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Kikusui mon


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Usually the kikusui mon is associated with works made during WWII at the Minatogawa Tanrenjo at the Minatogawa Jinja. Recently I have seen a few WWII era blades with the kikusui that were not made by Minatogawa smiths being sold as "Kikusui-to". Apparently it was possible to order a kikusui applied to one's blade. Be wary of those selling a blade with the mon as a "Kikusui-to", which is what Minatogawa blades are often called, if the smith is not a listed Minatogawa smith.

 

For example, this blade is in kaigunto koshirae. Sakai Shigemasa did not work at the Minatogawa Jinja.....

 

post-1462-14196849742335_thumb.jpg

 

Or this one by Kawashima Tadayoshi:

 

post-1462-1419684974637_thumb.jpg

 

Or this one by Seki Masafusa:

 

post-1462-14196849748353_thumb.jpg

 

Here is a Minatogawa Kikusui-to to compare to:

 

post-1462-14196849755305_thumb.jpg

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Hi all,

In past years I have seen an example of a gunto blade with the kikusui mon on the blade...just in front of the habaki...I have also seen the kikusui in the hamon (so you were not dreaming Henk-Jan)...I can't remember now if these were the same blade or two blades...they/it was definitely not Minatogawa and I remember them/it as "not gendaito"...probably showato.

The kikusui usage was more widespread than most imagine.

Regards,

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