First purchases for comment - two wakizashi part 1

[Niall]

Hello all, 
 
It's my first post here so I'll kill two birds with one stone by way of introduction and post.
 
My name is Niall, resident of Canberra in Australia.  My wife and I have been to Japan for holiday quite a few times - obvious attractions are the food, scenery and culture.  We last got back earlier this year in March, right at the very inception of COVID...probably the last international travel we'll do for while, like the rest of the world.
 
Anyway, I'm not a knife/sword enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, but like any red-blooded male find them interesting.  My interest in Japanese swords probably began back in 2013 when I saw a real one in the flesh at a museum in Japan.  I was quite taken by the quality of workmanship for something so old.  I never really entertained the idea of owning one until I saw one for sale at auction.  I didn't bid as I had no idea as to worth/quality/real or fake....so read up quite a bit since then to educate myself....inclusive of posts on this site.
 
Cutting to the chase, I bid on and won two wakizashi at an online deceased estate auction in Melbourne last month, and thought I'd post here to provoke any comment or observations from members.
 
Given that I don't want to add to many pictures on one post, I thought I'd make two posts - one for each sword.
 
The first one is in a shirasaya.  I'm aware (believe) the writing on the shirasaya says "Kanemoto a resident of Noshu".  The tang is very rust worn with the writing very difficult to see.  There is no writing on the other side of the tang.  File marks on both sides are almost non-existent to the eye.  I understand the blade is probably in quite average condition.  The blade fits the shirasaya well.  The blade measures 57 cms, and is 2.2 cms in width.

 

Happy to post any other pics with detail as requested, and curious to receive any comment or observation on the sword.

 

I'll post the next sword in the second post...

 

 

[Geraint]

Dear Niall.

 

Welcome to NMB!  I'm afraid it's too late for you, once you have two swords to look at the bug will already have bitten and you are infected.  The prognosis is that symptoms will manifest quickly, bleary eyes from staring at just one more sword on your screen, depleted bank balance as another book drops through your door, the need for extra shelf space and then the urge to start constructing some sort of display.  Your speech will become incomprehensible to most as you begin to converse about swords in a strange mixture of English and obscure Japanese.  Next will come an addiction to that smell of clove oil as you draw a sword from it's saya, you'll know this stage has arrived when you find yourself inhaling deeply as you start to withdraw the blade.  I'm sorry but it's all over for you, you have Tokenitis.

 

As to your sword, the length, nagasa, is measured from the tip, kissaki to the mune machi, notch at the habaki.  (See what I mean?)  Can you remove the habaki?  At first glance this appears to be an ubu, unshortened, wakizashi from the Mino Seki school.  Is the boshi intact?  I can't easily tell from your pictures.

 

Look forward to seeing more and your other sword.  Enjoy!

 

All the best.

[Niall]

Haha thank you for your reply and diagnosis of my future condition...I'm afraid you might very well be correct - I'm trying resist (staunchly thus far) any more purchases in the near future.

 

Ha and thanks for pointing out my folly in measurement!  To answer regarding the boshi, yes it is intact (had to google) : )

 

The habaki is firmly in place and immovable unfortunately.  

[Niall]

Revised length approx. 46 cms.

[francois2605]

The shape of the tip is off to me. The blade has no yokote but at the same time the shape doesn't look like a regular shobu zukuri. 

 

It feels like the blade had a yokote at some stage but it got lost during a bad polish. 

[Oshy]

Looks like it was reshaped, perhaps an invasive polish to remove some chips at some point.

[Bruce Pennington]

I really do smell my blades each time I have them out!!!

[Surfson]

Niall, it looks like an authentic samurai sword that has a polish that at least allows study.  Kanemoto was a famous line of smiths in the Mino branch of the gokaden, or five schools.  Congratulations on getting the real thing on your first try!

[Dave R]

I really do smell my blades each time I have them out!!!

 

 There is one I have, and when I draw it the most extraordinay smell of scorched or burnt wood comes with it. Old blade and original saya.

[Niall]

Thank you all very much for the comments - Francois and Oshy now that it has been pointed out I do see a difference in the shape of tip in comparison to the other...more elongated?  I've attached a few extra pics of the tip just in case that further identifies it for certain.  Very difficult to take good pictures.

 

Gerant, Bruce and Dave, no clove oil for me so I haven't taken up the sniffing addiction yet.  Watch this space!

 

Thanks Surfson, especially buying at auction sight unseen with low resolution pics really made it almost a lucky dip.  There was a couple of indicators that made me decide to bid, and I'm fortunate that they've turned out to be the real thing. 

[Brian]

The tip is definitely reshaped. Often seen in amateur restorations due to a broken tip.
The BIG question is if the hamon is complete around the kissaki or runs off. That is make or break.

[Niall]

Having a look just now and trying to manipulate the light to see clearer, It doesn't look like the hamon runs off of the edge of the kissaki before getting to the tip. I can't be 100% sure though as it gets fine and the polish is a little smudgy in places.

[Surfson]

First, I think it's ok to smell your blades (though I am not in the habit of it), but I recommend only breathing in from your nose when you do it since when you breath out you will put condensed nasal secretions on the blade.  Second, I strongly recommend not to taste your blades!  

 

Seriously Niall, as long as you paid less than $1000 or so for the pair, you did fine.  You can study these for a while and then pass them along.  If you got into them right, you will recover your funds, and after studying them, and reading a couple of the overview books, you will be ready to buy something a little more enjoyable and interesting.  Welcome to the hobby!  Cheers, Bob

[Dave R]

 I would suggest getting some "good" Uchiko, perhaps from Namikawa Heibei ( https://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product-list?keyword=uchiko&Submit=Search ) and having a good go over the blades. They are not in polish so you will lose nothing, and you are doing nothing that their previous owners did not do. It might bring out the hamon a bit more.