Sukaira

Official photos

Just sharing this piece I picked up last year at Seiyudo before they were able to put it on their website (they later put up as sold). I actually chose this entirely on sight and feeling in hand. I wanted to pick something without knowing where or who it was from...kinda like how you should pick a whiskey . I asked them to show me a handful in a certain price range without telling me who they were. As soon as I drew this one from its shirasaya, I knew it was the one. The bohi helps, but it shines dazzlingly, the polish is top notch. I have since seen quite a few of them in person though and I now own two (this and a wakizashi). I think this is probably one of his best works that still exists. He made mostly wakizashi so this being katana is also a plus. Tokubetsu Hozon Early Edo period about 1670～ Blade length: 71.6cm Curve: 1.3cm Width at the hamachi: 3.11cm Thickness at the Moto-Kasane: 0.84cm Wide at the Kissaki: 2.50cm Thickness at the Saki-Kasane: 0.55cm Shape: Shinogi-zukuri, Iorimune, Chu-kissaki Engraving: Bohi on each side Jigane: Ko-itame Hamon: Gunome-midare Boshi: Notare then Komaru round tip

@Ray Singer sorry for the delay. For the reveal (and the reason I placed the other blade alongside this one): They are both Tokubetsu Hozon: Enju Left blade with Koson kinpun mei is Enju Kunisuke, with the Mei reading Hishu (Higo) Kunisuke. Given time by NBTHK is Shohei era. Right blade (original topic image) is simply Enju, but this one around 1326-ish. Now the mystery thickens, because Enju in question comes with a sayagaki from Suiken Fukunaga, dated 1990. The blade however was given TH by NBTHK in 1998 according to the origami. Fukunaga's sayagaki attributes this sword to Awataguchi Yoshimasa (Kagenaga 1st, student of Awataguchi Yoshimitsu), and gives a timeframe of Shoo era (around 1288). It's interesting to look at the evidence here for both cases, because like I posted above, Fukunaga has a section on Yoshimasa in one of his books, showing the mixture of styles the smith used, with traits from Rai, Awataguchi and Enju coming into play. Furthermore, the blade has 3 horimono (goma hashi and Fudo myo bonji on one side, and suken on the other), and in the The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords, if you look under the sections for "Attributing based on Horimono" you'll see Enju is not listed in the section for Goma Hashi, but Awataguchi is. However it is easy enough to find an example of an important Enju Kunisuke tanto with goma hashi. Additionally, the suken section does not list Awatguchi, but lists not Enju as a whole but Enju Kunisuke singularly. Finally, the Bonji section lists neither Enju nor Awataguchi. That being said, these are generalizations, but its interesting to note. Under the attribution by Boshi section: Awataguchi and Enju listed under both Ko-maru and O-maru, but in Hakikake (need some opinion on the Boshi of the blade posted above in the images) only Awataguchi is listed. Again, I'm sure these are generalizations. All of this being said, I can say in person, I have held (and own) several Enju blades and the steel of this sword in question is both "wetter" looking and clearer in some subtle way. For reference, the only real Enju blade I can find with a similar strikingly visible skin with the same small swirls is this one by Kunitoki: https://world-seiyudo.com/product/ka-030425/ Anyway, food for thought :).

So clean

Also possible

It should be pretty obvious but the blade in question is the one on the right with the shorter nakago. It is hard to tell from the pictures, but it has much more curvature than the one on the left with the gold Koson inlay. It also seems to be O-Maru (to me) vs the Ko-Maru of the left. As you can see, the skin stands out starkly against the left as well.

And second

I wanted to upload these to give everyone another shot before the paper reveal - pictures split into two posts

Incoming

I seeee, ok thanks!

@Ray Singer I think that does help a bit, would these mainly be the wave/hook looking connections in the middle to upper right side of the image?

@Rivkin It is very interesting you would mention both Bizen and Rai...reason being I have read that in Suiken Fukunaga's Japanese Sword Encyclopedia, there is an entry about Awataguchi Yoshimasa (student of Yoshimitsu) that basically says this (I have not translated this myself, so maybe others here can confirm this does indeed exist) 1. The boshi is very similar to the Rai. 2. The texture is Awataguchi style 3. Utsu is similar to the Higo Enju-ha 4. The sword figure can be mistaken for Morimitsu or Yasumitsu of Oei Bizen Of course I have not posted the entire length of the blade to show the shape, but the sugata is definitely Koto.

Photographing Nihonto is a skill in itself isn't it ...I will try to get some more complete images, as there is a bit of mystery around this blade that I hope to try and unravel with some help from those more knowledgeable than myself.

So true

The bright ji-nie I think I definitely can grasp looking at your Shintogo, the small and fine chikei woven into the jihada...would you be able to pin point in your photo where exactly I would be seeing that? This is one of those things I mentioned that is thrown around and drawn in books but I am still not sure if I know what I am looking at

That's awesome Ray. A great example! I am really looking to read the mental approaches and reasonings more seasoned researchers use when looking at a blade, not knowing its source. For example, saying "Not the top but average Hizen or imitation", I am interested in the elaboration of that conclusion, and learning what makes it seem that way in the steel. To be honest, even though I have quite a few books, I have been bit frustrated using old black and white photos or worse, hand drawn renderings of hataraki that to me at least, are mercurial in their ability to accurately convey steel. I am spoiled by technology I guess but where are the high resolution examples . This forum has been the most helpful. That being said, this blade is mumei, O-suriage papered at Tokubetsu Hozon to a Yamashiro-den school...but I am more interested in learning how to think and identify steel workings from those more experienced than myself.

Good idea, will try that next time

Hello all - making my first post here after lurking and learning from the forum for a while. Recently started a collection and thought this would make a nice first entry for Yamashiro fans to pick apart. Nashiji-hada, Enju-hada, none of the above? I am early in my learning and would like hear from seasoned researchers on what they think of this and how to identify what exactly the different important aspects of this are. The 2.93mb limit took a bit of resolution away unfortunately. Thanks