mywei

Nengo may be Tenmei 7 nen 5 gatsuhi

1st pic - Niju Makibari 2nd pic - too zoomed out to see clearly but the first two characters are 江州 or Goushu (aka Omi province)

What an attractive jihada! Can't believe I missed this thread earlier. Congrats - now onto Juyo shinsa in October!

Hey Joel, Looks like a ware or horizontal delamination

Thanks guys. Thanks for the feedback - I'll try to take better photos in future (probably with limited success realistically!). Wholeheartedly agree with Paul - good points

I'm not familiar with tsuba mei but it's probably a place or school? Something like willow jade pavilion?

I apologise for not meeting your expectations and wasting your time Marius. While this wasn't meant to be a joke, it was meant to be only a casual fun kantei, as no one else could hold the blade in hand, and I do not have the skill or access to a scanner or good camera. After seeing some recent kantei threads I thought it would be fun to share something similar, but perhaps it was foolish to do so? Nevertheless, consider me properly 'photo-shamed'. I will certainly curb my enthusiasm and refrain from posting similar content in future for fear for upsetting some of our august members here. Thanks to everyone for having a go. The answer is Kashu Sanekage. Ko-uda would have been the closest guess, as also Hokurido. Hojoji was an intelligent choice. It has many similarities as Tajima was just geographically down the coast from Kaga and this is a naginata naoshi. The ooitame hada and whirlpool hadatachi with chikei and jinie has Norishige influence (and Hokurido) but not quite matsukawa. The nie laden hamon with hataraki is Soshu but the gunome ko-midare again is different and doesn't have the indistinct border of Norishige. Anyways it is a heavy beefy blade and great to hold and look at. Tanobe sensei seemed to also have a positive impression of it on his sayagaki.

I get where you are coming from. Nakagojiri is kuri jiri, however it is difficult to assess the patina of the metal just from the photo I have provided. Please assume it is o-suriage. Any more kantei guesses? Don't have to be specific -can be just period, or vibes from which gokaden etc?

ryugyokutei

Could be sandai Kanesada https://www.aoijapan.net/wakizashi-noshu-seki-ju-kanesada/ Planning to shinsa?

The forging looks quite tight and good quality for Sue Seki. Along with the hataraki, could be Kanesada school perhaps?

agree with 柳玉亭 Can the name also be read as Tomonobu?

Looks kind of like if Norishige was on crack cocaine

It appears to be a part of a kinzogan tameshi-mei [三つ胴] or 'three torsos'. Also the nakago has been further suriage I think as the characters on the left are partially cut off

Once again - sorry for my bad pics. Quite a wide range of guesses so far....likely due to my picture quality Here's hopefully some better pictures to take a more educated punt!

Hi guys, I've attached some photos of a recent acquisition. Please feel free to kantei! Naginata-naoshi katana O-suriage mumei O-kissaki, boshi midarekomi Nagasa 71.3cm Sori 1.6cm I apologise for the crappy photos by the way. Answer released in 5 days

Sato Kanesumi

Here's what Markus had to say regarding this for anyone interested. It seems Shigenori's origin still needs further research. Thanks Markus for taking the time and effort! Truly a helpful and knowledgeable resource in the Nihonto world. "the entry of Wake Shigenori being a student of Saburo Kunimune goes back to the Tosho Zenshu, whose info I added in full to my swordsmiths index. But I was already suspicious about that and so I added the supplement "it is said that he came from..." Now Fujishiro does not list Shigenori and the Toko Taikan does not say anything about his affiliation and master. The NBTHK says in their Juyo descriptions that when it comes to Wake, Shigenori and Shigesuke have to be named and that both worked at about the same time. They neither draw the connection to Kokubunji nor to Kunimune and just say that there is the theory that the Wake smiths derived from the Ko-Bizen group. However, they also say that their workmanship is rather close to contemporary Osafune at first glance. Well, Fujishiro was the one who associated Shigesuke with the Kokubunji School but seeing the hesitation of the NBTHK saying anything in that direction, I would say that we can't really say for sure what connection the Wake smiths had with their Bizen colleagues."

I wouldn't have thought it would be an issue especially if done tastefully as is in this case. I think ato bori would not be that uncommon on old osuriage blades

一文字天秀 ichimonji amahide

It is the 8th gen Tadayoshi I would probably be concerned about the nakago looking half of it has been hacked off

Hi guys, I'm trying to find out more information about a slightly obscure late-Kamakura Bizen smith signing Wake ju Shigenori [和気庄住重則] Some sources such as Markus' book states he was a ?student of Saburo Kunimune. However, I have found a Tanobe stating he was part of the Bizen Wake/Kokubunji school along with Wake Shigesuke https://web.archive.org/web/20131027215807/http://samurai-nippon.net/V-1062/index.html Do the Bizen experts here have an idea as to which is correct? Also, I'm not very familiar with the Bizen Wake/Kokubunji school - is it a branch school of Ichimonji? Thanks in advance

Seiro 2 corresponds to 1905 apparently It is an unofficial era name as per the wiki page

I got sent some detailed photos of the Kageyori - its got a Tanobe sayagaki stating Juyo token. Not sure whats happened to the papers but

btw anyone have info on what the 吉源美術刀剣保存協会 organisation is?