Possible Onizuka with shortened mei?

[acefighter66]

Long story short. Grandpa picked it up in the war and passed it down to me. Recently had it restored and I'm trying to find a more definitive answer as to it's smith and history. Please see attached and I can take more pictures if needed. I intend to hold on to this until it can be passed down as well so I have no intention to sell. I'm just here out of pure curiosity. One attached image are some mei comparisons the polisher showed me during his research but we never came to a conclusive answer.

Thanks,
Aaron W

 

Edited February 3 by acefighter66

[acefighter66]

Did I do something wrong? I thought I followed all the rules before posting. The signature is supposed to say Yoshi Kuni as far as everyone Ive asked has told me but I'm hoping to find out the specific smith. 

 

[Geraint]

Dear Aaron.

 

Welcome to NMB.  You have done nothing wrong I assure you, it is simply that getting you any further forward is almost impossible.  There are between forty and fifty smiths recorded signing Yoshikuni with these two kanji and while most of them can be discounted because of the age of your sword there are few indicators that might lead to an attribution. Add to this the possibility that this might be a spurious signature, called gimei, a very common thing especially with the names of good makers. However I think it unlikely that this would be the case with a two kanji mei like yours, after all why not go the whole way and sign the full mei if you want to deceive?

 

To quote from a 2013 post by Gabriel, 'The second smith or smiths, Onizuka Yoshikuni (YOS 275-279, not clear which of these is one smith or multiple), is much closer in terms of the handwriting style, but close inspection yields several possible differences in chisel marks and angles. What is more, Onizuka Yoshikuni smith(s) allegedly signed with at least Onizuka Yoshikuni, not just "Yoshikuni" on its own. Based on these two points, I'm not certain one could connect your blade to this series of smiths based on the mei alone.'

 

I am sure that others will add opinions, it would help to have some good photographs of the blade and its workings.  Whatever the outcome it is a very attractive blade and I do hope you enjoy it.

 

Your only certain option is to get the blade to a properly accredited shinsa team, sometimes these are arranged to coincide with Japanese sword shows in the US. 

 

All the best.

 

Edited February 4 by Geraint

[acefighter66]

Thank you very much for the input. I've taken some more photos that I'll post here now.

 

[acefighter66]

Here are some more photos with different lighting. Seems I've maxed out the thread image upload limit.

 

[acefighter66]

Did I do something wrong? I thought I followed all the rules before posting. The signature is supposed to say Yoshi Kuni as far as everyone Ive asked has told me but I'm hoping to find out the specific smith. 

 

[acefighter66]

[atm]

Thanks for posting the additional photos @acefighter66. This is a great heirloom. While there are some similarities between the chiseling of the kanji on your sword and some of the examples the polisher provided, only having a two-kanji mei is obviously quite different than the longer signature that the Onizuka Yoshikuni smiths typically used and as shown in the examples. Additional research on the mei is needed. If I have time, I'll see what I can find in my books. To echo what @Geraint, shinsa might be your best option for attribution.

[acefighter66]

13 minutes ago, atm said:

Thanks for posting the additional photos @acefighter66. This is a great heirloom. While there are some similarities between the chiseling of the kanji on your sword and some of the examples the polisher provided, only having a two-kanji mei is obviously quite different than the longer signature that the Onizuka Yoshikuni smiths typically used and as shown in the examples. Additional research on the mei is needed. If I have time, I'll see what I can find in my books. To echo what @Geraint, shinsa might be your best option for attribution.

Thank you very much Adam! You're a legend!

 

 

[atm]

Unfortunately, my books all show the much longer mei—nothing with only two kanji. But some of the Onizuka Yoshikuni mei in my books look very similar at least as to the two kanji on your sword and as to their location relative to the shinogi (ridge line). 
 

I am now seeing that you posted on NMB about this sword 13 years ago well before its restoration. It is great to see that you followed through with your original plan. Who did the polishing?

[acefighter66]

57 minutes ago, atm said:

Unfortunately, my books all show the much longer mei—nothing with only two kanji. But some of the Onizuka Yoshikuni mei in my books look very similar at least as to the two kanji on your sword and as to their location relative to the shinogi (ridge line). 
 

I am now seeing that you posted on NMB about this sword 13 years ago well before its restoration. It is great to see that you followed through with your original plan. Who did the polishing?

Yes I did! I don't even have access to that old email anymore. I chose David Hofhine. According to some I may have made the wrong choice there. I think I remember years ago when I was trying to choose who to send it to I just got sick of going over all the details on who was more certified and chose someone that, from what I could see in the images, produced the most attractive results.