SteveM

Looking through some old maps and found where Ujina-cho, Kanda-dori 4-chome would have been. Thought Jesse might be interested. Alas, the address system has changed, and that old address is no longer valid. Today it would be close to where Motoujinaguchi Station is. The map is from 1940. I've put a yellow circle where Kanda-dori 4-chome would be.

Hello Thirdtuck, Your sword may be much more recent than the 1600s. It is possible that it was made in the 1800s, and someone added the Kunitake signature to give it the appearance of being much older. It is extremely common in the sword world (then as well as now). I'm a bit of a purist with regard to swords, so I would be very careful of using any solvents because if you don't know what you are doing you could end up doing harm to the blade. Even if the signature is fake, the sword might still have some merit, so best to take care of it until someone can tell you for sure what you have. The uchiko is a good idea - look on Amazon if you don't know what this is. And, as above, get a book on swords. John Yumoto's book used to be the default beginner's book. Maybe there is a better one now. Wakizashi or Katana depends on how long it is. Traditionally a katana is anything over 2 shaku (about 23.8 inches). Anything under that would be a wakazashi. There is some elasticity in this definition, but that is the general rule.

I'm a bit suspicious of it because; 1. The unusual rendering of shiro (城). 2. The unusual rendering of kuni (國). This looks like no kuni I've ever seen before. Don't know if it's acceptable to link to the following commercial sites or not, but The respected smith of the 17th century looks like the following http://kako.nipponto.co.jp/swords2/KT213238.htm (Typically with Fujiwara added to the name) Here you can see a "Heian-jo ju Kunitake" (w/o Fujiwara) that is supposedly authenticated. Looks quite different to the signature in the sword above, and quite different from the OP's sword. http://lll.pro.tok2.com/sword/sdata97/ja606b.htm

Hello Shan, I'll take a stab at this... I can't really read much (any) of the writing, but it almost looks like some sort of shop ledger; the way there are certain lines that end at a specific point on the paper, terminating in the same repetitive kanji. You sometimes see things like this in antique shops here in Japan (I guess people use them as interior decoration). The only thing is that usually these old ledgers and inventory lists have the thickness of, say, a telephone book, and are long and thin - like the ones in this photo... so I could be wrong on this. SteveM

If you are researching so you can try to return the sword to the UEDA family, you could start with the Kochi City Hall (maybe the board of education), or the Kochi Police Dept. (public safety section - the guys that handle sword registrations). Maybe they would be interested to try to track down this person's family. I was just reading about the kinds of gunto that are allowed so there is a chance that you couldn't repatriate it, I guess. If you are just looking for info on UEDA-san, I don't know where you would start, but its kind of tricky because its not such ancient history. His relatives are no doubt still around, and if you get in contact with them, but aren't considering returning the sword... its kind of awkward. And of course, its not entirely implausible that UEDA-san himself is still alive.

Hi Henry, It could be new or restored. The insides look old enough, but the outside is in superb condition. There are a couple of places where the saya has slight impact damage (like it banged into a wall corner or something). There is a seam on the opposite side, and the shark skin is very fine (small specks) as it gets closer to the seam. I haven't thought much about the fittings yet, but I have some fittings that I bought years ago that I might work with. Love the Saotome kiku tsuba! Steve

I'm 44 and have been admiring/collecting(?) since 1988. My first sword was the obligitory gimei wakizashi (seems to be a rite of passage) bought from a dealer in Tochigi prefecture. I still have it. I found a koshirae a couple of years ago that happened to fit the wakizashi perfectly. I should have resisted, but I ended up buying it, and now have a very average gimei wakizashi with a nice koshirae. I find the complexity both daunting and fascinating. Sometimes its so daunting that I sort of go cold on the whole nihonto thing ("I'll never know as much as I'd like to know...") but then something will catch my eye and pull me back in.

Yes the two top pictures are memorial stones commemorating the town and place of his birth. The top right stone is apparently marking the place of his house, although it says the owner of the existing house had apparently been absent for some time, and the whole place was now overgrown with weeds. The picture on the bottom right is a gravesite, but it also says there are three known gravesites for Saneo, so I guess it would be more proper to call it a memorial stone. The pic on the bottom left is a stone lantern that was erected outside of his house when Saneo was 28.

Gave up on the egg-shell koshirae (for now), and instead got a hold of a cracker of a sharkskin wakizashi saya with inro-style ribbing at the top. In excellent condition, with no cracks and a kozuka space opposite the kurigata. Attaching pics for the koshirae fans out there.

Koichi-san, Did you think it was significant that the person used 「三めぐり」, rather than 「見めぐり」, which contains the kanji one would expect to see in this poem? I read this as a kind of pun, replacing "God responsible for the fields" with "God from Mimeguri Shrine". (三囲神社). Or, maybe not a pun, but a kind of invocation of this god. SteveM (getting back into this after a long hiatus away from swords and tosogu) 　

Hello Malcom, You are talking about this here > http://w1.avis.ne.jp/~i-junko/zenbun.htm right? I couldn't find anything in English. Its short enough that I thought I might have a go at it, but its a bit heavy going since a lot of the words and word endings are using forms that aren't used anymore. Intriguing though... SteveM

I agree that we should avoid pointless restoration. If the same is good and serviceable, no need to throw it away. I'd be careful about mind-reading the original owner's intentions. For all we know this could be a 3rd or 4th or 5th generation koshirae for this blade. (It could also be 3rd or 4th generation same as well). The original creator could well have wanted his blade to be fitted with the most garish koshirae imaginable. The previous owners could have been dying for a flashier set of f/k, but simply didn't have the cash. It could well be a koshirae that is an amalgam of parts collected over a few hundred years, and that it once had even more austere (or even more flashy) furnishings. It would be impossible to say at this point. I do think that if the previous owner were striving for subtlety, he probably wouldn't have chosen the mottled lacquer with the pauwlonia crest, and with the kurikara fittings on both sides of the saya. Its a loverly old saya, and needs a bit of care, so I would say to look at it objectively and find some kind of balance between what makes sense for the blade, and what you will be happy with. In any event, preserve where possible and if there is intrinsic value in the thing being preserved. As far as same skin and ito, and even the core wood... I wouldn't lose any sleep if it turns out these things need to be replaced.

I'd say the tsuka is a write-off. To restore it you would need new shark/ray skin, and new ito. I would look into new fuchi/kashira as the ones on this piece look pretty bland. Its probably a JPY 50,000 restore job on the tsuka (excluding any new fittings). The restorers might just throw the whole tsuka away and make a new one from scratch, keeping the boar fittings. You would, however, end up with a nice display piece. If its a Rai blade, or other decent blade, its most definitely worth getting nice fittings and restoring the saya (I quite like the saya with the pauwlonia crest... I hope that can be restored. I think the exposed wood bits can be repaired and re-lacquered, but it might not match the mottled lacquering of the rest of the saya. Still, I think it can be greatly improved from its current state). If its a junker blade, and you just want to restore it for sentimental reasons, it would be a labor-of-love kind of thing, wherein the cost of repairing the blade and the saya would end up being dearer than buying another antique sword altogether... but it could end up being a very nice family treasure. Maybe not a museum piece, but something to enjoy for a long time.

Hi Joe, This is definitely a question for the sword experts. Figuring out which generation of Yasuhiro this might be is a level of expertise that is way beyond me. But I think if you want to know which Yasuhiro this is, you would probably have to get pics closer to the sword to show some of the details of the blade. If you google Bichu Yasuhiro you can find a few Yasuhiro swords on the internet, and that might help also. Seems to be a fairly highly regarded name. SteveM

Maybe its someone related to this smith (Kanemoto from Noshu)? http://lll.pro.tok2.com/sword/sdata69/gi401b.htm SteveM

Sorry Tim, not a lot to go on from this one. Its in the same Sosho style and equally as undecipherable (to me anyway...). The other print had a few standard kanji that gave some clues, but this one is too obscure. Even the poet's name is tough ？風亭？？　 （侍？、待？）. The print itself is interesting enough - a tachi and a crow over a backdrop of maybe plum blossoms. Wonder what its about? Sorry couldn't be of any help this time.

Another reason might be: even if the blade is a kanbun shinto, I don't think that style of blade is particularly popular with collectors. So I don't think you would find a lot of collectors who would hand over $1000 bucks for an unsigned kanbun shinto wakizashi (which may have questionable provenance). For reference, Sokendo just had their annual Golden Week sale, and in addition to the very high end pieces they also had about 20 blades in their "cheapo" section. Cheapo for Sokendo means anything from about 150,000 to maybe 500,000 yen. But for that you can usually get an authentic nihonto in a koshirae (...the koshirae might be in need of some attention). SteveM

Here 'tis I think maybe the same smith that created the sword here http://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/09112.html

I don't know how that series came to be called "Four Clans" in English, but since this is how the art world is referring to the set I think I can live with it. In addition to the two catalogues I was looking at yesterday, the "Four Clans" appellation can also be seen on a number of websites like the one I linked to above, as well as http://www.merlindailey.com/GalleryPages/Surimono.htm, and http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/katsushika-hokusai-1760-1849-ojeb8v9x9u-112-m-80dy7s8zav. I just wish I could find something that talks about the poem in the picture. SteveM

Hello Tim, Did a bit more searching around. The series is called "Four Clans of Japan" (Shisei No Uchi). I still don't know anything about the poem - other than the bits and pieces above. I did see a copy of this same piece available at the following site (GBP 180), which may help decide whether or not the piece you were looking at was fairly priced. The site below lists the print as "after Hokusai", but I looked at two Hokusai catalogues today and they both said that this series is indeed by Hokusai - the signature is in the bottom left, and is an alternative name used by Hokusai during this period in his life (just before he started printing the famous "Views of Mt. Fuji" series). http://www.degener.com/surimono.htm SteveM

Here Tis Steve M

I have admired that whale kozuka on Aoi Art for some time. Not a classic beauty, but I thought it had a mysterious, rare quality to it. I like the squid, ray, shark kozuka as well. Maybe one reason we don't see a greater variety of animals is the limitations imposed on artisans concerning "acceptable" motifs (i.e. the 12 animals of Chinese zodiac calendar, family crests, other seasonal motifs, etc..).

Hello Nigel, Are you talking about the mon that you have in your icon/avatar? If so, you should be able to find fittings and other antiques with this motif in it. If I'm not mistaken this is one of the more common crests - apparently associated with a number of Japanese last names. I have seen items with this crest before. I will keep on the lookout. Steve M.