Recent comments

Yoshiyuki (YOS1770)

  • Yoshiyuki 吉幸 , Spektrat , 12 years 8 weeks ago

    Stan and Pete,

    Thanks for checking.

    I totally agree that the YUKI is not what is suspected. I have spent hours on an alternative Kanji and used online help and the rest of it.

    This gives me more fuel to continue searching. I wont give up!

    /Martin

  • Hi Pete, Thank you for , kazarena , 12 years 17 weeks ago

    Hi Pete,

    Thank you for looking into it. Yes, I must agree, the character doesn't look like a typical form for 幸. I also checked in Meikan and there are neither Bungo Yoshiyuki 吉幸 nor Yoshitsumi on record. Unless it's an unrecorded smith, I wonder if it's one of those cases when characters were cut in a wrong way.

    Regards,
    Stan

  • not YUKI ? , saipan59 , 12 years 18 weeks ago

    My wife doesn't think that it's YUKI.
    She studied her books for awhile, and the closest thing is TSUMI (old Nelson #786). The form is not quite the same as shown in Nelson, but rather she found it in a dictionary that shows multiple alternate styles for each kanji - under TSUMI/KO there is one example that is almost exactly right.

    A faint possibility is a weird form of SHIGE.

    Pete

  • 吉幸 , kazarena , 12 years 18 weeks ago

    Hi Martin,

    After fixing the signatures and filling out more information about Yoshiyuki YOS1770 I finally looked at the picture and realised it's probably a wrong Yoshiyuki :-)

    The signature on your blade is:

    豊後住吉幸
    bungo ju yoshiyuki

    I can't find Bungo Yoshiyuki who signed 吉幸. There's one but from Hoki, not Bungo. I'll check now if he worked in Bungo too or there's somebody else who signed 吉幸.

    Regards,
    Stan

  • Yoshiyuki , Spektrat , 12 years 18 weeks ago

    Hi there Stan or possibly Stan : )

    I am doing some research on a YOSHIYUKI sword and I'm stuck and have been so for the last months. I got some help from Peter Mc Cafferty and he sends his regards.

    Do you have any references of smiths signing YOSHIYUKI? This smith might have changed the way he spelled his name.

    Attaching image via hyperlink:

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37236755/YOSHIYUKI.jpg

    Regarding name changes...

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37236755/YOSHIYUKI%20-%20KUNIHIRA.JPG

    Stay safe and be well!

    Another thing! If you have sent messages to me via "spektrat@hotmail.com" I have not recieved them. Somehow the email address have been wrongfully put there. By me obviously.

    /Martin

Masamitsu (MAS479)

  • Masayasu , kazarena , 12 years 8 weeks ago

    While this smith is listed as Masamitsu in Nihonto Meikan and Toko Taikan, it appears that many modern sources refer to him as Masayasu. See more details here.

    MAS1267 was added to make this smith searchable as Masayasu.

Kunikane (KUN305)

Kunikane (KUN314)

Terumasa (TER87)

  • Name , Takahashi , 12 years 27 weeks ago

    Might be the same as Kuniteru (second generation) - with the ID "Kun1273".

Masamine (MAS470)

  • Thank you , kazarena , 12 years 28 weeks ago

    Thanks, Yoshii! I've updated the record.

Mitsusuke (MIT255)

  • Mitsusuke , kazarena , 12 years 39 weeks ago

    A number of sources lists 3 Mitsusuke 光夫:

    Tenpuku 天福 (1233) - NMK-932-15, MIT258. Also signed 光佐.
    Shōchū 正中 (1324) - NMK-932-16, TK607.
    Eiwa 永和 (1375) - NMK-932-17, MIT255, MIT259.

    and 1 Mitsusue 光末:

    Kagen 嘉元 (1303) - NMK-932-12, MIT278.

    There is no Shōchū Mitsusuke in Hawley. Cole lists Shōchū and Eiwa Mitsusuke as 1st and 2nd generations [1]. The kanmuri-otoshi-zukuri tanto which is representative of Mitsusuke seems to be attributed to either generations by different authors.

    Also note similarities between 光夫 and 光末. I wonder if it was the same smith?


    References

Arikuni (ARI50)

  • Daruma? , kazarena , 12 years 39 weeks ago

    See the genealogy of Daruma group in Nihonto Koza and Markus Sesko's book. Is it Arikuni from Daruma?

Moritoshi (MOR352)

Masayuki (MAS1477)

  • Thank you, Takahashi! , kazarena , 12 years 49 weeks ago

    Main record updated.

  • More Info , Takahashi , 12 years 49 weeks ago

    Teacher: Masachika
    Signature: Signed his early works with the name "Masayoshi"; since 1789/1790 he signed his swords very often with the title "Hoki no kami” and "Heicho-shin"

Sadayoshi (SAD850)

  • Thank you , kazarena , 13 years 4 weeks ago

    Hi Takahashi,

    Thank you for the correction. I've updated the record.

    Regards,
    Stan

  • School , Takahashi , 13 years 4 weeks ago

    Founder of the modern Osaka Gassan school. He adopted the famous Gassan Sadakazu.

Sadakazu (SAD416)

  • Biography , Takahashi , 13 years 4 weeks ago

    Gassan Sadakazu was born in 1836 as the son of Tsukamoto Shichirobei. When he was still a young boy, he was adopted by the founder of the modern Osaka Gassan School - Gassan Sadayoshi. At the age of 14 he began to forge his own swords and was soon recognized as a master swordsmith and horimono carver. When Gassan Sadayoshi died in the early 1860s he became the head of the Osaka Gassan School. At this point of time he already mastered the Bizen and Yamato style in addition to the schools main Ayasugi style. In 1890 he was awarded the title of Teishitsu Gigeiin (Imperial Arts and Crafts Expert) by Emperor Meiji. He died in 1918 and was succeeded by his son Gassan Sadakatsu.

Kunishige (KUN1150)

Shigekuni (SHI207)

  • Updated , kazarena , 13 years 21 weeks ago

    Thank you!

  • School , Takahashi , 13 years 21 weeks ago

    School: Monju

Shigekuni (SHI206)

  • School corrected , kazarena , 13 years 21 weeks ago

    Thank you!

  • Monju School , Takahashi , 13 years 21 weeks ago

    Shigekuni was the founder of the Monju school.

Shigekuni (SHI208)

  • School , Takahashi , 13 years 21 weeks ago

    School: Monju

Kinmichi (KIN45)

  • Hōkkyo , kazarena , 13 years 27 weeks ago

    A note on what Hokkyo means:

    Quote:
    Hokkyo 法橋 (Hokkyō or Hōkyō). Literally “Bridge of the Law.” The third highest rank awarded to Buddhist sculptors. It is thought that the acclaimed Heian-era sculptor Jocho was the first to receive the rank of Hokkyo for his work at Hojoji Temple 法成寺

    http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/busshi-glossary.html#hokkyo