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Dont think I've ever showed my Enomoto Sadayoshi / Yorimasa (later mukansa) before. One of the swords I enjoy the most in my collection. Pretty beefy blade with nice sori and sugata in my opinion Images dont do the sword justice, very difficult to take a proper photograph as you know! Enjoy anyway!

 

13 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

One to avoid, while the Koshirae is rare they still come up from time to time with better condition blades.

Thank you John! I know it might not be wise to invest in this blade as an aesthetic and historical piece, but for the (low)price of this package I basically get the blade for free Hard to resist with this koshirae(even not in the best condition but still)

1 hour ago, Ray Singer said:

The 'break' in the hamon appears to be where someone has cleaned off rust, removed the hadori work and obscured all visibility. That said, all you can see in the other areas is kesho, so it's difficult to say how intact the actual hamon is in any part of the blade.

Thank you for your sharp eye Ray!

Based on the sugata and nakago, I was thinking it might be Shinto? Possibly Kanbun or Kan'ei? I know that is hard to judge based on these pictures.

Sorry I still have much to learn with older than Gendaito blades, but I do enjoy it! 

Hi everyone,

I was looking at this sword and it has a fairly desirable and rare gunto koshirae(im mainly a gunto/gendai collector), but there is this strange break in the hamon that distracts me.

What do we think about this? It's only on a certain spot on both sides, and the blade being mumei it might have been rejected or?

Haven't bought it yet, but i'm really thinking about it.

Thanks in advance!

Just noticed this thread/section that I rarely visit.

However, @Brian I'm not sure if it's possible with Invision or at the hosting company, but converting(automatically) all images to webp and/or using a CDN like cloudflare cdn reduces the file sizes and could speed up the loading time a lot. Since the payload would be greatly reduced on each request, which results in a faster response and better user experience in the end. But again, I dont know what is possible with Invision and these optimisations.

But that is easier said than done. Coming from a Full stack / Lead Developer, if you ever need some help or another set of technical eyes/brains just ask. 

3 hours ago, Bruno said:

David,

 

The other two Teruhide smiths from Saitama never signed "Ishido" Teruhide so no, it can't be anyone but Ishido Teruhide from Tokyo.

 

They were all 3 good smiths but often mixed up. 

Thank you for explaining Bruno!

 

1 hour ago, Bruno said:

On the contrary Stephen, I think he is a great smith. It is another member who wrote he was not good, not me!

haha I think it is a translation error/mistake  In my language 'infamous' can also be used in a good and positive way, which I meant. I even have a blade by Ishido Teruhide myself that I greatly enjoy 

50 minutes ago, Bruno said:

Yes one and only one Ishido Teruhide in Tokyo and in whole Japan as a Showa era swordsmith. I don't even understand the "infamous Ishido Teruhide"

Just mentioning it, since that is the one that usually everyone is talking about when the name Ishido Teruhide is mentioned in showa/gendaito context.

And since Gareth said 'Ishido Minamoto TeruHide' I thought I would bring it up. Not sure if that is what the Mei says.

So this cannot be trusted?

Quote

NOTE: There were two other swordsmiths using the name Teruhide working during the Showa period who made blades in the traditional (gendaito) manner. They were brothers, both signing Teruhide or Minamoto (Ihara) Teruhide. They were from Saitama prefecture north of Tokyo and are of no known relation to Ishido Teruhide.

Very nice sword Gareth! You can be proud to possess this work

Keep in mind, this smith has nothing to do with the infamous Ishido Teruhide, they are not related. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/teruhide.htm

Reposting this picture. Don't remember who made it here on nmb, all credit to that person.

Probably my gendai Enomoto Sadayoshi(mukansa). Just because I randomly discovered that sword at an auction while no one else took notice or knew what it was...So I got lucky

1 hour ago, Leen said:

Gaaf David, enjoy!!!
 

Thanks Leen! I certainly will


 

38 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

David, glad to see it's arrived!  Quite a beauty.  I just noticed the Army company-grade tassel.  Odd to be on a kaigunto.  Maybe added by the G.I. who brought it home, or a post-war owner?

Thank you Bruce! Yes this is indeed the wrong tassel, the sword came straight from Japan so I suspect that a post-war owner attached the wrong tassel.

I might try to find a naval tassel and use this IJA tassel on one of my shingunto's
 

I have received the sword and I must say I absolutely enjoy it. Just wow, really interesting and pleasing to my eye.

I also did some research on that mon with the aid of a book that I have and I did found this design in there.

Made some quick snapshots with my phone, enjoy(see posts below) 

I agree John, that was also my initial reaction. Looks really close to some of my whermacht/luftwaffe/kriegsmarine tassels(portepee).

Uh wait what...Why would they put a historical/nihonto blade in a type95 koshirae? That seems rather strange.

@Rob, Thank you for sharing!

It seems we might be onto something with it being possibly a mon. But on the other hand, who knows, because why would you place it somewhere where it isn't directly visible? hmm 

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Well, since I've never seen it before, I don't have any reference to even imagine a reason.  At first, I wondered if it was intended to be a flower shape, but the primary flowers for the Japanese were the cherry blossom, 5 petals, and the chrysanthemum, what, 16 or 32 petals?  But it is obviously not just random holes.  Your idea may have merit, though, as even the bohi, I am told, is actually there as a weight reducer.  But even in it's functionality, the smiths turn it into part of the art and beauty. 

 

I haven't done any checking on this idea, but what if it was the essence of a kamon?  Who knows, but quite unique.

Interesting idea Bruce! I did some quick research and found some interesting mon's that might be something, like this example below. But it isn't quite right.

Edit: This one seems to fit with the exact number of holes and in the same position:

Apparently there is a Navy connection with this mon. The Kuki family served(in the navy) under Oda Nobunaga and later Hideyoshi(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuki_Yoshitaka).  I find it interesting to put 1 and 1 together but that would be too easy lol! Even someone from that family was named 'Kuki Tadayoshi'. But who knows

@Ronnie, wow thank you very much!! Amazing what we all together can produce here on nmb.

5 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

David, that's quite a beautiful kaigunto!  Equal to those you see on Ohmura's site, and he's got some real beauties!

 

I have to say I've never seen a tsuba with holes punched like this one.  Quite unique.

Thank you Bruce! I was wondering about that as well. What would be the advantage of that...weight savings?

I have bought the sword and added it to the collection. Cant  wait to see it in person. I will update the thread with additional pictures once I've received it.

4 minutes ago, vajo said:

David

born in 1929 and died  in 1989

is not meant the life of the smith. It s the period they work. In this case the Showa Period.

 

Aah, so my interpretation was wrong regarding the dates. Thank you for notifying.

 

19 minutes ago, IJASWORDS said:

David, I like it, nice polish and papered. Of course depends on price. 

Thanks, good to hear! It is 3300 usd, or 2700 euro(including shipping). Which is reasonably for this sword I think, and within my range.

Is there any more information about this smith? Oshigata? I cant seem to find much.

Hi everyone!

Currently I am in the process of adding this Kai Gunto to the collection, it is reserved for me. But before I bite the bullet, I would like to know what others think about this sword, and/or smith. I understand that his son became a Mukansa smith.

I did notice the following:

- Mei signed:  IZUMO KUNI JU TADAYOSHI SAKU - I understand Neil has one aswell in his collection

- Wrong tassel - Gives me an extra IJA tassel, but will replace with the correct brown IJN tassel 

- New NBTHK Hozon papers

- White/brown-ish ito wrapping on a kai gunto? I dont see it that often, is this correct and possible? Or might that be because of the flash used on the photograph?

- I also noticed that the birth and death dates are a bit strange of him and his son. Shodai Kawashima Tadayoshi is said to be born in 1929 and died  in 1989, but his son is also born in 1929 and died in august 1989...That doesnt make sense at all, besides that Kawashima started making swords in 1934, when he was 5?... Not sure these dates are trustworthy

I think it is a nice package. I've been looking for years for a nice Kai gunto with a Gendaito blade that I can relate to, and can afford  This might be my chance

Thanks in advance!

Not sure if i've ever showed my polished Ishido Teruhide, but here you go. A sword I personally enjoy having and looking at. Very tight hada that is hard to make out when it's not properly clean.

Thank you for watching!

Pictures are heavily resized due to file size limit
 

46 minutes ago, Dave R said:

 

 Blade up or blade down?

 

With the blade pointing upwards. The one closest to the habaki is the original hole.