Interesting large tanto/small wak...opinions, please?

[cmjohnson]

 

 

This is one of two blades I acquired from a retired US Air Force officer not too long ago. They were gifted to him by a Japanese friend, when he was stationed in Japan.

 

It's either a large tanto or small wakizashi, in hira zukuri style, 36.5 cm from tip to hamachi, with moderate sori, broad mihaba, thick kasane, and, based on what I've found in my only reference book, Kokan Nagayama's Connoiseur's Book of Japanese Swords, Yoshimitsu style of work in the Bizen tradition, Nanbokucho period, late 1300s. Sugaha hamon.

 

 

This is my favorite blade, and I'm thinking it's worth a full professional polish and full koshirae.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't warrant that this is a Yoshimitsu blade, but in the book I have, it is the closest match I can come up with, except that it is dramatically larger than the book says a tanto should be, as they stop at about 31 cm and this is over 36.

 

If you accept that this is a tanto, then it's noteworthy to mention that tanto grew to their largest size in the Nanbokucho period, between 1336 and 1392. And this is larger by a full 5 or 6 cm than a tanto of this era, going by my book.

 

 

I'm asking for you to take a look at it and offer your opinions on this. I could be way off base. All I can be sure of is

that if it's a tanto, it's huge and probably very uncommon. If it's a wakizashi, it's slightly uncommon at least.

 

 

Any info you can give me on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Chris

[Jamie]

You might post a pic of the whole blade including the nakago.

It helps in determining age.

Hope this helps

Jamie

[Brian]

Chris,

Please can we have an overall shot of the whole thing without tsuka/habaki.

Sorry to say, but the shape looks a bit awkward to me. Let's see what the overall shot says.

 

Brian

[cmjohnson]

I'll put up additional pics this evening. I'm at work and don't have pics on my photobucket account that show the whole blade or the nakago. I'll make some.

 

It's unsigned.

 

 

I think the overall shape is rather elegant. But make no mistake about it, for a tanto, it's huge. You really feel like you

are holding a weapon in your hand. You get a feeling of power from it.

 

 

CJ

[cmjohnson]

 

 

More photos as promised.

 

 

Any comments on this would be appreciated.

[Grey Doffin]

Strange things are happening around the ha-machi. 1st, the blade has been polished badly and the ha-machi is there only because the polisher or polishers stayed away from it, which yields the unnatural flare in the blade above the machi. 2nd, the start of the nakago below the ha-machi is angled unusually steeply down and there is that notch in the nakago a bit less than an inch below the machi. Not supposed to be a notch there.

This doesn't feel like Nambokucho to me; I'm thinking Shinshinto but not sure why. I'm interested to see what the others have to say.

Grey

[Jean]

Seems to be machi okuri, the notch in the nakago seems to have been the original hamachi. But it is a lure it has been created not long ago, filing the nakago to create a notch. I'll go shin shinto like Grey.

[sanjuro]

I tend to agree with Grey and Jean. There are a few oddities with the nakago one of which is that it simply doesn't look old. The artificial ha machi produced by in-filing the nakago sugata is not a usual practice with machi okuri, It would rather be filed back to give a better ha machi in the correct location. Theres just something rather odd about how this has been done.

Just because it is rather large doesnt mean it is Nanbokucho. I have a feeling this may be shinto at the oldest, but most likely shin shinto (Oda bira style?), trying to be Nanbokucho.

[cmjohnson]

Thank you for the information. I'm happy to learn anything about this.

 

I was wondering about the shaping of the nakago near the machi. But as it's my first tanto, I couldn't really

even speculate about it.

 

Regardless of its origins, it's my favorite of my small collection of Japanese blades.

 

According to my book (I know, I really should have more than just one as a reference...in good time I will), shinshinto work

usually has a very fine jihada, and sometimes, appears to have almost none. Though the polish state on this blade is

not quite good enough to show this in the photos, this does have hada, masame going to itame. It's not really dramatic,

but it's a nice subtle pattern.

 

I also have what I now believe to be a shinshinto blade, about 23", which shows poor workmanship, with the line from the peak of the mune to the edge wavering from side to side over the length of the blade. The angle of the edge actually changes dramatically across the length of the blade, as if it was twisted, but it's not. It was simply forged that way. It, however, shows the nearly featureless, almost jihada-less character that the book describes of shinshinto jihada.

 

CJ

[Brian]

CJ (Please sign with a first name)

The first rule to learn is that there are no real rules. Guidelines maybe, but for every trait mentioned in the books, there are 100 swords proving the exception.

Use the books as a guide, but trying to kantei a blade without having seen hundreds in person is not going to get you far. Don't stop though...it is the right road you are on...just need to understand the limits of these books.

 

Brian