mike yeon

Darcy, First off much thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences with Norishige and his work. Informative as always. The blade in the picture is shin-shinto. Which may explain some. The darker strands in the hada that look like chikei, flow along with the grain too uniformally so no, it's not true chikei. I don't own the blade anymore but I was always curious as to what the hada was all about. I've seen this type of hada on a few shin-shinto pieces. Mostly utsushi mono. I always assumed it was a smith trying to emulate the works of the old masters but not quite getting there. Or I thought that it was a smith experimenting with mixing different steels. In any case it's a far cry from the real thing as your pictures illustrate. Simply beautiful. mike

Great photography Barry. I thought uda school or ko gassan but was pretty off. Here's a picture of a blade that LOOKS like it has matsukawa hada and strong chikei. I do not believe that's the case with this blade though. Any thoughts on this? mike

No prob Russell. I wouldn't entertain that it's the SA that I mentioned. The yasurimei is too pronounced to be koto let alone nambokucho. mike

Russell, I believe it says "SA". There were a handful of smiths that signed just Sa. The most famous would be saemonsaburo, Chikuzen O' Sa, one of masamune's juttetsu (10 students). I know there were a few other smiths but not sure of their backgrounds as I don't have books with me. mike

Right, which is why I said there are exceptions. Good article JD. But the masashige blade is not tired. I however am... my

Ahhhh, now I see. Can't tell if the hamon falls off into yakiotoshi from your picture. I assumed it was simply thin by the hamachi. The nakago though looks fine to me. I still say it's not tired. Definitely seen its share of polishing but not quite tired. Is this your blade? Hard to say tired from pictures. Do you maybe see something in hand? mike

Jacques, That blade you show isn't tired and the nakago has not been reshaped. It's made by masashige from the sengo school. The nakago is a classic example of a tanago-bara (fish belly) that the school is known for. The hamachi does look like it's been polished down over the years though. You see this a lot in koto tanto. Tired as Grey mentioned usually is exemplified best by the condition of the skin. Shintetsu or core steel showing in places is a good indication but there are always exceptions to the rule. A hizen blade with small areas of shintetsu wouldn't be seen as tired just because of the shintetsu as the school was known for forging blades with thin skin. Ware or openings do not always indicate tiredness either. Ware can simply indicate forging flaws. If there's a perfect storm of shintetsu showing, a lack of hamachi and many grain openings, then you can conclude tired. mike

Reinhard, I disagree about avoiding eBay. Now I don't know where you live, but how many brick and mortar Nihonto shops are in your vicinity? I live in NYC and there's only one. Unless you're in Japan, you're out of luck to find more than half a dozen. So your next best bet is to find a reputable dealer online. Guess what? Many of these dealers sell blades on eBay. It's a cost effective way to gain a worldwide audience. How about fellow collectors that are ready to sell quality blades in their collections? What do they do? Sell to dealers that will give them a fraction of the market value? Offer them to reputable aution houses like Christies and eat a 25% fee? If you have time, you can consign it with a dealer who will host it on an online site or if they don't have one they'll bring it to shows hoping for buyers. What if you're selling the blade because you need to liquidate fast for whatever reason? eBay looks pretty attractive right? I know many reputable dealers and respected collectors who have sold and sell a blades on eBay. These are not juto blades. That market is entirely different with different clients and dealers. But there are many nice blades that get bought and sold on eBay. Blades that suit beginners to intermediate level collectors. Again, remember the caveat, you need to know what you're looking at (if you don't you shouldn't be buying blades anyway...) and that takes more than basic knowledge As for bargains, once in a blue moon you will find one. Here in the U.S. we have a unique situation. After the war, tens of thousands of blades were brought back by American soldiers. Granted they are of varying quality but there are good ones out there. Many of these blades find their way on eBay because the owner may not be interested and wants to sell fast under fair market conditions. I myself have found some good deals. A nambokucho yamato tegai nagamaki-naoshi katana for $1,200, and a shinshinto wakizashi made by the nidai koyama munetsugu for $2,000. Both were restored and papered well. Not masterpieces but pretty nice blades. Now I realize that what you're trying to say is that there are many fake and low quality blades on eBay. In that respect you're totally right. On any given day, if you search for "Japanese sword" 95% of what pops up is utter crap. But a collector looking for a quality blade should NOT pass up the other 5%. Recently there was a Sa Yukihide tanto in polish with papers that sold for $8,000. Not bad for a blade made my a juyo level smith. What I'm trying to say is that it's just another place you can buy a blade if you know what you're doing. I do agree that you need to see as many blades in hand to gain understanding as a student of nihonto. But collectors vary in means and ability to access and see blades whether the reason is proximity or financial. Doesn't make you a less of a student. To say otherwise is like saying, "you're not a golfer unless you've played Pebble Beach." I have a single digit handicap and I've never played Pebble Beach. I could have stayed quiet and spent the last 15 minutes doing something else instead of writing this long post. Heck I could let everyone reading this start believing eBay is to be avoided at all costs leaving me less bidders to deal with on auctions I'm interested in. But that's not the spirit of this passion of ours or that of this fine messageboard and the community it promotes. regards, mike

Darcy, I figured the nakago looked strange, too long with a strange shape which could be explained by the hamachi being moved up. Gimei didn't cross my mind until you mentioned it. Should have put more thought into it. If the blade is not koto, I thought maybe one of the shinshinto bizen sukenao. But it makes much sense as the sukenao (sukehiro kaji) is a big name. mike

Don't blame pictures, blame lack of knowledge. We're all students here. :lol: mike

Looks to me like the hamachi was moved up. As you can see, the yasurime does not extend to the rest of the nakago. The lower part certainly looks older. If you notice, the munemachi is not level with the hamachi. The top of the nakago could have been redressed when the hamachi was moved. The shape looks early koto with a slight uchi-zori. mike

Dr. T, I remember your very informative posts on SFI. Glad you're here. mike

Hi Jacques, Kaga blades and blades of ura nihon schools in general exhibit a coarse/rough hada called hadatatsu. It can look loose. There's a good example of a Kashu blade on Moses B's site that exhibits hadatatsu. Shinogi ware also do not indicate a tired blade. There are many fine blades, koto, shinto, shin-shinto that exhibit ware. There is no shintetsu showing so it's healthy enough for its age. It's difficult to judge a blade's "tiredness" through pictures. One must really see it in hand. mike

Thanks for the link Brian.

The koshirae is up if anyone is interested. As mentioned, Eric M. is hosting the auction on my behalf. ebay item: 270172781521 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0172781521 Thanks. mike

I forgot to mention, another koto indicatior is that it's got fumbari like a tree stump... mike

Hey Stephen, You're right, the blade isn't tired. Not sure how Jacques could come to that conclusion... It's definitely koto though. The patinia on the nakago is glossy black. Came out lighter due to the flash and lighting. The upper area of the nakago is not as dark because the hamachi was moved up about an inch. As for tickets, I'll see what I can do. No promises but let me know when you'll be in nyc, and let's hope the Yanks will be playing all month. I'll definitely say hello to Eric for you. Good guy to deal with. mike

We know it's out of polish, thus sending it to Bob. The blade is no spring chicken but it's far from tired. What makes you say that? mike

Hi Stephen, I'm likely going to hang on to the tag. As for the mounts, Eric M. (cadelaria2007) is selling them for me on eBay. I purchased the blade from him and he's offered to help me sell the koshirae. He's actually picking them up in an hour or so. If you're still interested minus the tag, please PM me with an offer. Here are a few pictures Eric took of the blade. Looks a lot better in hand. Everyone, please feel free to drop your comments/thoughts/opinions! mike

Thank you very much Moriyama san and Morita san. I agree with Darcy and Brian. You gentlemen add so much value to this forum in many ways. I am going to keep the tag Peter and try and research the information. Spoke with Mr. Benson yest, sending the blade off to him for a polish. I'm fairly certain that this blade is the kaga aoe ietsugu. Not sure which generation but the suguha hamon makes me lean towards the nidai. Thank you again all. I appreciate the assistance. mike

Also, here's a picture of the gunto koshirae that came with the blade. It'll be up on eBay this week. If anyone is interested, please feel free to PM me with questions or an offer. It's in good condition. Some of the olive paint is worn off. The handle wrap is in great condition. No loseness or fraying. There is a wooden tsunagi for the koshirae. I know very little about wartime fittings but I feel it's a good example. Not sure what it should/will fetch in auction. Thanks for any interest. mike

Hello Everyone, I recently picked up a blade in gunto mounts that had a wooden tag which I assume is a surrender tag of some sort. The blade is a very nice koto Kaga Ietsugu katana (ubu/signed/69.9CM nagasa). I'm selling the shin-gunto koshirae (not a fan of military mounts) but was curious as to what the tag said. I would very much appreciate it if someone can help me translate the information. Much thanks in advance. mike

munechika is also the name of a very important yamashiro den smith from the heian period. wild guess but maybe there's somthing in that IE how some hachiwara are signed "masamune" due to the beliefe he invented them. I still think it's a tourist piece. but if you like it, then that's all that matters. mike

I'm more inclined to lean towards peter's assesment. The horimono looks poorly done and the lines in general look a bit sloppy. The rust on the nakago looks artificial. The yasurime is too defined to have endured natural corrosion that would lead to rust of that color. That's my thoughts from what I can see in the pictures. I attached a picture of a dragon horimono you see often on blades that is well done. mike

The long nakago with the double mekugi-ana lends me to agree with shin-shinto as well. The one close up shot looks like the hamon has ara-nie. The sugata doesn't look nambochuko or yamato (not enough sori and looks too wide with little taper.) Definitely a good candidate for shinsa. Any idea what the jihada is? good luck and it does look like a good find. mike