Ray Singer

Newly received signed Shimosaka sasaho yari. This is almost identically sized to the famous sasaho yari Tonbogiri. This is an absolutely beautiful piece, well executed and bright hamon and wonderful flowing itame hada mixed with masame. The attached photo shows this Shimosaka (with red lacquer) side by side with Tonbogiri. Per Markus Sesko, a bit of reference information below. "I don´t want to leave out the most famous work of Masazane, the yari Tonbôgiri (蜻蛉切). Honda Tadakatsu (本多忠勝, 1548-1610), another Tokugawa-shitennô, wore this yari at the Battle of Hitokotozaka (一言坂の戦い) in Genki three (元亀, 1572) and forced with it his way through the line between the enemy and the allies by wielding it overhead. It has to be mentioned that the shaft of the spear was 6 m long! (The blade itself has a nagasa of 43,8 cm.) According to transmission, once a dragonfly (Jap. tonbô) tried to land on the yari but was cut in two halves and that is why it got the nickname „Tonbôgiri“ (lit. „dragonfly cutter“)." Comparison to Masazane, yari Tonbôgiri; Masazane nagasa of 43.8 cm. or 17 1/4”, style, Sasaho yari Shimosaka nagasa of 42.5 cm. or 16 3/4”, style, Sasaho yari In polish, with a beautiful grained shirasaya. Two NBTHK kanteisho. $4,950 (plus shipping and PayPal)

Additional, daylight photos of the Chikushi Ryokai tanto. I've tried to show how beautiful the ji is in this sword. The ji is filled with nie, there is a prominent nie-utsuri, and there are numerous chikei throughout. This is an extremely high-quality Yamashiro-den tanto. Unless one has the means to acquire an Awataguchi or Rai tanto, this is a close second.

Here is a good place to start. http://www.jssus.org/nkp/japanese_sword_laws.html

Also, this is not an authentication paper of the blade's signature. This does not tell you that the wakizashi has an authentic signature of Shinkai, only the details of the blade itself for registration purposes.

This is a torokusho ( a sword license) for a wakizashi signed Inoue Shinkai with a Kanbun 10 date.

I would suspect this to be a gimei of Kotani Yasunori. Best regards, Ray

Thank you both for looking into it further. I did think the first kanji is Shige, but got to a dead end as far as placenames which would fit. If I saw the first two kanji by themselves I would assume a name of Shigenari as was suggested above, but given that this is indication a location it is perplexing. Take care, Ray

It is not fatal, nor is it a crack. It is a kitae-ware (a forging flaw), that is part mune-ware and then descends across into the shinogi-ji.

__貞作 (__sada saku). I will look into the first kanji, but not clear.

Much appreciated, thank you Daniel Best regards, Ray

I am curious if anyone is able to read the second kanji in this togi mei: Shige__ junin Ichikawa togi kao Much appreciated, Ray

This is a very long katana with an old attribution by Hon'ami Koson in the form of a shumei and sayagaki to Bitchu (no) kuni Aoe Yoshitsugu. The sayagaki gives a value of 500 gold pieces. 74cm nagasa. The blade is in choji-midare with midare utsuri. In addition to the old NBTHK papers. Yoshitsugu was a member of the Aoe / Chu-Aoe school. His swords have been designated Juyo, Tokubetsu Juyo, Juyo Bijitsuhin and Juyo Bunkazai. Two of his swords (now jubun) were designated National Treasures before the war. This sword should be sent to shinsa again. The sugata and workmanship are wonderful and at minimum the blade shows Aoe traits and the Yoshitsugu attribution given three times here is convincing. $11,500 (plus shipping and PayPal)

Final reduction to $750 (plus shipping and PayPal). This koshirae came out of Gold & Silver Pawn, and was married to the Morikuni katana which sold here recently (both the koshirae and blade were completely unrelated and were a poor fit to one another). The previous owner had a shirasaya and tsunagi made to separate these two pieces and offer on their own. Any questions, please email me at raymondsinger@gmail.com. Best regards, Ray

This is less of a Want-to-Buy than a want to learn more. I heard that there was an Ason Masanori found, put to shinsa and owned in a collection here in the US. If anyone here owns the blade or can tell me more about it, please feel free to reach out at raymondsinger@gmail.com. Best regards, Ray

Koto Chikushi Ryokai tanto with NTHK papers. Perfect ko-itame hada with a nashiji appearance and showing with nie-utsuri. Gorgeous jigane. In shirasaya with gold foil habaki. Well executed horimono with gomabashi-hi and bonji. $2,400 (plus shipping and PayPal)

Listing a very beautiful Muromachi tanto by the Eisho period Kaga smith Fujiwara Iehide. The blade has a wonderful hamon, suguha-based but with a complex structure of midare-ba mixed in. The jihada is a tightly forged ko-itame with thick ji-nie. In shirasaya. $2,200 (plus shipping and PayPal)

Sayagaki translation courtesy of Markus Sesko: Obverse: 佩服可以厲清操 ⻑州住二王方清在銘 Haifuku sureba seisō o takakushi – Chōshū-jū Niō Masakiyo zaimei. “Wearing this [blade] will lead to clean aspirations and deeds – Signed ‘Niō Masakiyo, resident of Nagato province’.” (The wording "wearing this [blade]" is an allusion to the 11th century Nihontō no Uta, a Chinese song praising Japanese swords. In this text, the line goes: "Wearing a Japanese sword will also ward off evil.) Reverse: 紀念帝國大學卒業贈之維時昭和十一歳三月 Kinen Teigaku setsugyō kore o okuru, koretoki Shōwa jūichinen sangatsu. “Commemorative present on the occasion of graduating from the Imperial University, in March of Shōwa eleven (1936).”

If you have a love for the works of Kencho (So-den Bizen Kanenaga) with powerful sugata and extremely active choji-midare hamon in nie-deki, this is a sword you will enjoy. The work is clearly meant to emulate Kencho's work, with a wild choji-ba overlaid with numberous tobiyaki (almost having a Hasebe feel). The blade is done, as would be it's model, in a nie-based hamon having profuse activity. The blade is 48.2cm and has a Nanbokucho-style sugata with o-kissaki and a wide-mihaba. The blade has futatsuji-hi on both sides. I have tried to identify whether this sword is the copy of a specific blade but have not been able to find it's model. The jihade is a well-forged and tight itame with chikei. The blade is ubu and signed Choshu ju Nio Masakiyo. With NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, solid silver habaki and shirasaya with horn hato-mei. There is a sayagaki indicating that this was a gift, dated Showa 11 (1936). I am helping a friend sell off his collection this week, and this one is modestly priced for the quality. $3,950 (plus shipping & PayPal). I am uploading photos from a different device, so please bear with me a few minutes while I switch over and do the upload.

Look into the Mino smith. https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/MAS1025

Nagamura Kiyonobu https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5270-ww2-katana-mei-identification/

Tegai Kanetoshi

Bitchu Aoe Yoshitsugu

Excellent shinogi-zukuri wakizashi with mitsumune having a kinpun-mei (gold lacquer attribution) to the Shinkai student Harukuni. HARUKUNI Hokuso 治国北窓 [ Tenna 1681-1684 Settsu ] Shinto-Chujosaku He was called Sōbei (惣兵衛), he was a student of Inoue Shinkai (井上真改), gō Hokusō (北窓), he worked in the style of Shinkai and moved later to Hyūga province. His works are in ō-midare with ara-nie or a notare in ko-nie-deki, the jigane is dense and tight. The ji-hada is very tight itame that is mu-ji hada with wildish aranie that covers most of the ji and some of the shinogi-ji. There are blades from the Enpō (延宝, 1673-1681) to the Tenna era. Harukuni's works are very rare and this especially applies to katana. Nice and healthy blade with profuse ji-nie throughout. Please see attached photos. The blade has a 21" nagasa. The hamon is a notare based one in ko-nie and sprays of ara-nie. Boshi is ko-maru. Jihada is a tight ko-itame. The blade is ubu and in addition to the kinpun-mei also includes an owner's inscription and a Yagyu adage inscribed. I have attached the owner's notes and research below. 小河内住左衛門源信敬所持之 = Ogouchi jū Saēmon Minamoto Nobutaka/Nobuyuki/Shinkei (all 3 readings possible) shoji kore 殺人刀活人剣 = setsunintō katsujinken - A sword that takes life also gives life The Yagyū Shinkage Ryū is one of the most honored and venerable systems of classical swordsmanship with a history that stretches back 450 years. Known as the swordless style, which combines swordsmanship and zen. Besides its formidable technique, it is famous for an adage: setsunintō katsujinken 殺人刀活人剣. The literal reading is “the sword of life; the sword of killing.” A common translation is slightly different: “the sword that takes life is the sword that gives life.” Yet the deeper meanings are not straightforward. The aikidō sensei and Zen priest, Furuya Kenshō, noted that it was regarded as a kōan, a teaching riddle intended to provoke enlightenment through prolonged contemplation. In shirasaya with 2-piece habaki and NTHK kanteisho. $4,750 (plus shipping & PayPal)