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Kuniyuki Wakizashi


mtexter

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Hi Everyone,

So this is one of the 4 complete nihonto from Grandpa's WWII cache, but this one is quite obviously pre-war.  I have now taken what I hope are enough pictures to identify / appreciate it further.  Please look and enjoy, and let me know if it's worth sending off for a polish / refitting!  It seems to be in great shape, but it looks like my grandpa may have gone at it with a buffing wheel or something, hard to say for sure.  The ito is disintegrating, literally crumbling to powder and leaving some residue on my hand every time I pick it up, and about a 3cm piece has already broken off.  Some of the rayskin / same is missing too, but for a potentially VERY old blade, I can't fault it too much.  I don't have the complete story of how my grandpa got it (the story I've been told is that he grabbed it from a pile that was destined for a bonfire), but I'm grateful he brought it back and kept it in relatively good condition.

 

My (very preliminary) research suggests that there were many smiths signing kuniyuki, and there may have been more to this mei at some point, but it looks like I have a suriage blade on my hands.  Unfortunately due to the condition of the polish I can't see much in the way of features, but someone with more experienced eyes might have better luck.  It's got an incredible curve though, maybe a torii sori / naka sori?  The kashira is of course the first thing that caught my eye a couple of months ago, which is why I have it as my avatar :)

 

Please take a look and let me know your thoughts, and feel free to put any of the imgur pictures you like here too.  Thanks!

 

Link to the full album:  https://imgur.com/a/rLVsD7L

IMG_20200901_175353.jpg

IMG_20200901_175723.jpg

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Dear Mike.

 

Lots to like here.  Don't worry about the ito, the wrap is not Japanese or original so nothing to concern yourself about there.  Some very gentle restoration, a pair of nice menuki and a re wrap will make the tsuka look great.  To address the title of your post, given that the mei still survives what would you estimate the original length to have been and what is it now?   It looks far too short to have been a tachi.  Just to be clear that is length from tip to the notch where the habaki rests.

 

Can you see what happens to the hamon in the kissaki?  If you can a sketch might help.

If this were mine I would be exploring restoration and polish, not for financial reward but to preserve the sword.

 

Let us know what you are planning.

 

All the best.

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Thank you Geraint, that is very helpful!  Great to know the ito is not original.  I must have been butchering my Nihonto terminology, definitely not a tachi, and probably never was.  The only reason I think it was shortened is there are two mekugi ana and the bottom of the nakago has a different shape than I'm used to seeing (at least in my limited experience). Also the 2nd kanji is almost touching the end of the nakago, and part of my mind thought that since there were only 2 kanji in the mei at all, there must have been more at some point.  But not necessarily :)

 

Anyway, I love this sword and someday I will definitely send it for restoration, at least for a proper polish, followed by an origami attempt.  This may be a one-piece collection for me for awhile, but given the potential quality, that is ok!

 

I will try to get some good shots or a sketch of the hamon within the kissaki

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Dear Mike.

 

You are quite right that the nakago has been shortened, in this case as the mei is a name you can assume that all the signature is there.  Two character mei are quite common and although there are sometimes chracters after the mei they usually do not add much; "saku" is common but it just means ,"made".  Because of the position of the lower mekugi ana next to the mei that is probably the original one.  If you take the second mehugi ana and work ouit the distance between that and the machi, notches, then you can extrapolate the original length of the sword and that is a help with dating it.

 

Well, your in now, Nihonto have got you!  All you can do is enjoy the ride.

 

All the best.

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I hadn't noticed it until the other day, but the habaki and seppa seem to be made of copper but are wrapped in a sort of gold foil, was this a common practice? How concerned should I be about the fact that it's beginning to peel off?

 

In its current state of polish I can't discern anything within the kissaki, and barely see a hint of hamon, but need to try with different lighting

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I showed this to my wife tonight... turns out she thought the fuchi was made of plastic and the saya was made with glitter.  I didn't know how to prove her wrong on the latter point (but the fuchi was obviously made of copper or somesuch).  How did they get these shiny/speckled lacquers before glitter existed?

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58 minutes ago, mtexter said:

I showed this to my wife tonight... turns out she thought the fuchi was made of plastic and the saya was made with glitter.  I didn't know how to prove her wrong on the latter point (but the fuchi was obviously made of copper or somesuch).  How did they get these shiny/speckled lacquers before glitter existed?

The lacquer incorporates abalone and pearl shells

 

iirc it's called Aogai-nuri

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As Matt says

Aogai mijin nuri

青貝微塵塗

It is a common lacquer style. Working with this material can apparently be a life-shortening exercise, as the dust can get embedded into the lungs and cause havoc. Or, I recall reading that somewhere. 

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