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@RobDam The blade has arrived and I am very glad to have requested and waited for Tanobe sensei s sayagaki as he had quite a lot to say about it. I certainly did not expect for him to wrtite this much about it. Was able to get a fairly refined translation. 備前国住長舩清光作 九字銘有之而製作年紀ガ消サレ二月日ノヲ残存ス 俗名無キト雖モ孫右衞門尉ニ紛レハ無ク 蓋シ年號永禄ナラン 頑健ナル先反ノ造込而板目ニ地沸ヲ敷キ 肌目ノ立ツ鍛ヘニ得意ノ廣直刃ヲ焼キ足・葉入 沸ツキ横手下ニハ彼ノ個性ナル 縦長ノ葉ガ見ラレ其持味ヲ明示スル優品也 " Bizen Koku Ju Osafune Kiyomitsu Saku The blade bears a nine-character signature. The portion containing the date has been erased, with only "2nd month, day" remaining. Although no common (secular) name is included in the signature, there can be no doubt that this is the work of Magoemon no Jō Kiyomitsu. It was most likely made during the Eiroku era (1558–1570). The blade has a robust construction with a pronounced saki-zori. The steel shows a well-forged itame-hada with abundant ji-nie, and the grain stands out clearly. It displays his characteristic wide suguha containing numerous ashi and yō. The temper is rich in nie, and beneath the yokote one can observe his characteristic elongated, vertical yō, a distinctive hallmark of his workmanship. It is an excellent blade that clearly and fully displays the distinctive qualities of his work. Blade length: 2 shaku, 3 sun, and 4 bu 5 rin Written by Tanzan in the month of Rinchū (6th lunar month), in the year of Hinoe-Uma (Fire Horse). " I definitely plan on taking more images with some professional gear when I get a chance.

The sword arrived yesterday and it s more than I could have ever wished for 🙏🙏🙏. I ve looked at every millimeter of this blade and there s not a single area showing any hint of age or loose hada. The entire blade is just coved in activity and every millimeter of the nioiguchi is bright and brilliant. Just amazing what an upper sue bizen blade can be. On top of it all it has massive .9 cm kasane and sits at just about 900 grams. Will definitely try to take more photos with some professional gear and try to capture as much of the hataraki as I can

The nakgo and mei looks promising. Would be great if we could see the full close up condition of the blade. There were many Norimitsu smiths during the muromachi and they all made good blades. The best of them were active in the 1400s and this one ( if genuine ) would be either the 6th or 7th gemeration. The 6th generation Norimitsu was a skilled smith and rated Jo Saku. Would love to see this blade s journey and how it turns up. Best wishes

Thank you everyone for the help and esp @YourBabyBjornBorg for the help with the characters 🙏🙏🙏🙏 After adding everything up this is what I have so far if the translation is correct "Bizen Koku Ju Osafune Kiyomitsu Saku" The tang bears a nine-character signature. The portion containing the date of manufacture has been erased, leaving only "2nd month, day" (二月日). Although no personal name is recorded, there is no doubt that this is the work of Magoemon-no-jō Kiyomitsu (孫右衛門尉清光). The era is most likely Eiroku (1558–1570). It is a robust work with a pronounced saki-zori. The steel shows a well-forged itame-hada with abundant ji-nie, and the grain stands out clearly. The blade displays Kiyomitsu's characteristic wide suguha, containing numerous ashi and yō activities. The temper is rich in nie, and just below the yokote appears his distinctive vertically elongated yō, a hallmark feature that clearly demonstrates his characteristic workmanship. This is an excellent example of his work. Blade length: 2 shaku, 3 sun, and 4 bu 5 rin. Written by Tanzan in the month of Rinchū (6th lunar month), in the year of Hinoe-Uma (Fire Horse).

And is the opposite side just date and kao ?

@YourBabyBjornBorg Oh my godness thank you so much for this !!

Never seen such pronounced and deliberate notare from Gorozaemon before. And a very serious sword judging by the price https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/V-2198.html

And Who and what would be the best way to have it formally translated ?

Thank you @Tsuku, @eternal_newbie You were right . It is on the back

Hello I have just been informed by Komaki san from Samurai Nippon that a sword I had requested for a sayagaki came back from Tanobe sensei. I was not expecting such a massive wall of caligraphy honestly. And would love to see what the exact translation says. A quick question I had for anyone familiar with Tanobe sensei: I thought sayagaki will have a kao/signature at the end and I dont think I see one here. Is this normal or is a kao not always present ? Thank you kindly as always

@Takezo Swords continued to get longer throughout the 1500s and Tenbun era sue bizen generally ranged from 65cm to 68cm and reached 70cm + from Eiroku up to the Momoyama so I think it s just due to the general time period trend. That Yosozaemon was recently on AOI earlier this year. I made a post about it. It s interesting that a sword this level it would re appear so soon. It did go for well over $100,000 USD. The sayagaki from Tanobe sensei noted it as being Shodai Yosozaemon best work. Which is saying quite a lot

@Takezo I was just looking at them 😆 While I ll always prefer Gorozaemons signature suguha works, he was indeed skilled at hitatsura and this is a beautiful work. I do think however that hadori is a very poor choice for this blade ( or any hitatsura works ). Judging by the oshigata, this sword would look magnificent in sashikomi. And a beautiful sugata and signature by Magouemon. One of the pro s of Magouemon over Gorozaemon for me was that swords became longer during the Eiroku and his works are consistantly 70cm+ while Gorozaemons work are generally in the 65cm to 68cm range. I generally try to avoid bo hi ( except futasuji hi ) bc of the asthetics and I always dread seeing blades where the soe bi is polished off in places over time. Both beautiful works overall however and I certainly would have a hard time saying no if I had the $$$

Every once in blue moon, a piece appears that checks all my wishful nihonto fantasy boxes https://eirakudo.shop/978749

@Bugyotsuji It was a pretty one for sure and a nice length for that time period. I was down sizing my Kiyomitsu collection to add a signed Kongo Hyoe Moritaka blade at the time ( one of my favorite school ). I then sold my TokuHo Kiyomitsu in April to branch out into other yamato temple smiths but I instead fell in love and bought another Kiyomitsu 😂 . Waiting for export currently

Hi @Bugyotsuji This was the Eisho 10 Kiyomitsu I used to own https://eirakudo.shop/018294 I have noticed over the last few years that the mei in Eisho Kiyomitsu blades vary significantly. Interesting since there s only one Kiyomitsu smith recorded. I will say the Jigane and hamon on your tanto looks extremely close the sword I owned

I would love to one day travel to Japan and see top level blades like these. Thank you for posting these photos🙏🙏🙏. After looking at any high quality photos I could find for some time it dawned on me a while back that Sadamune s jigane was more pleasing to me over Masamune personaly. But perhaps seeing them in person will change that preception

I ve sent all my blades to Woody Hall in Hawaii for Shiage togi. His work is exceptional and he has won NBTHK awards for his Polishing. He was trained by Robert Benson who was trained by Koke Ono , a living national treasure. I also know for a fact Mike Yamazaki uses him and speaks highly of him

@RobDam An ubu tachi would be rare ( and pricey ) There are some early muromachi ubu tachi that appears every now and then Here s one https://eirakudo.shop/673537 But things become very muddy when it comes to tachi vs katana in the early muromachi and hard to distinguish

@RobDam One of my long term goals is to collect a long blade from each smith from the main Kiyomitsu lineage. There s obviously Gorozaemon ( Tenbun ) and Magoemon ( Eiroku ) but theres another smith in the Eisho era named Nomura Gorozaemon who is the master/father of the tenbun Gorozaemon. He is the only recorded Kiyomitsu smith active im the Eisho era mostly signed " Bishu Osafune.... " but I have yet to see a zokumyo or an NBTHK attribution to him

I think thats been touched upon on the original thread i started on that sword a while back. But there really isnt anything to be gained by that sword obtaining juyo

Thank you @RobDam I will most certainly take more photos. I do love everything about it so I am excited. The jigane is beautiful with lots of activities. The signature is beautifuly done as well

The best of the best are already in private collections or museums. And the low/mid/high end pieces will continue to circle around as people make room for new purchases or change in taste and many more reasons. That Masamune ,as interesting as it may be to see one , is in a very sorry state on many levels so it s no wonder it would come on the market. There is however a magnificent Go Yoshihiro connected to the Date family for close to that same price . That one will eventually be locked in a private collection im sure

@RobDam I believe that token bijutsu blade reads Tenbun if im not mistaken. And no I think what you paid for is very resonable for what you have. A very fine sue bizen work with a nisshu sayagaki. While he doesnt carry the reputation of Tanobe sensei. He was still recognized as a living national treasure and his calligraphy is most beautiful of all in my opinion. His sayagaki certainly adds value

Hi @RobDam You are most welcome. Always love seeing fine Kiyomitsu blades come around. It is generally difficult to evaluate bo hi due to many variables. Yes they are somewhat time period / school /smith associated but there were always exceptions. And more importantly, they were often added later ( ato bi ). Meaning yours may have started without a bo hi but was added later. It s often hard to tell Your s ends in Maru-dome at the bottom which is a common feature of muromachi Bizen but it is also ryo chiri which could be considered an outlier. Again it is often difficult to evaluate bo hi so I wouldnt really worry about it.