Sukaira Posted May 3 Report Posted May 3 What the title says. I have searched around a bit but looking for any good historical articles, work analysis etc. on this smith. Thanks in advance. Quote
Mark S. Posted May 3 Report Posted May 3 13 minutes ago, Toryu2020 said: Look for - Art and the Sword vol 8 2001 Out of town right now and away from my references. If no one comes up with snything, I’ll send you what I find in Art & Sword 8. Quote
Natichu Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 Assuming this is the same smith, I enjoyed the read: https://markussesko.com/2013/03/22/the-inokiri-and-the-travels-of-masazane/ 1 Quote
Sukaira Posted May 4 Author Report Posted May 4 I did read that article by Sesko, it’s a good start. Interested to see what the Art and Sword volume 8 has. I just checked eBay but no luck. Anyone have a copy available for purchase or download? Quote
YourBabyBjornBorg Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 Huh, how odd! I was just looking for info about masamune these few days and got about 70 swords' worth of data purely online, not including other Sengo swordsmiths or any sword in the books. although I do read Japanese, so a lot of them might not be helpful, but I did read this fruitful 20,000-word article yesterday on nihonto.com almost exclusively about Masazane (https://nihonto.com/tonbo-giri/), perhaps that would be a good read? It's really an in-depth analysis of nine whole swords of Masazane. The picture quality is not ideal, so I would like to repost Oshigatas of two of the best works in there, one with Sankoken and one with two kinds of Kurikara, both from one of my favorite books, Random Thoughts on Japanese Swords by Kataoka Ginsaku sensei. I'm also waiting for my copy of Ise No Toko, excited to see what's in there. Oh and do feel free to ask me to translate texts that interest you as long as they are not way too long, I would say a Tanobe sensei's sayagaki is the maximum, longer than that then I could only give out a rough gist of the text orz 1 1 1 Quote
Lewis B Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 (edited) Did you see this katana on Choshuya? It doesn't list on NW but worth highlighting as its seems to be relevant and long blades by him are quite rare https://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r7/012/02_masazane.php Edited May 4 by Lewis B Quote
Sukaira Posted May 4 Author Report Posted May 4 9 hours ago, YourBabyBjornBorg said: Huh, how odd! I was just looking for info about masamune these few days and got about 70 swords' worth of data purely online, not including other Sengo swordsmiths or any sword in the books. although I do read Japanese, so a lot of them might not be helpful, but I did read this fruitful 20,000-word article yesterday on nihonto.com almost exclusively about Masazane (https://nihonto.com/tonbo-giri/), perhaps that would be a good read? It's really an in-depth analysis of nine whole swords of Masazane. The picture quality is not ideal, so I would like to repost Oshigatas of two of the best works in there, one with Sankoken and one with two kinds of Kurikara, both from one of my favorite books, Random Thoughts on Japanese Swords by Kataoka Ginsaku sensei. I'm also waiting for my copy of Ise No Toko, excited to see what's in there. Oh and do feel free to ask me to translate texts that interest you as long as they are not way too long, I would say a Tanobe sensei's sayagaki is the maximum, longer than that then I could only give out a rough gist of the text orz I did actually read that article on nihonto.com as well yesterday. That was a nice bit of information; still looking for more though! Yes, if you have more information on the quality of the make and examples of Masazane katana I would love to see them. Any articles in Japanese are fine too, I can have Claude or chatgpt translate them without issue. Quote
Sukaira Posted May 4 Author Report Posted May 4 6 hours ago, Lewis B said: Did you see this katana on Choshuya? It doesn't list on NW but worth highlighting as its seems to be relevant and long blades by him are quite rare https://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r7/012/02_masazane.php Nice I didn't see this one yet. I was looking at this one: https://eirakudo.shop/523969 but I can't really tell the Boshi quality from those images unfortunately. Quote
CSM101 Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 14 hours ago, YourBabyBjornBorg said: Huh, how odd! I was just looking for info about masamune these few days and got about 70 swords' worth of data purely online, not including other Sengo swordsmiths or any sword in the books. although I do read Japanese, so a lot of them might not be helpful, but I did read this fruitful 20,000-word article yesterday on nihonto.com almost exclusively about Masazane (https://nihonto.com/tonbo-giri/), perhaps that would be a good read? It's really an in-depth analysis of nine whole swords of Masazane. The picture quality is not ideal, so I would like to repost Oshigatas of two of the best works in there, one with Sankoken and one with two kinds of Kurikara, both from one of my favorite books, Random Thoughts on Japanese Swords by Kataoka Ginsaku sensei. I'm also waiting for my copy of Ise No Toko, excited to see what's in there. Oh and do feel free to ask me to translate texts that interest you as long as they are not way too long, I would say a Tanobe sensei's sayagaki is the maximum, longer than that then I could only give out a rough gist of the text orz There is a good explanation to the right katana in the Token Bijutsu 538 Token Bijutsu 538.pdf Quote
Sukaira Posted May 4 Author Report Posted May 4 @RichardP This is great. Is this a typical example of Masazane kitae? Would this be considered itame+mokume+nagare? Quote
RichardP Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 48 minutes ago, Sukaira said: @RichardP This is great. Is this a typical example of Masazane kitae? Would this be considered itame+mokume+nagare? Hello! It looks like itame nagare, and sorry I should have linked to Ray Singer’s far better photographs— https://swordsofjapan.com/product/sengo-masazane-tanto/ Quote
Mark S. Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 On 5/3/2026 at 10:08 PM, Sukaira said: I did read that article by Sesko, it’s a good start. Interested to see what the Art and Sword volume 8 has. I just checked eBay but no luck. Anyone have a copy available for purchase or download? Just got back from vacation and pulled out Art & Sword 8. There is about 60 pages on the Sengo School and Masazane is prominently profiled in that article. I would reach out to Grey Doffin as I would almost guarantee he has a copy for a very fair price. 1 Quote
CSM101 Posted May 5 Report Posted May 5 (edited) Sorry for the bad quality. But this was in 2018. Just a reason to visit the Metropolitan Museum. Edited May 5 by CSM101 2 Quote
Sukaira Posted May 5 Author Report Posted May 5 Wow, had no idea! Indeed I have never heard of one in ayasugihada Quote
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