Bryce

G'day Guys, This is the earliest date I have seen Sadakatsu's name on a sword. The earliest date I have seen Sadakatsu sign for his father Sadakazu is Meiji 30, so 9 years before this sword was made. I wonder if Sadakatsu was getting frustrated and wanted his name out there as well, prompting him to sign this way on this sword? Cheers, Bryce

Thanks Guys, Cheers, Bryce

Thanks guys, I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, The Royal Collection Staff were kind enough to send me some photos of the nakago of this sword. On the RCT website they speculate that this blade may have been made by Sadakatsu rather than Sadakazu. It is dated Taisho 7 (1918) the year Sadakazu died and is almost certainly a daimei by Sadakatsu. I will chase them up to see if I have permission to post the photos here. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, My recent focus on Gassan Sadakazu/Sadakatsu has got me wondering about something. I come from a background in the study of British swords. In this field most people seem to focus in on specific periods of time, where they can develop a lot of expertise on the swords produced during this period. In contrast to this, the student of Japanese swords is expected to be across all swordsmiths who produced blades during the last 1000 years. I don't think it is humanly possible to develop the same level of expertise when studying all blades produced in 1000 years compared to a 50 or 100 year period. When it comes to shinsa, does the NBTHK know what blades they will be authenticating beforehand? Can they call in experts on specific smiths during shinsa or do they all need to be across all swordsmiths from all time periods? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I put together the kokuin progression after going thru the 80 or so Sadakazu blades I was able to find on the net. All of the examples I used in the photo were from NBTHK papered blades. Here is the number 3 kokuin example I used from AOIJapan, with it's NBTHK paper. Cheers, bryce

G'day Ian, Yes I was aware of this article. We are talking about the same number 3 kokuin. The tantos with this kokuin all have the same style of mei, filing acoss the kokuin and rougher yasurimei. The 6 or so of these I have come across are dated from Meiji 4 to Meiji 7. Half of them aren't dated, which is odd in itself. They look like Sadakazu invited a work experience student in to finish off some of his tantos, but he must have stayed for at least 3 years and never got any better! I would agree with the article you posted above and say they have to be gimei, but the NBTHK have papered at least three of them that I have seen. Cheers, Bryce

To demonstrate just how different the mei of the number 3 kokuin tantos are from the typical Sadakazu mei here are examples side by side from about the same time. The typical Sadakazu is on the left, the number 3 kokuin on the right. As I said, both have been papered by the NBTHK. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Below are photos showing the changes in Sadakazu's kokuin. The earliest blade with a kokuin I have found so far is Keio 1 and the latest is Meiji 38. Below going left to right: 1. Found on blades dated Keio 1 to Meiji 2 2. Found on blades dated early Meiji 3. Found on blades dated early Meiji 4. Found on blades dated late Meiji, so far I believe all are Sadakatsu daimei. Number 3 is a bit of an enigma. All examples so far found on tanto which have a mei which isn't in Sadakazu's or Sadakatsu's hand. Some people have said these blades are gimei and I would have agreed, except the work in the blades does look Gassan and the NBTHK papers them. There doesn't seem any pattern as to why some blades have a kokuin and some don't. Some blades have a kao and some don't. Some have a kokuin and kao. Sadakazu doesn't seem to have been very consistent in the way he signed his blades. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Does anyone have photos of what Sadakazu's ayasugi looks like? I am yet to find a blade done in ayasugi which I believe was actually signed by Sadakazu. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I think I found a picture of the Juyo katana. I believe this is also a daimei by Sadakatsu. Cheers, Bryce

Never mind I have sorted it out. Made with precious steel by Gassan Sadakazu and Sadakatsu in the style of Bizen Ichimonji. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, Can someone please help me with the translation of this blade by Sadakazu? I believe it is actually a daimei by Sadakazu's son Sadakatsu. It is signed made by Gassan Sadakazu at the age of 71 and dated Meiji 39. Sadakatsu is also mentioned in the mei, but I don't know the characters in front of his name. It also says motte Bizen Ichimonji, but I don't know the characters after that. Cheers, Bryce

This is an interesting sword I have come across on the net. Made in 1906 like the juyo example mentioned above and signed Gassan Sadakazu made this at the age of 71. I believe this is a daimei by Sadakatsu. Sadakatsu is also named in the mei. Can someone please tell me what the context of this is? Cheers, Bryce

Thanks very much Jussi. I would love to see the oshigata of these juyo blades if anyone can help? Bit of an update on what I found to date: So far the earliest daimei by Sadakatsu I have found is dated Meiji 30. The latest blade I have come across, that I believe was actually signed by Sadakazu was dated Meiji 41, but the search continues. Cheers, Bryce

I know there is at least one Sadakazu that has gone Juyo. Does anyone have a photo or oshigata of it? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Curran, That is an interesting tanto signed Yusuishin Sadayoshi. I don't think I have ever seen a "cut-out" hi like that. I am sorry if I have unintentionally committed a faux pas, by naming any blades as daimei. One of the forum members sent me some photos of their Sadakazu dated Meiji 38 which has a sayagaki by Tanobe sensei stating it is a work by Sadakatsu, although to my eyes it looks like it was actually signed by Sadakazu, making it daisaku. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Raffaele, Thank you for posting your blade. It is another example of one signed by Sadakatsu for his father. Cheers, Bryce

G'day David, I think Gassan Sadakatsu was still signing the vast majority of his blades right up till his death. His 1943 mei are not quite as crisp as his earlier ones, but still obviously in his hand. Gassan Sadakatsu mei not in his hand seem to be relatively uncommon and aren't restricted to his later years. Often the blades signed with his name, but not done by him, are atypical in sugata and kitae and I wonder if some are actually gimei? In contrast, I think you are hard pressed to find a Sadakazu blade made after Meiji 30 that was actually signed by Sadakazu. Also, while Sadakatsu was very consistent in how he signed, there is a lot of variation in Sadakazu mei. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Alan, I am not sure. Certainly there are plenty of blades signed by Sadakatsu for Sadakazu with his title. An example is the one posted by Surfson earlier in this thread. I will have a look. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I have been going further down the Gassan Sadakazu/Sadakatsu rabbit hole. After a bit of time looking at the mei of Sadakazu and Sadakatsu you can distinguish between the shoshin Sadakazu's and the ones signed by Sadakatsu for his father. So far it looks like every sword made from Meiji 30 on was actually signed by (and perhaps made by) Sadakatsu. Many of these swords are also pretty much identical to blades Sadakatsu made and signed after his father's death. Many of the blades featured in this thread were actually signed by Sadakatsu. Here is an example of a blade made by Sadakatsu in 1921. I wonder if this was more of his marketing spin, the fact that he made and sold blades under his national treasure father's name, long after his father stopped actually playing a physical role in the production of blades? Cheers, Bryce

G'day Guys, I don't know anything about "island made swords". I was just pointing out that none of the koshirae was put together using legitimate type 98 parts. Cheers, Bryce

G'day Rob, I agree that from the photos the leather cover on the saya looks not too bad, but it has no clips or laces at the throat and if you look closely you can see the hanger has the same colour and lumpy appearance as that truly offensive tsuba and seppa, so all the koshirae were made together as a set. That makes it very unlikely that the blade will be authentic. Cheers, Bryce

I am sorry guys, none of that is real including the saya. Pull out any one of your own gunto and compare the small details. Cheers, Bryce

Thanks guys. Cheers, Bryce