what does it mean if your Showa smith is not listed?

[Guest Fungyi]

Hi all,

 

Please accept my apologies I am very new here. I searched keywords surrounding this topic, but I guess it must be so obvious, that no posts were devoted to it. My question is, if the mei of your sword clearly reads, "光正 X? 作", and on the other side,"Showa 20 year 6 month lucky day", and you have searched all the databases you can find on this smith, and no smith has that name, does that simply mean this smith is completely not worthy of mention, or is there any other possibility? I'm sorry i couldn't show the pic, my camera is not working and i'm trying to get it fixed.

 

Thanks,

Mark

[Mark]

June of 1945 was very late, only a few months to the end of the war, if he began making swords about this time maybe there were no records made or kept

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Mark,

Most of the swords made during the war were made by men with no classical training in sword making; they were just available, unable for whatever reason to go to war, and put to work making swords. The swords they made are just sharp pieces of steel, not true Nihonto.

The only effort I'm aware of to record their work is 2 volumes by Fuller & Gregory: A Guide to Showa Swordsmiths & Swordsmiths of Japan: 1926 - 1945. These books contain oshigata of signatures but there is no rhyme or reason governing who was included; if the authors had an oshigata it made it in the books.

My experience is that maybe one fourth of the Gunto signatures I come across are found in these books; the rest are unrecorded.

Grey

[cabowen]

There are two possible reasons for your maker to be unlisted in the sources you have checked:

 

1) Smiths changed names for varies reasons and your smith may have been working under a different, recorded name, previously. The alternate names are frequently unrecorded in English sources.

 

2) Your sources are incomplete.

 

I would recommend posting a photo of the signature here. I have many Japanese sources which contain information not available in any English source....

[Guest Fungyi]

Please accept my apologies for not providing pictures. At the time of posting, I must admit I was impatient for an answer and irresponsible. Upon further thought, all such inquiries should be accompanied by pictures; it is the least i should do. Moving forward, i will not make such an inquiry without providing pictures. Sorry for any inconveniences caused; thanks for all your help.

[ububob]

No need for sackcloth and ashes. Call it a learning curve and for many of us it is continuous. OBTW, please sign all your posts with your name lest you incur the wrath and indignation of our worthy administrator or one of his trumped up daimyo. :D

[Guest Fungyi]

Okay, so i got some scans. There is a weird black line that looks like hotsure (even though I don't strictly know what hotsure is because i'm a complete newb), but it isn't a white hamon; rather, it's a dark streak that runs in the ji across the entire length of the blade on the omote side. (On the ura side there are signs on this, again, running across entire length, but more subtle). The signature, as you can see, is mitsumasa -something- saki. Upon further investigation, the rust of the portion with the character "mitsu" is much, much more recent. If anyone can tell me more about this blade, that would be great. Many thanks in advance.

 

Mark M

 

P.S. This sword will be on sale soon, but this post is *NOT* intended to gather info in order to promote the sale. Information discussed here will NOT be included in the listing when/if it is published.

[mdiddy]

Mark,

 

I don't think the weird black line is hotsure. I would expect hotsure to occur along the habuchi not necessarily in the middle of the ji. I think the "something" kanji may be "kin" making the mei "Mitsu Masa Kin Saku".

 

Just my $.02. Hope it helps.

 

Matt

[Surfson]

It appears to me to be a reasonably well made sword considering the era in which it was made. Is John Slough continuing to collect oshigata? Maybe he has other examples.

[huntershooter]

Polish looks pretty good for end of war blade as well.

I would keep looking for information on this.

[cabowen]

This was made by someone who was trained. Most likely it is a smith who changed mei late in the war or only used this mei when making blades away from his normal forge, etc....

[Guest Fungyi]

Sincerest thanks to all for the generous replies. Will be back with more photos showing the hamon, which has ~some ashi~ (it's not those choji-derivative hamons... it's straight and flush with the Ji, but as it extends towards the ha, ashi appears). I really thought this piece would be immediately blown out of the sky as not-worty-of-discussion because it is a showato, but it turns out i may gain some valuable learning from this piece after all.

 

Many thanks again,

Mark M

[Guest Fungyi]

More pics

- Mark M

[SwordGuyJoe]

I lean towards Mitsumasa Kin Saku as well, but Seki tosho Mistsutama (光玉) would also be a possibility, far flung as it is as this doesn't really exhibit any seki characteristics. Maybe as I type, I am doubting that possibility more and more.