Mishina : Kyo vs Osaka

[DirkO]

Hi,

 

I've read a bit about Mishina-den and the way most people distinguish mei between the two factions Kyo Tanba and Osaka Tanba is by the presence of the kikumon. Osaka Tanba doesn't have a kikumon and Kyo Tanba often has the kikumon.

 

But when going over some oshigata in various books, I came across something else, and when checking this I found it to be a rule that works well :

 

Kyo Tanba and Osaka Tanba both have their own way of chiselling "kami" :

 

First Kyo Tanba (with kikumon) : the particular stroke seems to go from low to high

 

Then Osaka Tanba : the same stroke seems to go from high to low (also in other various examples, sorry if the pics aren't that great)

 

Am I correct in stating this or am I finally going mad ?

[leo]

Congrats, Dirk. This is indeed the most significant difference between the Kyo- and Osaka Tanba signatures(besides the kiku, if it´s there).

You have a sharp eye and researched well, but if you had googled Tanba no kami Yoshimichi you would have found this characteristic mentioned in a couple of articles and books dealing with Mishina school or the Yoshimichi clans(also Afu Watson - Shinto volume).

 

Best Regards, Martin

[DirkO]

So I reinvented the hot water :-) Ah well, it was fun doing it and a good way to learn any way.

[Jean]

So I reinvented the hot water

 

As invention, my favourite is the tea cup with left handed handle for left handed guys

[DirkO]

Basically what happened was the following : I saw some Mishina blades on dealer sites and with one blade the description didn't seem to match the mei. So I started comparing meis, and in the whole oshigata comparing frenzy, I forgot an important thing : People a lot smarter than me will have noticed this years ago :D

 

Ah well at least I know that that dealersite is definitely wrong in it's description