Need help identifying a nijimei wakizashi signed Yoshikuni

[Ace]

http://imgur.com/a/OLScs

http://imgur.com/a/Q7IRK

 

Hi. My grandpa passed away about a year ago and left me his old Wak he picked up in the war. He never really went into much detail as to how he got it other than it was while he was in Iwo Jima. I don't believe he had any idea how old the piece actually is and neither did I until 2 days ago. I originally expected it to be maybe a fairly early war shin gunto (I think thats right) until I managed to expose the nakago and found the inscription. I couldn't translate it myself so I posted some pictures on the sword subreddit and was responded to by a man who seemed very very knowledgeable on these things and he directed me here. We talked all day yesterday as he was trying to help me piece together the story that is the blade. It was very improperly cared for so its definitely got some rust on the blade which makes it hard to recognize the hamon or the hada but after I sent him the second set of pictures posted above I think we've decided that it is a suguha hamon. Any information ya'll think you can maybe shed on the subject would be hugely beneficial. I have no intention of EVER selling this sword as it is an heirloom but I would love to have it polished up properly one day so it can be put on display. Thanks!

[Stephen]

it is signed Yoshikuni, are you oiling the rust?

[Ace]

Not yet. As of 48 hours ago I didn't even know this sword was actually worth putting any effort and time into. Since then however I've become very very enticed by the entire culture. I do not have any sword oil or any other things to maintain it with although I plan on getting some one day soon.

[Stephen]

Machine oil will work for now.

[Bruno]

The dagger is a genuine German SA dagger?

[Ace]

I haven't ever tried to authenticate it but it was also passed down to me. I have no reason to believe it isn't. Its well constructed and seems old enough.

[cabowen]

This looks to be a well made sword and perhaps worthy of a proper restoration. Always hard to know from photos what lurks behind the rust, but the finish and shape speaks to a reasonable level of quality. The hamon gives the impression in spots that it may be a large and flamboyant midare. It may be worth having a polisher polish a small section to see what is under the rust (called a window).

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Ace,

Here is a link to a care and etiquette sight to help you with the blade.

http://www.nbthk-ab.org/Etiquette.htm

Resist all temptation to fix anything; there is nothing you can do that doesn't risk damage. Put some machine oil on it and show it in hand to someone who can give informed advice.

Best not to touch the blade except on its nakago (tang): bad form and leaves corrosive sweat behind.

Grey

[Ace]

Thank you Cris, Thank you Grey. I'll grab some oil and see about protecting it and maybe see if it'll rub off any of the thinner surface rust spots. I live in Louisiana so I doubt there are many licensed polishers around here I can show it too in hand although I imagine that would be best. Is the rust too bad as it is to signify anything about the blade? Obviously you won't be able to see as much in the pictures as I can see when I look at it personally but my untrained eye isn't really aware of what to look for. I definitely plan on getting it fully polished one day by someone licensed but in order to afford it I'll have to wait till after I graduate in 2 years.

[Nihonto Chicken]

Any scabby red rust is bad, but some rusts are worse than others. I had two Pacific War era swords with rust much like on your blade and visually nearly identical in rust type and extent to each other. As it turned out, the Showa stamped (non-traditional steel) blade turned out to have quite shallow corrosion pits, whereas the traditional tamahagane steel blade had pits that went to China (quite the opposite of what one would usually expect). In any event, here are some earlier posts of mine that address what you might do to potentially see what's there without doing any damage to the blade (basically get an uchiko ball or uchiko powder and spend a few hours getting up close and friendly with your sword):

 

search.php?keywords=power+uchiko&terms=all&author=Nihonto+Chicken&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

 

Under the red rust there will be pitting. The big question is how deep it will be. The uchiko will eventually knock off the scabby red surface rust and clarify what activity is there to see in the metal, excepting the pits, which will remain black. Just be sure to oil the blade after the uchiko work to preclude more rusting of the naked steel. Do not try to use western polishing creams like Flitz or Simichrome, they are fine but very hard grit abrasives that cut too quickly and, due to the hardness, burnish the metal as they cut, therefore hiding the metal structure rather than enhancing it. Get an uchiko ball from, say, Fred Lohman (no relation), that has the appropriate soft, fine abrasive that will not damage the sword by cutting too fast and will reveal the activity in the non-pitted areas. Good fortune!

 

Edit: Do NOT rub the uchiko over the shinogi (the ridge line running down the side of the blade). You never want to round off this ridge line, this is the bane of sandpapered swords, the most damage that can be done to a sword by removing the least amount of metal.

[Ace]

Thanks. I'll see what I can do. However it could be my untrained eye but it appears the a lot of the stuff on the blade is more dirt than rust. I'm too afraid to start rubbing on the blade with what I have available though.

[Komori]

Hi Ace,

This is likely to be a genuine blade by Onizuka Yoshikuni who was an upper quality smith working in Chikugo Province in the early 1600 hundreds. He may have studied with Hizen Tadayoshi school prior to moving to Chikugo. Mostly worked in suguha. He is listed in most of the usual sword reference books. Nice blade you have there, hope it polishes up well for you.

Cheers

Steve J

[Ace]

Man, that would be something. I don't have the money to polish it up and probably won't for a few more years until I graduate. I'll definitely make a repost if I find out.

[Gabriel L]

Re: Onizuka Yoshikuni, I already sent Ace the following message, but since the topic has been raised in this thread I'll repost:

 

Hi Ace,

 

I see that the NMB folk weren't able to give you much new information. Without a clearer view of the steel workmanship (hada, hamon, activity, steel color, etc.), I think this is the limit of what you will be able to get via the internet.

 

I stopped by my house this last weekend (I am living away from home for a while, don't have access to my library on a regular basis) and copied some of the info I had. Please excuse the hasty phone pics, I didn't have enough time to scan anything properly.

 

Zip file here

 

To explain:

 

The index of Yoshikuni smiths is from Hawley's reference, which is one of the broadest (but shallowest). It may contain some spurious records / duplications. From the color of your nakago and clarity of the mei I am pretty sure it does not predate 1600, so I have scored out all the Koto smiths (and one Gendai smith). As you can see, that still leaves a good number of smiths on the table.

 

The next sources are from the Nihonto Koza Shinto and Shinshinto volumes as translated by Afu, which are considered some of the better references. They give greater detail on certain representative smiths, but are not nearly as comprehensive as an index like Hawley's.

 

The first smith, Kozuke no Kami Yoshikuni (YOS 300 in Hawley), is clearly not a match, as you can see from the mei ("handwriting" totally off).

 

The second smith or smiths, Onizuka Yoshikuni (YOS 275-279, not clear which of these is one smith or multiple), is much closer in terms of the handwriting style, but close inspection yields several possible differences in chisel marks and angles. What is more, Onizuka Yoshikuni smith(s) allegedly signed with at least Onizuka Yoshikuni, not just "Yoshikuni" on its own. Based on these two points, I'm not certain one could connect your blade to this series of smiths based on the mei alone.

 

There was one more reference in my library which might have had some very bare info but I doubt it and I forgot to check it anyway. That is really all I can offer by way of narrowing down your research.

 

Others with much more extensive references (edit: and knowledge) on these potential smiths might be able to find a better candidate based on mei, but again, with a two-character mei you really need to see the workmanship to take the link further.

 

At this point I'd say your best bet is to take care of the blade (uchiko and oil), and then do any combination of the following:

 

• 
  Bring it to a sword club or sword show
  Send it to a US-based polisher, one of the three I already referenced, for a window polish and go from there
  Save up for a whole polish anyway if you know that you intend to have it properly restored regardless of who made it
  Once it is polished (if ever), repost images and you will get a much better response from NMB
  Once it is polished (if ever), consider sending it to Shinsa (expert Japanese appraisal) through an intermediate like Bob Benson or Paul Martin; do this especially if the NMB folks think it merits papers or identification
  

 

I wish you the best of luck, and congratulations on your sword.

 

Regards, —Gabriel

[Brian]

Gabriel,

Excellent info, and good to hear from you again

 

Brian

[acefighter66]

On 6/12/2013 at 5:39 PM, Gabriel L said:

Re: Onizuka Yoshikuni, I already sent Ace the following message, but since the topic has been raised in this thread I'll repost:

 

Hi Ace,

 

I see that the NMB folk weren't able to give you much new information. Without a clearer view of the steel workmanship (hada, hamon, activity, steel color, etc.), I think this is the limit of what you will be able to get via the internet.

 

I stopped by my house this last weekend (I am living away from home for a while, don't have access to my library on a regular basis) and copied some of the info I had. Please excuse the hasty phone pics, I didn't have enough time to scan anything properly.

 

Zip file here

 

To explain:

 

The index of Yoshikuni smiths is from Hawley's reference, which is one of the broadest (but shallowest). It may contain some spurious records / duplications. From the color of your nakago and clarity of the mei I am pretty sure it does not predate 1600, so I have scored out all the Koto smiths (and one Gendai smith). As you can see, that still leaves a good number of smiths on the table.

 

The next sources are from the Nihonto Koza Shinto and Shinshinto volumes as translated by Afu, which are considered some of the better references. They give greater detail on certain representative smiths, but are not nearly as comprehensive as an index like Hawley's.

 

The first smith, Kozuke no Kami Yoshikuni (YOS 300 in Hawley), is clearly not a match, as you can see from the mei ("handwriting" totally off).

 

The second smith or smiths, Onizuka Yoshikuni (YOS 275-279, not clear which of these is one smith or multiple), is much closer in terms of the handwriting style, but close inspection yields several possible differences in chisel marks and angles. What is more, Onizuka Yoshikuni smith(s) allegedly signed with at least Onizuka Yoshikuni, not just "Yoshikuni" on its own. Based on these two points, I'm not certain one could connect your blade to this series of smiths based on the mei alone.

 

There was one more reference in my library which might have had some very bare info but I doubt it and I forgot to check it anyway. That is really all I can offer by way of narrowing down your research.

 

Others with much more extensive references (edit: and knowledge) on these potential smiths might be able to find a better candidate based on mei, but again, with a two-character mei you really need to see the workmanship to take the link further.

 

At this point I'd say your best bet is to take care of the blade (uchiko and oil), and then do any combination of the following:

 

 

• 
  Bring it to a sword club or sword show
  Send it to a US-based polisher, one of the three I already referenced, for a window polish and go from there
  Save up for a whole polish anyway if you know that you intend to have it properly restored regardless of who made it
  Once it is polished (if ever), repost images and you will get a much better response from NMB
  Once it is polished (if ever), consider sending it to Shinsa (expert Japanese appraisal) through an intermediate like Bob Benson or Paul Martin; do this especially if the NMB folks think it merits papers or identification

 

 

I wish you the best of luck, and congratulations on your sword.

 

Regards, —Gabriel

Wow, 13 years ago since I posted this. Even from an old email I don't have anymore. Anywho, here is ya'lls update.