Nihonto Club

Jo,

I'll re-organize the attached photos into a gallery shortly. There are too many photos in here, and I'm going to move the last ones (koshirae and tsuba) into the Tosogu section (link to be posted soon), if you don't mind. This will make it easier to navigate.

Stan

Phew! Sword photos are done.

And the fittings can be found here.

Jo, next time please use 'Upload Images'. It's actually much easier to operate than attaching images. But re-doing them is hard work! :-)

The naginata looks nice, but I don't have anything real specific to say. Since it's signed Hisamichi, which is a Mishina-den smith, and Mishina is a favorite of mine, I think you should give it to me :-).

3631, 3645:
These pictures clearly show the classic "sanbonsugi" hamon that Kanemoto is famous for. Sanbonsugi means "3 cedars" - the pattern in the bumps is short-tall-short, repeating.

3647:
The misty pattern of parallel lines that looks sorta like a bar code is a polisher's mark.

3652 tanto:
It's another Kanemoto. The hamon is not the sanbonsugi style, but that's not a problem (Kanemoto, and most other smiths, did more than one hamon style). It looks very nice from what I can see. You should probably give me this one, too... :-)
Regarding the habaki (the metal collar on the blade): the pictures make it look like gold, but it's hard to tell in a photo. Do you think it's gold? Note that it may be a more basic metal (such as copper) wrapped in a foil of some other metal. Look at the inside edges carefully to see if there is a foil, or perhaps a plating, or if it is solid. I think a solid gold habaki is rather rare (and of course very valuable!). Note that many blades that have been polished in the last few decades will have solid silver habaki. I was taught years ago that solid silver is a modern practice. Somewhat older habaki often are copper covered with silver foil (these are pretty common). Other older ones are solid copper alloy (including nice alloys such as shakudo).

Pete

FYI, here's a site talking about Mishina-den (Hisamichi is near the bottom):
http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html

Pete

Hi Stan,

Thanks for your unending patience I do admit I have difficulty posting the right photographs its been a struggle for me to.I really appreciate what you have done...

Jo

Hi Pete,

Okay thanks for all you have done, About the habaki I had a goldsmith look at it in the past.
Yes its definetly One gold piece, Not a thin film coating that's wrapped around, Like foil.
The pin to holding the mekugi ana is gold, I'm' not sure about the period of the blade, Do you think its Koto period? I feel that it does come from the late Koto period, Later part of the 1500's.
It does not look like shinto or shi-shinto, What do you think?

JO

I compared the signature to the examples in the Fujishiro and Tokunou books, but frankly it doesn't match anything there. The "Moto" kanji in particular is rather unique.
So, it *might* be a gimei (false signature), or it might be by a lesser-known Kanemoto, or perhaps by one of the big guys later in life and he changed the style of his signature (not so likely I think).

I think Sue-Koto (late Koto period) is reasonable, based on the appearance of the tang and the Kanemoto name.

Pete

Hi Jo,

No worries!

It's a nice collection you have. If you would ever like publishing it the Personal Collections section, I'll be more than happy to assist you with the photos.

Regards,
Stan

Hi Stan,

Great Its okay you can publish them in the personal collection. I happy to support nihonto club in any means I can. I will be in contact with you in the future if I get any more blades eg. For translation that is. I'm' Giving you both ( Stan and Pete) a tap on the shoulder! Thanks a lot!

Sincerely,
Jo