cabowen

It says motte Yasuki hagane Amachi Masatsune saku kore (meaning: made with Yasuki steel) We often see this inscription. Yasuki steel was made by the Yasuki Tekko Goshigaisha and was used as a tamahagane substitute. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%89%E6%9D%A5%E9%8B%BC

Well, sure, there is some validity to it, but let's look a little closer just at the three smiths you mention: Akihide, Sadakatsu, and Ka.... Akihide was not a fully trained smith and it is said he couldn't make a sword from start to finish himself. He was very interested in yaki-ire and did a lot of that on blades made for him by students at his Denshujo and the Nihonto-Gaku'in. Also, he was a former member of the national Diet, senior, and probably the biggest wheel in the sword world at the time. Since he wasn't really a smith, one can argue quite legitimately that he doesn't even belong on the list. Sadakatsu was well known, highly respected and a senior smith in his day. He was a top talent and there is no arguing his place at the front of the line. Shibata Ka was self taught. He was also a politician and from a very wealthy family. He didn't make a lot of swords, mostly tanto. I have seen a lot of his work, and owned several pieces over the years. Some were very good, some so-so. His inclusion at the top rank is a good example of Japanese social mores. There are other smiths, further down the list, that were more talented but were younger and not wealthy politicians. Where is Kasama Shigetsugu on the list? He was at the top of the craft along side of Sadakatsu and Horii Toshihide. But he is no where to be found...Where are all the Yasukuni smiths? Within a year or so of publication of this ranking, nearly half the saijo smiths would be dead....I could go on but this is a sampling of why I think it is best to just consider it a good list, rather than an accurate ranking of talent.

Users of that "ranking" should keep in mind that there was a mix of factors (political, cultural, etc.) that keep it from being reflective of actual talent. With that in mind, it is an interesting list.....

Damn, read right past that, sorry... Yes, my guess is an owner's name.... Many times when visiting old minka I have seen a yari near the entrance, usually above an interior door...Scratching a name into the blade like this seems like something you'ld see in this type of setting.

Ain't that the truth!

There is also the Showa Seki smith who signed Kiku Ichimonji Minamoto Kanemori...包守

Some sources indicate muneyaki can make a blade prone to breaking, others say that it can make a blade stronger. Another factor to consider is the fact that normally, the edge of the blade is in compression because the martensitic edge is a physically larger structure than that of the back of the blade. As it expands in the quench, the back resists, and the blade curves. If the both the back and edge are martensitic, there is probably less compressive stress in the edge. The very brittle martensite edge benefits greatly by being in a state of compression -that is, the brittle edge can resist greater stresses before failure. I would think this would have consequences...

Grey- As you mention, the date is on the left, under which it says "at Mushu city". On the right, I believe it says that it was done for amusement by Mizuta Nagata (thanks to Morita san!) Reijiro kyoshi, a judo teacher. Hisayasu is possibly the smith...

Nice to see the thread back.... Regardless of the translation and the other semantic issues, yubashiri, being a nie formation, is formed from a higher heat than that which leads to nioi, all other things being equal. Typically, muneyaki appears as nioi in my experience. I would imagine that this why the distinction is being made. I am unaware of any source which states definitively that the nie based muneyaki on Rai blades was done intentionally- or not. I would be interested in hearing of any. As Nakahara mentions, most first rate smiths remove muneyaki if it does form accidentally for reasons already mentioned. We can theorize that Rai smiths must have intended it, since they could have removed it and didn't, but they may have also felt it wasn't worth the effort to remove. Doubtful we will ever know with certainty. Not that it matters in any case for Rai blades. Thanks Tom for the clarification.

Sorry, my bad....I confused kiku ichimonji with kiku ichimonju....and the kiku ichimonju smiths were Nara based as I recall...

Most likely Mino, whatever the signature is...

Kiku Ichimonji is a name used by a line of Seki smiths... 菊一文字

素晴らしい！　ありがとう、森田さん。。。

Be a plus to include the Japanese kanji with each....

Kunitaro san, thank you for sharing some spectacular examples!

I think we need more pictures to even have a chance to make a reasonable guess...

Not sure how you are assessing the stiffness of these blades but be aware that purposely bending/flexing the blade is not a good idea in general due to the risk of cracking the edge (hagire).

He was a well known smith known as hidare-mutsu because of his very odd habit of writing kanji in a mirror image. There are many fakes of his work. Not sure about this one....

Congrats! Very nice...

Beautiful work but mukade creep me out....I killed more than a few very large ones while in Japan. I am told their bite is poisonous but luckily, can't say that is first hand info....

Masaaki's work is highly regarded. He works mostly in Bizen den, or Soden Bizen, like his teacher. Many large blades are seen with a rather grand sugata. One of the trademarks of the Hosokawa group is their yasuri-me, called "ippon suji". I have owned a few blades by members of this school and have seen quite a few more. Most are well made; personally, I think that after Masayoshi (nidai), of those I have seen, Masaaki is the most skilled. The mei looks very well cut. I can't say for certain but it doesn't scream fake to me. Google Masaaki and obtain some comparables- see what you think....

I have had this conversation with a variety of people- dealers, smiths, saya-shi, etc. over the years. There are many opinions. One I have heard fairly often is the view that most older swords have worn many sets of koshirae over the years and that parts were often swapped and exchanged- thus it is a dynamic, not static thing. What we see now is just a slice of time and trying to freeze things as they are in this moment is artificial. I guess this is one way to not stress out over it. Maybe the zen approach?..Not saying I agree with that, just that I have heard this opinion, or one like it, several times. I agree that it seems like sacrilege to see menuki ripped out of the ito or a cheap tsuba filling in on an otherwise high quality koshirae. In most cases, I would assume this comes down to greed when the parts are worth more separately than in sum. All too often, it comes down to profit, sadly.

One related issue I see is the translation of "yaki" as "tempering" in many instances when the correct word is "hardening". Often people mistakenly call yaki-ire "tempering", the yaki-ba a "temper line", etc. I have always heard tempering referred to as "yaki-modoshi"　which literally means "re-heat/re-harden", and that is exactly what is done when the blade is in fact tempered. I too think that the meaning here is that Rai blades are heated to a higher temperature before quenching which produces the nie along the mune; if you translate "yaki" as used above as "heating", then: "the heat is stronger" starts to make sense; "the hardening is stronger/more intense" as said, makes no sense... Pulling the sword back and forth is done to equalize the temperature. Some smiths move it around more than others; not sure if this would be relevant... Thanks again...

I was hoping you would comment Markus- thanks... I'm wondering if in this case: "前記の系統より焼が強い訳です." 焼　yaki, which can mean both heating and tempering, might be translated in this case as heating, as in: "the heating is stronger than that of the aforementioned groups"... Simply because "strong/intense hardening" has no real meaning in a metallurgical sense. Also, do you translate both 湯足り and 湯走り as "yubashiri"? Again, thanks.

Yes, he says that "blades of the Sanjo and Awataguchi groups in which muneyaki is not seen are plentiful". His syntax is a bit twisted....