Please help a beginner

[dhusker]

I just bought my first blade and would appreciate it if someone could help me translate the markings on the tang. The lighting makes the sword look different than it is, it is acually a rust color. Thanks in advance.

[Stephen]

Hishu Kawachi Daijo Fujiwara Masahiro

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

It could be a blade forged by the yondai Masahiro (died in 1733) but i've a doubt because the location of the mei. Is this a katana or a wakizashi?

[dhusker]

It is a long Shinto Wakizashi.

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

It is a long Shinto Wakizashi.

 

It is a good sign :D

 

 

Edit;

 

But after some seeking, i have a bad news, this blade seems gimei. look at the oshigata below specially the ji Dai 大

 

[dhusker]

Please explain what you mean? I am a total beginner and the character looks the same to me. Thanks for your help

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

The horizontal stroke and the right one of the kanji dai are engraved in a wrong way and are not similar. I wonder why there is no yasurime under the mei.

[Guest reinhard]

Hi Dan,

 

Could you give us a picture of the WHOLE tang, taken full frontal and without perspective distortion? Some additional infos about measurements and characteristics of the blade would be helpful too. BTW, things are more complicated than what you heard up to now and provided with this pic of yours only, it takes more than self-confidence to make statements like the ones heard before. I.E.: Things don't look as bad as you might think.

 

reinhard

[dhusker]

Hi Dan,

 

Could you give us a picture of the WHOLE tang, taken full frontal and without perspective distortion? Some additional infos about measurements and characteristics of the blade would be helpful too. BTW, things are more complicated than what you heard up to now and provided with this pic of yours only, it takes more than self-confidence to make statements like the ones heard before. I.E.: Things don't look as bad as you might think.

 

reinhard

Thanks Reinhard.....my wife has my camera in Chicago until next week. I will post more pictures then.

[dhusker]

Hi Dan,

 

Could you give us a picture of the WHOLE tang, taken full frontal and without perspective distortion? Some additional infos about measurements and characteristics of the blade would be helpful too. BTW, things are more complicated than what you heard up to now and provided with this pic of yours only, it takes more than self-confidence to make statements like the ones heard before. I.E.: Things don't look as bad as you might think.

 

reinhard

Thanks Reinhard.....my wife has my camera in Chicago until next week. I will post more pictures then.

Here are some of the measurements.

 

Cutting edge : 21-1/8"

 

Tang: 2 holes, 6"

 

Total blade length : 27-1/8"

 

Blade thickness @ habaki notch : 7.6 mm

 

Width @ habaki : just under 1-1/4"

 

Width @ center : 1-1/16"

 

Width @ Yokote level : 7/8"

 

Sori : 11/16"

 

Kissaki / point : Chu-kissaki / extended 1-3/4"

[Guest reinhard]

This is what we have by now:

 

An o-wakizashi, nagasa: 53.65 cm, sori: 1.75 cm, moto-kasane: 0.76 cm

 

signed (on the sashi-omote) "Hishu Kawachi Daijo Fujiwara (no) MASAHIRO

 

and the following pics (perspective slightly distorted).

 

To make things more complicated, I'd like to quote Mr.Iwata Takashi (referring to the shodai): "In his suguha blades, the jigane is tight ko-itame, and in midareba it is either quiet like in suguha blades or else the itame is somewhat looser. The ji-nie is thick and contains chikei in all places. Generally speaking, the metal hue of Waki-Hizen smiths including shodai MASAHIRO has a rustic taste. MASAHIRO's early works are usually characterized by itame of hadadachi quality...They have more powerful and bold appearance."

 

This is not supposed to be an early judgement at all, but a reminder to those, who like to shoot from the hip.

 

reinhard