Birthdate blade

[Jwrussell]

Not sure if this was the best place for this, if not please feel free to move.

 

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on my first acquisition(s). My main focus has always been history-based. I love the artistic aspect of Nihonto, of course, but what really captures my interest is the age from which the blades come. For this reason, not much after early Edo has ever really held my attention. I've certainly appreciated the beauty of Gendaito, but they just haven't been what I've been looking for. Then I stumbled across a blade made in 1974...the year I was born. So as an off shoot, I now have a new spot on the BOLO list. A blade made in October of 1974. My question for all of you long-time collectors, how difficult should I expect this to be to find? Obviously I wouldn't be (or be able to to be) very picky on style, etc. Even being open to most anything in good condition, am I creating a unicorn here? Should I be happy with anything during the same year, or if I'm willing to be at least somewhat patient, should I expect to be able to find something?

 

Thanks for the input!-Jason

[Brian]

Shinsakuto, and post war swords in general tend to be FAR more expensive than antiques. You can pick up a decent antique in fittings for $5000+ whereas a new sword will cost you $15,000+ to commission and likely more than $8000 on the secondary market. This is all a rough generalization. Couple that with the small number of smith working since the 70's, and the limit on production per month, I personally think finding one from 1974 would be very close to impossible, and one from a certain month even more so.
You have more chance of finding a sword from 1674 or 1574 than you do of one in 1974.

[Katsujinken]

Brian is correct, but if you contact a shop in Japan (e.g. Giheiya), they can often surprise you given the volume they see. 
 

I contacted Giheiya and asked about shinsakuto made by 2 specific and not necessarily famous smiths who were working in the 80s and 90s, and they had found two examples within a few months.

 

That said and to Brian’s point, in some ways targeting a year of production is more specific. 
 

As long as you’re not buying a mukansa-like art sword, you could probably find something around $5000 USD. But Brian’s $8000 estimate is definitely a good barometer (depending on koshirae as well). 

[francois2605]

Here's a blade from 1974, just stumbled upon it by chance.

 

https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/20163.html

[Jwrussell]

1 hour ago, francois2605 said:

Here's a blade from 1974, just stumbled upon it by chance.

 

https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/20163.html

 

Francois, you nailed it, sir. That is the one that got me thinking about this.

 

With that being said, does anyone see anything glaringly off or suspect about this blade? Considering the price I may have to jump on this.

 

 

[kissakai]

No expert but I remember that a scanned image looks a bit featureless so I'd expect it to look much better in hand

Try looking up the maker

 

[ROKUJURO]

Jason,

I like this sword except for  the TSUBA. But parts can easily be exchanged. Seems like the perfect occasion for your search!

[Jwrussell]

1 hour ago, ROKUJURO said:

Jason,

I like this sword except for  the TSUBA. But parts can easily be exchanged. Seems like the perfect occasion for your search!

Thank you, Jean! It does seem quite serendipitous! I did notice the tsuba being less than great, but as you say, parts of the kosherae, especially the tsuba, can be changed out. In fact, it seems like a great little side project.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Jwrussell
Autocorrect foolishness

[DanielLee]

Some sold examples of blades made in Oct 1974 . shouldn't be too hard to find

 

https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords5/KT331403.htm

https://kknews.cc/zh-sg/culture/v9k686l.html

 

you can google for 昭和四十九年十月 日本刀 once in a while to see if one pops up

[ROKUJURO]

The GASSAN is still better, but could be a slight bit more costly.....

[Jwrussell]

6 hours ago, ROKUJURO said:

The GASSAN is still better, but could be a slight bit more costly.....

 

Sorry Jean, I'm not following. I'm sure it's me. What do you mean? "The GASSAN"?

[Jussi Ekholm]

The second sword linked by Daniel has been made by Gassan Sadatoshi (月山貞利)

[Jwrussell]

Ahhh, thank you Jussi! I can see I'm going to struggle on some of this. I can't seem to get a translated version of that page that is anything near accurate. Seems to be an article about a sword...looks like a typical sales post on most sites, but I don't see anything like a price and it seems more like a news site. Jean notes they are sold blades, so I'm guessing either way they are sold.

 

The Nipponto page blade (Masataka) has something odd in the description too. Everything seems to say October, 1974 elsewhere, but then they say:

 

"This sword is a 63-year-old masterpiece of Masataka swordsmith who is famous as Yasukuni swordsmith"

 

Guessing maybe that's just a bad translation from Japanese...

[DoTanuki yokai]

Yes, i think it means that the swordsmith was 63years old when making the sword.