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Opinion On This Katana

foma

By foma
in Military Swords of Japan

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foma Rookie

foma

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So this is a handmade sword and not a mass produced military one? I state that because I couldn't see any grain on it which made me think it was a tempered military one. That being said, I don't have much experience with the military period swords.

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SwordGuyJoe Grand Master

SwordGuyJoe

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He was rated one million yen in the Toko Taikan - which is the minimum for the gendai smiths listed, but very few smiths were listed from Showa.  So even at 1M, it's a very good thing!  

 

Here is another link that has another example of Yasushige: http://www.jp-sword.com/files/yasukuni/yasukunito.html

 

Here is the write up from Markus' index:

Yasushige (靖繁), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Tōkyō – „Yasushige“ (靖繁), civilian name „Satō Shigeo“ (佐藤繁雄), he came originally
from Yamagata Prefecture and studied under Ikeda Yasumitsu (池田靖光), he was an excellent horimono carver and did not forge any blades
after World War II, records show us that he made about 850 blades for the Yasukuni forge
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seattle1 Experienced

seattle1

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Hello:

 Please don't put me in the "its wrong camp" (if there is one), but I would be curious to read what someone thoroughly familiar with written kanji on nakago thinks of the mei. I think it needs some careful looking at. In comparison with the mei in Kishida's book, there seem to be some differences with those shown there, and I wonder about what appear to be delaminations in the nakago steel. Yasukuni smiths were particularly careful and quality conscious in all respects. I am probably wrong, just curious.

 Arnold F.

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SwordGuyJoe Grand Master

SwordGuyJoe

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I'm not a Yasukunito guy, but my initial thought is that it's good. More and better pics of the blade and full nakago would be helpful. While Yasushige isn't a bad smith, he also wouldn't be the first to be faked - a lot of money in the better/founding smiths. Does that mean it can't be wrong? No. Just that there is less benefit to faking this signature and wasting an opportunity to fake Yasunori, hiro, mitsu, etc.

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SwordGuyJoe Grand Master

SwordGuyJoe

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I think it's good. Take a look at the individual strokes in the kanji compared to the links I attached. Looks good. Nakago jiri is correct. Even the example from Yasukunito has a slight split - I have seen this with other really good smiths as wel. Not ideal, but not the end of the world.

 

We'll take a peek at pics of the blade when you get a chance.

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SwordGuyJoe Grand Master

SwordGuyJoe

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My vote remains unchanged. I think it's good. There is a shinsa in the US every couple years. This is WELL worth the effort and expense in pushing it through. Keep in mind some think papering gendai is a waste of money - not me though. Everything I own is either papered or in the process. Nice sword!

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