Any guesses who made this?

[cabowen]

This blew me away....Anyone care to ponder a guess as to the period and smith?

 

[NihontoEurope]

Showa - Yasunori

 

/Martin

[cabowen]

Showa - Yasunori

 

/Martin

 

Kajiyama or Kotani?

[NihontoEurope]

Kajiyama

 

/Martin

[w.y.chan]

Morioka Masayoshi early Taisho era

 

 

Wah

[cabowen]

Kajiyama

 

/Martin

 

Kajiyama's yasuri-me are usually kiri and his nakago is shaped differently....his choji isn't usually this exuberant.

[NihontoEurope]

Chris,

 

Sorry : )

 

/Martin

[cabowen]

No need to be sorry! Appreciate the guess- I suspect the hidden mei played a part in it!

[cabowen]

Morioka Masayoshi early Taisho era

 

 

Wah

 

What makes you say that?

[NihontoEurope]

Chris,

 

You are correct; a larger mask and I would have guessed Gassan.

 

/Martin

[cabowen]

Here is a family tree of sorts....You can see the similarities in the nakago....

 

 

|

 

[w.y.chan]

This one look pretty close

 

[SwordGuyJoe]

Definitely looks Kasama den. Not Shigetsugu, it looks a bit like my Okimasa, so I gave that some thought - though bohi isn't something you see everyday from him. Given the quality, Kasama characteristics, well done bohi, I'd guess late showa, early heisai Sakai Shigemasa. My second guess would be takahana shigehisa.

 

Edit: I specifically didn't look at the "family tree". I now think my second guess is correct (or pretty damn close!)

[SwordGuyJoe]

Also the mei placement made me think one of the (very few) Bizen den yasukunito. I saw one in Chicago this weekend that Andy had, but the choji was far less flashy.

[cabowen]

The blade has the look of a koto Bizen with a hint of fumbari but the sori is shallower; the blade is a bit narrow. This sugata is seen in blades made in Meiji/Taisho for western style mounting. This shape, together with the sabi-aji of the nakago point to Meiji/Taisho.

 

The flamboyant choji says Bizen. The nakago has the rest of the clues that lead to Kasama Shigetsugu, which would be a good guess except he wasn't known to sign with a two kanji mei and his work is usually dated. It's too early for Sakai or Tsukamoto, both of whom also signed with a longer mei. Miyaguchi Toshihiro only signed with a two kanji mei at the Yasukuni Jinja, though he didn't work in this choji there, and those blades are always dated. We do see blades of this shape from Miyaguchi as it seems he fancied this ko-dachi type shape.

 

Takabana and the later smiths in this line are just that, too late. The shape of their blades is different.

 

As Wah indicated, this blade was made by Kasama's teacher, Morioka Masayoshi. He usually signed with a two kanji mei. A shame he died so young as he was clearly very talented. It is said he made less than 100 swords.

 

I thought it interesting how his workmanship and style carry through with Kasama and then Kasama's students. This shows well the student-teacher tradition. It is known that he and Kasama lived together above their forge in Tokyo. There must have been a very strong connection between them.

 

I should also add that his skill at horimono was also exceptional. Here is an example:

 

[SwordGuyJoe]

Shoot! Thought I had that one. Nice post Chris!

[runagmc]

Somewhat similar to some of Shibata Ka's work I've seen. The shape may be considerd slightly more graceful though, with some saki sori. Very nice...

[george trotter]

That was an interesting little kantei and history Chris, many thanks.

I came a bit late...would have been able to pin him to the Kasama group but probably not to his teacher (I just have not seen enough of the group in hand). little of such merit surfaces here in the west (small population = small group of Pacific vets = small group of war sword souvenirs)...so that is an nice "atari" (hit) from Wah. I wish I was starting out in swords again with the knowledge and on-line access we now enjoy...oh well.

One thing i notice in the texts about Masayoshi is that he produced muji...not my favourite ji, but would this have been special? such as gunto blades or such? I know he could have made gunto as he died in Tai 9 I think (about 1921)...not to divert the thread, but can you mention fittings Chris or is it in new-polish shirasaya only?

Regards,