cabowen

By the way the nakago is finished (and then abused), this is not a quality blade, just another WWII gunto. If you are interested in collecting showa-to and low class gunto, that is fine. If, however, you wish to collect quality blades, you would be much better off using your time to study and learn what quality is instead of spending it trying to id every beater you find in search of treasure. I can completely understand that not everyone has the finances to simply pay retail and buy only Juyo and many have to hunt for bargains to be able to afford decent swords but you have to learn to walk before you can run. WWII era blades with broken and ground down kissaki, ground down and poorly finished nakago, etc. are all glaring indicators screaming "not worth the time and trouble". Until you educate yourself and learn to separate the wheat from the chaff on your own, your chances of finding treasure by dredging the sword boneyards are very slim....You would be better off playing the lottery and using your winnings to buy papered and polished blades.

When Japanese people would go on and on about how hard it is learn Japanese I would remark that 130 million people can do it so it must not be impossible.....

You are most welcome.... Japanese is daunting at any age! Keep at it, you will make progress....

Because someone will ask..... Kanehide Gifu Noshu ju Kanehide Kin saku Noshu Seki ju Kanehide Kin Saku Noshuju Kanehide Noshu Seki ju Kanehide saku Nakada Isamu (name) Seki shi Imonoshiya 433-1 (address) Zen Nihon Tosho Kai Kai'in (Member of All Japan Swordsmith Association) Doryokusho Twice (Effort Award), Nyusen (Entry award) 13 times. (post war) Dai Nihon Tosho Kyokai Kaicho Award, Rikugun Gunto Gijutsu Shorei Kai Kaicho Sho Award (war era) Student of the 13th Generation Masahide and Watanabe Kanenaga. Former Rikugun Jumei Tosho. In Showa 3 he entered the forge of Kawashima Masahide of Aichi Prefecture. In Showa 12 he entered the forge of Watanabe Kanenaga in Seki. In November of that same year he became the headmaster of the Tanren Juku (sword forging school). In December of Showa 15 retired from his headmaster position and in February of the following year he entered the service of the Seki Token Kabushiki Gaisha (Seki Sword Company). He was born in Taisho 2 and died in the first year of Heisei. He was 75.

Yes, it gives his different mei, his real name and address, then the prizes he won is sword competitions, then a history of his training and work, finally, his birth date and date of death. In my opinion, he was the best of all the Seki WWII era smiths....

Yes, shakudo is an alloy of mostly copper with a slight amount of gold and maybe some other trace impurities. The black color is a patina that indicated the quality of the shakudo. The darker black-purple, the better. I have heard it is a self-healing patina, meaning if you leave it alone, it should repatinate on its own, though it may take a long time. I would simply clean it very carefully with warm soapy water, dry with a soft cotton cloth, and let nature take its course.....

True, he is kind of the Van Gogh of tosho.....but he did make beautiful swords quite unlike those of anyone else.....

Looks to be a shakudo plate with a copper (?) fukurin around the circumference. I am sure one of the tsuba mavens will be able to tell you much more....

Not sure who you are addressing but in my case I will try to post some pictures of the blade I mentioned. I do not have any not so great swords by famous makers for comparison....

That is really interesting as I have never heard this nor come across any bona fide Kiyomaro blades that were anything less than top quality. Then again, outside of what can be seen in the Kiyomaro taikan, I have only seen/handled maybe a dozen or so Kiyomaro blades which isn't a very large sample...Still, everything I have read and been told speaks to what a demanding craftsman he was and how meticulous he was when it came to his work, sake aside....

One can ask anything one wants....what one can get is another story....

If you need any help ordering a shinsakuto, let me know. I know several smiths and have ordered many blades for others over the years....

Swords are always stored in shirasaya then in sword bags and simply placed in the drawers. Most katana dansu are not designed to store more than a few swords. That is all most samurai owned....

Yes, that is indeed an interesting book....Iida san did certainly see his share of swords in his day...

Absolutely.....

No, they are for the most part all gendai-to. I have only papered one and that was to prove that star stamped blades are "paperable" by the NBTHK. Papers are a waste of money as far as I am concerned when it comes to gendai-to.

I had an interesting conversation with a smith in Tokyo about this very subject. I asked him why he and his family (with 7 smiths since the Taisho period) were basically unknown despite the fact that every blade I have seen (a dozen or more) made by a member of his family had been first rate and easily on par with those of the well known smiths. His answer was simple: "we are craftsman, not business people". Some smiths are excellent at their craft and at self-promotion and marketing. I am sure we can all think of a few that fit that description. Without a knack for self-promotion, a famous/wealthy benefactor, or a connection to an institution, it is difficult for a smith, or any artist for that matter, to gain recognition...I do think though that with time, talent is usually recognized.... I should add that I have several blades by relatively unknown smiths that are easily the equal to those made by the "big names". Personally, I very much enjoy "discovering" talent.

Yes, I do remember that blade-hard to forget! By the way, we are kicking around ideas for exhibits for next year's Minneapolis show and shinshinto is near the top of the list....maybe we can talk you into a repeat with that one!

I have seen a few of Kunihide's blades and agree he was a talented smith....Yoshihiro worked very near to where I lived in Shizuoka Prefecture so I am familiar with his work as well...Many talented smiths were put out of work in the Meiji period and remain relatively unknown....

If you are at all handy, try making your own. Simple wood or deer antlers are classic....You can get ideas by googling images...

It is often said that every dog has his day. Have you ever seen a truly wonderful blade by an unknown or unheralded smith? Maybe even own such a blade? I would be interested in hearing about it.... One of my favorites is a blade I bought on ebay several years ago. The mei is done in sosho script and it was covered with a light oxidation, both of which might account for the lack of interest shown by bidders and my good fortune in buying it very cheaply. I had it polished and knew I lucked out when the togi called me to tell me how good the blade was. He had never shown much excitement over a gendai-to before.... The blade was made at the very end of the war by Yoshihara Kuninobu, the brother of the well known Kuniie and uncle to Yoshindo and Shoji. Done as a Kiyomaro utsushi complete with streaming sunagashi and a highly active ji-ba, it is one of my favorites. In fact, I have yet to see a blade by his well known brother, Kuniie, that I like as much. I have found that there are many smiths who are considered pedestrian that have made excellent swords. These hidden gems are a good reason to learn what quality is all about as they can often be had at a steep discount in comparison to those with a well known name... Please tell us about your hidden gem!

yes.

It is a real WWII era gunto. Dated 1943 and made by Kinmichi/Kanemichi. Possibly non-traditionally made.....

not katakana either, just kanji, but written rather cursively.... not sure if it is a showato or not. can't tell from the one picture and I see no showa stamp...... This smith made both types of blades.

chounsai tsunatoshi perhaps....