cabowen

Horimono looks like those often added later to cover flaws, the way it goes all down the blade without a really coherent composition....

Curtis, I will be organizaing an NTHK-NPO Shinsa at the Tampa show in February 2016. We will again offer the mail in option. You can contact me for specifics privately.

秋元昭友刀匠は、明治43年3月31日栃木県黒磯町生まれ、本名は秋元信一。祖父は善兵衛会津兼定。昭和6年赤坂氷川町日本刀鍛錬伝習所に入所。栗原彦三 郎昭秀、笠間一貫斎繁継に学ぶ。後に同伝習所や日本刀学院の師範となる。同門の後輩には、人間国宝の宮入行平刀匠や天田昭次刀匠を始め、数多くの刀匠がい る。 元陸軍受命刀匠。戦後は、昭和29年より作刀を再開、新作名刀展への出品や若手の育成など現代刀の復興に大きく貢献した。新作日本刀展にて、名誉賞3回、 総理大臣賞2回、文部大臣賞1回受賞。新作名刀展にて、優秀賞・努力賞などを多数受賞。 He was born March 31 in the 43rd year of Meiji. He was from Kuroiso in Tochigi Prefecture (Kurihara was also from Tochigi- thus the connection). His real name was Akimoto Shinichi. His grandfather was Zenhyoe Aizu Kanesada. In Showa 6 he entered the Nihonto Tanren Denshujo in Akasaka Hikawacho. He studied under Kurihara Hikosaburo Akihide and Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu. Later (Showa 16), he became an instructor when they moved the school to Zama and called it the Nihonto Gakuin. Miyairi Akihira and Amada Akitsugu were students under Akitomo, as were many others. He was a Rikugun Jumei Tosho. After the war, he returned to sword making in Showa 29. He made a large contribution to the revival of the craft post war by teaching and helping many young smiths and others who would enter the post war sword contests. In the war era contests, he won the Meio award 3 times, the Sori Daijin Award 3 times, the Monbu Daijin Award once. In the post war contests, he won the Yushu Award, the Doryoku Award, and many others.... Please try a google search as there is info available out there about him.... Will take some pictures next time I have the sword out for cleaning....

I think it starts Tadayoshi...Not 100% sure about the last two kanji..

And late in the war when he quit working at the Yasukuni Tenrankai and moved back to Hiroshima, he signed Masamune.....

No real significance to the different mei. It's a nice blade and typical of his work at that time.

Ah, I have seen that one....but thanks for the link....

Certainly the temporal element can be a part of an evaluation or appreciation of the aesthetics of a work. Most often a piece is created with the aesthetics in vogue at the time and therefore they become a bit of a snapshot. Knowing something of the artistic environment when the work was made can be very helpful in its appreciation, as you have mentioned. Unlike fad, fashion, and what is considered "good art", which can and does change, good craftsmanship is always good.

Kajiyama Yasunori can also be read as Yasutoku.

I think it is closer to 500 years old than to 100....

There is the craft, then there is "art". Kodogu and nihon-to are craft first, and art, sometimes, second...When you say "what do you consider when determining that a tsuba is a better or best piece?", what are you referring to- the craftsmanship or the artistic/aesthetic value? Great craftsmanship is not always considered great art, nor is great art always done with superlative craftsmanship. It takes study and training to understand and identify high quality craftsmanship; there isn't usually a lot to debate when it comes to the skill displayed by the craftsman. As has been said, appreciating the artistic merits is quite subjective and thus open to debate, although among kodogu schools, and sword making schools too, there is a bit of a pecking order as far as desirability is concerned. These rankings were established by connoisseurs and collectors from ages past. They don't always make "sense" to Westerners (and to many Japanese no doubt as well!). But they are engrained in the established collecting cannon, such as it is....One can either follow these "precepts" or march to one's own drum. It also bears mentioning that there is quite a divide between Western conceptions of what constitutes great art and Japanese aesthetics. Which lens you choose to view through can have a major role in making any sort of judgment.

Indeed he did.....Any photos of the rest of the blade? He was a good smith. I have a nice custom ordered blade by him done in an old tachi sugata with a curved nakago and ikubu-gissaki.

Sweeping generalizations about a culture and its people are usually inaccurate. Having worked in academia in Japan, I can assure you there are some extremely pedantic Japanese that indeed fuss over labels, classifications, etc., just like there are those in the West who do the same. There are also those who don't, just like there are those in the West who don't. In other words, personality traits are not universal to of any race or culture. OCD can be found just about anywhere.... Collectors create their own categories. The fact that we have such a rich and descriptive taxonomy, much of which has developed over time, and all of it in Japan, points to the fact that much care has been taken to both identify and classify. Who is to say what constitutes "obsessive"? One man's "obsessive" may be another's "attention to detail". Many of the better craftsman I know in Japan, be they sword smiths, polishers, carpenters, potters, etc., do share an uncommon attention to detail which many would undoubtedly call obsessive... Rgardless, I am not sure how a taxonometric system could actually address issues of aesthetics or appreciation...Seems to me these are two separate goals.

Wow! Great find! Common length is around 26".....

I have found US customs fees to be hit or miss. Sometimes they are charges, sometimes not. I always have an invoice that states the items are being returned to the original owner following restoration, etc., and that it is not a commercial transaction. Most of the time, there has been no fee. Sometimes there has. I usually contest it and get it refunded. Still, like I said, hit or miss...

I would get it to shinsa before polishing but I agree it looks quite nice and could be something special....

Usually the shirasaya can be adjusted to fit a new habaki, but I agree with Franco in that it is hard to tell how much steel will need to be removed and thus there is a chance that the old shirasaya will no longer fit properly. In a well made shirasaya, the blade is suppose to float inside with only the habaki touching. If the habaki changes to one of the same or larger size, the koiguchi can be adjusted to fit. It is usually best to avoid all this issues by doing the work in the correct order. Sometimes things don't work out that way...

Mei might be Bishu Asai ju Kanemitsu saku (made by Kanemitsu, a resident of Asai in Bishu) with Amaterasu Okami and Hachiman Dai Bosatsu invocations on the other side.... He was a Rikugun Jumei Toshi and his family name was Takeuchi. He was from Aichi Prefecture.

My guess is the lowest mekugi-ana may be the original one. The blade was shortened and the machi moved up. The upper two mekugi-ana are newer. The grooves were cut later....

I didn't look all that closely but most of the flaws appeared to be in the mune. Those can often be fixed. It surely isn't anything special but it's a decent sword for someone on a limited budget. Hada and hamon are attractive....

Probably can be reused.

The single stroke is "ichi" and used by smiths from the Ichimonji school. Unfortunately, it is also the easiest to fake and given the location it is pretty certain this was added later. The photos don't really show enough detail to make any hard and fast determinations. The kissaki can most likely be repaired if given to a professional togishi. A good candidate for shinsa.

是　風　？　袖　雪 kore kaze ? sode yuki The middle kanji is odd....can't find it.... Maybe a poem....

I agree- he is very consistent with the placement of his mei. Also, the size of the kanji are also almost always quite large and occupy at least half or more of the width of the nakago. I would take this as gimei as well. For the price, it is an otherwise attractive blade in polish, not such a bad deal...

use the search function as oil has been discussed many times....