NewB Posted February 24, 2022 Report Posted February 24, 2022 Greetings, I'm still confused about its meaning. The last Chicago show before the Pandemic I showed a blade to Mr. Benson for a polishing suggestion and pricing and the nakago was half way gone. When I asked whether it is suriage, he replied "No, the nakago was just broken!". Until day today I'm still perplexed - does "suriage" refer to any alteration of the ubu nakago or only to shortened blades? If the topic has been discussed, my bad but I searched and I couldn't find anything.. Perhaps, some of you could clear this one up once and for all. Thank you in advance! Cheers. J. Quote
ChrisW Posted February 24, 2022 Report Posted February 24, 2022 Suriage means shortened, but some of the original nakago is present. O-suriage means greatly shortened, none of the original nakago is present. Machi-okuri is where the mune and ha-machine have been moved up on the blade, reducing the nagasa. I suppose what Mr. Benson is meaning to say is that any kind of suriage is intentionally done. Strange that he referred to the nakago as accidentally broken off. Being that the nakago isn't typically hardened, I wonder how that could have happened? 1 Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted February 25, 2022 Report Posted February 25, 2022 John, if you post photos of your blade, it would be easier to answer your question. Chris' answer is correct, but may not describe what you have. The nakago can be literally broken, but that doesn't happen very often. I've Attached an article on suriage. Hope it helps. Suriage.pdf 2 Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted February 25, 2022 Report Posted February 25, 2022 One more article on suriage. Sword Length Prohibitions.pdf 2 Quote
WillFalstaff Posted February 25, 2022 Report Posted February 25, 2022 John - I posted excerpts from Nakahara’s book on how to ID and interpret suriage in the post below. I found it exceptionally enlightening. I think his warning about fake suriage is especially important. 1 Quote
NewB Posted February 25, 2022 Author Report Posted February 25, 2022 52 minutes ago, Ken-Hawaii said: John, if you post photos of your blade, it would be easier to answer your question. Chris' answer is correct, but may not describe what you have. The nakago can be literally broken, but that doesn't happen very often. I've Attached an article on suriage. Hope it helps. Suriage.pdf 425.95 kB · 3 downloads I don't own it any longer (I regret selling it as I think it was worth restoring. it had 30" nagasa and 6.3mm motogasane and Mr Benson mentioned Bizen) otherwise I would have in the original post even. Thank you for the files! p.s. I'll try to find some other example of what I currently have an easy access to. Quote
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