In the Boshi - Hakikake vs Kaen

[Scogg]

Hello everyone. I'm having a hard time determining the difference between Hakikake and Kaen boshi. Does anyone have a good side-by-side example of the two?

The illustrations in my books leave a little up for interpretation, and I was hoping to see the differences on photos of real swords

Does Kaen imply the turn back of the brush-stroke boshi toward the mune?

Apologies if this has been covered, 
Cheers!
-Sam
 

[Baba Yaga]

That's a very good question. Don't be confused on a subject that's confusing. 

Depends on the skill of the Togi. 

 

When inspecting a sword IMOP  Boshi is the 1st to look at. 

[Scogg]

35 minutes ago, Baba Yaga said:

... Don't be confused on a subject that's confusing. 

...

You know, thats a great answer/advice

Applicable in many ways, within and outside of Nihonto 

[Matsunoki]

Sam, does this link help?

https://markussesko....tei-3-hamon-boshi-3/

[Scogg]

6 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

Sam, does this link help?

https://markussesko....tei-3-hamon-boshi-3/

It does a little, thank you! Definitely better illustrations and descriptions than my other books. Markus Sesko to the rescue per-usual 

If I am interpreting this correctly, it looks like Kaen is just a more aggressive version of Hakikake to the point of being flame like. It also appears to turn back into the mune a bit more

I think I will just have to see more swords. Thanks to you both! 





 

[Scogg]

Here’s the boshi in question. Trying to determine if it’s hakikake or Kaen.
 

Or perhaps my beginner eyes are leading me astray, and the boshi is something else entirely. Which always feels possible 

[Geraint]

Dear Sam.

 

One of the things that you will soon discover is that the illustrations in books and the descriptions of what a blade actually has are often at odds.  Typically a sword might be described as having a rolling gunome hamon interspersed with notare and plentiful sunagashi.  Or perhaps gunome tending towards sanbonsugi.  Another thing is that a sword that is not in polish is very hard to describe.  For my part I would probably describe a boshi where the habuchi was reasonably consistent but brushed with sunagashi as hakikake whereas a boshi with more pronounced sunagashi or nie concentrations near the tip kaen.  But that is just me and probably a dozen others would disagree.

 

Don't stress this too much, especially with your sword.  It's very tempting to think that a simple check list of features will allow you to identify the smith who made your blade.  While that can be true, especially in the swords that are selected for kantei, it is a much more subtle process than it at first appears. Hence, I suppose, the desire for shinsa decisions.  If nothing else that irritating question, 'is this kaen or hakikake will get you looking at boshi in some depth and that in itself will be a studying experience.

 

All the best.

[Scogg]

Thank you Geraint! Very thoughtful input, and helpful information for me to know and remember. I appreciate it a lot 

Investigating the question "hakikake or kaen" has certainly got me looking at the boshi in depth, which has been very informative. I don't believe I'll be able to identify a smith, but learning how to identify features and characteristics has been a great learning experience. My goal is to try and recognize characteristics of gokaden (slowly...)

Ya'll are the best! 
Cheers,
-Sam




 

[Bryce]

G'day Sam,

Tsuruta san of AOIJapan described this one as kaen.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[O koumori]

This one's hakikake; Yamato no Daijo Ujishige. Kanbun period.

Sorry about the poor photo

 

Dan K

[Scogg]

Thank you @Bryce and @O koumori, those are great photos! 

I now see how subtle the difference can be. It's great to see those examples in polish

Appreciate the help!