SwordGuyJoe

I have added our next meeting to the calendar.  Please see meeting details below.

December Newsletter: https://shoutout.wix.com/so/9M2jmdm5#/main

Meetings and Events: https://www.jsc-mw.com/meetingsandevents

Saturday, February 17th

Time: 1:00 

​

Location is To Be Determined

I would like to help drive some additional learning to this sword club.  One of the most elusive elements to sword appreciation is teminology, blade details, and kantai. 

To help this, there will be multiple swords to inspect and describe.  We will break up into teams, including an advanced/intermediate collectors with beginners.  I will also bring books to help with terminology that will be available for use by the teams.  We will ask each team member to complete a copy of the shinsa form from the NTHK-NPO on there own, then discuss with the team where there are differences and why they made the call that they did.

I have created a brief survey - 4 questions - and I ask that you please complete it.  This is to help determine whether a conference room is needed, as well as gauge self-described skill in this type of activity to help me start making teams up.

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS.  I don't have the room for a group of 30 at my house and I don't want to spend $300 on a conference room if only 5 people are going to show up.  I really appreciate it.

Once I receive survey's back, I will update the Meeting and Events page with location data.

Here is the link: surveymonkey.com/r/MNH5MR2

Chikugo Muto Yukihiro

More close up pics of the steel would help, but with the one pic, I’d say it’s likely traditionally made. The early date, the length, and visible hada lead me to this. I don’t see any activity in the hamon, but that could just be the quality of the polish and the sword itself.

I should also add that this blade is historically significant.

Very shortly after this blade was made, Kasama sensei began signing sosho-mei. Based on research and interviews Chris Bowen did with those close to this smith, sosho-mei blades were daisaku (made by a student and signed by Shigetsugu). The reason is because Shigetsugu had health issues that made forging swords difficult/impossible. This is the latest kaisho mei blade that I have ever found. All meaning that this is one of the last blades that Kasama sensei forged from tamahagane to art sword.

Christmas Special: $6,000, plus shipping, pp fees. Ends 12/26

...And the paper

All,

I recently bought a LOVELY Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu tanto.  The problem is that it came with this Koshirae.  I wanted to share and hopefully get some more information.

Koshirae : (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Paper)

The tsuba looks stamped? Does it often happen?

I once had a star stamped tsuba for a late 44 (Type 0), that had a Ichihara Ichiryushi Nagamitsu blade.  I have seen a couple since, but including this one, likely only enough to count on one hand.

The mei translation is correct and it is likely traditionally forged. The Shōwa hizen group don’t get the respect they should, as they made some good stuff. The date is February, 1945.

Thanks Allan. I hope you like it.

Bump

Bump. I’ll be making another trip to the post office Saturday.

Last call for books this week...

Absolutely!

Bump

Bump - I’ll be shipping out orders on Saturday. If you can get payment over by then, I can ship this week.

Bwahahahaha

Not that I’m aware of

I have had the same thing happen to me. When applying oil at the same time, with the same material, one blade would apply normally, the next would bead up. I’ve always wondered why and it always happened on the same blades. If it beaded up once, it did it again the next time.

All,

My collection is focused, as most know, on a small subset of Gendai smiths.  The goal of the collection is to have one tanto, one wakizashi, and one daito.  When I upgrade any of these blades, it is time to sell.  To this point, I will be listing a few swords.  All are excellent, all are papered, but all need to go.

I will accept staged payments if needed and a donation will be made to the board.

The first is a lovely tanto by Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu.  The sword was forged on the estate of Toyama Mitsuru – founder of “The Black Dragon Society”.  It is in shirasaya and is accompanied by a nice aikuchi koshirae.

Price: $7,000 Shipped

Sword Information:

Type: Tanto

Sugata: Hira-Zukuri

Mei: Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu (Kokuin of Toyama Mitsuru)

Date/Era: A lucky day in May, 1937

School/Den: Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu Mon, Student of Morioka Masayoshi and Miyaguchi Shigetoshi

Tradition: Soden-Bizen

Authentication/Papers: NBTHK Hozon

Sword Details:

Nagasa: 22.9 cm

Mihaba: 2.3 cm

Kasane: 0.48 cm

Nakago Jiri: Ubu, Kirijiri

Yasurime: Kiri

Mune: Iori Mune

Jihada: Masame

Hamon: Active Ko-Nie Deki, Gunome Midare w/ sweeping sunagashi

Boshi: Komaru w/ Short Turnback

Smith Information:

Rating:

- Toko-Taikan: 2.8 Million Yen

Smith Details:

Shigetsugu (繁継), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Tōkyō – „Ikkansai Masateru“ (一貫斎正輝), „Ikkansai Kasama Shigetsugu“ (一貫斎笠間

繁継), „Kasama Shigetsugu kinsaku“ (笠間繁継謹作), „Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu hori-dōsaku“ (笠間繁継謹作彫同作), „Shigetsugu“

(繁継), civilian name „Kasama Yoshikazu“ (笠間義一), he was born on April 1st 1886 as son of Kasama Kan (笠間鏆) in Shizuoka

Prefecture, in 1899 he started an apprenticeship as swordsmith at his uncle Miyaguchi Shigetoshi (宮口繁寿), he signed in young years with

„Masateru“ (正輝), 1903 he went to Tōkyō where he was trained by Morioka Masayoshi (盛岡正吉), in Tōkyō he became later by invitation

of Kurihara Hikosaburō Akihide (栗原彦三郎昭秀) instructor at the forge „Nihontō-tanren-denshūjo“ (日本刀鍛錬伝習所), from about

1935 he also forged temporarily at the residence of the nationalist Tōyama Mitsuru (頭山満, 1855-1944) in Tōkyō´s Shibuya (渋谷), with

the ban on swords and sword forging issued by the allies in 1945 he retired to Kamagayaa (鎌ケ谷) in Chiba Prefecture where he died at

March 12th 1965 at the age of 80, he was an excellent horimono carver, due to an illness in 1938 and 39 he was struggling with symptoms of

paralysis, it is said that from that time onwards, he focused mostly on the carving of horimono, it is also said that all signatures in grass script

are daisaku works of his students and that he signed always in block script, he worked mainly in the Bizen style and applied a chōji-midare

or a slanting gunome-chōji

Shigeyoshi

From Markus Sesko's, "Index of Japanese Swordsmiths"

Photo Credit: www.seiyudo.com

All,

If you would like a copy, I have been asking for folks to send the cost of the book ($20), then I will pay for the shipping.  Once I know the shipping amount, I will email and you can PP me the shipping cost.  That way no one under/over pays for shipping.  

Also - I travel almost all of the time, so please understand that there may be a delay in shipping.  I will do my best to get a group of orders out every week.

They do and I shipped a few yesterday and it was $2.36 for media mail.

Those interested in obtaining a copy of an excellent Gendaito reference, written by Chris Bowen, I have multiple copies available. The reference is a 50+ page study of the Kato smiths of Meguro, Tokyo, that includes historically significant documents, photos of the smiths, oshigata of period contest entries, and oshigata of blades displayed at the MPLS show. If interested please contact me via PM. Attached are the cover, index, and list of figures.

All proceeds go to the Japanese Sword Club - Midwest.

The price is $20 plus postage.

I’m glad you liked it. It is really an impressive amount of information.