Takezo

Love the Eisho style @klee

Well said. Kazuuchi that are meant for a single battle, being preciously kept and making it through multiple eras and being polished without the polisher telling them the sword is crap, is a pretty half-baked theory. I am sure there might be some instances as most things have outliers, but what you're saying makes total sense to me. It doesn't help that many seemingly reputable websites seem to push this theory: https://www.mandarinmansion.com/glossary/bizen-sukesada Luckily they do quote from Darcy's website: "So generally, the longer the signature and the more information it contains, the better. But it's not always that simple. and shorter signatures do not always indicate lesser work. A case in point is a Juyo Token ranked katana, attributed to Hikobei no Jō Sukesada that is signed only Bishū Osafune Sukesada"

Nice! I think it is definitely not true that Bishu Osafune Sukesada is used for only "bad" or "average" swords. This signature was also used to create high quality custom orders in some examples, for whatever reason.

Proving that some incredible swords can carry just the Bishu Osafune Sukesada signature. Here is mine in the same signature + date 1567 - some incredible utsuri in sashikomi polish Length: 71.5cm Curve: 2.5cm Width moto-haba: 3.22cm Thickness moto-kasane: 0.77cm Width saki-haba: 2.55cm Thickness saki-kasane: 0.60cm

I wouldn't get too caught up in smith names or time periods. Go to a reputable dealer and buy what you like, what calls to you, because you'll be living with it and appreciating it for a long time. I have swords from 1200s, 1300s, 1400s, 1500s, 1600s and 1800s and my favorite is one from the 1600s. Hits me every time I draw it from the Shirasaya.

You might want to take a look at this Naoe-Shizu down in Nagoya: https://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/F2339_S1495_PUP_E.html Here is one attributed to Rai Kuniyasu directly: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-rai-kuniyasunbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/ I am guessing by your posts you have an upper limit of about $10k? Checkout Seiyudo in Ginza, they always have excellent pieces.

That makes sense as Tanobe thinks Shikkake origin and I did see in passing a mention here: https://nihonto.com/uda-school/

Haven't seen these - thanks!

Recently looked at a mumei blade that NBTHK papered explicitly to Ko-Fujishima, which would mean during Tomoshige's time. A few pieces of info I have found online regarding Tomoshige: 1. "He was of the Rai Kunitoshi mon, his grandfather being Kunitoshi's son. He was the third of the Tomoshige in the Rai Kunitoshi mon, and the first generation Tomoshige as founder of the Fujishima school. His works resemble Bizen den and that of Yamashiro Nobukuni. The Meikan lists twenty-nine texts in which he is included, which speaks to the importance of this smith. Kanewaka emulated his hamon." 2. From Sesko's sword smith compendium: "...Tanobe Michihiro sees the origins of the Fujishima school in the Shikkake school..." Then also a juyo-bijutsuhin tachi that is preserved in the Atsuta shrine. (of interest since Fujishiro rates him as Chu-jo saku) Just wanted to see if anyone had a good resource or more references on the Ko generation.

You should be able to find a nice, powerfully sized Edo blade for a good price if that is what you are going for. But a follow up question @YourBabyBjornBorg - where do you see shingane showing in that sword? Can you circle it on the image? I am interested because I would like to know for future online purchases. I see areas where the Hada is not as apparent, but they seem to correlate directly with the areas of utsuri on the oshigata. Would Tsuruta-san not mention that in the blade description? I usually see him mention things like "blade has flaws etc etc".

Yes

There does seem to be confusion around the Inaba Kokaji in regards to Kagenaga 1, some sources site him being son of Yoshimasa, some Yoshimasa himself, similar to a few other situations. I did find this 4th gen Kagenaga with a sayagaki from Tanobe (German site): https://www.juwelier-strebel.de/asienkunst/Japan/762-katana

Totally. My thinking really is along the same lines, which is why I wanted to open this blade up for discussion, as it gets kind of murky here with limited references. However it seems his works might be mis-attributed, given the number of times he changed his name, and the fact that Fukunaga seems to point out or think that his style is a mixture of Enju, Rai, Awataguchi and Oei Bizen. It might also be true that Yoshimasa only used this name when he was a student of Yoshimitsu. I will go out on a limb here and say that might be the reason there are no referenced works under the Awataguchi Yoshimasa name, because he (maybe?) was not signing blades at that time as a student (maybe someone can prove that wrong?). He then moves to Inaba to start the Inaba Kokaji and changes his name to Kagenaga, and that smith signature we definitely do have reference works of somewhere, both Shodai and Nidai and I think even beyond that generation. Kagenaga 1 and 2 as well as Awataguchi Yoshimasa are all listed in connoisseur's book of Japanese swords (with descriptions of their hataraki), and Fukunaga's Japanese Sword Encyclopedia has a section on the characteristics of his blades, as well as Markus Sesko's writings on Awataguchi mentioning him in passing. So I have to believe someone, somewhere has seen these blades https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KAG112

Thanks! Everything I have from Seiyudo has been real quality in polish, fittings and blade, no matter the smith. I think they really take the time to select their pieces. There was a Saburo Kunimune up on the site a few months ago that was absolute fire.

Also found this - which might seal the deal...that or they are both Kagenaga...https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-mumei-enju-49th-nbthk-juyo-paper/

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!