Bryce

G'day Guys, I have never handled a hizen blade, only studied photographs, so I am coming from a position of ignorance, but there seems to be a huge range of what people call konuka. Some looks like very tight koitame to others that look closer to itame. How is it different from the very tight koitame you often find in Shinshinto Bizen works? Here is a shot of a Bizen Yokoyama Sukenaga blade to illustrate what I mean. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Ed, It looks like the mei is actually chiseled rather than just painted? Maybe it is ubu? Cheers, Bryce

I have read that the earliest blade signed by Sadakazu was dated around 1850? Does anyone have an oshigata of this blade or another early one? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, AOIJapan have another beautiful tanto signed Gassan Sadayoshi, but almost certainly signed by Sadakazu for his father. It is very similar to the last one, but a little earlier and in more of a yoroi doshi style. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, The Lanes Armoury in the UK have recently listed a katana signed "Gassan Sadakazu". For the bargain hunters out there, here is a comparison of this sword with a papered Gassan Sadakazu. I know which one I like. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, Different guy, My blade is signed Kiku Shinano no kami Fujiwara Nobuyoshi. Michael's is signed Kiku Ichi Echizen no kami Minamoto Rai Nobuyoshi. My guys is the shodai, Michaels's guy is considered the sendai. I am no expert and it is very difficult to differentiate between the Shodai and Nidai. The NBTHK rarely if ever differentiate between the generations. I have seen an NTHK paper specifying the nidai, but the nakago is so corroded you can't make much out. They both signed pretty much the same. Tsuruta san from AOIJapan thinks he can tell the difference and says mine is by the shodai. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, Not dated I am afraid. Cheers, Bryce

Beautiful Michael. Here is my type 98 with a blade by the Shodai Nobuyoshi. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, The central chuso is not a hard rule. Generally type 94's have a central chuso and type 98's have an offset one, but you do find 98's with a central chuso and vice versa. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Bruce, Yes Sadaichi (or Sadakazu II) is Sadakatsu's son. He initially signed Sadamitsu and is the father of the current smith Gassan Sadatoshi. Cheers, Bryce

OK thank you, that makes sense now. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, AOIJapan have recently listed a nice tanto by Gassan Sadaichi. They have stated it is dated Showa 5, but I actually think it is more like Showa 50. I don't recognise the kanji immediately after 5. The best I can gather is that it means something like "edict". Cheers, Bryce

G'day Jeremy, I haven't sent any swords from Australia by UPS, but I have received several from the UK recently with no problems. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I realise now that when Gassan Sadakatsu is referring to a blade as Soshu den or Bizen den he is only referring to the hamon style rather than the hada. Thus you see blades described by him as Soshu den with hada ranging from "standing out" itame, thru to pure masame and even very tight koitame. Here is the hamon from the 1938 boxed gunto example posted above. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Steve. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Can anyone make this out? Cheers, Bryce

Wow, Thanks for posting that Tom. It showcased some beautiful blades. I love this horimono. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Trystan, I agree. I took it as confirmation that I was reading the scratched kanji correctly. It is written in the same gold paint the fuchi is decorated with. I assume this means it was done when the fuchi was painted. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about the koshirae, so I wonder what the '特二' is referring to? Could it be referring to the "Gassan" habaki? Cheers, Bryce

G'day John, Here is mine again. It is a 1938 Gassan Sadakatsu blade, with Gassan habaki and tachibana mon on kabutogane. I think the markings translate as short for "Gassan 2" and "special 2"? Cheers, Bryce

G'day John, I agree, I think it is the same ink stamp. Cheers, Bryce

G'day John, Mine isn't unique. Here is another example I found on the net. It would be good to see other examples of Suya fittings with known blades. I guess they may have used the blade maker sometimes and the owner at other times? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I noticed that in the past, Neil has posted some Yasukunito with Suya fittings that also have scratchings on the tsuba and seppa. My Gassan Sadakatsu with Suya fittings has Gassan scratched on them. In this case could the scratching be shorthand for Yasumitsu maybe? Perhaps if other Yasukunito owners could check their gunto fittings we may be able to decipher this? Cheers, Bryce

G'day John, The tsuka of my 1938 Gassan Sadakatsu has the same kanji. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Brian, I will try to put it into a PDF when I get time. G'day Dirk, Below are some photos of Sadakazu mei where I have highlighted the things he consistently did different to Sadakatsu. I made these a while ago for my own notes and they were never meant for outside consumption. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I have spent the last few years studying swords by Gassan Sadakatsu. I thought I might post about a few of the things I have discovered so far. The earliest blade I have seen signed by Sadakatsu for his father Sadakazu was dated 1897 (Meiji 30). The earliest blade I have seen signed by Sadakatsu for his father, but includes his own name was dated 1906 (Meiji 39). The earliest blade I have seen where Sadakatsu signed for himself was dated 1915 (Taisho 4). Below are photos of these mei, and also blades dated 1921, 1938 and 1943 to demonstrate the subtle changes in the way Sadakatsu signed throughout his working life. Most of the photos are from AOIJapan, but the 1915 blade was sold by Henk at Bushidoshop.nl. All of the blades have NBTHK papers. Gassan Sadakatsu was very consistent in the way he signed, but you can see that the way he signed did change over time. I am confident that all of these mei were by him and not by any of his students. Cheers, Bryce