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Tanto Detailed Photos


Prewar70

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Brian please be patient with me as I'm sure I'm testing a lot of people. When you say gamble, what do you mean primarily? Is it the mei that first comes to mind? Or is it present condition, and/or outcome of a polish and paper? What price would make sense?

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Hi James,

 

The problem with this mei is working out where he was working and when as there are quite a number of smiths signing with this two character signature. It's definitely a genuine Japanese sword and the koshirae are reasonably attractive. My feeling is that it's a koto blade (pre 1600) but I think that 1400s is a bit too early but these are good things. 

 

The bits that concern me are what look like some delaminations up near the back of the blade and, obviously, the pictures only show one side so there might be other stuff that is an issue on the side away from the camera. Unfortunately it's hard to tell how bad (deep) they are from the pictures but if you've had the blade in hand you'll have a better view.

 

Having a blade polished is always a gamble as it is an abrasive process that can reveal any forging flaws in a blade as well as its beauty and deep delaminations are only likely to become deeper if abraded IMHO and were I you I wouldn't buy it with a view to a polish. However, if there is a reasonable amount of detail visible it might be worth putting it in for shinsa to see what they say - the results of that might determine whether or not to polish. If you can knock $100 or so off the price I think the deal would be sweeter but whilst perhaps a little on the high side, I don't think the price is excessive for an old blade in koshirae but that's my personal view.

 

Of the three blades you've posted my inclination would be to steer clear of the naginata - it's a big name potentially and, therefore, more likely to be a forgery and the broken tip means that it will take a lot of work and $$ to make it pretty again. The katana (katana good) is a long, signed blade in decent koshirae that (as far as I could tell) had no serious flaws and could be enjoyed as is and the price is a little high maybe, but again not excessive. Signature isn't very exciting though.

 

If I had to choose one I would probably choose the tanto as researching it would give me most fun and learning at least financial outlay or risk and it would make a nice display piece if nothing else. But that's what floats my boat.

 

Of course hanging onto your money is always a good option as there will be more swords along in a minute.

 

Best,

John

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Jean identified the smith as yoshi mitsu.  I can see the mitsu kanji and it actually looks like the one on the tang.  I don't know how to identify yoshi because only a small part of the kanji is visible.  So is this an educated guess and was this sword maker somewhat known?  Based on my reading Yoshimitsu was a gifted tanto smith, it's interesting that this is also a tanto.  Does the signature look correct?  Could this be the same smith or wishful thinking?  Signature on mine looks heavy handed compared to correct examples, which is one of the things he was famous for because the signature looks more like a brush stroke.  This is fun digging around and researching.  Last edit, signatures are totally different, especially mitsu.

 

[Yoshimitsu] is the rival of Shintogo Kunimitsu in competing for the highest reputation as a master tanto maker. He has long and always won the highest admiration. During the Edo period, his tanto was included among the ranks of the best three in entire Japan, along with Masamune and Go. He was even honored with the designation of being in the first place among [the three of] them. His works were most highly coveted and treasured.

English Token

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Hi James,

 

吉 - this is the kanji for Yoshi. On your tanto you can just about see the cross at the top. The problem you have with tying this blade down to an individual smith is that there were lots of smiths who signed Yoshimitsu with a two character signature. The first job you have to do is tie it down to a time period. My feeling is that yours is a koto blade. 

 

Here's some names from Markus Sesko's Swordsmith's of Japan:

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), Ōei (応永, 1394-1428), Chikuzen – “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), Sa-school (左)

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Yamato – “Yamato no Kuni-jū Yoshimitsu” (大和国住吉光), “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), late Senju’in school

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), 5th gen., Kōshō (康正, 1455-1457), Tosa – “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), first name Yasuzaemon (安左衛門)

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), 6th gen., Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Tosa – “Doshū-jū Yoshimitsu” (土州住吉光), “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), there are mostly tantō and hardly any katana extant bis this Yoshimitsu, tantō have a thick kasane, a narrow mihaba, and uchizori, that means they show the classical yoroidōshi shape, the jigane is a standing-out itame-nagare mixed with masame and shirake, the hamon is a suguha in ko-nie-deki which tends somewhat to notare, but he also hardened a gunome

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), 7th gen., Daiei (大永, 1521-1528), Tosa – “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), “Doshū-jū Fujiwara Yoshimitsu” (土州住藤原吉光), first name Magozaemon (孫左衛門)

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), 5th gen., Keichō (慶長, 1596-1615), Tosa – “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), real name Fujimoto Jinbei (藤本仁兵衛), the succession of generations becomes unclear with the transition to the shintō era and Fujimoto Jinbei is listed as 5th gen. Tosa Yoshimitsu, this might be connected to the approach that some count the Kōshō-era (康正, 1455-1457) Yoshimitsu as actual 1st gen., but if the latter counting is correct, there is nevertheless a 4th gen. missing, anyway, Fujimoto Jinbei lived in Tosa´s Kōchi-Kagekawa-chō (高知掛川町)

 

YOSHIMITSU (吉光), Tenbun (天文, 1532-1555), Bingo – “Yoshimitsu” (吉光), Sue-Mihara school

 

If I were you I would now try to tie down the period of manufacture from the size and shape of the blade and then identify its characteristics in terms of boshi, hamon, jigane etc to see if it has any obvious characteristics that would point to a particular school of swordsmiths working at the time you have identified first up.

 

Good hunting!

 

Best,

John 

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