jawob Posted April 24 Report Posted April 24 I assume this is Mori Kunitoshi but could it be Enju Kunitoshi? Sorry for the quick shots. Many thanks in advance for any help. 1 Quote
John C Posted April 24 Report Posted April 24 I don't think it matches Mori Kunitoshi. Couldn't find an oshigata for Enju. John C. Quote
CSM101 Posted April 24 Report Posted April 24 Not Enju Kunitoshi. As you can see here is an Enju Kunitoki. Suguha hamon and tachi mei. Your sword is from WWII. Quote
The Blacksmith Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 Years ago I had a Shin-Gunto katana which was signed Seki Kunitoshi, whom I heard was the Dean of the National Technical School. However, I am not sure of the veracity of that information. The katana was interesting as a. it had plastic same, and b. it was my first encounter with a so called 'perfumed' blade. Perhaps someone here can shed light on the Dean of the technical school idea? Quote
jawob Posted April 25 Author Report Posted April 25 4 hours ago, The Blacksmith said: Years ago I had a Shin-Gunto katana which was signed Seki Kunitoshi, whom I heard was the Dean of the National Technical School. However, I am not sure of the veracity of that information. The katana was interesting as a. it had plastic same, and b. it was my first encounter with a so called 'perfumed' blade. Perhaps someone here can shed light on the Dean of the technical school idea? I believe Seki Kunitoshi was Mori Kunitoshi. What is a perfumed blade? 1 Quote
The Blacksmith Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 Many moons ago, when collecting nihonto was almost unheard of and in its infancy some people thought that some blades were perfumed. Later they found out that it was the choji oil than gave the blade its aroma. The smell seems to linger a bit more on some blades than on others, and the Kunitoshi was one of those blades. There are many myths that stem from this period. There is a section in Alfred Dobrées Japanese Sword Blades , which was originally printed in 1905. 2 Quote
jawob Posted April 25 Author Report Posted April 25 Ahh got it! My first thought was choji oil but than thought it might be a term for dressing up a bad blade. Like a US term "lipstick on a pig" 1 Quote
The Blacksmith Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 My apologies for this as it is a slight deviation, but following on from my earlier post regarding the 'perfumed' blade and myths of days gone by.......... I read somewhere, I don't recall where though, that the Japanese say that the weather changes when one draws a sword indoors. perhaps the smell of choji indoors makes the Japanese think of a certain season? Perhaps Piers or someone may have heard of this? The other thing that I remembered was a dealer friend of mine shivered when she went past my stall and saw the Japanese swords on my table. I asked her what was wrong and she said that the Japanese wrapped curses into the hilt binding. Well, I had never heard of this, so I asked just about everybody I that knew involved with nihonto, and David Parker at Armada Antiques eventually came up with the answer. Going back to the late 19th and early 20th century, when people were beginning to start collecting Japanese sword furniture, when they cut off the tsuka ito to free the kashira and menuki, small pieces of paper fell out (the packing for the tsuka ito), but as few people could actually read Japanese it was thought that they were curses. They were in fact bits of old prints and news letters etc, just old paper, but the collectors of the day didn't know that. Maybe we could start a thread if anybody has any other old fables and myths regarding nihonto? Incidentally, it was David Parker that I bought the Kunitoshi from, the grand price then (ca. 1981-82) was £175 ! I wish we could buy them for that price now! Apologies for going off topic, but thought this might be of some interest......at least to someone.... 3 Quote
jawob Posted April 25 Author Report Posted April 25 Russ, No apologies necessary. Great thoughts. While I am new to nihonto I have been a collector in different areas. It is amazing to think how much has changed in so short a time. Back to my quest for which Kunitoshi this sword is. Showato? Gendai? Again thanks for anyones help on this. A couple more pics 1 Quote
John C Posted April 26 Report Posted April 26 Jeff: Your last pic may show signs of being water quenched, however The polish and resolution make it hard to tell. In hand, you may be seeing larger martensite crystals called nie, which could indicate water quenching particularly paired with some grain pattern in the hada. Oil quenched blades typically will not have nie nor will they display obvious hada. The blade will look light flat metal. You may need a loupe to see the grain if the polish is particularly bad or the grain is tight. John C. 1 Quote
jawob Posted April 26 Author Report Posted April 26 John, Thanks for the push to break out the loupe. To my eyes, I'm seeing a masame hada and nie. Guess I can rule out showato Quote
jawob Posted April 30 Author Report Posted April 30 Working on photography, posting a few more, hopefully better, shots. Still trying to id. Quote
John C Posted April 30 Report Posted April 30 Jeff: Here is a link to a good article on nie and nioi with examples: https://www.mandarinmansion.com/glossary/nie John C. 1 Quote
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