george trotter

Haha...damn right it is... Just to be fair to hadori though, I must acknowledge that it has promoted the spread and use of Oshigata like never before. It was bound to happen of course as now that no-one bothers to look at the sword advertised in a photo - (just a featureless object), collectors all have to look at the oshigata published alongside to see what the hamon and activity looks like, so, a boom industry for sure. Maybe we should just start collecting oshigata? Just think...much cheaper, easy to see the real hamon at a glance and you can fold them! hahahahahah I love this board...

Hi Chris, thanks for sharing. Definitely an interesting Imperial Gift sword. Bit amazing that it is for sale...maybe the family have died out? Anyway, shows that good stuff is around. I have seen Yasunori's work in hand, both as Yasunori and as Geishu ju Ujimasa (Hiroshima). One point I am pleased to see is that it has not been "ha-dori'd" haha. Even though it is more than I pay, the price is reasonable also IMHO. Regards, PS Drago, the mekugi says "Yasunori" and the habaki refers to the Imperial Gift.

I join with the good wishes here...get well soon Paul. Warm Regards,

Hi Brandon, your first pic of the hamon shows the same "arrow notch" hamon of mine. As Chris said, I also am not sure if it is gendaito or not...too long ago for me to remember exactly. I know at the time I thought it gendaito, but I saw another 5-6 years ago (same hamon) and though dirty, I think it may have been showato...but if so, a privately made showato in his dactory and no "sho" stamp. I don't think any of these swords are dated, at least I haven't seen one. Regards,

I may be wrong but the nakago and machi have been "adjusted" and the province and smith mei have been removed (IMHO)...it looks to me like it might be: 1 2 Ju Minamoto Nobukuni 6 7 ..... (1 2 = province (almost obliterated from machi okuri?) and 6 7 = smith name (cut off). Nobukuni is the "school/line" not the smith name (I think).. Hope I'm not leading you astray...

Hi Joe, the list is: 2. is an unknown by Seisui of Tokyo (but made at Southern Nagano) 1944. 3. is Yamagami Munetoshi 1943 of Niigata (RJT smith). 4. is same again 1944 with star. 5. is a real favourite, Okishiba Yoshisada of Osaka , no date, (see pics). 6. is great but dirty...Nagao Kunishiro of Aomori 1944 star. 7. is unknown, Shigekuni no date. has officers name and Regt. attached. 8. is Nakata Kanehide 1944 star. hope this helps, edit...opps sorry, can't add pics at the moment. Point is, some of my blades are unknowns, but I bought them because I like the work. That's the main thing, I please myself in my collecting. Regards,

I see that collecting is alive and well. Some very nice items. Love the pic you took yourself Daniel of the Ota Chikahide hamon...that is my favourite type. the Mantetsu cleaned up nicely I must say....og course all those non-gendai treasures are great also. I liked the comment that a member would be satisfied to have one "perfect" sword...we all aim for that. I for one have the common problem...I like all of mine :D Top pic...what I used to like (no. 3 is 3rd Echizen Yasutsugu and no. 4 is Ishido Mitsuhira) Bottom pic...what I like now...all except no. 1 are gendaito ....a particular favourite is no.6 is Nagao Kunishiro of Aomori (but it is dirty). Keep up the good work,

Brian, We have discussed these Amachi (also wrongly read Amaike) smiths before...maybe your friend can do a search? Just from my notes there were three of this name. I think elder brother, younger brother and maybe a son. 1. Amachi Reiichiro Masatsune (this guy) became registered at Seki 1st July 1939 (Hawley MAS 1250) and F & G 175. 2. Amachi Reijiro Kanenaga became registered at Seki 15th June 1940 (KAN 203) 3. Amachi ? ? ? Yoshimasa ...he has oshigata in Slough p.197 and in F & G p.82. and see also NMB 24 may 2010 "Help with Showato mei?"where his go name is given as Saemonjo. So looks like Masatsune was Sahyoe no jo and Kanenaga was ? ? ? and Yoshimasa was Saemonjo. I think the first two were capable of better swords, but whether they used tamahagane I don't know. Hope this helps,

That hamon is the same as a Masayuki I once owned 1982...I called it "arrow notch" yahazu midare hamon. I must say the fittings were of good quality...sukashi gunto tsuba, horizontal lines on habaki, horn mekugi etc. and 69.5 cm...quite long for a gunto. I think I classed it as a gendaito then, but now not so sure. Interesting blade.

Hi Morita san, I had his name as Kanetaka also (see oshigata) but somehow I changed it to kami. I see in the page (Nihonto Meikan p.148) he is RJT. Thanks for your correction. Hi Paul, Yes looks like a good find. Regards,

Hi Paul, I used to have a blade by this man (if they are the same...my jiri was different). A good gendaito, although I thought the hamon looked a bit "weak". Yours looks very strong and clear. I attach a rubbing, although it is hard to see the mei, It is signed: Noshu Seki Ju Gensaburo Kanekami Saku. (I think that is the reading). The chiselling is very fine. If they are the same man he was Koketsu Gensaburo Kanekami. He was registered at Seki on Sho 15 year July 25th. I have him listed as RJT but I don't know where I got that from. Mine was in Navy mounts. Hope this helps,

Hi Patrick, I had a look at page 38 (same book I quoted from) and it is a different "aki"...that man is Kato. Unfortunately it is not that uncommon to find a blade by someone who is just a name, with no other info. I have a good RJT blade by Takashima Kunihide of Kyoto...I even had a knowledgeable friend in Japan check for me...nothing...beats me how someone can spend the war in the RJT system and leave no record other than his name? As Chris says, there is still work to be done on the Hizen gendai smiths. Maybe whoever does it (Morita sensei? :D ) some will get answers to their unknown smiths. (Ummm, Kyoto smiths anyone...?) Regards, and keep searching.

Hi Patrick, I have nothing really to add to what Morita sensei told you except that his personal name might be Harumoto. I saw this in Ono 1971 p.286 which is in the "recently deceased list"... Ishii Harumoto (he is given here as Fukuoka, next door to Saga) it doesn't give his smith name but it might be Tadaaki. None of my sources say anything about him. The sword looks good...I don't think the blade is ha-machi...the mei is nice and close to the habaki...if the machi had originally been lower the habaki would have been lower and the mei (where it is) would be touching the habaki....so no, I think it is just a new ana. I think a second ana was put in (maybe changed koshirae sometime)....is it dated? Regards,

I wonder why the mei is placed below where the mekugi ana would go...all the other pics and oshigata I have seen of his, the mei is high, above the ana. Having said that, I just looked up Tom Kishida's 'Yasukuni Swords' p.67 and there is another like this by Yasunobu...also no ana and also mei below the place where the ana would go and also signed "Kinsaku" and also 18th year (but 5th month). It looks like there may have been a requirement for presentation swords by Yasukuni tosho to some temple? Interesting...what does the accompanying info say about it Wah? Regards,

Hi Chris, yes that all sounds reasonable. Nice rating of his work. Regards,

Hi Chris, I haven't seen a pre 1943 star stamped sword either, but just going on Ohmura sensei's site about Army Workshop sword making which predated the RJT scheme, it occurred to me that Hidehiro may have been one of them. These Army smiths started making swords (Hontanrento - true made swords) on the Army's various workshop premises in Sho 15. They were signed and dated but had the workshop logo mark, not a star. The star started later in Sho 17? and was only for those swords made in the smith's home forge (Mei, date and star). Tokyo Hohei Tosho (smiths Yokoyama Sukekane, Morioka Masayoshi) Tokyo No 1 Army Workshop (Yoshihara Nobushiro (or is it take?) same man as Akihiro /Kuniiye) Osaka Kosho (Gassan Sadakatsu, Sadakazu (nidai) Sadashige, Masakiyo) Kokura (Hakuryushi Tadataka, Taira Sadashige, Kanenobu) Kyuheikisho (refurbishment) (smiths like Yoshihara and others). There are some top smiths among these listed and I'd bet my house that if Hidehiro was one of them he would have been employed at the Kokura workshop. This is only conjecture on my part, but maybe this is where the RJT Sho 14 start comes from...they did not move into "true" RJT scheme until Sho 17?, but are considered to have army service from Sho 15, maybe even Sho 14? This question might be answered if some members could report back on whether anyone has a pre Sho 17(1942) blade signed by one of these guys or Hidehiro that has the earlier date and a Workshop "logo" only (Maybe Morita sensei or Moriyama sensei could give information on the "logo" marks etc...)? Hope this helps,

Hi Stephen and Chris, Stephen, instead of buying another Hidehiro, maybe look out for his brothers/sons' work? Muto Hidehiro was the middle of three sons. Apart from his elder brother Muto HisaHiro who carried on the Muto line of Hisahiro their father and grandfather, he has a younger brother Muto Yukihiro born Meiji 35 (I have seen his work - Slough p.203 who says he was also RJT) and he had two sons...Mitsuhiro born Taisho 15 and Tadahiro born Showa 7 ...both started swords in Showa 47. Chris I saw that RJT start of 14th year also, must be a mistake, unless he was somehow engaged by the Army in some preliminary capacity (teacher?) during the "setting up" and "experimental" time? Regards,

Hi Stephen, I used to own a blade by Muto Hidehiro. Mine was the one described as "nokogiri" hamon. Most of his work appears to be like yours, essentially Hizen style. There are a couple of points to note: 1. His mei is more formal in his earlier work (see pic). 2. His yasurimei are kiri in his earlier work at least to 1943 (see pic) 3. if you look, he seems to always cut his machi deep below the top shinogi ji line, and his hamachi is deep also. This seems to be a feature of his work. Your mei and ysurimei appear in 1945 and are identical blade/ mei/ yasuri as shown in Ono 1971, so it looks like he "evolved' in mei and yasuri from mine in the earlier war period into yours in the late and postwar period (unless mine is completely out of character?). Considering his ancestry is Hizen, it is probable that my nokogiri/mei is an "oddity" to his normal suguba/cursive style. His lineage is 8th Hizen Tadayoshi - 1st gen Muto Shinano no Kami Hisahiro - 2nd Gen Muto Hisahiro - this man. He is given as working in the style of 1st Hizen Tadayoshi. I hope this helps (wish I still had mine).

Hi all, I once owned a sword signed Amachi Kanenaga. It was properly forged and tempered , but probably not? tamahagane. My research at the time had me calling him Amaike, but I have since learned that the "ike" can also be read "chi"...so I think Amachi is correct. As for his personal name I read GIN, but I have now found that I probably misread that also, Chris Bowen kindly suggested it was probably a similar kanji read "REI" and I now agree. So, I found that 3 names appear under Amachi: 1. Amachi Ginichiro (or Reiichiro) Masatsune...see F&G 175 and Rich Stein showa oshi site, Hawley MAS 1250 became Seki kaji 1/7/1939. 2. Amachi Ginjiro (or Reijiro) Kanenaga...see Rich Stein site, Hawley KAN 203, became Seki kaji 15/6/1940. 3. Amachi Yoshimasa (I have a note that his personal name may be Saemonjo?)...see Slough 197 and F&G 82. I don't know more details for Yoshimasa...Morita sensei thinks 3.Yoshimasa may be another name of 2.Kanenaga. Although I have seen both sho and seki stamps and also no stamps, I have not seen any RJT. hope this helps,

Hi Malcolm, 1868 may be correct, I was only quoting a Japanese book of about 1913 and I may have got the date of change over wrong. Regards,

That's right...the most famous user of this mon were the Asano clan of Ako. His death led to the revenge raid of the 47 Ronin in 1703. As to who used it on your sword, we can't say as after 1913 (or 1909?) anyone could use any mon they liked (except the Imperial line mon). Regards,

Hi guys, hard to say on second kanji...I think the left radical is hito/nimben....this is probably one for Morita san. Pity there are no marks/date on the handguard, but that happens. Regards,

Top kanji is Hara. Can't be sure about the bottom one. Have you checked the front face of the hand guard? Sometimes there is an arsenal and a date there. Regards,

Hi all, I looked up Kasama in Uchiyama but he does not appear to have Takai Sadatsugu as a student. However, in Uchiyama Chap IV on page 8 he is listed as a kaji in Seki. He is not on the official Seki group descent list from the well known teacher tosho, nor is he in the list of 200 or so Seki (gunto) kaji "go" name only list, but is given in a separate list where their full names are given (only about 20-30 names) as Takai Sadatsugu (using the "wroing" tsugu) but this is misleading as this is only part of his true name ...his name is repeated in full in Jinsoo Kim sensei's Seki Kaji list as "Sadatsugu" (smith name as on your sword) followed by his true family name Takai Teijiro (this "Tei" is SADA, and this "ji" is the "wrong" TSUGU used for 2nd, followed by "ro" SON as Tei-ji-ro = Tei second son)). He is given by Jinsoo Kim as being registered as a Seki Kaji on Sho 16, April 11. So it looks like he was a Seki Kaji who did traditional work as yours seems to be. I also looked up the Nihonto Meikan p.357 and it gives Sadatsugu (as your mei) followed by ...Takai Teijiro (as given by Jinsoo Kim) and his address is Seki. He is given as 42 years old in Sho 18 (so born 1900) but no family details or teacher or style details are given. It says he was RJT. No further data. Please note that that he only made gendaito, not showato/gunto. Although the Seki Kaji lists include all those smiths registered to work in Seki, it means along with the showato/gunto kaji, true gendai tosho are included on that list, such a Nakata Kanehide and Watanabe Kanenaga to name just two. So I think your guy is a true tosho like them and you have one of his swords. To support what I say, the 1942 "Dai Nippon Token Shoko Meikan" page 304-5 lists him in the TOSHO list for Gifu (Seki). Just based on this and what I can see, you have a gendaito made by him. He must have been of a high standard to become RJT. Since yours has no date and no star stamp I would say it was one of his swords made between his registration in April 1940 and his becoming a RJT in (probably) 1943. Hope this helps,

I just saw the reference to Field Marshall Count Terauchi. Back in the 80s-early 90s I was asked to translate a walking stick and gunto that an ex-soldier had put into a local auction here in Perth West. Australia. The sword was ordinary, but the stick was hand-carved with the owners name. It said "Gensui Terauchi Hisaichi...Saigon (I forget the date, but) Sept 1945". The items had been owned by an English soldier who was present when Terauchi surrended South East Asia to Mountbatten. Terauchi was unwell at the time and had a bad limp...there are photos of him walking/standing with the aid of a stick...this one looks like it had been carved by his batman. Like an idiot, I didn't buy it. Regards,