Masame Hada Swords - Show Them Off!

[Vermithrax16]

My study of nihonto has made me come to appreciate fine swords done in masame hada. Old school Yamato Hosho, Shinshinto Norikatsu, love looking at them. If anyone would like to share some pictures of swords they have, I would love to see them.

 

Darcy had a great study on one a while ago:

https://www.nihonto.ca/hosho-sadakiyo/

 

 

[Jean]

Look at yamato hosho/Tegai.

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/17414-achieved-collection-gokaden/

 

The masame is so tight that it is almost impossible to picture

[paulb]

another example

[rkg]

here's one - be sure to set the youtube quality settings as high as possible (hd 1080) ss their default compression settings make things toooooo fuzzy - and even then the codec seems to blur the details a bit - you can pause it to see more yet.

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

[Vermithrax16]

Great examples, thanks for posting all.

[Surfson]

Jeremiah, I know you liked this one!

[Vermithrax16]

Indeed Robert. An amazing example. Some lucky member bought it

[CSM101]

Just a teaser.

 

 

Uwe G.

[Gunome]

Shinshinto

Masahide's student

[Isshu]

Hi Guys,

 

These are from a blade I really enjoy. It is from the Shinto era.

 

John C.

[Vermithrax16]

Great pics!

 

Uwe, come on, don't tease!

 

Sebastien, which student...........

 

John, love it! What smith?

[Isshu]

Hi Jeremiah,

 

It's a very nice Wakizashi, length of 53.2 cm and a "just right" sori of 1.06 cm with a signature- Yamashiro Kami Fujiwara KuniKane. A beautiful Shinto Masame hada from the KuniKane school.

 

John C.

[CSM101]

Hello Jeremiah,

 

for several weeks I couldn´t even hold a sword. But now I am back in business. In December I want to continue with "Kantei by photo".

 

And this is one of the swords. Don´t worry, you will see the whole blade.

 

Uwe G.

[Vermithrax16]

Thanks John. Love it.

 

Look forward to it Uwe.

[Vermithrax16]

With all the eyes this site has, let's see if someone has a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gen Kunikane they could share. Would LOVE to see one.

[Vermithrax16]

Any Sue Tegai examples out there?

[paulb]

Jeremiah,

By the time you get to Sue-tegai the amount of masame is very low and indistinct. Like everyone else sue-seki, soden Bizen etc they were trying to recreate soshu (because it was what the market wanted) and all using much the same material. As a result individual characteristics such as masame started to disappear.

[Stephen]

ob·ses·sion

əbˈseSHən/

noun

noun: obsession

1. 
   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   the state of being obsessed with someone or something.

   
   

   "she cared for him with a devotion bordering on obsession"

   
   

   
   

   
   

   • 
     
     
     

     
     

     an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.

     
     

     plural noun: obsessions

     
     

     "he was in the grip of an obsession he was powerless to resist"

     
     

     
     
     synonyms:
     
     fixation, ruling/consuming passion, passion, mania, idée fixe, compulsion, preoccupation with wavy lines in swords, infatuation, addiction, fetish, craze, 
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
     

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   
   

[Bazza]

I like ABsession, as in ABcessed with our painful pursuit.

"Painful" for any number of descriptors!!!

 

BaZZa.

XXXX

[Peter Bleed]

I have followed this discussion of masame with interest. I have recently acquired a piece that hope will add to the discussion. Perhaps I should be embarrassed to admit that I bought a spear from the much maligned Ebay dealer Daimyo54. Just after Christmas I noticed that he was offering a Niji-mei Kunikane yari with a Fujishiro origami. I do not own a Kunikane spear, and I was bored so I through in offer at less than half the posted price – And BINGO!

The blade arrived smoothly and has provided me with a classic new purchase emotional roller coaster. When I finally realized that it was wrongly installed three ways, I figured out that it HAD once  been fitted in a very elegant shirasaya. I’m still not sure it can be resurrected, but at least it fits, now.

The nagago has a Niji-mei, but the origami, dated Heisei 11(1999), attributes the blade to Yamashiro Kami KK. That is the second generation and would be very nice, but I am skeptical. I bet that this judgement was based on “penmanship.” The KANE character has a pair of horizontal slashes rather than the complete “box”. This is how he second generation signed, and,  In fact, the signature does rather look like the Nidai KK, but the signatures of the middle generations of the line have not been clarified. I am happy to consider that this is a “Kunikane School” blade.

Finally, the blade was in sorry condition. The shape was largely intact, but there was some active red rust and the blade had been lightly buffed. I decided some “cleaning” was unavoidable. I did nothing heroic but it gave me an opportunity to look for masama hada. The spear unquestionably has a masame structure on the upper, ridged, surface, but it is not easy to see. Masame is not apparent on the flat surface, but Fujishiro-sama said that this blade has “masame hada.”

Masame grain would make sense for a Kunikane attribution, but for the present discussion, we have to ask is masame is somehow usual/unavoidable for triangular blade like yari and ken. Yari are often described as having itame, but masame is common and especially common in ken blades.

Peter

 

[Shugyosha]

Any Sue Tegai examples out there?

Here you go:

 

 

[CSM101]

The only one I found: Sue Tegai.

 

Uwe G.

 

+1

 

 

 

[Vermithrax16]

Glad to finally be able to contribute.

 

Suifu Ju Katsumura Norikatsu.

[Vermithrax16]