"hizen Kuni Tadayoshi" Second Opinion

[doomsdaymachine]

hello again everyone. I picked this tanto up a short while back. It obviously says hizen kuni tadayoshi, and my first instinct was to consider it gimei. i bought it because it is a nice, healthy sunnobi tanto with visible activity in the blade. cheap, too. here is the signature. i will work on some blade shots, but i've only my cell camera...wish me luck!

 

any opinions? it's close to some i've seen online, but not quite close enough for me to be comfortable. big school and all.

 

edit: not sure why it's oriented like that. it's a vertical picture...

[Stephen]

blade pix please, looks more of wakizashi, ill let the code breakers call the mei status 

[doomsdaymachine]

blade pix please, looks more of wakizashi, ill let the code breakers call the mei status 

here re a couple of pictures. sorry about the quality. i'll try to get better ones tonight. chu suguha with inazuma and a little bit of kinsuji. a hair under 12.5" nagasa

[Stephen]

yes O tanto, nice pick up, like that blade style.

[doomsdaymachine]

thank you stephen san! like i said, i bought it because i like the blade. healthy and cool hataraki. the koshirae are so-so. menuki are terrible but the fuchigashira are passable. tsuba is two bags tied together. interesting sayajiri and metal kurigata. i assume it is gimei...but it would be nice if it is shoshin!

[Alex A]

Hello Reggie, I'm no expert or code cracker either, but I think your instincts are correct with regards to the mei.

 

It looks close as you say, but a few little details stand out.

 

In Zen, the position of the middle vertical with the two small strokes above, seems way off.

The downward curved stroke in Kuni doesn't look correct for this particular mei.

 

BUT,

Who knows, this may well turn into another four page spread where we get to see a wide variety of opinions

[doomsdaymachine]

thanks alex! the curved stroke in the "kuni' and the angle of small strikes in "zen" are actually the main problems i was finding with the mei as well, the "kuni" being the biggest problem. regardless, i feel i still got a great deal on it. buy for the blade, not the signature, right?

[Alex A]

Hi Reggie

I suppose the only time a fake Tadayoshi mei might bother me is if i had paid for a Tadayoshi mei

Looks a decent blade with everything visible,  a nice buy.

[doomsdaymachine]

i paid less for this than i would a motorbike helmet; heck, even less than i would pay for a couple tires for my truck. i'm perfectly happy with the investment.