Natichu

While I'm not certain this will have the specific lineage you're looking for, this playlist has a few pieces by Takada smiths of that name: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9hcecXUdJrrPnvSjBocmN7Hg-XTeSJe_

Fair enough. I suppose to me there's a distinct difference between what's clearly a visual homage to a well-respected site that no longer operates versus what appears to be wholesale copying, style and all, of a going operation. But I do appreciate your point that may just me being charitable to Nihontowatch or antagonistic to Nihonto24. I can see the irritation with some of the AI content though. My hope is that as things switch to a more pay model the substantive content will improve as well; I'm willing to give the site and Hoshi some time to make it happen as it seems potentially a very powerful resource for new faces like myself.

My understanding is that is intentional and at least to me seems overt. You can select "Yuhindo" as a style option, and I believe Darcy was a mentor of Hoshi's. So a bit of a different kettle of fish.

I had a question about that. I know the translation on Nihontowatch says that, but isn't that an utsushi of the the Nobunaga koshirae of Hosokawa Tadaoki? Discussed by Markus Sesko in his Koshirae Taikan and here, named after the swordsmith not the warlord: https://markussesko.com/2013/03/02/hosokawa-tadaokis-hot-temper-and-his-higo-koshirae/ Beautiful Higo style koshirae at any rate.

Thank you Hoshi, that makes sense and certainly aligns with the Japanese description of his sugata I quoted in my initial post - wide blade, low shinogi, thin kasane. And certainly makes sense why that profile was highly regarded in terms of cutting prowess (it sounds similar to what one sees called a "laser" in the English-speaking online Japanese kitchen knife community).

Many thanks all for the illuminating discussion! @Hoshi, thank you for putting rather clearly what I think had been alluding me. While I'd seen Mino works described as "inferior" (at least from the perspective of nihonto as art), I hadn't read a concise or clear explanation. The impact that shirake has on the depth and clarity of a blade's jigane makes much sense, and I can see that giving the impact of a more practical object rather than the depth of something more profound. I'm not sure I follow your description of Magoroku Kanemoto's typical daito sugata. My understanding was that a high shinogi implied a notable difference in width between the kasane and the shinogi such that in cross-section the shinogi-ji angles notably inward from the peak of the shinogi as one moves towards the mune. In your description, are you describing a blade with a high shinogi, but little difference in thickness of the moto-kasane and saki-kasane (little distal taper)? Or something else? My apologies for my confusion, I just can't quite picture what you're describing.

Hi all, I've recently been developing an interest in Mino-den works (the black sheep of the Gokaden it seems, with reference to the venerable member Hoshi's post: This has led me to pick up a copy of the excellent book on Kanesada (No-sada) and Magoroku Kanemoto discussed here: All of which has led to a couple of questions. The first is regarding Magoroku Kanemoto (first gen Magoroku/second gen Kanemoto). I've seen a few descriptions around describing his sugata generally being one with high shinogi (for example, Shoshin.com, likely speaking of the Kanemoto lineage generally). These, however, have primarily been online sources. The book above, on the other hand, seems to indicate a low shinogi (if I understand the Japanese correctly, which is a big if), stating: 兼元の作品の特徴は、身幅がやや広く、鎬が低く重ねが薄めで平肉のつかない造りこみとなり... (discussion of jihada omitted.) Anyone have any light they could shed on the usual shinogi height and sugata for Magoroku Kanemoto? Second, does anyone have any further reading or other sources they'd recommend on the Mino schools more generally, and in particular Magoroku Kanemoto/the Kanemoto lineage and the Sue-Seki schools? Any input, illumination, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

In terms of things that strike me the same, the 年 kanji looks remarkablt consistent, but also the weighted right side (thickening of the line, sharp angular end) of the main horizontal strokes in each of kanji is quite notable.

Ahh, makes sense. Always interesting to get into the details of what exactly an attribution means. Thank you!

Interesting! My limited understanding was there is normally some reason why it is given even on a mumei blade - many mumei blades receive attributions without "Den" qualifiers - so I just wondered if you received any information. No offence intended, I'm a big fan of the blade! Just wanted to see if we could learn more about it. At any rate, an interesting read on the topic: https://web.archive.org/web/20210126050136/https://blog.yuhindo.com/den/

Were you given any particular rationale as to why it's been given the "Den" qualifier?

No limitations to Canada to my knowledge; I have had no issues importing a few, all through EMS on the Japan side and Canada Post on the Canadian side.

For those that either don't have FB or don't feel comfortable making a more public post there, I sent Mr. Martin a private message through FB messenger to indicate I should be counted as a yes. I received a thumbs up reply, so assume that's another way to get the numbers up.

Oh wow, well more than I anticipated! Thanks for letting me know.

What did it end up going for?

Reminds me somewhat of uma-no-ha midare.

Many thanks for saving me from myself! I'd been eyeing this one for sometime. A great deal, and looks like a fantastic addition to any collection.

Assuming the truth of your premises, that is the marks are known to be both genuine and an honest accounting, I would think they would significantly add to value. While some might be put off by them, I think among those predisposed to be interested in historical weapons they would be a minority.

Hey Gordon, should that be 21mm for the sakihaba? Thanks for getting those so quickly!

Hi Gordon, would you be able to provide the motohaba, sakihaba, and kasane (moto and saki preferably)? Many thanks, it looks like a lovely blade.

As another complete novice, I second that recommendation.

That is exceptionally helpful, thank you very much! As you say, what they didn't say is likely as instructive as what they did - something to keep in mind when a dealer might be leaning more to a specific generation than the attribution likely supports. The usual adage of the sword proving the mei (or in this case, the attribution) seems one that is good to keep in mind then.

Hi all, Just digging into the weeds on a few pieces, and had a question where a mumei blade is attributed to a specific smith by the NBTHK, but no generation is specified on the kanteisho despite there being multiple potential generations using that name. I do appreciate the NBTHK is often using a smith name as more a tiered attribution of quality for a school. But I would still assume they have a specific generation/smith in mind when making the attribution. Is the general assumption that it is the first generation? Or the most famous smith using that name? Or is no assumption possible such that one must really compare the specific piece against the known work of each generation when trying to assess the likely age of a blade and trying to understand why it has been attributed as it has? Any illumination on interpreting mumei attributions would be greatly appreciated!

Assuming this is the same smith, I enjoyed the read: https://markussesko.com/2013/03/22/the-inokiri-and-the-travels-of-masazane/

Not a US vendor, but still, that is a long Hokke katana: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsignedhokke-ichijo-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/