francois2605

Just found the original pictures from this WAF thread (from BenVK): source

Linda, you'll find some pictures for a katana forged by this smith here: 

You'll also find a section about this swordsmith in this document by Mecox: 

And finally a close-up showing the hada of the sword from the first link:

7 hours ago, Michaelr said:

I have a Nagamitsu sword dated May 1945 and was wondering how rare/ unusual it is to have a blade dated May 1945 since WW2 ended in May 45. Just thought this was interesting.  Thank you in advance.   MikeR

Well... the WW2 ended in May 1945 in Europe, not in Asia. Your sword was crafted 3 months before the end of the WW2 which happened on Sept, 2nd in Japan.

Well I didn't because the price was very reasonable, I must be the exception

I love the strokes on the signature, this is beautiful.

In case you don't have the Slough:

Yes. From Sesko's excellent encyclopedia of Japanese swords:

Quote

chikei (地景) – Lit. “shadow(s) in the steel.” A black gleaming line of nie in the ji, i.e. of ji-nie. Chikei are an effect of hardening and not limited to follow the layer structure of the jihada and are basically the same as kinsuji but appearing in the ji. But in the case of a steel-mix of steels with different carbon content, for example like used by the Sōshū smiths, the darker layers of jihada are also described as chikei. In other words, we have two kinds of chikei: Such going back to hardening, and such going back to the forging structure or rather the layers of the steel.

Very nice, the difference between your first 2 shots is like night and day !

I find it too difficult to shoot a sword with direct lightning.

Instead I shoot when the sword is lit by the (preferably low) ambiant light to avoid very high contrasts. This also requires a very long exposure (10+ secs), low ISO (to avoid noise), a tripod and a remote (or 2-sec delay).

I believe that the end result better shows the hataraki in those conditions. Here's an example (edited in Lightroom).

Steve, just a friendly advice: don't buy anything off eBay unless you know exactly what you're buying.

The fact that you "were on the fence", don't know that a gendaito stands for "traditionally made from tamahagane", can't visually differentiate between a showato and gendaito probably means that you should read more about the topic before making another purchase.

There was zero risk with this purchase: Eric is a honest and trusted seller, the sword is legit.

Again, this is just a friendly advice to ensure you spend your money wisely and with confidence.

So excited by the upcoming sales and book. I feel like a kid at Xmas

This is just awful, the worst being that the offender seems very happy with the end result.

15 hours ago, Swords said:

Thanks Brian that’s good to hear Im still not   Sure what makes a million yen two million etc 

Steve,

You can read more about the different ways of rating swordsmiths here.

I personally don't pay too much attention to "1 million vs 2 million" comparisons, the value is not absolute: you'll see that some swordsmiths are rated high by someone and low by someone else. Of course it's better if your sword is signed by a highly rated smith but that's a plus, the sword should be considered on its own merits first.

https://ebay.fr/usr/ericowazamono

Eric Molinier is a super nice french guy from New-York and always very honest when describing items. I consider him one of the most trustworthy sellers of nihonto on eBay. His swords are among the best you can get via eBay.

Since someone mentioned the Evangelion sword exhibition, here are some pictures I shot in 2014 while the exhibition was in Paris.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RHZYxRNUFnuPcJ8C2

That was my plan, thanks Barry  I already sent him an email.

OK, that's what I thought. Will find another way to get what I what.

Thanks very much, Jon

Do you know if the website https://www.kusanaginosya.com/ accepts selling to foreign customers ? I checked their website and couldn't find any information about this which makes me think they only accept sales to local customers. Has anyone from NMB already bought from this dealer ?

Thanks very much.

Grev, the Dropbox link is dead FYI: it says the file has been deleted

Yes, this page provides some information about such cutting tests.

Out of curiosity, can you please provide pictures of the sword itself ?

Actually, here are 2 more:

I have a close-up shot of the aforementioned guribori, if this can help settle the question

6 hours ago, robinalexander said:

Hi Neil, always going to be out of my price range but maybe you could post a couple of pics on the 'Show us your high class gunto' thread?

Rob

 

 

He already did here: 

I had found a PDF on the Unique Japan website describing a sword exactly similar to his: https://new.uniquejapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ujka363-Gassan-Sadakatsu-Crown-Prince-Akihito-Ayasugi-Katana-Description.pdf

Yes, it's this sword visible here (on auction tomorrow): https://www.drouotonline.com/l/15882162--shinto-wakizashiepoque-edo-16?actionParam=listLot&controllerParam=lot&fromId=116199

Copying the description below to preserve it.

Quote

 

Shinto wakizashi

Epoque EDO (1603 - 1868)

Signé (mei) : Kunishige

 

Lame (sugata) : hira zukuri, mitsu mune, bo hi ni tsure hi, un horimono bonji mato kannon sur une face

Motif de forge (hada) : mokume

Trempe (hamon) : hotsure suguha

Pointe (boshi) : o-maru

Fusée (nakago) : ubu keitai, haagari nakagojiri, deux mekugi ana, katte sagari yasurime

Longueur (nagasa) : 35,3 cm

 

Monture (koshira-e) :

Tsuba fuchi kashira : en suite en shibuichi à décor en katakiri bori des sept sages dans la forêt de bambou. Tsuba et fuchi signés Godai Kiryusai Somin suivi de kao. (Ecole Yokoya, 5e génération)

Kogatana : kozuka en shibuichi et cuivre doré à décor en relief d'un motif kurikara ken ryu (dragon sur un ken), sur fond nanako, le revers à motif dit neko yasuri (griffures de chat), Ecole Goto. La lame ornée d'un bonji et signée Katsuren

Habaki : en cuivre doré et shakudo ciselé d'un dragon parmi les vagues tenant le tama

Kurikata : en shibuichi à motif nanako orné d'un môn daki myo ga (pousses de gingembre), utilisé par la famille Hori de Iida

Menuki : en cuivre doré figurant deux dragons

 

Fourreau (saya) : en laque alternant des rayures noires ro-iro et des rayures noires à inclusion de fines lamelles de bois, orné de deux môn en cuivre doré : daki myo ga (pousse de gingembre) et ageha no cho (papillon)

 

Provenance : vente Collection Bakhmeteff, Mes Lair Dubreuil et Bellier, Drouot, 16-18 janvier 1929

 

Le fondateur de l'école Yokoya, Somin, de son vrai nom Yokoya Chojiro, (1670-1733) avait étudié la la peinture de l'école Kano, et est l'inventeur de la technique du katakiri bori, qui imite des traits de pinceau dans le métal.

Adding some pictures too.