Brad737

I am certainly no expert on Nihongo, but I do have some familiarity with the Iga Ishido school. My two favorite swordsmiths are the Fujiwara brothers, Shizumasa and Shizutada. Shizumasa was the older brother and is ranked wazamono. He used several different mei, and used both 鎮政 and 鎭正 in his mei. Shizutada used several mei as well, but he always spelled his name as 鎮忠. Of course, the kanji in question is the 鎮. I’ve seen many, many ads that call them Shigemasa and Shigetada, but they still use the familiar 鎮, not 重. From what I’ve been told, before the Fujiwara clan migrated from Bungo, their name would sometimes be pronounced Shige. But from what I’ve learned, once they were established in Iga, it was always pronounced “Shizu”. I’m certainly no scholar, so when I talk about the clan, I always use Shizu. But when doing web searches, I search for both Shizu and Shige.

Steve, Thanks for taking the time to weigh in. I suspected that was probably the case. It was my first real katana, and I didn’t pay very much for it, bought before I really understood anything about Nihonto. But while this sword really isn’t representative of what I’m now trying to collect, it’s still a nice sword to have in the collection. Thanks, Brad

Hello, all. I have a couple questions regarding the first Nihonto I bought. It’s a katana by Yasutomo with an old NBTHK Kicho origami. The paper attributes the blade to “Late Generation Aizu Yasutomo”. Do any of you have any idea which Yasutomo this is? Anyone after 5, or probably 7, 8, or 9? I realize without a signature, they were just guessing. Does the sword seem to be stylistically more Shinto or Shinshinto? I have four Sesko books, and he lists a lot of Yasutomos from Sendai, but I didn’t see any Yasutomo entries with anything mentioning Aizu, nor do the Nihonto Club entries mention Aizu. Do you think NBTHK messed up, and should have said Sendai Yasutomo? Can any of you share any information regarding Aizu Yasutomo? Thank you! Brad

Thanks, Brian.

Hello, all. I’ve found a lovely TokuHo wakizashi I’d like to add to my collection. The seller and I have agreed on price, but now he tells me it’s illegal to ship the sword out of Thailand. He says Fedex, DHL, EMS, and UPS have all declined. Can any of you recommend a way to ship the sword? Perhaps you know of a Thai Nihonto dealer who could broker the deal? Many thanks, Brad

Barry, I realize this post is really old. Do you still have this sword?

I appreciate the comments, gents. Would you mind guessing what this blade may be worth? Thanks, Brad

No, it isn’t papered. My first purchase ended up having a rather dubious mei, so I returned it. I told myself after that, I’d only consider signed, papered swords. But for some reason, I really like this one. It’s just different from what I’ve seen so far.

Seller says late Muromachi Period...1500s.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to tell you before long.

I don’t have it yet, Chris. I bought it on eBay, but it just got shipped on Monday. I’ll check it out. Thanks

Thank you, Gents. If I end up buying it, I’m definitely going to send it for shinsa. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks, Brad

Good news. Thanks, Ray. Care to venture a wild guess on the smith? Nobukuni?

Boshi

Tang