新年快乐

Ryumon Nobuyoshi from previous auction

Jean's collection Gokaden

My Nihonto collecting journey started only about 18 months ago, I am always grateful to Jean from the Nihonto Message Board who has pointed to me the direction to collect. 

This is Jeans's collection that has inspired me to collect Koto. Jean is a very experienced collector who is willing to teach and share. It is every collector dream to collect : Gokaden consisting of the five dens

- Bizen Den: ubu nijimei beginning of Oei Yasumitsu, early Kamakura sugata, suguha

- Soshu Den: Tametsugu, son of Go Yoshihiro and Norishige Student

- Mino Den: Naoe Shizu

- Yamato Den : according Honma Junji/Tanobe sensei: Hosho, according to NBTHK, Tegai Kanekiyo, son of Kanenaga

- Yamashiro : Ryokai

To be able to collect the five famous dens and collect Katana in superb quality requires dedication, discipline and good eye and taste. A good target to aim for!

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/17414-achieved-collection-gokaden/?hl=ryokai

WW2 NCO Katana types

上越市が国宝の上杉謙信の愛刀購入へ 評価額3億2千万円 市民から寄付募る

2016年8月23日 (火) 19:55 – 5か月前

新潟県上越市は戦国武将、上杉謙信の愛刀で国宝に指定されている「太刀無銘一文字（号 山鳥毛）」を購入する。2016年8月23日、村山秀幸市長が定例記者会見で明らかにした。専門家による評価額は3億2000万円で、市は市民や企業から広く寄付を募り、来年度中に購入する方針だ。

上杉謙信の愛刀「太刀無銘一文字（号 山鳥毛）」の刀身

鞘（さや）と柄（つか）

刃紋

太刀は謙信、景勝の愛刀として上杉家に伝えられてきたもの。現在は個人所有で、岡山県立博物館に寄託されている。昨年6月に新潟県立歴史博物館を通じて、所有者が謙信ゆかりの地に太刀を譲渡する意向があるとの情報があり、調整を進めてきた。
刃長は79cmで、市によると、福岡一文字派による備前刀の逸品で、景勝が定めた「三十五腰」の中でも一番の名刀と確認されている。1952年3月に国宝指定された。山鳥毛の号は、刃紋が山鳥の羽毛に似ていることに由来するという説もある。
太刀取得について、謙信の顕彰活動に取り組む「春日山城跡保存整備促進協議会」と「謙信公『義の心』の会」に意見を聞いたところ、「ぜひ市で購入してほしい」「寄付を呼び掛けるなど市民運動として協力したい」の声が上がったという。上越商工会議所、上越観光コンベンション協会にも協力を呼び掛けて、「国宝謙信公太刀（山鳥毛）収集市民会議」を9月6日に設立することになった。この市民会議が中心となり、広く市民などを対象に募金活動などを展開する。また市は、市内企業に寄付を呼び掛けるほか、2017年度には企業版ふるさと納税を活用し、市外の企業からも寄付を募るなど官民一体となった取り組みを進める。
景勝の時代に国替えとなったことから、上越市には謙信の居城春日山城のほかに、上杉家ゆかりの遺品はほとんどない。市では太刀を来年度中に購入し、2018年夏に現在の総合博物館からリニューアルオープンする「歴史博物館」の目玉に「市民の宝」として迎える考えだ。村山秀幸市長は「太刀取得に向けた市民の取り組みを通じて、市民の宝としての思いを寄せてもらうことでふるさとへの愛着と誇りがさらに高まる」と話していた

Google translates:

Purchase sword unsigned character (No. pheasant hair) are designated national treasures by Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese Samurai sword, Joetsu-Shi, Niigata. 8/23/2016, Mayor of village Hirayama Hideyuki revealed that at a regular press conference. 320 million appraised by experts in the city policies widely solicited donations from citizens and businesses, to buy in the next fiscal year.

Source : https://www.joetsutj.com/articles/37390279

His sword is as a sword of Kenshin, scenic has been transmitted to the Uesugi family. Now privately owned, has been deposited in the Okayama Prefectural Museum.  And last June, the Niigata Prefectural Museum of history through owner Ken Shin Kanoko sword its intention to transfer information and has been adjusted. Blade length 79 cm, the best sword and has been confirmed in 35 hips determined by the scenic spots in the gem of bizen swords through city and Fukuoka Ichimonji majority. 3/1952 a specified national treasure.  The pheasant hair issue comes a blade crest is similar to the pheasant feathers. I've heard the opinion Kenshin 太刀取 regarding the volunteer "kasugayama Castle save development promotion Council" and "Kenshin"righteous mind"Association", "take a look at in the city of purchase" that would like to help as a call for donations, such as citizens ' movement of the voice came out. Chamber of Joetsu, Joetsu tourism Convention Association calling for the cooperation, establishing citizen Conference on national treasure Kenshin public sword (chicken hair) collection 9/6. This public meeting will mainly, citizens, such as for fundraising and wide-ranging.  City call for donations to city companies and leverage Enterprise Edition home tax in fiscal year 2017, solicit donations from companies outside the city partnerships and initiatives to advance. From that period of occupancy in Joetsu-Shi kasugayama Castle of Kenshin, in addition to the relics of the Uesugi family; I think marks as "treasure city" on the centerpiece of the Museum city purchased the sword during the next fiscal year, from the current museum to reopen in 2018 in the summer. Village Hirayama Hideyuki Mayor was talking "by having falling in love as a civic treasure, through the efforts of citizens to 太刀取 take pride in and attachment to home and even more".

Sword as Art : Jewels of the Japanese Sword Museum

Interesting article to share.
Source: http://wsimag.com/art/18008-sword-as-art

“The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword.”

- From the 1966 film, Sword of Doom

In the 1966 Japanese classic film Sword of Doom (Daibousatsu to Age), Kihachi Okamoto‘s adaptation of Kaizan Nakazato‘s serialized novel, the merciless samurai Ryunosuke Tsukue was a rage-filled swordsman who used his blood-drenched sword to slash one character after the other, void of utter emotion or compromise. The stiff coldness and frenzy torment that accompanied his unbeatable sword fighting skill had inevitably given the sword a parallelism to war, evil and revenge. Countless “samurai” movies: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ran, Rashomon, Kagemusha, Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, and more, have by their own distinct styles, portrayed the sword as a vengeful weapon.

Yet, notwithstanding the manifestation of anger or fiery often associated with the sword, the deeply etched lines, precise curvature and refined decoration on the Japanese blade make this weaponry equipped with one of the highest level of classic craftsmanship in Japanese traditional aesthetics. Swordsmithing in Japan had existed as early as 1000 B.C. The forging of the Japanese blade was itself considered sacred art—an intricate process of heating, folding, and assembling, highlighted by very fine file markings and design on the blades and sword guard. Decorations on the wrought fittings of the sword depict mythological figures, heroes, elements of nature and other Japanese iconic symbols. As the blade was considered the warrior’s most endearing possession, it is essentially the “soul of the samurai.” Loving the sword for the samurai was equal to protecting it for its beauty. The elaborateness, therefore, of the chiseled designs on the sword must exude the explicit expression that the warrior needed to feel during or outside a duel.

In 1968, the Society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai) established the Japanese Sword Museum as an effort to preserve and protect the National Treasure swords by Nobuyoshi (Ryumon School), Kuniyuki (Rai School), and Kuniyuki (Taima School). There are approximately 190 Japanese swords, mountings, armors and other sword weaponry objects, both stored and displayed. An annex also houses an extensive library of around 1,500 documents and publications related to the history of Japanese swords.

Yasuko Kubo is the Japanese Sword Museum’s curator. Previously, she had been curator of the Sano Art Museum in Mishima city, Shizuoka, and joined the Society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords, Japanese Sword Museum in 2009. She offers her insights about the background of the Japanese Sword Museum and the symbolic significances of the sword in the Japanese way of life.

What is the essential concept and philosophy behind the Japanese Sword Museum?

Yasuko Kubo: After World War II, the importance of the Japanese sword experienced a crisis as the US military general headquarters ordered the confiscation of such weapons. At that time, the sword was, of course, regarded as a weapon, but it is also an art. We want to give value to it as an object of faith and symbol. This ideology was most expressed by two central figures in the preservation of the Japanese sword: one was Kunzan Honma, who worked at the research section of the National Treasures, Ministry of Education and the historical investigation section of temples and shrines at the Agency for Cultural Affairs between 1928 and 1945. He was also Administrator of the Agency for Cultural Affairs after WWII, and continued to conduct research on Japanese swords. The other important figure was Kanzan Sato, a prolific author and researcher of Japanese swords who has published numerous books about this subject. Like Honma, he also worked at the National Treasures, Ministry of Education, and Tokyo National Museum. He was Executive Director of the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords and Vice-Director of the Sword Museum.

Finally, in 1948 the Society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords was established. At that time, the society conducted their research in a room of the Tokyo National Museum, then after twenty years, with the huge force of volunteers, the Japanese Sword Museum was opened in its current location. I would say, therefore, that the original concept of the museum is the preservation and inheritance of the Japanese sword.

The form and design of the Japanese sword have gone through a tremendous evolution since ancient times. How would you classify the Japanese sword?

The history of the Japanese sword began from the end of the Heian period. Nowadays, the swords that belong up to the Muromachi period are considered as “old swords,” while the swords found after the Edo period are recognized as “new swords.” The swords traced after 1954 are grouped as ”modern swords.”

What aspects of the Japanese sword have influenced Japanese culture, or vice versa?

Since the ancient times, Japanese swords had been produced by raw materials, such as sand iron, coal and other natural extracts from the ground. In those days, there existed a custom of dedicating those newly made swords to the shrines. One example of this is the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya. Later, Buddhist temples also paid homage to the sword, which became the samurai’s most precious possession of deep faith. The sword has always been a part of Japanese traditional culture. By the turn of the Edo period, the Japanese sword began to play a role in the political life of Japan.

How would you distinguish the sword as a weapon and as art?

The Japanese have always regarded the Japanese sword as a medium of functional beauty. It is said to be the iron of art. It stands not only as an outstanding weapon, but is also beautiful. And, this beauty has always been pursued by the Japanese.

The museum has a plan to relocate to another location, in Ryogoku, Tokyo. What changes in the museum should we expect?

In terms of the architectural plan, a cafeteria will be built on the first floor. The museum will also face a beautiful Japanese garden. We expect a much wider exhibition room as well. The museum will be just next to the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Stadium, so the people can feel a taste of Japanese culture. The museum will be designed by one of Japan’s most respected architects, Fumihiko Maki.

As curator of the Japanese Sword Museum, how do you wish to convey the knowledge, importance and beauty of the Japanese sword to the people?

My foremost mission as curator of this museum is to preserve the Japanese sword. This means to maintain the same care for the swords on display, just as our ancestors did for the swords during ancient times. This, in turn, preserves the long history of Japan. Visually, the Japanese sword may not be so directly stimulating, unlike a piece of painting perhaps. But, each sword is completely different from the other. Once you decipher that difference, you will discover a sparkling presence in every sword, and something may change deep in one’s heart and mind.

The Japanese Sword Museum

4-25-10 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku Tokyo, Japan 151-0053

http://www.touken.or.jp/english/

With gratitude to Hiroaki Nishikiori and the Society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords, Japanese Sword Museum.

More informations from the net

There are not many works left by Ryumon Yanji, but National Treasure: 1, important cultural property. Among them, the swords designated as national treasures are the fees of Emperor Suzu Mizuo, and Kim Riko Kikuri Makie Makie Spinning Tiger Sword and Indigo Chrysanthemum Golden Bag are attached.

http://www.tsuruginoya.net/stories/ryuumonnnobuyoshi/

金梨地菊紋散金装糸巻太刀拵
（中身国宝龍門延吉）
後水尾天皇御料

国宝 太刀 銘 延吉（龍門）

国宝　太刀　銘　延吉（龍門）

伝龍門延吉太刀 Ryumon Nobuyoshi

伝龍門延吉太刀Ryumon Nobuyoshi

The Ryumon Nobuyoshi is a sword group living in the Yamano County 龍門一派 Ryumon floor, Yamato County, which was the territory of Kofukuji, taking the place name and called (Longmen) Ryumon. Although the number of swords is small, Yanji Ryumon and others are famous, and it is said that there are stocks in the Chichibuya family that are in existence, but most of the existing are unknown.

Tamaki Jyoji polished it

Yamato Hosho Tradition from Kamakura till the Present by Han Bing Siong

The Yamato Hosho Tradition from Kamakura till the Present

by Han Bing Siong

Traditionally sword students distinguish five different major styles in Japanese swords according to the provinces. Some like Nagayama Kokan sensei, say there are six styles the Shinto being the sixth. Peculiarly, many Japanese sources in specifying the Goka Den first refer to the Yamashiro den, then to the Yamato den. Bizen den, Soshu den and Mino den in this sequence.

Those sources, however, are unanymous as regards the Kogarasu Maru by Amakuni, presently in the Imperial collection, being the oldest curved Japanese sword. They are also unanymous on the point that Amakuni was a swordsmith of Yamato province. So why mentioning Yamashiro first rather than Yamato ? Moreover, as the book Shosoin no Token (p.xiii) points out the Yamashiro den must have its origin in Yamato, because swords of sanjo Munechika and Awataguchi Kuniyoshi, both prominent early swordsmiths of Yamashiro province, have niju ba. Nijuba is a typical Yamato feature which in turn was inherited from the swordsmiths of the Nara period who made the still uncurved jokoto which are preserved in the Shosoin, the Imperial Repository of ancient relics in Nara.

In view of this I personally prefer to mention the Yamato den as the first of the Gokaden instead of the Yamashiro den. This was done, too, by Bon Dale, the first sensei I have had, who complied the catalogue of the Oxford swordexhibition in 1968. Sato Kanzan sensei and the Nihonto Koza (Vol.5 p.88 differently from Vol.1 p. loo) did the same. It is also in accordance with the catalogue of the exhibition of Yamato swords in the Japanese Swordmuseum held in September 2000 in Tokyo. The swords of Yamato Yamato swords distinguish themselves from the swords made in the other styles in that their shinogi ji is relatively broad It is a characteristic, which for discerning it, often requires a sharp eye and a keen sense of proportions. In this respect the Yamato swords can also be traced back to the Shosoin jokoto of the Nara period. Another speciality of Yamato swords is, that, if compared with the swords made in Yamashiro and Bizen, the greater part of them are unsigned. This is also the case as regards the jokoto of the Nara era.

To understand the reason why the majority of the Yamato swords are unsigned, we should pay attention to the history of Japan as summarized by Stephan Turnbull. We usually, and quite understandably, accociate the Japanese Sword with the samurai. But beside the samurai in old Japan there was another category of warriors: the sohei and the gakuso, the latter being kin of the nobility. These were the warrior monks or warrior priests. At that time the temples Horiuji, Todaiji and Kofukuji, established in Yamato province in the 7th Century, had achieved enormous wealth and excercised great political influence. This influence was even so great that in order to evade it the Emperor decided to move the capital from Nara to Kyoto. In the absence of police, the great wealth the temples had achieved, required protection against raids by local chieftains. Besides, the temples also had to face a threat from the government due to the kishin. The peasants had to pay heavy taxes to the government, and in order to evade these the peasants nominally transferred their land to the temples, which were exempt from taxes. By the end of the 10th century, however, kishin had become so widespread, that almost no land was left over to levy taxes on, so the government planned to confiscate those lands, which the temples resisted. For these reasons the temples armed their monks and priests and trained them in the arts of war.

During the early 12th century the sohei constituted the most formidable standing army in the Kinai provinces. Unlike the samurai the monks were not averse to show their military strength in the capital. The earliest record of the warrior monks was in 981 when monks of Kofukuji marched through the streets of the capital. In the famous war between the Taira and the Minamoto, the latter allied with warrior monks of Miidera, a temple near Kyoto, and when withdrawing southwards joined another monk army from Nara. The greatest tragic in this war was the burning down of the great Todaiji in Nara in 1181, including the great bronze Buddha, by Taira Shigehira, son of Kyomori, when his cavalry failed to break through the defences of the sohei. One thousand monks were then killed.

Gochin no Tajima's fight against the Taira at the bridge crossing the Ujikawa illustrates that these warrior monks were fighters as fierce as the samurai. During this fight Tajima ducked to avoid the higher arrows and lept over those that flew low, cutting through those that flew straight. This earned him the name of Tajima the Arrow Cutter. Another monk, Tsutsui Jomyo, first killed 12 and wounded 11 Taira by his arrows, then killed 6 with his naginata, and after this had broken he used his sword killing 9. After the fight he saw that his own armour was hit by 63 arrows.

The well known Benkei, often depicted on swordfittings, was also a sohei. Benkei fought against Minamoto Yoshitsune on a bridge, but later became his loyal follower. The 'final solution' only came in 1571 when Oda Nobunaga massacred 20.000 sohei of Enryakuji on Mount Hiei in the northwest of Kyoto. The point is, that for arming their sohei and gakuso the temples had their own swordsmiths. As Kanzan sensei put it, these swordsmiths belonged to the temples, which I presume, means that they worked anonymously without being allowed to sign their swords. Or, as the swords were exclusively for the own use of temples, there was not any need for signing them. When they once in a while did sign their swords, they just put the name of the temple on the sword. There are quite a number of swords bearing the signature Senjuin. There are also some signed Taima.

A similar situation was in Dewa province where the Gassan swordsmiths were part of the temples, too. Consequently, old Gassan swords are unsigned. According to Ogawa Morihiro san the Gassan swordsmiths started to sign their swords simply with Gassan, when the swords were made available by the temples to outsiders, like a member of the Southern Imperial Court and his allies fighting the Northern Court.

Perhaps this was also the case in Yamato. And as a further development, probably gradually the temples allowed their swordsmiths to make their swords available to others individually. So in the late Kamakura period we see a number of signed swords by Tegai Kanenaga appearing, and to a lesser extent also signed swords by Shikake Norinaga. Signed swords of the Senjuin, Taima, and Hosho, however, remain to be extremely scarce. A collector should consider himself extremely lucky if he happens to have a signed Senjuin, Taima or Hosho sword in his collection. During the Muromachi period this situation changed in that we see an increase of signed swords of the later generations of the Tegai, called Sue Tegai.

As most swordsmiths in Yamato province during the previous period worked anonymously, consequently but a few of them were known at the time. Probably this is why among the swordsmiths who were summoned to teach Gotoba Tenno the art of sword forging, there was only one from Yamato: Shigehiro of the Senjuin school. As so few Yamato swordsmiths were recorded, the number mentioned in the rank system of Fujishiro Yoshio sensei and Shibata Mitsuo sensei is therefore also small if compared with the other schools. Kuniyuki of the Taima is classified as saijo saku (top) class and the forementioned Shigehiro of Senjuin is of jojo saku (very superior) class like Senjuin Yukinobu and Ryumon Nobuyoshi. Tegai Kanenaga and Kaneuji, wellknown as Yamato Shizu, who came from the Tegai, Hosho Sadayoshi, Taima Cho Aritoshi, Tomotsuna, Tomonaga and Tomokiyo are also jo jo saku, while Shikake Norinaga is of jo saku (superior) class. Presumably there is another Yamato sword smith of saijo saku class beside Taima Kuniyuki: Hosho Sadatsugu who was unrecorded until Homma sensei discovered a sword of his in the collection of the Kishu Tokugawa family. In Homma sensei's opinion that sword is superior even to the best sword of Hosho Sadayoshi. The other swordsmiths of the Hosho, Sadakiyo, Sadaoki, Sadamitsu and Sadazane are jo saku.

The Hosho

I mentioned 5 schools in Yamato province: Senjuin, Taima, Tegai, Hosho and Shikake. As the Senjuin already started in the Heian period, it is quite right to mention them first. The Nihonto Zenshu (Vol.3) and the Nihonto Koza (Vol.5 differently from Vol.2 p.110), however discuss the Hosho before the other schools. This raises the question, in what respect the Hosho could have been so special to discuss them first ? The answer to this question will answer as well the question: why this special kanshokai on the Yamato Hosho tradition ?

A minor point in which the Hosho distinguish themselves from the other four schools, is that their name is not a place name. Taima is the name of a place and the temple there, Senjuin, Tegai and Shikake as well refer to certain locations. The name Senjuin is derived from the Senju valley near the Sen judo, a temple associated with the Todaiji in Nara. Tegai is associated with the place where the workshop of this school was situated: in front of the Tengai gate of the Todaiji. Shikake is the name of three different places, one being an area in the precincts of Nara with a temple associated with Todaiji. The place where the Hosho smiths worked, however, was Takechi, Hosho most probably being a family name. It is included in the signature on a tanto by Hosho Sadamune (Juyo Bijutsuhin, Nihonto Koza Vol.2), whose name was Hosho Goro. Presumably it is his one and only sword, because in doing kantei according to Tanobe Michihiro sensei it is wise never to mention Hosho Sadamune.

Hosho Goro is also the name of two other Hosho swordsmiths: Kunimitsu, traditionally considered to be the founder of the school, of whom no swords have been found up till now, and Sadayoshi, either Kunimitsu's or Sadamune' s son. The Japanese sources do not mention any temple to which the Hosho belonged. I know it is speculative, but could it perhaps be that the Hosho were the very few swordsmiths in Yamato working independently from the temples ? Then their swords presumably were made for samurai and not for war monks. The most important distinguishing feature, however, is the ji mon or kitae. The swords of Senjuin, Taima, Tegai and Shikake in general have itame hada or itame hada mixed with masame hada. In this they resemble the jokoto in the Shosoin and may be considered as a continuation of the style of those jokoto.

The Shosoin jokoto have itame hada mixed with masame, a few have itame hada, but the hoko and tosu (knifes not longer than 16 cm) aside, none have masame hada (Shosoin no Token p.xi). This means that, apart from ken and yari which probably are later developments of the hoko, for the very first time in the history of the Japanese Sword the Hosho made masame hada on swords longer than 16 cm. the general rule for their school. Masame hada so became the speciality of the Hosho school by which their swords can be recognized. Although exclusively a Hosho characteristic, most interestingly the textbooks in describing the Goka Den do mention the masame as typical workmanship of the Yamato Den as a whole.

Of course now and then smiths of the other Yamato schools made masame, too, but this they did very rarely. The Juyo Token nado Zufu series I have is not complete, of the 45 volumes I only have 40. But I checked 82 Shikake Mumei Juyo and found only 5 with masame. Leaving 3 ken and 1 yari aside for the reasons already mentioned, the number of Senjuin Mumei Juyo I found with masame is only 3 out of 80. The Taima have even less masame: only 2 out of the 159 Taima Mumei Juyo turned out to be made with masame. The number of the Tegai Mumei Juyo is small: 48 of which only one, yes only one, has masame. I also checked the Juyo Token signed by or attributed to Tegai Kanenaga, out of the 35 only one has masame hada. This sword belongs to Colonel Dean S. Hartley. Probably because the masame is not typical for Kanenaga, the sword is attributed to him with the indication 'den'. As Tanobe Michihiro sensei has recently explained to the US polisher Robert Benson, 'den' is mentioned if an unsigned blade either lacks a characteristic, or has an additonal feature not typical for the swordsmith. The same was done to the Mumei Juyo katana with masame attributed to Tegai Kanetoshi which is part of the collection of Mr. Andrew Quirt. Admittedly there is a signed Juyo Bunkazai Kanetoshi with masame hada, but this blade is a ken. A well known tachi signed Senjuin Yasushige, too, has masame hada. Ogasawara Nobuo sensei, Hiroi Yuichi sensei (Nihonto Taikan Vol.1) and Koizumi Tomitaro sensei (Nihonto Zenshu Vol.3 p.18) posit that this sword makes the impression of being a Hosho sword. As regards one of the 3 Senjuin Mumei Juyo with masame which I found, the Juyo Token nadu Zufu (Vol.30) says the same.

So it is clear that the Hosho swordsmiths were the first to make masame hada the trade mark of their school. It is therefore tempting to call masame hada: Hosho hada, like we call the ayasugi hada of the Gassan school Gassan hada. As this kanshokai deals with the Hosho style from Kamakura till the present, and as masame hada, so I personally assume, may be called Hosho hada, in this session there are swords with masame made by swordsmiths who are not at all associated with the Yamato Hosho school. But of course besides we have not omitted to include the few swords we happen to have which are truely representative of the Yamato Hosho tradition through the ages.

Another reason to organize this meeting is that the number of Hosho blades outside Japan is exceedingly small. In the US I only know of one Mumei Juyo Hosho katana, the one in Dr. Lewert's collection, which I was allowed to handle in 1979. Here in Europe as far as I know up till recently there was but one Mumei Juyo katana, the one in Mr. Indlekofer's collection. So the total number of Hosho Juyo swords outside Japan was only two! Only in the last Juyo shinsa another foreigner was awarded the Juyo designation for a third Mumei Hosho katana. It is true, in Great Britain there are or were 4 katana, three of them being attributed to Hosho Sadamune and the fourth being signed Yamato no kuni Takechi no junin Fujiwara no Sadamune. The first three were part respectively of the Sir Frank Bowden collection, the Graig, and later the Michael Dean collection, and the Bower collection. The signed Sadamune is or was in the Liverpool Museum. The authenticity of these i four swords, however, has still to be assessed by the Japanese experts. In view of Tanobe sensei's remarks on Hosho Sadamune the chance of the signed sword being authentic is extremely slim, while the other attributions will probably be inaccurate as well. Mr. Sinclaire has told me about a fifth Hosho blade in Great Britain, a tanto by Hosho Sadayoshi, but this tanto, too, still has to be authenticated in Japan. The extreme scarcity of authentic Hosho swords certainly justifies as well this kanshokai dedicated to Yamato Hosho swords. Hopefully it will prove to be both interesting and instructive.

As I will explain later, something else, however, has been the immediate impetus for holding this meeting.

On show at the tables were 9 swords, which were put at random and not in chronological order, with the tsuka not removed:

1. Katana Mumei Kanemaki
2. Katana Mei Ishido Korekazu Manji gannen
3. Tanto Mumei Sue Hosho
4. Tanto Mei Yoshindo
5. Katana Mei Katsumura Norikatsu Bunkyu sannen
6. Wakizashi Mei Yamashiro no kami Kunikane, nidai
7. Wakizashi Gakumei Ko-Hosho
8. Ko Wakizashi Mei Kunikane Sendai Kanetsugu
9. Katana Mei Gassan Sadakazu Keio ninen

So 5 out of the 9 swords were representantive of the Yamato Hosho tradition in the Kamakura, Muromachi, Shinto and Shinshinto periods.

Those present on the meeting were invited to fill up a form and indicate in which period each sword was made: Kamakura, Nambokucho, Muromachi, Shinto, Shinshinto or Gendaito.

Sword No. 7 in this display is the oldest, it is of the late Kamakura period, around 1324. It is a cut down tachi, but fortunately the owner realised the importance of the signature, and had it cut out and inserted into the 5 suriage nakago. The gakumei reads: Fujiwara Sadakiyo. As far as I could check the Japanese sources, there are 7 signed swords by this smith, but this blade is the one and only signed sword of this length. All others are tanto or ko wakizashi. Kinzan sensei (this is Tanobe Michihiro sensei) in his sayagaki declared it to be chin chin cho cho: very extremely rare. In fact it presently is the one and only signed Hosho outside Japan.

This kanshokai is to celebrate the sword's come back to the Netherlands after thirty years. It turned up in Amsterdam and was auctioned there on February 8 1972 for the ridiculous price of Dfl. 90 1 Yes, ninety guilders. Even more ridiculous was that I did not take the trouble to go to that auction. I had viewed the sword and remember that it was rubbed clean, as is so often done in Holland. The steel surface was completely healthy and intact without any cracks which up till then I often had seen on koto. I therefore suspected it to be shinto. After all, signatures can always be taken away from broken swords and put on younger blades, so I thought. Moreover, as you have seen, the signature is in such an excellent condition that it looks like brand new.

I have seldom seen such an intact and sharp signature from the Kamakura period. In retrospect this must have increased my suspicions. Worst of all, in the books I had at the time, I could only find one example of Fujiwara Sadakiyo's signature which was an enlarged photograph (Nihonto Zenshu Vol.9). The characters looked larger than those on this sword. Signed swords of this smith are so rare that Fujishiro Yoshio sensei did not include an oshigata in his book. I remember still vividly that when I woke up that morning of February 8 1972, I knew it was the day of the auction, but was torn between going to Amsterdam to get the sword and letting it go. At last I decided to let the sword go because of a staff meeting I had to attend at the ministry.

What I totally failed to discern was the sword's typical Yamato sugata with the broad shinogi ji, not to speak of its tachi shape. Besides I neither noticed the fine niju habaki covered with gold plate. Probably it then was covered with grease.

The shock came 8 years later when I browsed through the Juyo Token nado Zufu (vol.26) and saw the gakumei I had seen in Amsterdam. What a tremendous shock: I had missed an extremely rare Juyo Token which I could have acquired for only ninety guilders! Even worse, it is the first and up till now the only sword that during World War II was in my native country Indonesia, that has become Juyo Token 1 For many years thereafter I had immense remorse for my stupidity and indolence, even to the extent that I tried to find out its whereabouts in Japan. It was like searching a needle in a haystack. But then to my great surprise last August the sword turned up in a kantei on paper in Rei. I immediately recognized the sword and hurried to send my conclusion, inquiring whether it was perhaps for sale. I had not expected it, but it was indeed available! It seemed very incredible indeed. As the blade was used for the kantei, it had not yet been advertised, so I was the very first and the only one who knew about it. Although several years before I had decided to cease collecting and to reduce my collection gradually, the temptation was too great to resist.

But as it soon turned out I was jubilant too quickly. The swordshop had no intention whatsoever to sell swords to foreigners. In the meantime a Japanese customer arrived. It all looked like as if I was to miss this sword for a second time. But then help came from a totally unexpected side. Two members of our society, Mr Fujimoto and Mr Kleinnagelvoort were just about to leave for Japan to attend the NBTHK Token Taikai in Kobe. They offered me to visit the dealer, take up the sword and arrange its despatch to Holland. Mr. Fujimoto immediately called the dealer by telephone, and the dealer agreed: the sword was mine at last I It was immediately removed from the showroom. You can imagine what a thrill it was when I took it in my hands after thirty years, especially when I saw how beautiful and healthy the sword was ! This reunion after thirty years, you will agree, is miraculous indeed, and so I decided to celebrate it with this special kanshokai.

As regards the quality of the blade itself, Shinzan sensei in addition put on the saya: hon saku ji ha tenkei katsu deki koto no hoka yu the ji, the ha and the type are made in an exceedingly superior way. Let us try to find out what is so special, apart from it being the only signed o wakizashi of Sadakiyo.

When viewing this blade the first feature which immediately catches the eye is of course the strong flowing masame hada, slightly bending upwards near the kissaki. Differently from what is explained as regards an orikaeshi raei Tegai Kanenaga in Sweden, Hosho masame is not straight. It is flowing. And most conspicuous in the sword are the very long and thick chikei showing in the steel. Chikei are shining lines of me in the steel for which the great Masamune was famous.

As I found out not all Hosho blades have this feature. I checked the descriptions of 7 Sadakiyo signed blades and only two of them have chikei. The gakumei o wakizashi we have here is one of the two. Then I proceeded in checking 31 Hosho Mumei Juyo. of which only 7 have chikei. I then checked all signed blades of the other Hosho smiths and found chikei only on four of them the sword by Sadatsugu which Homma sensei considers to be the best of all Hosho, the Meibutsu Hosho by Sadayoshi, the Hosho Sadamune and one Juyo Token Sadaoki.

Secondly, the steel of this sword is extremely well forged. It seems to be very difficult to perfectly forge all layers of masame. Masame therefore often shows tate ware or cracks. In general these are considered to be kizu or flaws, although being no serious flaws because they are lengthwise cracks. Tate ware in Hosho masame, however, are not considered a flaw, they are accepted as a Hosho characteristic instead and called masa ware. Characteristic or not, the blade on show here does not have any. What it does have are just a few scratches, but they are not open cracks. The cracks of masa ware are usually accompanied by small holes. This sword shows a few holes which fortunately have not developed into cracks.

In the kantei for which this sword was used another feature is mentioned indicating high quality. The ji nie is thick, ji nie atsui. In the Juyo Token nado Zufu description the denotion atsui is omitted. In my very limited experience I have seen ji nie atsui like this only on a sword by the famous Tsuda Sukehiro of Osaka. The kantei's explanation mentions a second most important feature: the appearance of the steel is uruoi or moist. According to Yamanaka (October 1968) the blades of great masters like Masamune, Sa and Yoshimitsu are uruoi. One can only learn how uruoi looks like when it is pointed out on an actual example. This is the opportunity to see such an example.

Lastly, the yakiba is also very well and consistently made, although, apart from the long kinsuji and the ko gunome tsurete, it is very restrained, delicate and quiet. In this sword the hotsure is only seen in a few places and the uchinoke are extremely fine. Although beautifully healthy, the boshi to my mind is atypical because instead of being yakitsume, it is ko maru kaeru, although it does have the hakikake as expected.

The next oldest sword in this display was No.3, again a genuine Hosho blade. It is of the Muromachi period and hence called Sue Hosho. When we compiled the first Solingen catalogue in 1984 we still assumed that the Hosho school ceased to exist at the end of the Nambokucho period. As Tanobe sensei points out, it is true, only of the Tegai a great number of swordsmiths continued working in the Muromachi period, called Sue Tegai, frequently making masame hada. Of the Senjuin and Taima there were practically no swordsmiths in that period, and of the Hosho and Shikake there are not so many Muromachi swords either. So this tanto is also rather a rare item. Indicating the period is the rather sudden uchi sori. The workmanship of this Sue Hosho is of lesser quality than the Sadakiyo: no chikei and no uruoi. Moreover, it does have some masa ware. Noteworthy is that the flowing masame is bending downwards toward the ha machi and upwards following the boshi.

Next comes No.6, a wakizashi made around 1667-1672 by Yamato no kami Kunikane, a smith of jo jo saku in Sendai, Mutsu province. His father, Yamato Daijo Kunikane, of saijo saku rank, considered himself to be a descendant of Hosho Goro Sadamune. Hence this sword is Shinto Yamato Hosho. The flowing masame hada on this sword is much less conspicuous than that of Sadakiyo and the Sue Hosho. On ura side it even can easily be mistaken for tightly forged ko itame. Only when viewing it without direct light on the blade, the ko itame grains appear to be arranged in masame formations. Tanobe sensei has pointed out the difference in patterns between Sadayoshi, Sadakiyo and Sadaoki: the first made them very large, the second made them both large and small while the third usually made small ones. Probably Shinto Hosho smiths were inclined to follow Sadaoki. There is one Mumei Juyo Sadaoki with ko itame tsumi nagare te masa kakari, of which the masame is komakaku yoku tsumi, that is the major part being tightly forged ko itame with fine masame (Juyo Token nado Zufu Vol.35). It is often pointed out in kantei that differently from the real Hosho, Kunikane's swords seldom have chikei. On this sword, however, there are chikei, a few of which are long, although very tiny. On the other hand, as we have seen, the majority of the real Hosho neither have chikei.

This Shinto Hosho even has a few tiny scratchlike masa ware. Really different, however, is the quality of the yakiba. This sword's nioiguchi is fukaku akaruku saeru: wide, bright and clear. This raises the question, could this be the result of a difference in temperature when heating before yaki ire ? If so, is the ha saki of the Shinto Hosho, although visually more beautiful, not more brittle than the Kamakura Hosho and thus more apt to break ? Could the reason be that the old Hosho swords were primarily made to survive real battle rather than to be beautiful ? Otherwise the Hosho style is clearly implemented in this Shinto Hosho. The hamon shows nijuba, kuichigai ha, and sunagashi beside kinsuji; the boshi is yakitsume fu with hakekake as well.

No.l is another Shinto, although perhaps younger than No.6. The sword is Mumei and according to the Hozon kanteisho made by Kashu Kanemaki. Indeed in Kaga province the Kanewaka school due to the Yamato influence sometimes made swords with masame. In this case as well the masame is flowing.

Next come the shinshinto blades. Comparatively the oldest of the shinshinto is No.8, the hira tsukuri ko wakizashi. jointly made by Kunikane and Kanetsugu, both of Sendai. Yamashiro daijo Kunikane school had 14 generations who all were in the service of the Date daimyo of Sendai. The United Kingdom Sword Register's compiler attnbu tes this sword to the 10th generation. However, as there are swords by Kanetsugu in Sendai, dated Kaei (1848-1854), probably this Kunikane is the 13th generation of whom there are also swords dated Kaei period. This sword therefore is Shinshinto Yamato Hosho. Conspicuous in this blade are the sunagashi in the yakiba. The masame hada is nagare.

The next shinshinto is No.5, dated Bunkyu 3, 1863, and made by Katsumura Norikatsu, a smith of jo saku rank working in Mito in Hitachi province. Norikatsu started making swords with itame hada in the style of his teacher, Norimune, of whose name he took the character Nori. Later he adopted the Yamato Hosho style as a rule and is therefore considered as Shinshinto Yamato Hosho. He forged blades for Tokugawa Nariaki, the Mito daimyo who is known as a swordsmith under the name Mito Rekko. Probably the latter confined himself to yaki ire. This blade is impressive because of the enormous activities in the workmanship. The hamon comprising rows of ashi and yo, niju ba, kuichigai ha, sunagashi and kinsuji. The boshi, too, is full of hakikake ,on ura. and with kinsuji and some hakekake on omote. The kitae has an abundance of ji nie and chikei. The ji nie, although not as thick as those of Sadakiyo, are also ji nie atsui. Most exceptional is, that the ji nie in my opinion actually formes nie utsuri. Iida Kazuo sensei confirmed this in 1983. It has antai.

Nie utsuri is considered a characteristic of the Yamashiro den, but Yamato swordsmiths sometimes made it, too. I found nie utsuri on 2 blades by Sadakiyo, 1 blade by Sadaoki, and another by Sadamitsu. Of the Mumei Juyo I checked, there are 5 Senjuin, 4 Taima, 1 Tegai and 4 Shikake showing nie utsuri. The Mumei Tegai Kanetoshi of Mr. Quirt also has nie utsuri. 2 Hosho have the regular utsuri. This sword has been very long, around 83 cm, but due to it length it was regrettably shortened about 8 cm. Even so its shape is still impressive. An identification point is the long ashi which indicate that this sword is obviously shinshinto. Besides, the steel on close examination turns out to have many patches of muji hada. The masame itself is very fine. It is only thanks to the clusters of nie and yubashiri following the pattern that it is very clearly visible.

Katsumura Norikatsu beside being a pupil of Norimune and Hosokawa Masayoshi, was also instructed by Ishido Korekazu. We are so lucky to have No. 2 in the Netherlands, a sword by this Korekazu which is made in the Yamato Hosho style, so we have the opportunity to compare the work of the master with that of his pupil. Most Japanese sources say, that Korekazu made his blades with itame hada or ko itame in Soshu den and Bizen den. limura Kajo sensei is the only expert putting forward that Korekazu, although very rarely, also made masame hada. So in this context this sword is a very unique example as well. It shows all characteristics of Yamato Hosho except for the shinogi ji. A characteristic of Korekazu is his very narrow shinogi ji. The hamon has a lot of ashi, and shows kuichigai, hotsure, niju ba, sanju ba, uchi no ke, sunagashi and kinsuji. The kitae is masame with plenty ji nie. Like the blade of Norikatsu this sword has muji hada as well. There are also chikei and yubashiri.

Then we have sword No.9, bearing the inscription Gassan Sadakazu. As mentioned, the typical hada of the Gassan school is ayasugi hada. Gassan Sadakazu, however, also made blades with masame. This is quite understandable, because for producing ayasugi hada you have to make masame hada first. By filing out parts of the masame steel and then by hammering the surface flat, ayasugi comes forth from the masame. Filing off parts from the steel of course weakens it, so this is another example of visual beauty being achieved at the expense of the quality of the blade as a weapon.

Lastly we have No.4, a tanto made by no less a person than the present Mukansha swordsmith Yoshihara Yoshindo, who earned many high awards. Together with his brother he was one of the first to succeed in making utsuri again. This blade, however, has no utsuri. It has masame hada, which is straight rather than flowing and does not bend downward to the ha machi nor follows the boshi upwards. Hence it is not fully in accordance with the Yamato Hosho tradition. However, it does have masa ware, and the smith did his best to make the boshi yakitsume.

http://www.nihonto.ca/ryumon-nobuyoshi/

http://www.nihonto.ca/ryumon-nobuyoshi/

Some tips for vintage Nihonto collection

Some tips for vintage Nihonto collection

After 15 months of collecting, I would like to share with "NEW" collectors some tips on Nihonto collections basing on my own experience. I must confess I am no expert and just a green horn.

Firstly, one can either collect :

A. Traditional made Nihonto or 

B. what we often called Military WW2 arsenal blades. 

Complications arises for B) Military WW2 blades as there are three categories :

1. There are those made during the 1940s using modern method (machine made steel)
2. There are those made during the 1940s using traditional method of making katana.
3. There are those WW2 Military Katana using old antique Nihonto (old family blade) that has been remounted in WW2 outfit.

For those who wants the best of both world can go for the WW2 military blade with the "traditional home blade" mounted on the WW2 saya/outfit or WW2 katana made using the traditional method. However, for the WW2 using traditional family blade and using traditional method, one often needs to send it back for a nice repolish in order to bring the katana back to its former glory.

There are some collectors who prefer to collect katana in its natural find. My preference is to have it properyly polished and papered if possible. You can find information from Nihonto Message Board forum and many facebook group as well as reading.

When one is ready to take step into collecting, one needs to know:

 a) Which period of katana you want to focus (koto or Shinto?)

• The production of swords in Japan is divided into time periods:
• Jōkotō (上古刀 "ancient swords", until around 900 A.D.)
• Kotō (古刀"old swords" from around 900–1596)
• Shintō (新刀 "new swords" 1596–1780)
• Shinshintō (新々刀 "new new swords" 1781–1876)
• Gendaitō (現代刀 "modern swords" 1876–1945)
• Shinsakutō (新作刀 "newly made swords" 1953–present)
• I was fortunate as I have received good advice from Jean from the Nihonto Message Board forum as my focus is on Koto.

b) What types : Tachi 大刀 , Katana 刀 , wakizashi 脇差 or Tanto?

• The following are types of Japanese swords:
• Chokutō (直刀, "straight sword"): A straight single edged sword that was produced prior to the 10th century, and without differential hardening or folding.
• Tsurugi/Ken (剣, "sword"): A straight two edged sword that was produced prior to the 10th century, and may be without differential hardening or folding.
• Tachi (太刀, "big sword"): A sword that is generally longer and more curved than the later katana, with curvature centered from the middle or towards the tang, and often including the tang. Tachi were worn suspended, with the edge downward. The tachi was in vogue before the 15th century.
• Kodachi (小太刀, "small big sword"): A shorter version of the tachi, but with similar mounts and intended use, mostly found in the 13th century or earlier.
• Ōdachi (大太刀, "big big sword")/Nodachi (野太刀, "big field sword"): Very large tachi, some in excess of 100 cm, and usually a blade of the late 14th century.
• Uchigatana (打刀): A development from the tachi in the 15th century. Worn with the edge upwards in the obi.
• Katate-uchi (片手打ち, "one handed"): A short type of uchigatana developed in the 16th century, with short tang, intended for one handed use. One of the forerunners of the wakizashi.
• Katana (刀, "sword"): A general term for the traditional sword with a curved blade longer than 60 cm (there is no upper length limit but generally they are shorter than 80 cm), worn with the edge upwards in the sash. Developed from the uchigatana and the sword of the samurai class of the Edo period (1600s to late 19th century).
• Wakizashi (脇差 "companion sword"): A general term for a sword between one and two shaku long (30 cm and 60 cm in modern measurement), predominantly made after 1600. Generally it is the short blade that accompanies a katana in the traditional samurai daisho pairing of swords, but may be worn by classes other than the samurai as a single blade, also worn edge up as the katana.

c) Which schools or dens? Below are the five major schools of swordsmithing, or Gokaden,

• Bizen - Okayama(lower half)
• Mino - Gifu
• Soshou - Kanagawa
• Yamashiro - Kyoto
• Yamato - Nara

In the end, one needs to put aside budget for the hobby. As resources are often limited, my preference and advice for collector is to go for the best that one can afford and stay focus.

So far, my prefernce is on Tachi Koto with good polish and with minimum Tokubetsu Hozon paper. This is to facilitate the passing on to the next generations when I am no longer around and my son can either choose to keep or sell it away. With proper paper, it will make his life easier when come to disposing them. We have to remember that as collector of antiques, we are merely looking after it for a certain period of time and when we are gone, these nice antiques will be taken care by another collector and lover.

As one will never know if this is a right hobby for you, I started with getting a small Tanto and a WW2 military katana (using traditional method of making). Having these two inexpensive Nihonto allows me to find out how deep is my interest in the hobby. Once I am feeling the need to know more, I have started to read and hunt for a better Tachi. Given the vastness in various Katana makers and schools and conditions, one will need to find a good Nihonto dealer to help.

I was unfortunate as my Japanese dealer was friendly and helpful in the begining but relationship turned sour when misunderstanding arises. The key is to get an Experience Nihonto dealer with integrity and profesisonal knowledge!

My former Japanese dealer has much anger and hatred towards the NBTHK for some reason. I have to base on his words and experience and trust. I was supposed to find an Aoe den but ended up in another, which I can accept but his communications skills and much to be improved as he totally cut communications when I questioned him on a few matters. Moreover, his assessment versus NBTHK differs...

Happy Hunting!