eternal_newbie

Nice pics @Lewis B, always good to see some quality (and interesting) Yamato work. Also worth considering that another reason we see the similarities between these earlier schools and Soshu is that it wasn't just the Soshu luminaries who tried to reproduce the old Ko-Hoki masterpieces, which were also known for their lively hataraki and extant examples of ichimai boshi. We know that Masamune, in addition to his own inimitable style, also produced works that were very obviously inspired by Ko-Hoki; it's possible that this may be one of the things that drew Go and Norishige to Kamakura, but it may even be the case that they they were the ones who introduced these techniques and appreciation of Ko-Hoki to Masamune (or at least fanned the flames of his desire to do so).

If it has been obscured by scratches or rust, a new polish will most likely be able to restore it. If it is gone due to fire damage, then yes, the blade must be re-hardened (saiha) to restore a nioiguchi. If it is gone due to tiredness then the blade is beyond recovery - too much material has been lost to even attempt re-hardening it. You can see an example of this re-hardening process on the Usagiya website: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/sword6.html

Excellent writeup, to which I can only add that there is a compelling case to be made for Go's father or original master being a Senjuin smith named Yoshihiro. You can find some discussion about this, and other speculation regarding Go's Yamato heritage, here:

However you managed to type the first post of this thread, use that method from now on if possible; it seems to be formatted correctly and easily read, unlike the follow-up posts which have a very large font that doesn't even fit a sentence on my widescreen desktop monitors.

As far as the hamon is concerned, it's the nioiguchi that's most affected by tiredness. It can fade in places or be completely gone if the blade is tired enough (this looks like picture 4 in your diagram, but without the scratches - it's just that the hamon becomes weaker or vanishes in places). That said, it's also dependent on the school and the smith; some smiths have a subdued or hazy nioiguchi as a kantei point, while others are expected to have a nioiguchi so clear and bright you can practically see it from across the roo The differences between 1, 2 and 3 can be the result of polishing, but they can also be the result of the makeup of steel and activities within the hamon (some will have an almost machine-made straightness and absolutely no variation in steel colour or activity; others will have all sorts of different steel, nie and nioi colours as the various steels interact and form activities).

I'll have to remember to try some next time I'm in the area!

"hidden christian themes" *design straight from the stained glass windows of a church or cathedral*

It is indeed the high-water mark for Soshu blades, and perhaps Nihonto in general, outside Japan. Only Dr. Honma's Soshu-den Meisaku Shu exceeds it, and to my knowledge there is no translation of it available other than my very basic English index. In fact, several of the sources cited in Soshu Masterpieces are the same ones that Dr. Honma pulls from in his book, and while the photographs in the Meisaku Shu are larger, I believe the photography in Mr. Pechalov's book is of a better quality and shows the blades in more detail and varied angles than Dr. Honma's more typical museum catalog style. I fervently hope that more catalogs of important nihonto take some cues from this work and the various photography we see online from other enthusiasts. I also own a copy and naturally, it comes highly recommended from me as well. Mr. Pechalov is also generous enough to have published most of the material and photography (albeit at a somewhat lower resolution to make it faster to navigate through) on his website (https://www.nihonto-museum.com/) for those who are unable to find, or afford, a copy of this most excellent publication.

Also interesting is that the smith that pretty much everyone agrees was almost certainly taught directly by Masamune and inherited his style - Soshu Sadamune - is notably omitted from all of the various sources listing the Juttetsu. Which could be seen as evidence in favour of your "memory aid" theory, in that nobody needs to be reminded that Masamune's heir would also be working in Masamune's style of Soshu-den.

Norishige as well, although the general consensus now is he was more of a junior contemporary to Masamune rather than an apprentice.

@Bugyotsuji The NBSK are an organization that focuses on promoting modern swordsmithing, and offer certifications for newly-made blades that would otherwise not qualify for NBTHK documentation (both as a way of boosting visibility for the smiths under their umbrella, and helping to combat gimei targeting contemporary smiths). They also run an annual competition similar to the NBTHK's competition, and many smiths choose to enter both of them. https://nbsk-jp.org/english/ Here are the results of last year's competition: https://nbsk-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/15th_kekka_e_02.pdf

To be more precise, there are several theories about the Masamune Juttetsu, none of which can be definitively proven or rebutted with the knowledge we currently have: They were all direct students of Masamune, and learned from him in Kamakura (common belief) They were all direct students of Masamune, who taught them outside Kamakura (Yamanaka's theory that you cited) Many of them had no direct contact with Masamune, but instead sent representative smiths to Kamakura to bring back his techniques (e.g. Dr. Honma's research led him to believe that Chogi and Kanemitsu learned Soshu-den techniques from their older brother/senior Nagashige, and likely Hasebe Kunishige did something similar) Many of them were not taught the Soshu-den techniques at all, but came up with good approximations by looking at Soshu-den swords that were in vogue at the time (this is generally thought to be the case for Sekishu Naotsuna, and Rai Kunitsugu's Soshu-influenced style has been found in at least a handful of works by his predecessors, suggesting he learned it from them rather than from Masamune) Disciple in the latter two cases can be considered more of a "follower" or "admirer" than an actual student; whatever their lineage, they were among the greatest smiths of the time who took inspiration from Masamune and showed it in their work. You can think of Masamune Juttetsu as describing artists who worked within a specific emerging movement (Soshu-dominated Nanbokucho works), roughly analogous to painting terms like Impressionists, Cubists and Dadaists. There is also, of course, the theory that Masamune himself did not exist and is merely a marketing concept/brand name invented either contemporaneously or by later collectors and appraisers (the Hon'ami and the Tokugawas are the two most commonly accused of such), and therefore none of the Juttetsu could have learned from "him".

There's a common saying in martial arts about this - you start with a white belt, get a black belt, as you advance further the black belt becomes white again from age and the dye being worn out, and as you reach mastery it becomes black again with all the dirt and wear and tear.

As I can't see any mekugi/mekugi-ana in the pictures, I expect the nakago to be a rat-tail tang.

Yep, unfortunately it is a fake sword, likely made in China. Here is a handy guide to telling the difference: https://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html I would recommend against attempting to use it to cut anything, as these kinds of blades are known to have very weak tangs and have a habit of ejecting themselves from the handle if struck too hard.