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Leatherdog

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Everything posted by Leatherdog

  1. Chris, Thanks very much for your work facilitating this event; unfortunately I wasn't able to attend, but Mike Vinehout, who brought my blades up, reports that it was excellent.
  2. NTHK bounced; shinshinto copy attributed to Dotanuki Munehiro...any opinions as to whether it would be worth it to have the ko-mei removed and re-submit? I like this one well enough just because of the WW2 history - WW2 Pacific campaign study is how I got sucked into Nihonto to begin with...
  3. Thanks John. That's a great collection of oshigata. Can anyone point out noteworthy differences in the strokes between the oshigata supplied and my photos? I'm pretty new to evaluating mei, so would appreciate others' perspectives.
  4. ...and also to learn something if what I am seeing is wrong.
  5. Well James, I can't argue with your assessment! :D However, I don't believe I'll have the opportunity to travel to a sword show or shinsa before my next "extended vacation", and don't really want to send it through someone else. Just looking for opinions here regarding the mei.
  6. Hello all; Sorry for my absence, but I've been away "enjoying an extended Mesopotamian vacation" and now I'm back and still scratching my head about this wakizashi. Pg 110, vol III of the Koza states that there are "special traits" in the third and fourth stroke of the ji for MOTO. I have been staring at my blade and all of the oshigata I can find, and it seems to match for the Nidai Kanemoto/shodai "Magoroku". What I need at this point is a few sets of fresh eyes to evaluate the mei, since I am afraid of falling into the familiar trap of seeing what I want to see. "Digital Kantei" is difficult, as everyone knows, especially when the photographer's skills are lacking (as mine are), AND the blade is in relatively poor polish (which mine is). What I think we can do adequately with photos, however, is evaluate mei, so that is what I hope to do.
  7. ...so, probably not a very "good" kogatana? I really like the rest of the koshirae, though. Thanks for the assistance everyone!
  8. Thank you as well, Moriyama-san. What does this indicate about the period of manufacture? I'm assuming the kogatana blade really tells us nothing about the rest of the koshirae, as a blade from any period could be inserted into a new kozuka...unfortunately none of the other pieces are signed. It's a nice set with a sakura theme; matching kozuka, fuchi/kashira, tsuba, and menuki. Is it common for kozuka to have ware, or is the one in mine indicative of a "tired" or poorly made blade?
  9. Thank you Reinhard. So you are saying that it is a bit unusual that this one is signed, or that the signature shouldn't be taken seriously? 5th generation Kanemoto would place this in the 1st half of the 1600s, correct?
  10. Hi all, Just received a nicely mounted mumei wakizashi I purchased, and am hoping someone can find the time to translate the kogatana for me. All help, as always, is much appreciated!
  11. Thanks to everyone for the input. When I purchased this sword, I bought it for the fact that it was a reasonably priced, signed, and healthy wakizashi...I've not yet bought an unpapered blade based on the mei. That said, I still think this one has a shot at being the nidai...the boshi is spot-on for the one Kanemoto is most well known for, the hada seems right, the mei is at least close (any additional comment being welcome) and the hamon is also at least close. It is my understanding that Magoroku's sanbon-sugi evolved during his career, but is generally irregular, and the "points" of the hamon are generally more rounded than later generations. I would expect to see, on a late generation kanemoto sanbon-sugi, a "regular 'two short and one tall' hamon"...this one is pretty well controlled, but does seem to fit the bill as irregular in that, in the large part of the hamon, there doesn't seem to be a strict adherence to this pattern. I'll see if I can take another pic or two to show some of the more "irregular" areas of the hamon and post them tonight... Thanks again for all of the input, and I hope for more. In the end, as is so often stated here, "Only shinsa will decide".
  12. Also, what are we looking for in terms of yasuri-mei and hada? Here are a few more photos...sorry they're not higher quality. If anyone has requests for particular views that might help in making an educated guess as to which kanemoto (if not Magaroku, then which generation...?) let me know and I'll try to get them.
  13. Jean, What are your thoughts on the mei based on the additional photos? Are the kanji still suspect?
  14. How big of a clue is a Jizo boshi on a sword signed "Kanemoto"? from http://www.samuraisword.com: "THE WORK OF "MAGOROKU KANEMOTO" IS VERY BEAUTIFUL, DISTINCT, AND EASILY DISCERNIBLE! ... THE BLADE CHARACTERISTICS ARE UNIQUE. THE BOSHI (THE POINTS HEAT TREATING) IS KNOWN AS "THE KANEMOTO BOSHI", IT IS MAINLY MIDARE KOMI(IRREGULAR) BEGINNING AT THE "YOKOTE" (VERTICAL RIDGE LINE) THERE WILL BE TWO SMALL BEADS OF GONOME (ROUNDED HILLS), IT THEN TRANSFORMS INTO A "JIZO HEAD" ( SHAPE OF THE HEAD OF THE DEITY JIZO )." Any thoughts on how conclusive this is? Nagayama's book seems to support this by stating that 2nd Generation Kanemoto's boshi was as such, but following generations were not. Thoughts?
  15. Hi Max, Are you sure? (I guess there can't be too many of these floating around...) I purchased it from a guy I met through a gun-auction website (certainly not ebay ) I'd bought a wakizashi from him previously, and was impressed with him as a seller. He was asking 2k USD for the tachi and I purchased it for that amount - he thought it was signed kanetomo or something and from the 15th century. He readily disclosed the hagire, and made no bones about it being a fatal flaw. This was December of 2006. He had said he bought it at an estate auction in New Hampshire, where he was located. I assume he was being truthful, as I can see no reason for him to have made that up...but some people are just, well, you know. Does that story fit from your end? I sure think it's a neat piece, regardless of the flaws - but what a terrible shame it is! Of course, if it didn't have a couple of issues, I agree it would be a spectacular piece. Where do you speculate it is on the dollar scale as-is? Do you think I could get my money back if I ever decided to liquidate the collection? (I currently, of course, have no plans to do so...just curious! :D ) What are your thoughts on the hamon (or lack thereof?)
  16. Anybody have any further thoughts based on the additional photos?
  17. I second that. Apologies, but Stephen is right, without a doubt. I've seen lots of these that were supposedly right out of the vet's attic, but what is more likely is that he picked it up at a swap meet or gun show somewhere along the way and put it into the closet. Reportedly, similar swords were "manufactured" all over the South Pacific and Eastern Asia to sell to tourists as early as the immediate post-war period. GI's that couldn't get a captured blade - which was of course a much sought-after souvenir - were more than willing to lay down a few bucks to a villager who just so happened to have a stack of these "captured" swords at the market. This one looks Chinese to me. Don't feel too bad. I was home on leave recently and Dad's gun-shop got a call from a guy that had "30 samurai swords" he was interested in selling, said he'd been collecting for years. I'm 24 and by no means wealthy, but for a 30 sword collection I was ready to get the money one way or another...he drove up to meet me and I had to tell him he'd spent between $30,000 and $50,000 on a pile of worthless junk. Not a single one was Japanese. Turns out he'd ordered them all from a company called "Gold River" in Hong Kong (which he strangely could no longer contact)...this guy had been collecting them for years, bought them all from the single source in China, and apparently had never spoken to another sword collector or bought a single reference book. Some people...more money than sense. Don't feel too bad - it could be worse...I doubt you spent $50k on this item. :lol: When you compare the finer details and the workmanship on a real Japanese blade (even the "mass produced" machine-made swords of the war era), the differences are readily apparent. You'll see a lot of the fakes on ebay if you type in "samurai sword". They're even artifically aging them so they give that "diamond in the rough" appearance...tricky jerks.
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