Cello Posted February 19, 2013 Report Posted February 19, 2013 Can anyone clairfy if this sword is a "gendaito"and traditionaly made? I found alot of conflicting information on this topic.I posted and excerpt below from nihontocraft.com which indicated it may be but found numerous other posts to the contary??? I believe the smith is Kanenari1751 any information would be helpfull Introduction "There is booming interest among sword collectors towards gendaito in recent years. Gendaito made in the Mino area represent a large number of gendai we have seen in the west. This article provides a list of some of the best Mino gendai smiths. It's intended to be used as one of the tools for gendai collectors to distinguish the better-made blades from the run-of-the-mill ones. This Mino gendai list is by no means to be complete. It only covers smiths active before and during WWII. Since these works are more commonly seen by the western collectors than those made by smiths became active after the war.......Kanenari, 兼成, Kanenari saku, Seki ju Kanenari saku, Noshu Seki ju Kanenari saku, Navy smith, decendent of Shinshinto Goto Kanenari, student of Watanabe Kanenaga's forging institute, He was born in March Taisho 15.........The rest of the smiths, 14 of them, were all rated as 1 million Yen in Tokotaikan. " (http://www.nihontocraft.com) Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted February 19, 2013 Report Posted February 19, 2013 As this sword has an arsenal stamp, it is not traditionally made. Sorry. Quote
Cello Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Posted February 19, 2013 I thought the arsnel stamp just means that it was accepted by the arsnel? Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted February 19, 2013 Report Posted February 19, 2013 It was also an indicator of a non-traditionally made blade. Poke around the board and you'll find PLENTY of good threads on the topic. Quote
cisco-san Posted February 20, 2013 Report Posted February 20, 2013 Please post a better pic of the stamp above the mei! Quote
cabowen Posted February 20, 2013 Report Posted February 20, 2013 It has a Seki stamp. Usually that means the blade is not traditional in some sense. Quote
Cello Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Posted February 20, 2013 I will post some close ups as soon as I can. What should I look for to dissern wether its oil or a water quenched blade?? Quote
Jean Posted February 20, 2013 Report Posted February 20, 2013 Marcello, Please, make an effort and search the Board, this issue has been addressed several times during the last month, numerous times before and not later than this week .... PS: there is a search button at the top of the page Quote
Cello Posted March 7, 2013 Author Report Posted March 7, 2013 Here are the close up pictures....I did do a search but I'm still not sure what exactly I'm looking for in the Hammon and or hada??Also would the nagako commonly be finished so carefully if it were a machine/mass produced blade? Quote
loiner1965 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Posted March 7, 2013 my kanetoshi katana as a seki stamp and although not traditionally made it is hand made and water quenched Quote
Bruno Posted March 7, 2013 Report Posted March 7, 2013 Is it the photo or the hot stamp deformed the bottom of the nakago? Your sword can be hand made/finished but made with western steel and/or oil quenched, thus has a stamp. Quote
Kai-Gunto Posted March 7, 2013 Report Posted March 7, 2013 Here are the close up pictures....I did do a search but I'm still not sure what exactly I'm looking for in the Hammon and or hada??Also would the nagako commonly be finished so carefully if it were a machine/mass produced blade?[attachment=3]33.JPG[/attachment] [attachment=2]32.JPG[/attachment] [attachment=1]35.JPG[/attachment] [attachment=0]34.JPG[/attachment] Is that a finger print in the first picture? Quote
george trotter Posted March 8, 2013 Report Posted March 8, 2013 Hi, From previous experience I would echo what has been said here. It looks to me that you have a nicer than usual showato. It has a nice shape and seems to have a water tempered hamon, and a very nicely finished nakago. The seki (or sho) stamp however was insisted upon by the authorities to signify a non-traditional made sword . The sho and seki stamps are not "acceptance" stamps...they were put on by the makers by law, not the "arsenal" or army when receiving them. From the presence of the stamp it is clear that your sword is non-traditional...maybe just in the steel though as the rest looks quite respectable in quality. The mei looks like the "handwriting" of Fukumoto Kanemune who signed his own, but also many different smith meis at his father's Seki gunto forge. I have owned two showato over the years that did not have a seki/sho stamp and did have some nie and traces of hada...but even so, they were still showato and were a little better than average quality (private order?)showato/gunto, which may explain why there was no stamp. These were Amaike Reijiro Kanenaga and Ando Kanemoto...both gunto makers and examples exist also that have a sho or seki stamp. Ando Kanemoto and Fukumoto Kanemune mei are both in Slough p.50 and Kanenaga is in Rich Steins showa oshigata list I think. Hope this helps, Quote
Cello Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Posted March 8, 2013 Yes george that definitely helps,I really appreciate the detailed and informative reply.This is the feeling I had about the blade myself but wasn't sure if it was oil vs water quenched...The hot stamp isn't deformed thats just the angle I shot it at. As of the finger print thats a little bit of forensic evidence left by the previous owner ..lol Quote
george trotter Posted March 8, 2013 Report Posted March 8, 2013 Marcello san, you are welcome. maybe the pic showing the hot stamp, together with the info that this was found on a showato with seki stamp by Kanenari should be posted in the "Arsenal Stamps" thread? Regards, Quote
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