! He is saying "IT'S MINE !!" Egoistic selfish man, To put your name on the object is something,,, the name will stay as long as the object stay.... we can imagine situation when Kunzan sensei was doing Sayagaki, The owner was believing that the sword is Hosho Sadamune ! He pushed Kunzan to agree to be Hosho. if Kunzan doesn't agreed, Sword will get treat bad.... so, he did it with different ink. to save the sword. They are not doing Sayagaki for us to study, They are doing for saving the sword. And the Blade itself is great quality in highest level. This is my imagination.... All masters knows 100 time more than us, if if anything awkward there is reason for it. so, we have to read the text behind the text. If we are humble enough, it will talk to you. If we are quiet enough, we will hear the master's voice. However, to make Sayagaki is the personal responsibility.... NBTHK is taking responsibility, but no personal responsibility.. More than one person make decision after discussion.... so nobody need to take responsibility. If you understand the Quality level of the sword, Sayagaki can talk much much more than Hozon or Juyo papers.

Morita sensei, Sake desuka !? mmm. I know there is several kind of Sayagaki, an old master polisher ( a student of Hirai Chiba ) gave me lessons to see Sayagaki. He has maybe 50 old Sayas with Sayagaki, when you compare two different Sayagaki, it is easy to recognize. but, if you see single item, it is very difficult to judge. same as swords, however, the world of 書(sho) is much deeper than sword. i think. Tanobe sensei is using ko-tankei. He is a Sho-dogu freak ! he has great collection of Suzuri and Sumi, when i ask about Sho-dogu. he is always very happy to explain, and he gave me a book of Tankei suzuri with his signature.. but, he doesn't tell me such a secret parts of Sho ! ...yet.... we have to read letters behind letters. mmmmm.

Dear Jean san, Thank you for your follow up (again). you were so quick ! Revived an old memory.... Thank you. I met mr.Helm at that time. I was with my friend and young Fusahiro ( a sudent of mr.kanefusa ) we drunk Sake together with mr.Yoshindo. all of us were complete drunk. mr,Helm and Hirofusa were doing arm wrestling in Izakaya. I still have photo with mr.Helm pissing together !!! Tanobe sensei was a student of Kunzan sensei. When Kunzan seisei was losing his eye sight. Tanobe sensei was staying by Kunzan sensei, looking at the sword, telling Kunzan sensei what he see. for Kantei. Tanobe sensei was Eye for Kunzan sensei. It is very nice to see Sayagaki of both. That sayagaki is written before Kunzan sensei lose his eye site. after a few years from the Sayagaki, Kunzan sensei start losing his eye site, the Letter start obstruct,, became un-readable.... also, Kunzan and Kanzan sensei did Sayagaki for not genuine blade, because, some person whom they can not refuse. so, they used different ink. you can recognize the quality of the blade by checking ink of Sayagaki, Best

Dear Cris, Thank you for mentioning Akihide. This is one of his work on Shinsinto sword. 作陽幕下士細川正守 Sakuyo Bakkashi Hosokawa Masamori 応増田正久好精鍛 Masuda Masahisa (no) konomi (ni) ouzi Seiren(su) 昭和三十年越後国三条昭忠源雪房謹彫之 shouwa 30 nen Echigo (no) kuni Sanjo Akitada Yukifusa tsutsushinde kore (wo) horu

Good morning. The blade has no boshi which is meaning No hamon of Kissaki. Kissaki is soft, you can not stab. it doesn't functional as weapon anymore. the value as a weapon is zero. And, Kissaki is the most important parts of the sword. also most difficult part of Yakiire. you can see skill of the smith and his character at boshi. It is like face of the sword. so, we are looking at Dead body without head. the value as an art object is zero. When we see Nakago. Omote side. you can see darker, blackish parts Ha-side and under parts. That is burned rust. which is meaning is that the blade was in fire in the past. as you see small crack at mune of nakago. Nakago should not have any Ware or crack, because, Nakago has never Yakiire, no chance of cracking. so, if you see ware or crack, you should think of Saiba (re-tempered). There is many many many blades on market (especially on eBay and other Auction) which we call " It was Nihonto" watch out !

Adam san, That is different subject, Gold hunting story, It was happening sometime in 50' and 60' Because, there was many many swords were taken after ww2. to US from JP, UK NL from Indonesia etc. There was not many people were interested in JP sword and almost No Japanese (sword expert) were there. JP swords were cheap (maybe 50-100USD), so, small amount of collectors were holding big collection (100-200swords) original Western people didn't know what JP swords are.only a few high ranking military officers and weapon history experts knew that JP sword is something special. in 70', there was a few Japanese (who knows about sword) outside of JP, and starting recognized what the Japanese swords are... most of good Ronin swords (which has no owner) in unknown market were bought by sword lovers, for example,,, It was a Wakizashi in Gunto mount (out from Indonesia) on sales at Sotheby's Amsterdam in 1979. the blade was osuriage and it had Gaku-mei ( cut off signature, and put it on suriage nakago ), ( Anybody who has the Catalog, Please let me know !!! ) The Founder of the Dutch Token Society mr. Mitsuro Toga Katsuyama bought it. It was sold for 90 Dutch Guilders (about 100USD?), and it was sent to Japan. The signature (gaku-mei) is genuine "Sadakiyo" of "Hosho school" from Kamakura period. Of course, mr.Katsuyama knew it. One of his student mr.Han Bin Sion who became a chairman of Dutch Token after mr.Katsuyama. He couldn't go to the Auction. so, he missed. in 2001 (?), the blade showed up with Juyo paper for sale for 4.500.000JPY by mr.Shibata in Tokyo. mr.Han Bin Sion was missing the blade, because, it was out from Indonesia ( he is from Indonesia ) mr.Shibata didn't want to send it out of Japan so, mr.Han Bin Sion sent me (and my friend) to Japan to get it. so we did. the Signature from Hosho school are very rare. and the blade has very thick looooong Kinsuji on Motouchi, and super Hakikake. Super master piece. so, i stopped by NBTHK, showed it to mr.Tanobe before we return to NL. He was very impressed by the blade and told me that the blade will be able to get Tokubetsu Juyo, so, we brought it back to mr.Han with very good comment from mr.Tanobe. mr.Han was very happy for the sword to be back in NL., didn't care how much he paid. He made a big article and lecture about the Yamato-den swords, i translated and posted Token Bijutsu. ( you can find it in Token Bijutsu somewhere 2002 or 2003 ?? ) After a few years, the wife of mr.Han Bin Sion passed away, and about 6 month later, mr.Han Bin Sion himself passed away with great collection. A man went to mr.Han's family and took Right for sale, he did unfair auction. and he couldn't recognize the quality of the blade. The blade was sold very low price and out of NL. after, Another person bought it back to NL. Hope it will stay. The only pity is that The Family of mr.Han didn't receive reasonable money.... Back to late 80' to early 90', Japan hit Economic peak. as we know, many art dealers went to west, bought a lot of expensive art object, same time, a lot of Japanese sword experts dealer went to Europe and US with a lot of money, bought most of master pieces back to JP. When people who sold their collection saw the price of item which they sold was more than 10 times or sometimes 100 times in Japan, They start to study the sword very seriously. Together with Internet, the price of Antique Japanese sword became open for international market. Then Gold hunting legend was over. the price of low quality swords goes down ( keep going down now ) and High Quality Masterpieces are going up. However, Old master said "you can not find a sword, A sword must find you." A bit out of Subject..... Let us go back to Tameshigiri topic.

Hello, I wrote that Kotoken Kajiwara used Oomi-Daijo Tadayoshi. For TV show (Special occasion= thousand of people will watch) maybe less than 10 times in his life time. As we know, Hizen blade is one of most beautiful Sugata, and beautiful Jitetsu. He used it to show How Hizen-to Cut to Hizen-to lover..... He told me, Hizen-to's Shape and Jitetsu make best cut. Not many people saw it. Hizen-to lover can recognize that is Hizen-to in TV. Then one of his client (he is polisher) offered his Tadayoshi, because, The owner of the sword wanted his sword on TV. After TV show, the owner was so proud, and people who were talking the Hizen-to is only looks good but, doesn't cut well because, bra bra btra, they became quiet. I wrote this because, it is very special occasion. and Some people said He is crazy, but he did not do it for his showing off but for Hizen-to and Hizen-to lover. Dear Adam san, Manga Festival is same as Japan Expo Paris ? Because, Kunimasa Matsuba did demonstration on Japan expo. I think that was 2006 or 2005 ? (not sure) 2 times ( 2year). He used his sword, never used old sword, Other option, There is Sword on market, without certification paper in Japan. there is many fake sword ( NBTHK or NTHK doesn' t issue Hozon paper). Osuriage mumei, Gimei, etc.. Which is made from Shinsaku-to, ( 2nd hand Nihonto) Made from is meaning, Cut nakago jiri, put patina nakago, make extra hole, cut Signature. etc. Those swords are cheap on market,,, it can be used iai or cutting, however you have to make sure good safe Koshirae, antique Koshirae is not safe, also, There is Saiba (Retempered) Blade, which is No Value as Antique object. but as weapon is functional. this kind of blade is also can be used, ( retempered blade is sometime funny sori),, myself, have never heard using Old kamakura blade for Tameshigiri. Dear Hans, Old people are saying that Sue-koto, Mino-den blade cuts best. Bcause, light weight, wide Hiraji nallower Shinogi, Thinner Hira-niku, ( Muramasa) but, It is not good for training, and the Blade will finish quicker, Best

Morita sensei, Accidentally, i have a Book 「栗原彦三郎昭秀全記録」(Kurihara Hikozaburo Akihide, Zen-Kiroku) with me now !!! mmm, His sword also has nice Hori. not many, but i can see a few in the book ! Best

Morita sensei !! Hahaha, i am not in there.... i know a few, but i have never been invited... ... yet I like Kurihara Nobuhide better. for my personal opinion, I think Nobuhide is better than Kiyomaro. Nobuhide leaned from Kiyomaro only a few years, then left, became his own. When Meiji came, Meiji Tenno is ordering his sword to Nobuhide, When Taisho Tenno was born, Also, Nobuhide made mamori-Gatana for new born prince. so, I believe that Nobuhide was the Top master smith at that time.... *different opinion from nowadays. I think. however, his Hori is so special, you can recognize his work without seen nakago or even blade. Kurihara Nobuhide is my favorite smith at this moment. Best regards.

Ken san, When the owners of Kiyomaro make Koshirae now, They will ask to mr.Takayama Kazuyuki, Mukansa Koshirae maker. http://www007.upp.so-net.ne.jp/m-kenji/koshirae.html but Most expensive as well... i think that his work start from 1.000.000JPY plus cost, cost will be Tsukamaki or Seppa making,,,, they are also highest level. total about 15000-20000USD for work, Plus Fittings, you can use Modern tsuba maker (Top qualiy) - no cheap.. or they can use Juyo Fittings. so, high cost of craft men ship will be small % of its value. here is the Book of his work. 5000JPY. http://www.worldcat.org/title/nihonto-n ... /228888236 He makes Koshirae for mr.Yoshihara Yoshindo, (mr.Yoshindo can make Koshirae by himself) i know mr.Yoshindo, so, i can ask him to contact mr.Takayama, but, if he accepts, you have to send your blade and wait at least 3 years or maybe more..... if you decide what kind of Koshirae or what kind of fitting you want to use, i know many craft man in Japan. from student to masters, i will introduce you some good people. Best regards,

Ken san, They are complete private group. They are calling themselves "Kiyomaro-kai" and holding most of Kiyomaro's master pieces. they have no web site, no official contact, mr.Shibata Mitsuo was one of board and contact person, but he passed away... Fukunaga Suiken, Fujishiro Matsuo,,, they are also passed away... so, Brother of mr.Shibata, and mr.Okusato Fujishiro could be contact person... However, they are the people who are keeping the market value of Kiyomaro sword. Best regards,

Dear Josh and Ken, These are some photo of 55th "Kiyomaro-kai" meeting. They have Meeting once a year at Sojo-ji Temple in Tokyo where Kiyomaro's grave is. all big name people are on photo. they bring their super collection, and give lecture, and enjoy their treasures.... All of the best Kiyomaro swords are there, not only Kiyomaro, but, Kokuho and Juyo-bukanzai swords are displayed. I think that the temple will stay forever by only donation from Kiyomaro-kai. Best regards,

Dear Mariusz, Hajimemashite, It is said that Middle Edo period 1. Tsuba ; Den Ko-dai(later) Owari Best regards

Dear Matt san, I know mr.Brockbank when he was really crazy about ko-meito (old master pieces)... He was obsessed by them. He studied a lot of super master pieces in his hand. I remember one day (long time ago), he went to Japan, he sold Norishige Katana (Juyo) and one another Juyo blade, then bought one Sukesada Katana. ( he was pissed off, because, JP dealer paid to little for Norishige and asking high price for Sukesada) but, He was very very happy to have the Sukesada Katana. however, The Yosozaemon Katana was one of the best piece of Yosozaemon Sukesada, Only people who understand true quality can do this action. He has great eye for sword in highest level. Dear Darcy, How are you ?? long time..... hope you don't mind that i am writing about your secret without asking you.... but, am i correct ???

Dear Jussi and Adam, Thank you for both following my poor english up ! I am glad. be cause, it is confirmation of understanding. When you start to give Attention to those feature, Your Eye for Sword become higher level. If many people understand the feature, and demand higher quality.　Manufacture have to follow. Katana is The Soul of Samurai. No Compromise. Best regards,

Morita sensei, Thank you very much for your follow up. when we hear "Funbari" as Japanese, we can already recognize the point of meaning which is Funbaru Sugata. It is the Ultimate functional beauty. i knew it in my head, in real,i leaned it when i was at an old master Saya maker's place, He was giving advise to a young sword smith about Sugata. He was talking about only dynamics of Line and Curve from perspective of making Saya. Sayashi is master of Sugata, because, they are not judging Sugata by looking, they are shaping Functional Saya by hand. so, people who made a lot of Meito, they understand the Sugata. Best regards, PS: Funbari is not only the shape of the blade, Kasane parts as well. From Saki-kasane to Moto-kasane, should not be equal taper shape. it should be Funbari near Koshimoto, as well as Sugata of side shape. a lot of modern Japanes sword smith (and polishers)are trying to make a copy of the blade from heian-kamakura period. they understand it, but still can not archive it. mmm.

Thank you for reading, Best regards,

about art polish. in case, if you need to use your weapon, you don't worry scratch on your blade. only worry is breaking blade. so, the edge shouldn't be sharp like kitcen knife. any super blade can break the edge, if it is too thin or sharp. for emergency, you can push your sword into ground or into sand, make the edge a bit loose. then less risk of tipping the edge, if you have bigger hakobore, you have risk of breaking sword from there. about Funbari, is the shapeof Eiffle tower. the curve of the tower is not equaly cuved. at the end, curve become stronger.... That is Funbari. ( sorry for my poor English) as you see your photo. the width of the blade is becoming almost equaly wider from yokote to Habaki. The curve and width of the blade become stronger near Habaki. and Habaki should be a bit wider than blade. as Fuchi. when you see the Habaki of your sword, Ha side, Habaki is less wide... so, it is agaist Funbari. tsuba area must be the strongest parts fo the sword. if it is not strong enough for ather parts, it might break there.... not only breaking sword is risk. twisting the blade is also dedaly damage. if the blade bend, you can fix it, and keep using it. but, you twist the blade, you can not use it, and almost impossible to fix. the Funbari is protecting from this as well. Best