Takezo

I have two Jûyô Tôken, from session 48 and session 12 in flawless polish from Japan and I can tell you the polish on this Naotane is easily, without hesitation on par with those. I also have a newly polished TokuHo hitatsura blade in Japan that was polished by Sugihara (mukansa) and I would say the Naotane is better, although the Naotane itself is just more of a masterpiece in general. Though, I did see @Rivkin post that he had seen a gradient of work from Moses, so maybe that is at play here.

There are posts around here that say Nisshu was great at polishing and not great at attribution and I am not sure of those sources, maybe someone can post them. I think either one of those things you proposed could be true - "workmanship strongly reminiscent of Gorōzaemon, or could he have been using the name more as a quality/style attribution rather than a strict chronological attribution". It would be interesting to see if anyone on the forum can produce a reference to a blade attributed to Gorozaemon by NBTHK or at the very least Tanobe, that has the more generic signature. I am not aware of any, but then again I haven't really dug into it.

If I recall correctly Fujishiro states in his section on Kiyomitsu that most good quality later era Kiyomitsu blades signed in the general signature are actually works of Magoemon. Totally possible it could be Goro but I’d bet that on Mago with that year and overall style.

Definitely. It is also a bit hard to grasp the current state of some of the items from the photos, in terms of polish, damage etc.

Looking for insight into this dealer. Trustworthy? I have seen them mentioned several times across the forum, mainly in reference, but has anyone bought from them or can anyone vouch for them? https://www.kusanaginosya.com

Thanks @klee I have something special in the works right now

Sword is on hold pending purchase

The venue is definitely reserved (confirmed) for those dates and https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en has listed as DTI on their event page.

@klee You should totally get that piece in front of Tanobe sensei. I think it's definitely worthwhile given that it is attributed to Magouemon but has a general school signature. It is always interesting to see what he says in these cases because he will usually elaborate the insights that were used to determine that. I have seen the sayagaki from a few Sukesada that were generically signed but attributed to Hikobei etc. I have seen that Asahi one. It is hard to tell everything from images of course but it does seem to have more polish wear looking at the jigane. Less fumbari I think. The overall style looks way closer to yours though, at least to me. I really have not seen many swords signed or attributed to Gorozaemon or Magouemon. Maybe someone can chime in here, but they do seem to be pretty rare. I guess it makes sense though. Similarly, there are not many Hikobei and Yosozaemon, and Kiyomitsu was the other pillar of Sengoku Bizen. All that to say, I think they really are special. As for Juyo, Seiyudo told me they think it is a Juyo candidate and I also agree. It's essentially flawless in every aspect and fully kenzen. If you really talk to Seiyudo though, I get the feeling they don't really care about Juyo. Whenever I ask them about submitting swords (theirs, mine, whoever's) the usual response is something like "they keep your sword for a long time, it might not pass, it's kind of a hassle". I have also thought about submitting (because I also have that TokuHo Naotane that Moses polished that I posted in the other channel, this one: https://eirakudo.shop/683712 - listed as Juyo candidate), but lately I kind of arrive at the same conclusion. I have 2 Juyo in my own collection, from sessions 12 (Yoshifusa) and 48 (Rai Kunimitsu) and after viewing a bunch of other Juyo and JuBi blades in hand on my last trip to Japan, I think I have a much deeper understanding of quality markers. Just one example of many: until you really are up close and personal with a deep, blazing sunset colored iridescent nioiguchi, you just won't know that is a thing. I think I care less about Juyo now that I have a deeper understanding of quality, but also being in the USA makes it even more of a hassle and a risk so that plays into it as well. At the price points my current swords are at, I would only fly them in and out personally . I am much more into the spiritual and historical aspect of swords than the art aspects.

It is more of a hoso-suguha and has fine kinsuji running through, ashi and yo. Jigane is moist with chikei and the bo-utsuri can really give a blackish depth to the steel. Really intentional, quiet and beautiful and this is why Kiyomitsu is loved. I found out that Mori Motonari had Kiyomitsu forge his Jin Tachi for the Battle of Itsukushima.

@klee you can check out the high res on Seiyudo's site here: https://world-seiyudo.com/product/ka-060123/ The only other extra picture I have is the sayagaki (done post-purchase) attached: "備前長船五郎左衛門尉清光 十五字ノ長銘並ビニ天文六年紀有之同工ハ清光ヲ名乗ル鍛冶中最モ上手デ次ヒデ孫右衛門尉がアリ 本作ハ其ノ真面目ナル静謐ナ直刃ヲ焼キ出来宜敷ク鍛錬モ秀デタリ長貳尺二寸三分強" "Bizen Osafune Gorōzaemon no Jō Kiyomitsu This blade bears a long fifteen-character signature together with the date Tenbun 6 (1537). Among the smiths using the name Kiyomitsu, he is regarded as the most accomplished, followed by Magouemon no Jō. This work displays a sincere and tranquil suguha hamon. The workmanship is excellent, and the forging is particularly refined."

It does seem mysterious since it doesn’t look damaged at all. Maybe someone can chime in. I really like the sword though, boshi is super healthy also.

Looks really good and the attribution is awesome. Nakago seems very well cared for and even though the pictures are not super high res, there seems to be great activity around the habuchi. Chikei for sure, maybe some hotsure and ashi? Super interesting suguha base though. Kiyomitsu seems to be in your destiny

I did find these: https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/product/shousai/MEN-2471 but they are a bit beat up. If anyone has any available in good condition similar to this, will buy. Looking for something restrained, not formal or showy. Thank you.

That was quick - @klee was that you?

Keisuke over at https://en.katana-case-shi.com called the venue after I let him know and he confirmed it has been reserved for those dates so it seems that is real. DTI is the weekend of the 21st.

This one has moved to NihontoAntiques - will be up soon

https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en is listing exhibition at DTI 2026 for November 21st. Is this date official now?

Moses just put up a nice one here: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/bishu-osafune-sukesada-fss-988/

This is now up on NihontoAntiques where you can view more images: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/bishu-osafune-sukesada-fss-988/

Was just about to post that ^

Totally agree. All of my interactions with Moses have given me strong signals that he is a dedicated and highly talented craftsman.

Wow, had no idea! Indeed I have never heard of one in ayasugihada

Awesome, thanks @Mark S.

Moses had this one: https://nihontoantiques.com/project/den-kongo-byoe-fss-985/ but it looks like its on hold now