Kantei

[Brano]

We haven't had a kantei here in a while so let's try to have some fun

I won't be posting any more details other than photos for now
Each photo was chosen intentionally because it shows something that might help bring you closer to the period/school

 

Since some of you have had the chance to see this blade in your hands, let's let the rest of you try to succeed in kantei

 

[nulldevice]

Spoiler

Sugata: Looks early. Funbari, a deep koshi zori, and lack of curvature in the monouchi put me in Heian to Early Kamakura

Kitae: Looks like an o-mokume with lots of chikei and a lot of ji-nie. Almost gives mastukawa hada vibes

Hamon: Suguha base with ko-midare elements? 

 

I'm going to go with Ko-Hoki. Either Yasutsuna or Sadastuna. There is a Sadatsuna in the NBTHK collection that was on display that had a very similar o-mokume that stood out to me and this sword invokes similar vibes but I'd lean maybe slightly more towards Yasutsuna as I keep looking at blades by both of them side by side. 

 

Adding more context (for those who look at my spoiler context): I mainly used a reference blade by Darcy for my thoughts on distinguishing between Ko-Bizen and Ko-Hoki on this but this Setsumei of a different blade is what also has me set on Ko-Hoki for this blade. 

"This blade is an ô-suriage mumei katana that can be attributed to Ko-Hôki. It shows a standing-out kitae mixed with ô-hada and chikei, a blackish steel, and a very nie-laden hamon with ha-hada and plenty of sunagashi and kinsuji. The blade looks like Ko-Bizen at a glance but is a hint more rustic, an approach that is in turn typical for early Hôki works."

 

Specifically the amount of ji-nie keeps me from Ko-Bizen. My Ko-Bizen blade and the 1 other I've handled (Admittedly not enough to be fully informed) have both had ko-nie, ha hada, and a ko-midare hamon. I'm sure someone could point me to Ko Bizen works that have more ji-nie but I haven't handled them in real life and my experience is very small. 

 

[sabiji]

Too bad, I'm afraid I know that blade...

[Rivkin]

Thank you very much for a nice exercise!

Spoiler

I have conflicted feelings. It feels like bizen saka ashi and earlier Kamakura sugata, so I am strongly leaning towards early Fukuoka Ichimonji.

On the other hand, hamon feels more like Rai Kunitoshi to me.

 

[DKR]

Me too, i remember..........holy glory that is a blade  !

[Natichu]

14 hours ago, nulldevice said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Based on the sugata it seems quite old, and it reminds me of the Doujigiri somewhat so I'm going Ko-Hoki or Ko-Bizen (distinct koshizori and what looks like maybe some midare utsuri?), preferring the former to the latter.  

 

Still having issues with the text boxes, but piggybacking off another post to see if that will work. Contents of the hidden text box are my own, and I don't mean to attribute them to @nulldevice. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Spoiler

Fukuoka Ichimonji. 

 

[lonely panet]

Ko bizen tomonori??

[Jacques]

[Brano]

1 hour ago, Jacques said:

What's wrong Jacques?
The blade?
Or just photos without further details?

[Robert S]

Spoiler

It seems to me to be kamakura period ichimonji school... which given my limited knowledge probably means that I'm missing something

 

[Jacques]

3 hours ago, Brano said:

What's wrong Jacques?
The blade?
Or just photos without further details?

You'll never learn and that makes me sad

[Brano]

8 hours ago, Jacques said:

You'll never learn and that makes me sad

This time you're expressing yourself in riddles - which is good, because it forces us to think about what you're going to say
However, sometimes it's good to say things directly
Really no sarcasm on my part

 

Do you mean your principle that it's hard to say anything without a blade in your hands?

[Brano]

Oshigata blades for those who hesitate

[Alex A]

On 8/1/2025 at 10:54 PM, Jacques said:

You'll never learn and that makes me sad

 

As always, Jacques turns the attention on himself. You make a lot of folks sad with your constant whining.

 

Brano, there is plenty enough to see for folks to come up with something, as is evident above from those taking part.

 

Its just a fun exercise for gods sake.

 

[Matsunoki]

On 7/30/2025 at 2:06 PM, Brano said:

so let's try to have some fun

@Jacques…..

fun

/fʌn/

noun

 

1. enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure.

[Scogg]

I've learned more from these Kantei posts than I have in years of trying to decipher Jacques' cryptic one-liners .

Sad indeed...

Looking forward to the answer on this one,
-Sam

[atm]

Spoiler

Hatakeda Moriie

 

[Brano]

So let's get to it

First of all, my compliments to everyone who publicly presented their estimate and opinion
I can only hope that no one was influenced by the file name for sugata (fixed in the meantime)
Mea culpa 

 

It's easy to define what to focus on if one knows the answer
Nevertheless, I'll try
First of all, it's sugata
Here is a composition of this blade with blades of the schools that appeared in the posts
From the left, the blade in kantei/ Gotoba/ Ko-Ichimonji/ Yoshifusa/ Hatakeda Moriie ( Shodai )
All blades have approximately the same sugata and are ubu
The monouchi area at the blade in kantei is losing sori (we can see the same at the Gotoba blade)
That should point us to the Heian/very early Kamakura period
Just like the Jifu utsuri in the photo of sugata

The preserved funbari from the photo of sugata and from photo 2 should be evidence that the blade is ubu

 

Nakago-jiri: very unusual for the school to which the blade is attributed
Most likely the shape of the nakago-jiri changed shortly after the blade was made, as the patina shows no differences compared to the surrounding surface
Also according to the hi in the nakago it is clear that the nakago originally had larger sori (widening of the groove where the nakago was straightened)

 

The Jigane is not quite what we would expect from a Ko-Hoki
It does not seem rustic at first glance and is rather a tight itame with mokume with a lot of ji-nie and chikei (I hope it is clearly visible in photo 5 and 6)
Nioiguchi is hardened in nie (photo 1, 5, 10) with tobiyaki, which form a kind of nijuba (photo 4, 10 on the right)

And finally the Boshi, which clearly tending with much hakikake to kaen ( does not occur in the Bizen school - I do not exclude that there is an exception )
Cleary see from the photo and also from the oshigata

 

The blade is attributed to the Ko-Hoki school with a direct attribution to Yasutsuna
You can find a gallery for this blade here

https://eu.zonerama.com/Nihonto/Album/13418224

 

Congratulations to everyone who got Atari 

[Hoshi]

This is a truly wonderful sword. 

 

Having seen it in hand I can attest to its qualities. Before seeing this sword, I associated Ko-Hoki strongly with the dark, and rather coarse, standing out hada, and while it has its own archaic and wabi beauty, at the top of Ko-Hoki, we find a more refined hada, both finer and richer in dark ji-nie. We can see how these high-quality Hoki blades inspired the much later Soshu revolution, where artists such as Norishige strove to reinterpret these works in his own unique way. 

 

Yasutsuna blades are unicorns, with only 22 Juyo designated Yasutsuna, 6 Jubi, and 5 Jubun, and one Kokuho. 

 

Seeing one on this board that has been so expertly photographed, filmed, and documented is a great blessing. 

 

Thank you Brano.

 

Best,

 

Hoshi

[Lewis B]

I also saw this amazing blade in May. One of the standout pieces in a collection of superlative swords. I was truly honoured to have the chance to see this masterpiece in person. With a nagasa of 80.4, excellent deki and ubu all means this is a very important example of ko-Hoki workmanship by one of the periods pre-eminent smiths. 

[Lewis B]

24 minutes ago, Hoshi said:

 

Yasutsuna blades are unicorns, with only 22 Juyo designated Yasutsuna, 6 Jubi, and 5 Jubun, and one Kokuho. 

 

How many of those are ubu?

[Brano]

11 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

How many of those are ubu?

12 of them are ubu for Juyo
Another 8 for Jubi/JuBun/Kokuho

[Gakusee]

14 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

I also saw this amazing blade in May. 

Hmmm interesting.....Well done.

 

Separately, I can support what has been already said by various parties. This is an outstanding blade and actually I would say it looks much better than the school it is usually associated with.

In other words, its jigane and jihada are much finer and much tighter than the school's. However, the nie is excellent as one would expect of the master

 

 

[nulldevice]

In the case of a nakago where the nakago-jiri has been changed but not shortened, would that still be considered ubu? 

[Brano]

34 minutes ago, nulldevice said:

In the case of a nakago where the nakago-jiri has been changed but not shortened, would that still be considered ubu? 

First of all - modification the nakago-jiri is my assumption. Not shins opinion
However, I would expect iriyamagata-jiri for an early Yamato blade. It is very unusual for Hoki

 

Here's Markus' full translation of setsumei if anyone is interested:

Tachi, Mumei: Yasutsuna (安綱)

 

Measurements
Nagasa 80.4 cm, sori 2.8 cm, motohaba 3.0 cm, sakihaba 1.7 cm, kissaki-nagasa 2.7 cm, nakago-nagasa 23.6 cm,  nakago-sori 0.6 cm

 

Description
Keijō: shinogi-zukuri iori-mune, slender mihaba, noticeable taper, deep koshizori, sori also decreases somewhat towards the tip, funbari, ko-kissaki

Kitae: rather standing-out itame that is mixed with mokume and that features ji-nie, much chikei and jifu, the steel is blackish

Hamon: nie-laden ko-midare that is mixed with ko-gunome, ko-chōji, many ashi and yō, some small tobiyaki that appears in an intermittent manner, nijūba-like elements, and kinsuji and sunagashi

Bōshi: sugu with a rather pointed kaeri and tending with much hakikake to kaen

Horimono: on both sides a bōhi that runs as kaki-nagashi into the tang

Nakago: ubu, iriyamagata-jiri, yasurime are indiscernible, one mekugi-ana, mumei

 

Explanation
Yasutsuna (安綱) was the most representative smith of the Ko-Hōki group and the meikan date his active period around Daidō (大同, 806–810).

The style of existing works, however, suggests that he was active somewhat later, that is, probably in the late Heian period.

Among surviving signed Ko-Hōki works, relatively many go back to Yasutsuna, and the smith is particularly famous for his meibutsu Dōjigiri-Yasutsuna (童基切安綱).
This blade has with its slender mihaba, deep koshizori, and funbari an elegant tachi-sugata.

The kitae is a standing-out itame that features chikei, jifu, and ji-nie, and the steel is blackish.

The hamon is a nie-laden ko-midare that is mixed with ko-gunome and other elements.

Thus, the blade is of a classical elegance that reflects very well the typical style of Ko-Hōki works, is of an excellent deki as well, and we are in agreement that the attribution should be to Yasutsuna.

[nulldevice]

Thanks, I was curious about this being reshaped as you mentioned as well as the Niji Kunitoshi I saw at the SF show had a description as the nakago being ubu but also has a kiri jiri type nakago-jiri. It seemed a bit odd to me but the translation of the sayagaki and setsumei both say ubu. So I wonder if maybe just the tip was slightly altered but the nakago otherwise remains the same and if that still counts as ubu. 

[Brano]

18 minutes ago, nulldevice said:

Thanks, I was curious about this being reshaped as you mentioned as well as the Niji Kunitoshi I saw at the SF show had a description as the nakago being ubu but also has a kiri jiri type nakago-jiri. It seemed a bit odd to me but the translation of the sayagaki and setsumei both say ubu. So I wonder if maybe just the tip was slightly altered but the nakago otherwise remains the same and if that still counts as ubu. 

Personally, I think that a modified nakago like this would be considered ubu by shinsa.

[Alex A]

There you go, proof one can work out what a sword is from images, well done to all.