swords that have been given nicknames due for their cutting ability

[Volker62]

a blade attributed to Naoe shizu Kanenobu refers to the lineage of swordsmith from the  Naoe shizu shool     (a branch of soshu tradition)

 

Namboku-cho perode  (14century) classic shizu style

 

with a nickname kin zogan Gold inlaid signature    " Asaraashi   Moring storm"

 

Theb Name Asaraashi /morning storm in this case, refer's  to  sharpness  of this blade, whose cutting power is so pure and unstoppable that it leaves no traces

 

 

[eternal_newbie]

If this topic interests you, @Hoshi and @Markus have an excellent Substack entry on the Ochiba ("Falling Leaf") Sanekage: https://nihontology.substack.com/p/the-falling-leaf

 

Quote

It is thus possible that the Ochiba name of the blade in question was not coined because it cuts so effortlessly like leaves falling off trees in a breeze in autumn, but as a reference to said story, meaning that the blade cuts so powerfully that it makes leaves fall off from trees…

 

[Volker62]

Rohan

 

Asaraashi means literally  "morning storm" and refers to strong storms in the morning which make it impossible for fresh snow to

 

 remain on moring peak's.

 

but it can also refer to a heavy storm which makes you slip and fall on a wintery mountain, so we basically have here the same allusion as the nickname

 

"Sasanoyuki"

[OceanoNox]

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/へし切長谷部

 

Heshigiri Hasebe is a national treasure on display in the Fukuoka Museum. The story goes that a servant was rude to Oda Nobunaga, who wanted to punish the servant. Said servant fled and hid under some kind of furniture. So Oda cut him by pushing the sword into him, not by swinging. Hence the name "Heshigiri" (cut by pushing).

[Nobody]

朝嵐 - Asaarashi, not Asaraashi

[Okan]

@Volker62

 

2 more blades with the same nickname. 

 

Bizen Osafune Katsumitsu

Asa-arashi

Owned by Matsushita Masatoshi

Auspicious day in the 8th month, Eishō 1 (1504)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asa-arashi

Ōwaki-ke futatsu-dō kiri-otoshi (cutting through two torsos at the underarm)

Owned by Maejima Hachirō

Signed Tomotsugu (kaō)

 

 

 

[Volker62]

sayagaki by  Tanobe sensei

[Alex A]

Have to ask.

 

Regarding gold inlay "nick names".

 

Any way to authenticate?

[Lewis B]

There is also a Kotegiri-Masamune

 

https://markussesko.com/2013/06/25/the-kotegiri-masamune/

 

[Shugyosha]

Hachimonji Chogi;

Heshikiri Hasebi. 

 

 

[ROKUJURO]

https://japaneseswordlegends.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/the-heshikiri-hasebe/

[eternal_newbie]

7 hours ago, Alex A said:

Have to ask.

 

Regarding gold inlay "nick names".

 

Any way to authenticate?

 

Not really, since anyone can call a sword whatever they want. As we've seen, there are several blades bearing the name "Asa-arashi"; there are also three distinct "Hocho Masamune", and many others. Sword names can also change, based on their owners or the circumstances around them.

 

What you can do, with a great deal of research and historical records, is trace the history of a particular meito, as @Markus has done many times in his great blog (and subsequent two books): https://japaneseswordlegends.wordpress.com/

[Alex A]

Aye, famous swords do tend to come with more traceable history and provenance. Looks a good read that, thanks.

[Rivkin]

There is an issue that only handful (truly handful) of blades today have continuous history established prior to 1550. So if the name is older than that, whether its indeed the same blade or not is often unproveable. Sometimes it gets funnier - until Meiji it was one (or many) blades that were associated with the name, today its one - but its not obvious that the one selected for the role Meiji and later is actually the best fit...

Edited 6 minutes ago by Rivkin

[eternal_newbie]

6 minutes ago, Rivkin said:

So if the name is older than that, whether its indeed the same blade or not is often unproveable.

 

Especially with attributions changing over the times... e.g. Markus theorizes that the "Kotegiri Masamune" may once have been the "Yugakegiri Sadamune".