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Beginner looking for some information


Mihail

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Hello to everyone. I am thinking of buying my first Japanese sword. The problem is that I am an absolute beginner when it comes to knowledge about Japanese swords. I have been collecting blades for a very long time, but I have never owned a Japanese traditionally made one.

The information I have is very little because I will see the blade in a couple of days, but I wanted to get some information about it if I can before that. It is a middle-sized wakizashi from the Edo period. The owner says it was sighed Echino Maeshu but I can't find anything about the sword smith at sho-shin.com or anywhere else. Does anyone know anything about this sword smith? The blade comes in a shirasaya and it has a passport no NBTHK certificate. It has a handle, guard and a sheath . Also the owner said it has a wooden replica sword and a talisman (not sure what that is ?)

I will attach a couple of bad pictures that I have of the blade any information is much appreciated.

 

Thank you

Mihail

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Hi Mihail,

 

Welcome to NMB. I think the signature on this sword reads Echinozen shu ju Kanetane (越之前州住兼植). Kanetane is the name of the smith and Echinozen shu seems to be an unusual way of writing Echizen province where the smith was living when he made the blade. There is only one smith listed in Hawley's Japanese swordsmiths using this form of signature (Echinozen shu rather than Echizen) he was working around 1661 and gets rated at 15 points.

 

Sorry, Matt got in first. :)

 

Edit: there might be some disagreement about his period of activity. Hawley's says he was awarded the title "Hitachi no kami". Cross referencing this with Markus Sesko's compendium his entry reads: "Kanetane(兼植), 3rd gen., Enpō (延宝, 1673-1681), Echizen". Presumably your blade was made before he got his title.

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37 minutes ago, Shugyosha said:

Hi Mihail,

 

Welcome to NMB. I think the signature on this sword reads Echinozen shu ju Kanetane (越之前州住兼植). Kanetane is the name of the smith and Echinozen shu seems to be an unusual way of writing Echizen province where the smith was living when he made the blade. There is only one smith listed in Hawley's Japanese swordsmiths using this form of signature (Echinozen shu rather than Echizen) he was working around 1661 and gets rated at 15 points.

 

Sorry, Matt got in first. :)

 

Edit: there might be some disagreement about his period of activity. Hawley's says he was awarded the title "Hitachi no kami". Cross referencing this with Markus Sesko's compendium his entry reads: "Kanetane(兼植), 3rd gen., Enpō (延宝, 1673-1681), Echizen". Presumably your blade was made before he got his title.

Thank you very much for the information. Can you explain to me the "15 points", is it some kind of rating system of the smiths?

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Hi Mihail,

 

Yes, there are various ratings systems for smiths. Hawley awarded points and I understand that 15 is around an average ranking. He has fallen out of favour a litte in recent years as there are some errors in the book but it gives a rough idea of the quality of a smith's work. Some information on ratings systems here:

 

https://yuhindo.com/ratings.html

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