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Garage sale find

Dereks
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Dereks Contributor

Dereks

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Hi guys, I was passing by a garage sale today and noticed a sword. Seller, an old British lady, told me Japanese gifted this to her father and was very dear to him. It didn’t have any papers or signature so it was a bargain and would be foolish not to risk it so I bought it. Have a couple questions..is it hand made or machine made in war? if handmade, how old do you think? It has a hamon but very thin, not like wavily like others I’ve been seeing. Also got a medal as a gift. I will upload a video and some pictures in a minute. Thanks a lot.

 

https://streamable.com/c5u2w9

 

 

 

 

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Ray Singer Grand Master

Ray Singer

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Congratulations. It appears to be an ubu (unshortened) Shinto blade. Please show the nakago (tang) clearly though. No question on authenticity. Nice quality and an exceptional find from a garage sale. Congratulations. Don't do anything to improve the condition beyond what it is now, just keep oiled to maintain the condition and enjoy your study.

 

Best regards,

Ray

 

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Rivkin Mentor

Rivkin

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I have to admit having some difficulty understanding the blade.. can we see the boshi and nakago in detail?

In video I think there is a glimpse of darkish hue (somewhat ugly "utsuri") around the ha; the patchy-large nie arranged in "belts"... Sugata which can be shinto, but I personally would not exclude late Muromachi. Somewhat rough jigane with masame.

Its hard to judge here, but it can be late Muromachi Uda...

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Okan Experienced

Okan

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Wow great find Derek. You are very lucky! As everyone said, you have to show the nakago(tang). Use a soft light so we can also see the color of the rust. I have a feeling this might be an old blade. I want to say early to mid Muromachi but being ubu, it doesn’t make sense. Confusing blade. More pictures please!!

 

 

 

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Dereks Contributor

Dereks

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9 minutes ago, Ray Singer said:

Like very different from what I thought from the first photo. Nakago looked rounded at the bottom. This looks osuriage mumei. Likely a koto blade (made before the Edo period). 

 

Thank you Ray! It must be the shadow I presume. So osuriage mumei is  inferior to ubu?

 

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vajo Grand Master

vajo

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Very nice koto sword with suguha-ba hamon. The ara nie (black martensit spots) looks very nice. The sword is in great condition. 

Just lovely.:wub:

could be a shortend tachi?

 

As for the age Derek. It's minimum 400 years old. Nearly the same age as Jamestown was founded :)

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Ray Singer Grand Master

Ray Singer

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1 hour ago, Tom Darling said:

The first garage sale find as I recall some 40 yrs ago was a NT tachi out of Michigan. I heard of several others that came out of Michigan.  

 
The article from Jim Kurrasch:

 

A tachi signed Tomomura. It was designated Jūyō Bunkasai on September 24th, 1941, and is 2 shaku, 6 sun, 2 bu long – 79.4 cm. The owner the Sahara Hachimangu Shrine submitted this to the Oita Prefecture Police on January 19th, 1946. They turned it over to the Occupying Forces. These Forces were only remembered by a red arrow marking, so they may have been the 32nd. Field Artillery Battalion. The JB set # is 401, and the Yamanaka # is 25. It is also pictured in the book Koto Henby on page 27. Harry AFU Watson later translated this book into english.
 

This blade was found about 1994. A man visited a yard sale in Detroit, Michigan. There he asked if they had any swords for sale. The sellers entered the house, and returned with a fully mounted tachi. They said that the wife (of Japanese decent), had been given this by a former boyfriend. The yard sale was so they could return to California, so that may have been where she had been given this blade. This couple wanted $75 for the blade. The buyer offered $50, and they settled on $60.
 

The buyer did not collect Nihontō so he took it to a friend who did. That friend offered him $300. The new owner figured it was worth far more than that. So he lost a friend and took it to a sword show. A friend of mine was at that show, and was offered it. He and another headed off to get more money. By the time they returned the price had quadrupled. It was finally sold in the new owners living room, with a California / Japanese dealer (in the room) beating out a Japanese dealer on the phone. The final price was $100,000 and a Rolex watch.

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Nobody Grand Master

Nobody

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1 hour ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Thank you Moriyama San. The Taisho 9 medal shows France, Italy, Japan, America and Britain on the front, but although it is Japanese, it seems to be written with a Chinese style of calligraphy.

 

Kanji in such a style were used in Japan until just after WWII.

Ref. Shinjitai - Wikipedia

 

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