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Tamba no Kami gamble


Bugyotsuji

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Recently I spotted a wakizashi in Shirasaya at a local auction and decided to take a gamble. No-one showed much interest, perhaps because there were no Shinsa papers and no koshirae.  I made a mental price limit and bidded towards the top end of that. Surprisingly the bidding stopped with me. Gulp! Osaka, Tamba no Kami Yoshimichi?

 

Several people have since looked at it, with no especially negative comments so far.  Plenty of Sudareba. Opinions differ as to which generation, but on Sunday my sword Sensei commented that he could see traces of early work in it, possibly shodai. The Mei does seem to correspond too, but I know there are many gimei out there. He advised submitting it for NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon. If it passes shinsa, I have a very nice koshirae that is looking for a blade, and I just wonder if they can be married. It's a wide mihaba, and those last 5 centimeters... hmmmm... and the problem of the mekugi position arises. Long-term winter project ahead to keep me warm? 😅

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well if looking at this in kantei Tamba no kami Yoshimichi would be my first call the question would then be which one? It not a group I have looked at for a very long time but it used to be my original teachers favourite school so I was exposed to a number very early on. If I remember correctly Sudare-ba was more typical and pronounced  in the later generations ( doing that from memory which is an increasingly dangerous thing to do) so 2nd onwards. Adding some dimensions might help tie it down a bit closer

Regardless of which generation made it it it looks to be a good sword and in good condition, Well done Piers!!

 

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Hey Piers - could you post a picture of the mei? I have amassed 100+ ref mei for Mishina work from all generations - so would like to see if I can find a good match. If it's not shodai, you have a very big chance that NBTHK will just confirm the mei.

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On 10/6/2020 at 9:23 PM, Bugyotsuji said:

The explanation says that from the relatively  thick stroke cuts not sure, but maybe early example from third gen.(?)

 

From post #14 above. That is roughly what the blurb says below the oshigata. Unusually deeply incised,  but could well be an early example of the third generation, “judging by the somewhat similar 鏨切目,  tagane kirimé (cold chiselwork)”, but at the end it says 「いずれの代に該当するか不明である。」Izure no dai ni gaito suru ka fumei de aru.(= not clear which generation it fits with). 

 

And that is why I found interesting my sensei's comment interesting, where he found signs in the blade indicating possible early Yoshimichi work.

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