cabowen

It is simply amazing how collectors will spend good money on amateur polishing, but they won't spend a bit more on a professional polish. It just doesn't make any sense. When all is said and done the sword owner will still have no idea of what a good polish looks like, and chances are the sword cannot be kantei'd correctly because the sword is not finished properly, which defeats the entire purpose of polishing. Then, collectors complain when the shinsa team comes back with a Bungo or Fuyuhiro paper (no disrespect to Bungo or Fuyuhiro, its just that they are an easy - safe call, as they worked in almost all traditions), besides, what else are the judges supposed to do when they are unable to see defining characteristics. And, when it comes time to sell the sword with an amateur polish, don't expect to recover the full cost of that polish. Also, keep in mind that by keeping the amateur polisher in business, it only becomes a matter of time until someone unaware sends in a darn good (mumei) sword with perhaps only one good polish left in the steel, oops! kiss it goodbye! So true.....There is no good reason when one possess all the facts. I know the amateur polisher industry in the West drives many of the shinsa people, craftsman, and collectors in Japan that I know into nearly stroking out, especially when they see the "work" being done. They can't understand it, and neither can I....

How tiring it is to constantly have to preach about the evils of amateurs....Destroying a culture, one blade at a time....I used to think it was ignorance, then simply penny-pinching. Now I am leaning towards hubris....I wish someone could explain it to me... You are absolutely correct in that there are different levels of polishers, even among the professional ranks, and one generally uses the appropriate polisher for the blade.

It isn't only Juyo level swords that deserve a professional polish. Anything of Hozon or better is surely worthy of the proper care and restoration. And who is to say what might not be Juyo today won't be in 50 or 100 years? Using an amateur for anything other than very low end, tired, severely flawed, saiha, or non-traditional blades, disrespects the blade and those that have cared for it through history. It is destructive, rather than preservative; sometimes it is indeed better to do nothing. I don't wish to sound harsh, but it is simply unfathomable why people who claim to cherish and respect the cultural, historical, and artistic heritage embodied in these ever dwindling swords continue to let them be defaced by amateurs, despite non-stop warnings by people with long and substantial experience in the field... These swords sure seem worthy of better than they got....the hadori work alone is... never mind.....it is a losing battle....Ugh.....

Jason- Terminology may be confusing the issue here.. Normally, when a "window" is opened in a blade, the polisher simply does a quick stoning of a small, maybe 4", area of the blade, usually they only use a few different grits. The idea is to get a rough idea of the jitetsu and hamon so that a decision to fully polish the blade can be made. When nothing is visible and it appears the blade has been abused, it is a good idea to do this to see if the blade is worthy of restoration. it appears that whoever is working on this blade has in fact attempted to fully polish, complete with hadori (the white frosting over the hamon) and migaki (mirror-like polish on the shinogi-ji), the tip of the blade. This is not what professional polishers do when "opening a window". A foundation polish is simply the groundwork using the first few stones to remove rust, waves in the surface, to set the lines and to otherwise correct the shape of the blade.

sadakazu and a kokuin and I give you sadakatsu and a kao! I should learn to read better.....Sorry about that....

Here's one....

If I read it right, Fujishiro says there were two generations with the second dying young, leaving few works. The oshigata shown is the shodai, from his early days....If I have understood it correctly, it would be natural for a mei to change a bit over the course of a working career. I think that the mei shown in Fujishiro and that of the poster's mei share several idiosyncrasies that make it a possibility that this is a later work of the shodai. It is a well made blade, regardless, so congrats to you Jason! here are a few examples of the shodai...the first two are papered, the third said by the owner to be shoshin...draw your own conclusions....

The mei is a very close match to the one posted above from Fujishiro. It is a Shinto blade. Your polisher should know this....There are no smiths named Iyetada working in Kaga in the koto period. edit: I suppose it could be a koto blade with a gimei signature....didn't mean to come on so strong....

That brings back memories...I spent a lot of time doing the same thing (making an english index for Ono san's book) back when I was in college, about 20 some years ago! That was how I learned most of the kanji for smith names! Not sure what I did with it- I think I sent it to a few people....Once I completed it, I knew the kanji and didn't need it anymore!

I understood that Jason had a copy, just giving some background.... I was told by a shinsa team member at the shinsa at the Tokyo post office that red meant imported. Perhaps he was misinformed....Or perhaps you licensed the sword at the Tokyo Post Office shinsa and they thought it was imported? In any case, not that important... One other thing the torokusho includes is the number of meguki-ana.....forgot to mention that.... Hope that helps Jason...

I can't tell you how much easier it would be to help if you posted a working link....

The torokusho, or registration license, has the length, sori, and mei, if any, on the blade. It has the date and prefecture of when the sword was originally registered. If the registration number is in red, it means the sword was licensed when reimported to Japan. It must always be with the sword and is surrendered to the Ministry of Education when the sword is exported.

Bishu Osafune Norimitsu

Considering it needed restoration, that was a reasonable price...

I received word back from Craigslist that the ad is no longer active... I am very sorry to hear that he has stolen someone's money here....I wonder how many more have been duped???? Someone needs to file a criminal complaint. Craigslist will provide info in those cases....

The maker of this blade, Sakurai Masatsugu, was one of the few smiths who kept the craft alive at the turn of the century. He was a skilled smith and one of the few smiths that bridged the gap between the samurai age and the modern period in Japanese sword history. There is indeed interest, in certain corners, in his work....

Yeah, no doubt this guy is 100% scam. I sent an alert to the legal department at Craigslist.....It will be interesting to see if they do anything. Spread the word. This kind of thing is bad for all of us....

He sent me photos of the nakago which I have attached; I have no doubt that this is the same sword. I figured he lifted the photos from some on-line source....We need to find someone in London that could file a complaint with the police.....He told me he was located in Aberdeen, Scotland. He uses the name Marcone Berta and his email is: bertamarcone@googlemail.com He wanted me to wire him the money to his bank account. All we need is for someone to agree to do that and have him send the bank info. That should be enough to shut him down.... Maybe you can email him the pictures you just posted and see how he explains it!

I have only seen this stamp a handful of times and never on a top end gendaito. I do not believe it was a military stamp or it would be more prevalent. Most likely, as you have theorized, it was a shop or company mark used to indicated a forged blade. Does not mean traditional, necessarily, as it may not (probably not) be tamahagane....

I would like to alert members to a probable scammer advertising high end gendaito on the UK Craig's List. I contacted him about a sword he had advertised (Gassan Sadakatsu in general's koshirae). He refused to accept any payment method other than a bank wire (no to paypal, etc.). I then asked him to send me a copy of a photo id next to the sword, which he refused. I next asked if he would send me a picture of the sword next to the latest edition of his newspaper...Wouldn't do that..... Buyers beware. I believe he is also advertising a Ikeda Yasumitsu and Kurihara Akihide as well...

The system was set up so that the deshi would receive room and board as well as a little pocket money. These days, most can not support a deshi and I have heard of smiths charging for the opportunity to learn the craft....The training period was set up so that the last few years the deshi was actually producing income for the smith/togi. Now, I have also heard of a shortened period so that the deshi can get out on his own faster.... Who knows how much longer this system can survive, especially in light of the economic situation that has gripped Japan the last 17 or so years....

Done....

He is a cultural property of the district in Tokyo where he resides. He is not a Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuho)..... Nagayama Kokan Sensei passed away this year....

Search the Japanese used book seller sites.....I saw one recently for sale but I don't remember where....

Yes, one would have thought that but I have seen work made at the OTJ with the yasuhiro mei, much like the example oshigata kindly provided by Morita san...