Lareon

Imposing and beautiful blade. Congratulations enjoy!

Hi Ken, A few times i've had brass pins in my teppo that have been deformed and took a fair bit of effort to get out. eventually did it, i usually turn to piers for anything related to teppo to, It's not my main field of collecting but somehow without realising it, i've bought 5 this year, so i've got no excuse.

Julian, to myself the sword is part of your family history now and you are the owner of it, this is a fascinating part of your grandfathers past and I would suggest not returning it to Japan, I have heard many times the Japanese do not wish to have the swords back and there is usually an exodus of swords from Japan rather than into it. the sword may not have been unwanted, but after the war, swords were taken from Japan, especially to the USA en masse. keep it as a legacy, learn more about it and your grandfathers service history. I think for many of us, things like this are what started our hobby in collecting and preserving these swords.

Hi Don, to many of us here, it is obviously a fake even from the photos you have sent. just seeing the material of the sword we can tell that it is a modern reproduction. There are many glaring signs that the sword is not a real Japanese sword. i know you feel that people didn't look at it before saying it wasn't real but it honestly doesn't need anymore looking. i would like to say, no one s**t on you immediatly, but gave you direct feedback that the sword wasn't real. a lot of us have been there, i've bought a fake before by accident, luckily i could return it. unfortunately for yourself it seems someone has told you it was a bring back from ww2 but sadly that isn't the case.

i love etymoloy and the etymology of the characters is so interesting, pictoral origins and how they combine.

We are of the same age and the same plan haha

this is my worry too, i worry that if it goes to my partner then she will not have the knowledge to get fair value but also they will go to someone chopping water bottles in their garden, so like bruce i have a document with all invoices and rough prices and who to contact. I also put a contact or two of people who can help sell it off and that i trust. some of my swords could hit general market and i would be fine with that, higher end i've got contacts marked against them, most of them the original owners. I don't have enough hubris to believe i'll have left a mark on the field in any way but i will have shepharded blades through another generation unharmed or looked after.

Thank you Jacques. Yes I see your point. My inference on the quote was that his style had changed and moved to be like the two quoted smiths and their style could be seen in his work. Perhaps I leaned too heavily on this. So while the distinction between edo and osaka is not given the influence of the two smiths put it into this camp. Anyway that was the way I read it but yes I take your point. I will take a look at Shinto taiken. Thanks for your input. It's appreciated.

Thanks, I spent quite a lot of time on this before i started the kantei, It is much of a learning exercise for me too as i've spent most of my time in the last few years studying ko gassan works and this was a departure. Apologies if any of my replies were misleading it is difficult to give hints without giving it away. When it came to the classification of his work and school etc, obviously he is an edo smith of the senjuin lineage but I found references referring to his style as firmly in the osaka style. he studied under Izumi no Kami Kaneshige and is compared heavily to kotetsu understandably as they share the same teacher. from nihonto koza Japanese: 盛国は大和千手院派の出身なれども、その作、姿・刃文共に大阪新刀の風を帯び、助広・国貞の影響著し。元禄姿を示し、大阪伝に列すべきものなり English: Although Morikuni is from the Yamato Senjuin school, his work, appearance, and blade pattern are in the style of Osaka Shinto, and the influence of Sukehiro and Kunisada is evident. It shows the Genroku style and should be ranked among the Osaka tradition. and Japanese: 和泉守源盛国　[良業物] 元和頃大和千手院の出で江戸に住す。寛文・延宝・天和・貞享・元禄の頃に作す。初め千手院風を帯ぶるが、後には助広・国貞の影響を受けて、濤瀾風の乱を焼く。姿、元禄風にて、地鉄よく練れて精美なり。 English: zumi no Kami Minamoto Morikuni [Ryōwazamono] Originally from the Senjuin line of Yamato, later lived in Edo. He worked from Kanbun through Enpō, Tenna, Jōkyō, and into the Genroku eras. At first he retained aspects of the Senjuin style, but later he came under the influence of Sukehiro and Kunisada, producing ō-toranba (billowing wave) hamon. His sugata is in the Genroku style, with well-forged, refined jigane. I would be interested in peoples opinions and thoughts on classification here as this was one point i spent a while researching and trusting to excerpts from books in another language and doing visual comparatives of other swords and smiths to compare style are the only tools available i guess other than expert opinions so all comments are welcome. and as jacques pointed out he is in shinto-hen (full page included) but i also did not find him under any of his names in Meito Zukan there is some slight loss of metal here which obscures this character a little. i included a picture of the damage. It is suriage but has Tokubetsu Hozen papers

I will pass it to Alex i believe he was closest The smith was Senjuin Morikuni (Izumi No Kami Minamoto Morikuni) The kantei was very useful and fun for me, it made me research each suggested smith and look into subtle differences in the schools and era. Thanks everyone for contributing, was fun!

Ironically Mine just shipped

I've got a confirmation email and payment has been taken. That's it so far

I might have something for you Adam, I can ping you across a PM with some examples from my collection, i might have something low end of your range and top end.

Alex, you are extremely close here, they probably bumped into each other getting their morning paper at some point. you're almost on the money and Kunisada is an excellent choice. My smith is slightly less famous and took influence from kunisada and sukehiro but you're in the right school right area and right time. I would probably say my smith is the next wave of osaka den and also considered a master though probably just a little less than kunisada.