cabowen

Made by Kojima Kanenori of Noshu (Seki). With Seki stamp. This is a non-traditionally made WWII era blade. 1943 is about right....

Odds are it is not made from the best materials the smith had at his disposal. That doesn't mean it is inferior for the purpose it was made for. It may not have the depth, color, brightness and activity, or finish, of his art swords, but it should function fine.

You aren't likely to find this kind of information disclosed by smiths on the internet. In fact, most will probably not discuss it at all unless you know them personally. I spent a lot of time over the course of the 13 or so years I lived in Japan in the forges of many smiths. This is first hand information. Smiths use short cuts and lower quality materials because it saves time and money. There is no reason to use premium=expensive materials and take all the extra steps for a practical blade. It doesn't mean it won't cut well, it just means that it won't have the features/quality valued in art swords. Think of WWII era showa-to, mantetsu-to, or the kazu-uchi-mono of the Sengoku period, Bungo blades, in general: they were practical swords meant for use. Iai practitioners in Japan can't use Chinese blades. Most WWII era blades are on the short side. They have few choices for practical cutting blades. Most people aren't going to use an art sword due to the obvious costs and possibility of damage. Smiths accommodate this need. Many iai-to by top smiths are very nice. I don't think you should be unhappy with your purchase at all....

That is certainly one opinion. However, a great many consider shinsakuto very good, actual nihon-to. There are a good many people, thankfully, that value and appreciate modern made blades. Most of them are as good, if not better, than most older swords one is likely to come across. There are many that will in time be Juyo as well. There is no logical reason to discriminate based on age: good swords have been made in all periods and continue to be made. One may prefer an older sword but that is simply personal preference that often times reflects nothing more than a personal bias for age, romance, and other factors that are not intrinsic to the blade, but qualities in the mind of the buyer. I don't think you have seen many modern swords resold if that is your experience. While I would agree that ordering a newly made sword and then turning around and selling it is usually a losing venture, in my experience ordering newly made blades, they usually resell for around 75% of what they cost to order. You can call that 25% the cost of ordering to your personal specifications, much like anything made to order. Most people find considerable value in taking part in a creative process which creates something of beauty, with luck, to be passed along for posterity. You are confusing collecting with investing. Most collecting isn't based on logic or profit/loss and has little in common with most business decision making.

Ok, I got you....when I think of obi I usually image something wide and made of silk or heavy cotton. Trying to fit such a thing through a hitsu-ana would seem impossible.

Must have been awfully narrow obi.....

Note the crispness of the nakago, the mekugi-ana, the hi in the nakago. The sabi is thin. Also note that the hi continue through the nakago jiri in a perfectly symmetrical way, like they were made that way. :lol: If the sword was suriage, it would have to have been o-suriage, meaning the most of the original nakago was removed. That would make the blade's original nagasa perhaps 5 sun longer. Wouldn't this would mean it would have had strong saki-sori in order for it to now have tori-zori? And the hi would most likely not have ended up perfectly symmetrical through the new nakago. It is also likely that the hamon wouldn't end the way it does. I think it is quite reasonable, from what can be seen in the photos, to judge the sword as ubu. I also think it is quite reasonable, based on the crispness of the nakago, as well as the shape, hamon, and hada, to date the sword to later Shinto or shinshinto. Keep us posted Curtis....

Iai-to are simply swords meant to be used for iai. They can be, and are, mounted with any sort of blade. They can be shin-ken (real sword blade) or mogi-to (non-ferrous blades which can not be sharpened- what many people use for iai, until they reach upper ranks). For tameshigiri, most people use modern made blades, also called shinsakuto. The polish is usually a lower grade. Some people do indeed use older swords. I knew a famous iai sensei that used a sandai Tadayoshi. Another, an Ichimonji-until he chipped the edge when he hit a staple in the tatami. When I mentioned lower grade materials being used by smiths when they make iai blades, I meant a lower grade of tamahagane. As I said, they are traditionally made nihon-to, just not made the same way, with the same materials.

Welcome and all the best to you....

Echizen ju Kinai Saku

Most current Japanese smiths make two types of sword: those strictly made for collectors/appreciation, and those made for iai/tameshigiri. Both are traditionally made nihon-to. The difference is, most of the time, the iai-to are made using simpler techniques and often a lower grade of materials. An iai-to by a well known smith will usually cost a lot less than the art sword, sometimes half or even a third as much. Iai-to are usually found in user koshirae, art swords in shirasaya or higher end koshirae, with a shirasaya.

I have no doubt this is indeed Ishii Tadaaki, the same as posted by Morita san. There are many WWII era smiths who are mostly question marks. Little to no info commonly available. This was the reason I spent untold hours digging up period literature, interviewing surviving smiths, etc., in my efforts to research smiths from the period who worked in Tokyo. As I mentioned above, we need someone to do the same with Hizen....

I think the price is very reasonable for an off the rack iai-to by a well respected smith. It is very hard to find such a thing for less than $4000-$5000 by an average Seki smith, never mind one of the better ones.

I've seen it translated both ways.....As far as I understand it, in this case it refers to what was known as the area around Edo (Tokyo)....

By now you should be able to figure out the right three kanji on your own. The left side reads Yasutoshi 保寿

The reverse of menuki are often nearly as important as the obverse....any chance of a shot?

Why two threads on the same thing? Normally people don't wish to comment on an active auction so as not to influence it but I doubt there will be any sort of feeding frenzy for this, unless it is amongst bottom feeders, if you get my drift.....

Efu ju Masayoshi 江府住正吉

Here are the kanji to help understand the romanization: Efu ju Akao Yoshitsugu 江府 住 赤尾 吉次

We should not ignore the possibility that Homma Sensei's Meikan does not always list the correct reading for a smith's name. Many times (most perhaps), as we have seen here, there is more than one reading for a kanji. Sometimes the only way to know absolutely which reading is correct is from first hand information from the smith or his family. I have come across this a few times; for example, Kato Masakuni 真国, which can be read also as Sanekuni, is listed on page 382 under the Sanekuni reading, with the Masakuni reading underneath. The correct reading, as I have been told by three of his relatives (two were nephews that worked with him) is in fact Masakuni. This is something that bears keeping in mind.

I agree with you Matt....I should have looked more closely.... It is interesting to see the different hamon styles made by this smith- the suguba in the OP's blade, and the complex choji based hamon in Matt's. The OP's blade is of the type most think of when they hear Takada- utilitarian with little activity in the ji-ba, while Matt's example has had more time and effort put into it. It shows clearly the breadth of styles within just one smith's work. Something to keep in mind. Thanks for sharing that Matt.

Indeed, Sakano seems more likely....Thanks.

I wouldn't get to caught up in all the technical details of the construction. They mean relatively little. Orikaeshi just means folded back and forth. All traditionally made swords are forged with orikaeshi tanren. The way the smith composes the billets is what gives rise to kobuse, sanmai, etc. types of construction. Kanehide is my pick as the best of the war era Seki smiths. My opinion of Seki WWII era smiths is not very high but he is one of a few exceptions that produces some very nice blades. Congrats.

I believe the kanji are a name: 坂場 Sakaba....

You are most welcome.