Hatrance Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Not really sure the meaning on the sword tang. Japanese isn't really my thing. Has a chrysanthemum on tang and carved etching. His parents say that the grandfather was gifted the sword. Quote
Shugyosha Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Mr Hatrance, Welcome to the forum, it looks like you might have an interesting sword there. Unfortunately, the glare from the flash obscures some of the characters and it would be helpful if you could post some more pictures including a close up of the tang and of the whole sword showing it's shape overall. The more you can post the better the information you receive will be. Kind regards, John Quote
Hatrance Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Posted February 23, 2016 I will attach the other picture but at the moment the sword is still at my friends house. I will try to go back tomorrow and take some better pictures. Unfortunately, i only had my phone with me so the overall quality will be lacking. And thank you for the speedy reply. Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Maybe, Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi. John 2 Quote
CSM101 Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 I would say the same: Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi. Uwe G. Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 Can we get a full picture also? What is the length? Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted February 23, 2016 Report Posted February 23, 2016 I believe This is the same smith when he was signing at a different period in his life There are smarter people here than I though. Quote
Hatrance Posted February 24, 2016 Author Report Posted February 24, 2016 here's a better picture of the tang. And i want to thank everyone so much for the speedy responses. But last question any idea on its worth or is it even legal? Not really sure on how Katana ownership is handled. Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted February 24, 2016 Report Posted February 24, 2016 Here is some more info on Kinmichi line Kanemichi is the recognised founder of the Mishina School. This school had its roots in Sue-Seki School of the late Koto period. Mishina Kanemichi was working as early as the Tenmon Era (1532). There is a daito with the date of Tenmon 16 (1547) which is Juyo Token. There is also another Juyo daito with the date of Eiroku 5 (1562). These are his earliest dated works. Shodai Daido was a smith working in the Mino tradition, and achieved the title of Mutsu no Kami in 1574. His work period dates to the transition years in the Keicho era where Koto gave way to Shinto. His history states that he was the personal swordsmith to Oda Nobunaga who employed smiths of the Mino tradition (the rise of his armies contributed to the spread of the Mino style throughout Japan, and its large contribution to what would become the Shinto style). He reportedly moved to Kyoto with his sons Iga no Kami Kanemichi (Jo-saku), Rai Kinmichi (Jo-saku), Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi (Jo-saku), and Etchu no Kami Masatoshi (Jo-jo saku) making swords for Nobunaga. They would become the Kyoto Gokaji, or the Five Swordsmiths of Kyoto. All of them have sharpness ratings of at least wazamono, so they made blades well in keeping of the warrior tradition of Mino, and from the success and fame of his sons it would seem that Daido was a very good teacher. Because he was authorised to use the “Dai” kanji, he dropped the character “Kane”from his signature thus making his name read Omichi or Daido. There is an example dated Tensho 18 (1590) that is signed Mino Seki Ju Daido. Because of this, it is thought that after that date he moved to Kyoto. Thus we see that his signature transformed along the following lines: - KANEMICHI SAKU - NOSHU SEKI JU KANEMICHI SAKU - OKANEMICHI - MUTSU NO KAMI KANEMICHI - DAIDO - MUTSU NO KAMI DAIDO - MINO SEKI JU DAIDO SAKU Rated as a Jo-saku smith, he trained many famous swordsmiths, many of which were his own sons. When you read the names of his sons, you will realise what a great smith Daido really was; * 1st son: Iga No Kami Kinmichi * 2nd son: Izumi No Kami Rai Kinmichi * 3rd son: Tamba No Kami Yoshimichi * 4th son: Etchu No Kami Masatoshi As you can see from the list, the very core of the Shinto Mishina School came from Daido. By seeing Daido’s past achievements, one can see how he was a “pioneer” in the early days of the Shinto period. Daidō (大道), 1st gen., Tenshō (天正, 1573-1592), Mino – „Kanemichi“ (兼道), „Ō-Kanemichi“ (大兼道), „Minamoto Mutsu no Kami Daidō saku“ (源陸奥守大道作), „Mutsu no Kami Daidō saku“ (陸奥守大道作), Muroya-school (室屋), according to transmission the grandson of Daichi (大知), it is said that he first signed with „Kanemichi“ (兼道) and that he worked in Seki, in the twelfth year of Eiroku (永禄, 1569) he forged a blade for emperor Ōgimachi (正親町, 1517-1593) whereupon he received the character „Dai/Ō“ (大) and the honorary title „Mutsu no Kami“ from the latter, calling himself henceforth „Ō-Kanemichi“ (大兼道, lit. „the Great Kanemichi“), „Ō- Kanemichi“ eventually became „Daidō“ („dō“ is the Sino-Japanese reading of the character „michi“), and so also the theory exists that Daidō was the same smith as Mishina Kanemichi (三品兼道) but this subject is not yet settled definitely, because of the similarities in workmanship of the two smiths it is also assumed that they were maybe brothers or father and son, „hybrid signatures“ of the kind „Ō-Kanemichi“ are found between the twelfth year of Eiroku (1569) and the first year of Tenshō (1573), he went later to Gifu (岐阜), Daidō was one of the few outstanding masters of the Sue-Seki school, he showed quite a wide variety of interpretations, for example he also worked in the Bizen and the Yamato tradition, former works have a ko-itame mixed with mokume in combination with a chōji-midare with midareutsuri, the latter show a regular masame with a suguha and remind of the Hoshō school (保昌), works in Mino tradition show a gunomemidare with compact nioiguchi mixed with tobiyaki, a Kenbō-midare, or also a large dimensioned and more nie-loaden gunome-midare which reminds of the Shizu school (志津) Source: Index of Japanese Swordsmiths by Marcus Sesko. Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted February 24, 2016 Report Posted February 24, 2016 More: RK2) Rai Kinmichi, 2nd generation, 1620, Yamashiro, wazamono, * Izumi (no) Kami Rai Kinmichi 和泉守来金道, * Fujiwara Rai Kinmichi 藤原来金道, * Daihoshi Hokyo Rai Kinmichi 大法師法橋来金道, * Daihoshi Hokyo Rai Eisen 大法師法橋来栄泉. On 5/6/1616, he received the title of "Izumi (no) Kami". Used kiku mon and eda kiku mon which is a kiku flower with branches, together with his mei on nakago. Produced gunome hamon. Iga-no-kami Kanemichi and Tsuda Sukehiro Kinmichi (金道), 3rd gen., Jōkyō (貞享, 1684-1688), Yamashiro 1 2 3 法 法 法 法 Nori, Hō 1 2 3 来 来 来 来 Rai, Kuru, Kura, Yuki (unsimplified 來 8 str. The Seki Daido school was founded by Kanemichi from Seki in Mino province. He was the grandson of the 9th generation descendant from Kaneuji 1st (Shizu-Saburo), one of Masamune's ten pupils and the founder of Mino-den. Kanemichi combined the style of his grandfather (the 9th generation Kaneuji) with his own techniques, thereby establishing the Mishina tradition. Kanemichi worked as early as the Tenmon era (1532). One daito by him is dated Tenmon 16 (1547), whilst another has the date of Eiroku 5 (1562). These are his earliest works. His work represents the transition years in the Keicho era where Koto gave way to Shinto. Kanemichi's swords were famed for their quality and extreme sharpness and his early work is usually signed with a two character signature. In Eiroku 12 (1569) this fame led to him being asked to make a tachi for the Emperor Ogimachi. On successfully completeing this he was rewarded by being authorised to use the O kanji from the emperor's name in his signature. This kanji is also pronounced as dai. Initially Kanemichi used it to make his signature read O-Kanemichi; there are many examples of this signature. Later, after being awarded Mutsu no kami, he dropped the character Kane from his mei, so that his mei read Omichi or Daido. There is an example dated Tensho 18 (1590) signed Mino Seki ju Daido. It is therefore likely that he and his sons moved to Kyoto after 1590.The name Daido was subsequently used, with various titles, by the several generations of students that followed. The shodai Daido (DAI 61) became the personal swordsmith of Oda Nobunaga. His four sons - Iga no Kami Kanemichi (Jo-saku), Rai Kinmichi (Jo-saku), Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi (Jo-saku), and Etchu no Kami Masatoshi (Jo-jo saku) - also made swords for Nobunaga. The work of these smiths have sharpness ratings of at least wazamono. His sons, and Omi no kami Hisamich (a student of Iga kami Kinmichi) were the Kyoto Gokaji, or the Five Swordsmiths of Kyoto. It seem that political considerations played some part in this elevation; the Mishina school was probably favoured by the new Tokugawa shogunate, whilst others may have been seen as supporters of the defeated Toyotomi forces. The Kyoto Gokaji were however extremely talented. Daido also trained many great smiths. https://www.dropbox.com/s/pgdjjokepeqlubp/Screenshot%202015-12-16%2013.36.25.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/c97yk1g0zvn0x4a/Screenshot%202015-12-16%2013.36.53.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/oxdjcb51w30ysja/Screenshot%202015-12-16%2013.37.06.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/7qql1v96yiwy9jc/Screenshot%202015-12-16%2013.37.26.png?dl=0 Quote
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