Bryce

G'day Jake, I have a set with very similar theme to yours. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Eric, The bonji on your blade represents the entity Fudo myo-o. I have a Gassan Sadakatsu blade with similar horimono. Your blade is not Gassan work though. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I am always happy to learn something, fire away, show us what you know. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, The Gassan school is famous for its ayasugi hada. Sadayoshi and Sadakazu are credited with rediscovering it, but it was Sadakatsu who refined it to the beautiful uniformity we expect to see today. If we group Sadakazu and Sadakatsu together, I would argue that it isn't Ayasugi hada so much that unites them, but rather, tight, uniform, masame hada. Ayasugi hada never dominated Sadakazu's work, but it is the most common hada for Sadakatsu's Showa period work. Each of these smiths forged blades in all sorts of styles, with some dominating different periods of their working lives, but in general terms, I would describe their work as very controlled, with ko-nie and nioi. Hope this helps. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I don't understand your question. You are asking me what characteristics they have in common, when they have so many that most people can't tell their blades apart? Is this a language thing? Is there going to be a punchline? Is this like "Two Gassan smiths walk into a bar .........". Adam, that looks like a nice blade. It is a pity that Eric doesn't post some better photos of the hada and hamon. Cheers, Bryce

Actually, maybe this is a better way of showing the comparison. I replaced Jacques oshigata, with the photo of a Gassan Sadakatsu katana dated Taisho 10 (1921). Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, To add to what Adam said about Roger and Hizento mei, most examples of Gassan Sadakazu/Sadakatsu mei are easy to pick, but there are a small number where it isn't immediately obvious. We are dealing with humans here, not machines, so there is variation. There is no single thing that differentiates or unites the two, it is the sum total of a large number of characteristics. If I use the oshigata that Jacques posted, which I have already said was signed by Sadakatsu and sandwich between it and another Sadakatsu mei one actually signed by Sadakazu, you can see the differences. So Sadakazu in the middle, Sadakatsu each side. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques and David, I don't own any Fujishiro books. Do you accept that it is possible to recognise a person's handwriting? It is exactly the same with nihonto mei. My sole nihonto focus now is pretty much just Gassan Sadakazu and Gassan Sadakatsu. I look at examples of their blades nearly every day and have done so now for about 5 years. To me, the fact that the oshigata Jacques posted is of a blade signed by Sadakatsu for his father, rather than signed by Sadakazu himself is as obvious to me as the difference between night and day. I have a hard time believing you guys can't see it as well. Previously I have posted about a blade signed Gassan Sadayoshi, which has a Tanobe sayagaki, stating it is actually a work by Sadakazu and also a blade signed Sadakazu, with a Tanobe sayagaki stating it is actually a work by Sadakatsu. I shouldn't say daimei are accepted as shoshin, they actually are shoshin. Cheers, Bryce

G'day David, It isn't an argument it is a simple fact. Daimei/daisaku swords are accepted as shoshin. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, The oshigata above is a daimei by Gassan Sadakatsu for his father Sadakazu. In regards to every mei being identical, here is a collage I put together of eight Sadakazu tanto mei done in this same style, all around the same time. All of these blades are papered to Sadakazu. Are they identical - definitely not. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Great discussion. Below I have included the other photo of the mei that Gordon posted. You can see it gives a different perspective of the kanji. As I said earlier, we are looking at a fuzzy photo of a rusted nakago, so we can't be sure that what we are seeing is an accurate picture of the mei. In regard to the missing tagane in the "san" kanji, both Gassan Sadakazu and his son Sadakatsu are a little "cavalier" in their use of them. They add them or not depending on whim. Remember, this is all chiseled by hand, so no two mei are exactly the same. You have to look at the way the kanji are constructed, rather than looking for exactly, identical copies. Cheers, Bryce PS Jacques in regard to the rust, where I live steel can get that rusty in under a year, let alone 150 years.

G'day Dee, I would say the mei is well within the limits of variability you see in Gassan Sadakazu's work, especially when you consider the low resolution photo of the rusty nakago we are working with. This tanto is definitely worthy of a closer look. The horimono looks strange, because at some point, someone has taken to the blade with a sander and worn it down. It is hard to say from these photos what damage has been done and how much value is left in the blade, but I stand by my opinion that this tanto could very well be shoshin. Jacques are you saying that in general Gassan Sadakazu's mei have some peculiarities or just this particular example we are looking at in this thread? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I am sorry mate, I am still not sure what it is you are asking. On an impersonal form of communication like this it is difficult to grasp subtle nuances. You will have to use more words or give me a hint. Cheers, Bryce

I should also add that the tanto in this thread is suriage thru the top of the kokuin. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jacques, I am not sure what you are asking. Below is a photo of a comparison of two tanto from Gassan Sadakazu from the early Meji period. Both of these have been papered by the NBTHK. During the early Meiji Period you find his tanto with two distinctly different mei and kokuin. For whatever reason, it seems he signed in these two distinctly different styles. One possible explanation is that the tanto on the right was signed by one of his students. The tanto in this thread looks very similar to the right hand one. As I said, the NBTHK paper these and the work in these blades looks like Gassan work. Cheers, Bryce