kunitomo

[zatoichi]

Hi, swords mei awataguchi torin kunitomo,

swords nakagojiri shallow kurijiri- matches awataguchi school

swords nakago- seems more funa-gata than furisode-gata not a match for school

swords mei three characters- school usually uses two character mei

sugata- mu-zori , school usually ichi-zori

hamon- suguha , school usually hose-suguha

boshi- awataguchi school hie rougher in boshi compared to hamon- I don't see this

boshi- awataguchi school short kaeri- this looks like long kaeri

harimono- ken seen in this school

harimono - goma hash seen in school near mune

yasurime- kiri seen in this school

 

 

Hataraki of this sword seems very nice to me, but you have to understand that I am a neophyte so all things should be taken with two large grains of salt. Thus the name zatoichi ( blind swordsman ) can't tell what I am looking at. Just posting this to see what people with greater knowledge think.

Justin E

[John A Stuart]

Justin, What hataraki? What attracts you to this sword? It is usually better to assess what makes this particular sword something you covet. List the positives against the negatives and weigh the one list against the other. Like shape, polish, smith, era, price, qualities you like in hamon, jihada etc. This is one subject where anothers eyes are sometimes different or biased from your own. John

[J Reid]

Justin,

Kunitaro San has already mentioned, and reminded us, that as a rule of thumb -any sword on eBay or elsewhere from Japan with a signature and no papers, or old papers, is almost definitely gimei. This sword needs a polish. Currently no hataraki can be seen. In my opinion though, the neat things about this sword for someone new to collecting are the features not found in every "package"... The sayagaki, lead plug, horimono, etc. It is also quite old with history. Other than that, this blade is nothing special, probably gimei, and in need of a polish. The Hamon also looks like its been "dressed up". If the price stays low, it might be neat to study for a bit hands on. Just remember to buy the blade, not the signature.

 

Josh

[zatoichi]

thank you john and josh, It was more an exercise in comparison between what is and what it should be. I thought it was gimei since the seller does sell blades that are papered, lives in Japan, and sword submission for shinsa is november. so for the potential increase in value of course he would have submitted it, if it was real. That said it has some nice qualities., and the horimono seem to be executed well. I was not looking for a blanket statement that all un papered blades in Japan are gimei but what are the features that prove it. Just to help me understand what things I am not seeing. thank you

Justin E