AlexiG

She has a tanto from Shibata Ka that is within the same price range. The tanto has been there for a lot longer. I wonder if the non-uniform (in terms of thickness and clarity) nioiguchi puts it in this lower price range. Still quite interesting. Best, Alexi

One has to wonder why a Kamakura or Nanbokucho sword attributed to a well-known school will be priced the same as a late-Muromachi sword from a "generic" school. Is the den Kunizane sword tired, or is there something special about the Sukesada sword that has not been discussed yet? Alexi

Hi EryrWen, it is helpful if the pictures of the nakago are posted with blade-tip up. Easier to read. I am taking a stab in the dark but it seems you have a seki stamp on the nakago. Meaning the sword was inspected before issued to military. You can read more here. The smith's name is Yoshimitchi (吉道) best I can tell. Picture of nakago below. There is a gendaito smith with that name, given name (小島 幸七, Kanetoki Koushichi I think). I am sure others will chime in if I have gotten it wrong. There is a date of manufacture on your sword as well (on the other side of the nakago) but folks may need a better picture to read it. Best, Alexi

Thank you! Very helpful. Alexi

Hi Oli, The nihontocraft pages are great. I visit them often when I drool over a blade that they have for sale. I keep reading and re-reading the Masahide article. I think this is a small piece of the "Practical theory of swords" book. Would love to read the rest one day Alexi

Hi BaZZa, I mistyped in my reply. The search I did was for Hakudo. Did not find direct references for testing Gassan blades though. If you do, please link here.

Great suggestion! Quick search for Nakayama Kakudo and Gassan did not get me any leads but did find references to Hakudo testing various swords on ohmura-study.net Another way I can look at it is that Gassan Sadayoshi (Sadakazu's adopted father) was trained by Suishinshi Masahide who was a great proponed of the practicality of swords. So maybe that rubbed off to Sadakazu, Sadakatsu and the later generations I still wish someone will translate the two Suishinshi Masahide books in English: Practical theory of swords and Secret teachings of swordsmiths. Alexi

I was looking for this type of data so many thanks to @Jussi Ekholm for collating it. I was reading an interview recently in the book "The new generation of Japanese swordsmiths". The interview was with Shibata Mitsuo an influential sword trader who learned his craft from Fujishiro. He mentioned the introduction of the white kicho papers in 1948 and how that led to record sword prices at the time (20 000 yen). Now we all laugh and ignore at the white papers but at the time they seem to have been the coolest thing in town. Of course many/most of the good swords got re-papered, meaning more shinsa fees, more expenses by the collectors, etc). Maybe juyo is like that (less extreme of course). It was the cool kid in town at one point (Darcy points this out as well), now those with the means ($$$) go to tokuju and the value of Juyo is open to debate. Those with the knowledge don't need papers. The rest of us try to figure it.... Alexi

Hi Oli, I know of these and similar blades. My question is a) besides the masame hada, how close are those to Yamato tradition sugata, specifically the "high shinogi" attribute. Hoke Saburo Nobufusa smiths (8th, 9th Gen) make/made Yamato-school blades. Those are often described as with "high-shinogi" by folks and are tested by various martial artists to be very durable and being able to make difficult cuts without damage. It seems that within certain aspects, Nobufusa lineage smiths are trying to be true to the Yamato/Hosho tradition. Similarly, I have read accounts of advanced iaido and kendo practitioners who used Yoshindo Yoashihara blades because of their durability and great balance. There are also accounts of Yoshindo testing his blades on helmets and such to demonstrate their robustness. There is the whole set of tests in the Mito domain and smiths like Kusamura Norikatsu making blades that can pass the tests, blades that often happen to also be very beautiful. My question is does that hold true for Gassan Sadakazu and Gassan Sadakatsu? Or did they make pretty swords in masame because that is what the officers in the Imperial court wanted? I would like to think that given the status of Gassan Sadakazu, he maintained the practical aspect of the sword in his art but not having handled any examples, and not having read accounts of such observations I would like to check with the community here. thanks, Alexi

I am trying to learn a bit more about the shinshinto/gendaito Gassan sword characteristics. Would their swords be considered with high shinogi, eg Yamato tradition like? I have not seen anyone refer to them as such, but since some folks here may have handled many Gassan works I wanted to ask. I am specifically interested in the Sadakatsu (son of Sadakazu) made swords, but any feedback is helpful. Another potentially divisive question. Are there written accounts of 19-20th century Gassan sword durability or anecdotes of their performance, good or bad? Given the heights of recognition of the skills of Sadakazu and his descendants, one would expect that the beauty of their swords is more than skin-deep so what is the evidence that their swords maintained the balance and robustness needed for practical use. For example, what would happen if one applied the Mito region sword testing tests to a Gassan sword? Thanks for any information, Alexi

Hi Eric, are you asking why the price jumped of a specific tanto you are interested in? Or are you asking why a tanto you like is expensive? My cursory look as of late is that only prices in USD jumped as the USD/JPY exchange rate changed substantially over the last month, but the prices in yen are still the same, from what I can tell. As you probably know, a tanto from a well-known smith/school may cost you very dearly depending on quality and condition. It indicates you have a good taste Best, Alexi

I have bought couple of blades from Tsuruta San and am I currently contemplating another purchase. I visit the site multiple times a day Not the only Japanese shop I have bought from. Communication is prompt and very professional. Prices reflect what they have and if you follow their pieces (I do for the things I care about) they sell, so the prices are not way off fair market value. Just my 2c. Best, Alexi

Much obliged! Thanks! Alexi

To answer my own question, based on this post which has a certificate associated with Yoshikawa Kentaro Sensei, Yoshikawa Kentaro was part of the shinsa team above since both seals on the Gassan Sadakazu certificate are on mine as well (bottom and third from the bottom). I will keep digging.... Alexi P.S. After some more digging, and actually looking at the kanji in the seal, it seems that the bottom seal is Yoshikawa Kentaro sensei's. If Anyone figures out the other seals, let me know.

This may be a bit esoteric, but I figured I'd ask before I start emailing NTHK. I am interested in identifying the judges that stamped this kanteisho certificate. At least the senior member of the group. Any resource that will allow me to link the seals to names? This belongs to a signed, ubu, sword I own, so it is not a "should-I-buy-this-sword" thread. Just trying to understand who appraised. If my only recourse is to reach out to NTHK please let me know. The certificate was issued in 1996 (heisei 8), I assume in Japan since this is where the sword was. Thanks, Alexi

Yep. The author argued in one of the many articles that there was a lot of piracy and illegal imports. One trick was to use iron as "ballast" on the ships in one direction and replace with something else that was heavy in the other direction, so they did not have to declare the iron as imported goods it. Supposedly a new shipwreck was found, and a lot of iron was on board, which the author used as a further evidence of the theory. The theory could make sense, but yes more data will be nice. Best, Alexi

It is a bit difficult to see, but may be kitae ware (The Katana Kizu: A flaw of the Japanese Sword | Tozando). Likely not fatal, just cosmetic. I assume you are referring to what appears as a gap in the lamination running parallel to the edge at the hamon boundary (picture below). Something is off about the patina on the nakago but maybe it's just me.

I have not found a ton in English but have had a lot of fun reading these articles and links there-in. Google translate does an OK job. Names and sword nomenclature are a bit tricky but with a bit of effort I found these articles quite interesting and illuminating. I think they will be divisive as according to the author, before Shinto most (but not all) steel was imported, and before Shinto most but not all swords were of maru-kitae construction. Some of that was mentioned on another post here and here but the Cu and Ti data seem credible (Continental/Korean steal has high Cu content, Japanese has very low Cu content). Base material of Japanese swords Iron Market in Medieval Japan Here is a link to a technical paper on utsuri (A Hypothesis for the Mechanism that Produces the Utsuri Pattern on Japanese Swords). Have not gotten that article yet so cannot comment on how useful it is in understanding utsuri. Best, Alexi

Hi Paul, Robert Benson can also mediate sending your sword for shinsa. He helped me with mine. The total cost was ~ 1k per sword, and it took 6-9months to get my blades back, at least that was my experience sending 3 swords for Hozon/ Tokubetsu Hozon shinsa in 2023. You can find schedule here (https://www.touken.or.jp/shinsa/schedule.html). If you target 2025, June, August, September, November and Dec may be viable options. All the best, Alexi

Hi Charlie, I find the uniform thickness at moto-kasane and saki-kasane a bit troubling. In my limited experience, have not seen a traditional katana without taper and would indicate that it is very tip heavy and potentially harder to control (but could be a beast of a cutter, as Koichi mentioned). The one detail is how is it measured. There is a design where the koshinogi widens as it meets the mune. If measured there it may appear as if there is no taper, although overall there is. I have two swords like that from Bugei (decent Chinese manufacture). Its called mune-saki (or matsuba-saki). Is the sword of interest like that? For the record the Bugei swords still taper by 1mm when measured at the widest of the saki-kasane. Depending on your level of experience, 900g may be on the heavy side. Consult with your sensei. Best, Alexi

The Kapp book was referenced in the Sesko article but here is the actual text from the book. Yoshindo Yoshihara is one of the modern smiths that can produce utsure and so can his student Oho Yoshimitsu (technically Yoshimitsu was his brother's student). The theory is heating the blade in distinct thermal bands along the edge given appropriate steel composition. FYI in case it helps the conversation. Best, alexi

Very sad to hear! I only knew him from his posts here. I share his obsession with masame hada. His post of the Norikatsu tanto made me start paying attention to the Mito smiths. It is a loss for the community. Alexi

Hi Hiadir, I will offer an oversimplified answer based on few references. Carbon content varies in tamahagane. Part of the mastery of swordsmiths is to separate the pieces based on carbon content and select the appropriate pieces that meet their needs before they start forging. There are methods to both increase and decrease carbon content during forging to get the desired results. I have seen good descriptions of the process in English from Yoshindo Yoshihara's books published with Leaon and Hiroko Kapp. (The Craft of the Japanese sword) If memory serves me right, he starts at about 1.2% carbon and wants to end at 0.7 % at the time of quenching. His brother though, supposedly preferred ~0.6% carbon. My guess is that these values refer to the outer, edge steel. I assume that varies from maker to maker and school to school. How to the smiths "know" the carbon content without modern gadgets? Great question. I think how brittle the tamahagane is initially gives some indication for sorting. Beyond that I imagine it is about experience and how the steel responds to forging. I am speculating here I hope this helps. Alexi

It all depends on the composition of the steel. There was a video of working on a billet of tamahagane steel and it is malleable and foldable at a given Japanese forge temperature, while western steel was very brittle with the same process. Bugei use a mix of T-10 and 1055 steels for their swords and they are managing multiple folds OK. Many Japanese smiths have forged pieces with western steel successfully. Not sure how they managed it but my suspicion is that they worked at higher temperature. Some of that is in this thread:

@Peter Bleed @Vermithrax16 Checking if new information has surfaced regarding the mid-Kunikane generations since 2010 (the date of the quote from Peter below). My specific question is as follows: Does anyone have examples of papered blades from Kunikane 4-9? The books I have do not list any (Sendai Mekan and Sendai Han no Meicou Kunikane 仙台藩の名工 国包), yet Sesko lists signatures for gen 4 and 5 (奥州仙台住国包). I have only seen papered examples of Gen 2 with that signature. If in your research you have seen any papered examples of gens 4-9 please share. What information did Sesko find that allowed him to list signatures for Gens 4 and 5? The context for this is another "Shinsa story" but that is for another thread. Best, Alexi