Questions about Yasutomo katana…

[Brad737]

Hello, all.

 

I have a couple questions regarding the first Nihonto I bought. It’s a katana by Yasutomo with an old NBTHK Kicho origami. The paper attributes the blade to “Late Generation Aizu Yasutomo”.  Do any of you have any idea which Yasutomo this is?  Anyone after 5, or probably 7, 8, or 9?  I realize without a signature, they were just guessing. Does the sword seem to be stylistically more Shinto or Shinshinto?   I have four Sesko books, and he lists a lot of Yasutomos from Sendai, but I didn’t see any Yasutomo entries with anything mentioning Aizu, nor do the Nihonto Club entries mention Aizu.  Do you think NBTHK messed up, and should have said Sendai Yasutomo?  Can any of you share any information regarding Aizu Yasutomo?

 

Thank you!
Brad

[SteveM]

I think the shinsa team in 1976 (the date of your certificate) was a bit careless when they wrote your appraisal paper, and they meant to say Sendai Yasutomo. Sendai is very close to Aizu, geographically, and I think from the kanji of 安倫 (Yasutomo) written on your paper, its clear that the appraiser meant Sendai Yasutomo. "Later Generation Yasutomo" would put this sword in the 1800s. 

 

I have no specific information on the later generations of Yasutomo. The swords of the mid-to-late 1800s tended towards this kind of straight shape, so the shape of your sword is correct for the time. 

[Brad737]

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time to weigh in. I suspected that was probably the case. It was my first real katana, and I didn’t pay very much for it, bought before I really understood anything about Nihonto. But while this sword really isn’t representative of what I’m now trying to collect, it’s still a nice sword to have in the collection. 
Thanks,

Brad