Tengu1957

27.25 inches O suriage with Hi Sayagaki by Tanobe sensei NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Taima late Kamakura Very healthy

Ray , your right. Not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this.

This is a Wakizashi sized Koto Nagamaki Naoshi papered to a Bizen smith circa 1500. I really appreciate O Kissaki.

I would encourage anyone interested in Tamashigiri to buy Markus Sesko's book "Tamashigiri" since IMO it's the seminal book in English on the subject. To understand the relationship between swordsmith's , the government , the testers , and sword marketing it's an eye opener to read this book. I learn something with each piece and have developed an appreciation for the testers. In a time of peace for the Samurai these testers executed 1000's of people and performed fantastic feats of test cutting under strict standards of the government. It was very expensive to have a test done , roughly equivalent to the cost of a new sword by a highly rated Smith. The pressure for the cutter to perform was high and the outcome also would reflect on the Smith. This is not a highly studied area in the west or even in Japan for that matter.

Dated April 11, 1669 Dou Kiriotoshi ( double trunks cut down) Hitomi Denbei ShigeTsugu + Kao Omote - cut like dew on bamboo leaf , possession of Kii Kikukuchi Magoemon

Dai is 29.75 inches. Both tested by Yamano Nagahisa , both two body cuts tested/dated on the same day. Both shodai Harima TadaKuni signed but no date.

Katana in Naginata shape Teruyoshi started out as a fun Smith but showed skill as a sword Smith. His clan asked him to switch to sword making to help rearm the fief. On his grave market it states he made 200 Katana and 200 Naginata for his Lord. The test cutter was a documented Samurai who did test cutting on the side.

Dated 1839 , also a Tamashigiri dated 1839 by Yamada Asemon Gosaburo YoshiToshi. Hozon paper. TaiTai through the chest with one stroke into the Dotan at Denma execution grounds. Yoshitoshi was the head of the Yamada family and was also the Bakufus official sword inspector , the only non Honami to ever hold the job.

2nd generation - 26.5 inches Hozon paper Kinzogan Mei Tamashigiri - cut through 2 bodies The 1st generation worked with several Shinto smiths and test cutters to provide test cuts.

I am working away from home, when I go back for Thanksgiving next week I will do that.

OK , thanks I will add to existing posts for the rest. These are part of my collection.

Do you mean to keep adding on to a single post ?

I am away from home so I can provide images of the blade when I return home next week. 27.5 inches Tokubetsu Hozon paper Signed Fujiwara SukeChika Tsukura More Dated 1673 , on the same side as the date it states Taira shigeHaru Shoji Ken - this is most likely the Daimyo of Sanuki Provence - he eventually lost the fief due to mismanagement Watshida ke Tame Tenpo winter 1830 Goro Shigemichi a retainer of this clan was requested to do Riokaruma , cut through the hips into the mound

I am away from home right now and can get an image of the sword when I go home at Thanks giving. Shinshinto Masamitsu from Hiroshima The sword was made for a Samurai Ogawa Tachibana MasaChika in Tempo 5 Mentions made with local steel In Tempo 6 it was taken to the Senju execution grounds and tested by the famous Tokugawa executioner Kubi Kiri Yamada Asaemon ( head cutter Asemon ). Cut through the hips into the dotan or mound. 68.1 cm looks like a Hizen blade in suguha.Tokubetsu Hozon paper This cutter was said to have decapitated more than 6000 people in his career.

Kashu Kanazawa junin Fujiwara Nobutomo - 3rd generation 1. Kanbun kinoe tatsu akiwakige iri dotan Murai Nagaaki + Kao ( autumn 1664 cut in half at armpit ) 2. Enpo kinoe Tora natsu Kasane do iri dotan Okada ShigeNaga + Kao ( Summer 1674 according to M Sesko's book this is where a decapitated body is buried to the hips with legs out , a live person must hug the corpse while both bodies are cut in half diagonally. Hozon paper

I think it's a rarely understood area of Nihonto. To see how the Bakufu , the swordsmith , and the tester interacted is interesting. Many of these Mumei pieces were given as gifts by higher ranking Samurai because they were thought to be better than they were.They are also more available now than 25 years ago.

Mumei Katanan 28.5 inches Shimada school , circa 1500 Kinzogan Mei - Sasa no Tsuyu - means like dew glittering on a bamboo leaf. Other details about the cut test no included but this means " the blade cut well like dew falling off a bamboo leaf"

Yes , they have passed shinsa

Harima

Here are three examples of test cuts by Nagahisa. Two are from a daisho made by shodai Tadakuni , both have two body test cuts done on the same day. The other is from a Mumei Wakizashi that papered to Bungo Takeda

This is the personal Kao of the tester. He is a documented tester , see Marcus Sesko's book on Tameshigiri.